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Over the past few years hotel loyalty programs have expanded the ways in which members can use their points and one of the biggest areas of expansion has been in the field of entertainment.
Starwood Preferred Guest (RIP) was the first hotel program to bring its entertainment offering to my attention with SPG Moments and Marriott added ‘Marriott Moments’ (now Bonvoy Moments) as it began to integrate Starwood into its portfolio.
These programs allowed (and Bonvoy Moments still allows) members to redeem points for concerts, sporting occasions, culinary experiences and more and, in my opinion, have been one of the best additions we’ve seen in the hotel loyalty arena for some time.
What I was only vaguely aware of (probably because I’m not a big Hilton loyalist) is that Hilton offers its own version of Bonvoy Moments which it hosts on the Hilton Honors Experiences Platform.
A quick look a the page shows that, just like Marriott, Hilton offers Honors members the opportunity to redeem points for “music, sport, culture and food” and, depending on what’s on offer, members can either bid (against each other) or simply redeem a predetermined number of points for the experience/event.
Now it looks like Hilton is looking to improve its offering.
Yesterday, Hilton sent out a press release to say that it has announced an “expanded lineup of extraordinary experiences and exclusive access for its members in 2019“.
Headlining the “suite of new experiences” is the Hilton Honors Concert Series, which it’s offering as part of its partnership with Live Nation, and which will featuring “a roster of intimate music performances at iconic hotels and venues across the globe“.
The Hilton Honors Concert Series launches tomorrow, 1 March 2019, with Walk the Moon at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas, and will see the following artists perform later in the year:
- Jake Owen: 16 May, The Rustic, Houston
- Jessie J: 15 June, Abbey Road Studios, London
- Brett Young: 12 September, Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville
- Portugal. The Man: 11 October, The Troubadour, Los Angeles
- Fitz and the Tantrums: 8 November, Conrad Washington, DC
As well the Concert Series, Hilton Honors has added a series of new experiences to the Hilton Honors Experiences Platform included in which are….
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- Private dance lessons with Emmy-winning superstar Derek Hough
- An exclusive Las Vegas game night with rock legend Steven Tyler
- VIP tickets to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on March 29 for iconic rock legends The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music, and The Zombies
- A ski adventure in the idyllic Swiss mountains
- The ultimate winemaking experience in Algarve, Portugal
Bottom Line
You’re not necessarily going to get an amazing return on your points by using them for music concerts, sports events or any other kind of experience but you should have a fantastic time at events you may not otherwise go to.
I burned some Starwood points a few years ago to see Queen in concert at Madison Square Gardens with Joanna and it was one of the best points redemption I’ve ever made – I couldn’t have purchased seats that were any better than the SPG box we were seated in, we had a fantastic time and I probably wouldn’t have even realised the concert was on has it not appeared on the SPG Moments page.
If you look upon these experiences as just another way to use your points to do something cool or to see an artist you like live in concert then you can’t go far wrong – if you start working out how much theoretical ‘value’ you’re getting out of each point then, no pun intended, you’re missing the point.
Some of these experiences have been sold out for quite a while or, at the very least, the better seats are long gone so just because a ticket has a price on it doesn’t mean that’s the only value you’re getting – you can’t really put a value on having a fantastic time.
