Reader Question: Issues With The Hotel When On Go Hilton Friends & Family Rate?

A LoyaltLobby reader sent us a case where a hotel manager had an issue with their Hilton Friends & Family booking, which appears to have resulted in being booted from the program.

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You can access Hilton’s page for Friends & Family here.

READ MORE: Hilton Honors Rate & Bonus Points Offers

Reader’s Question:

I’m reaching out because I have a problem and would appreciate your advice. I was fortunate enough to have a Hilton Friends & Family discount through an acquaintance. I recently stayed at a REMOVED using the discount with two consecutive 1-night reservations, as I was unsure if I would keep both.  At check in, I asked about a potential room upgrade as a Diamond member, and the receptionist kindly accommodated my request.

The following day the cleaning staff knocked on my door a little after noon, I informed them in both English and Spanish that I had a reservation for that night as well.  Shortly after, I received a call in the room from the manager, who informed me that the room I was in was unavailable for the second night and that I would need to switch rooms.  He asked me to come downstairs immediately, but I explained I would need about an hour to shower and pack.

When I went downstairs to change rooms, less than an hour later, the manager lectured me, saying that when using the Friends & Family rate I wasn’t allowed to request room upgrades or late checkouts (which I had not requested).  He mentioned he could report the incident to Hilton, which could result in disciplinary action for my acquaintance and me losing the Friends & Family discount.  I politely asked him not to do so.  I proceeded with the room change and checked out the following day with minimal interaction with the staff and no further issues.

I’ve used the Friends & Family discount off and on for about two years without any problems, requesting room upgrades regularly, and have never had any problems before this.

The Friends & Family discount was available when I logged in for about week after the stay, but it’s no longer available.  I haven’t received any notifications from Hilton or my acquaintance regarding any issues.  I do not want to cause any problems for my acquaintance, who did me a huge favor.  I have upcoming travel plans and I would like to book some rooms using the discount this week.  This discount is very important to me, and I’m unsure how to proceed.

How do you recommend resolving the situation?

The Friends & Family and even Hilton Team Member Rates are eligible for all the Honors elite benefits, such as upgrades, lounge access and breakfast, earning points, and elite qualifying nights. They are also qualifying rates for all Hilton promotions.

The only thing you are not allowed to do that may get the Team Member temporarily suspended from the program is to post negative or critical reviews of the stay or be disruptive at the property.

If there are issues with the stay, the Team Member should raise them with Go Hilton Support.

Team Member and Friends & Family rates are available based on forecasted occupancy, and Hilton automatically opens or closes the rate plan.

The manager shouldn’t be in the hospitality business or familiarize themselves better with the program rules. They must have opened a complaint about this guest that resulted in the reader being booted from their friend’s F&F list.

The only way to resolve this is to contact the friend and explain what happened at the property.

Hospitality sector employees must trust anyone they add to the Friend & Family list, as it will backfire if there are any problems, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here.

I have only had one negative case when using a Friends & Family rate, and I can now disclose it because my friend is no longer with Marriott, and the property, Danieli in Venice, is no longer affiliated with the chain.

The hotel manager was really upset that I had used and applied an SNA for my F&F reservation and got one of the suites. They called the hotel and spoke with my friend’s manager, and obviously, she didn’t know who I was (why should she). I felt uncomfortable and left after a night.

The Marriott F&F form contains a code the property should use to authenticate its validity.

With Hilton, this is all electronic. Your friend adds you to their F&F list online, and you are then free to book by yourself. If your friend leaves Hilton or they remove you from their list, you can no longer book the F&F rates.

Here are Hilton’s reminders about the Go Hilton Program for the front desk staff:

PROGRAM REMINDERS For HOTEL / FRONT OFFICE STAFF

It is very important for hotels and guests to follow all Go Hilton Program policies. Hotels should report concerns to the Go Hilton hotel support team at hr@gohilton@hilton.com, as the Program takes issues very seriously. Violations by Team Members or their family and friends WILL result in suspension or revocation of Go Hilton privileges and a notification to the Team Member’s General Manager. However, the Go Hilton team is unable to take such action without hotels’ assistance in reporting issues.

DO

• Send questions and concerns about guest behavior or misuse to the Go Hilton hotel support team at hr@gohilton@hilton.com
• Immediately terminate IDM accounts with the “Terminate User” function in IDM for all Team Members who end employment with your hotel (this is to end their Go Hilton access and for IT / Security purposes)
  • Franchised hotels and others not on Hilton’s HR system must manually terminate IDM accounts in IDM.
  • Managed hotels on Hilton’s HR system have data interfaces to automatically terminate IDM accounts when the termination is processed in the HR system.
• Honor ALL valid Go Hilton bookings
• Provide Go Hilton guests with the same great hospitality you give other guests
• Offer Go Hilton guests all standard on-property Hilton Honors benefits for their tier/status, including room upgrades based on status if available
• Follow all Hilton Honors Relocation & Recovery (walk) policies for Go Hilton bookings, just as you would for any other booking in oversold situations
• If a guest requests it and is unable to do it online, hotels may remove nights, remove rooms, or cancel the entire reservation to assist the guest
• If a booking clearly violates Go Hilton limits for number of rooms and/or nights, hotels can remove the necessary rooms/nights from the reservation and notify the guest (just leave the portion of the booking that is in compliance)
• Ensure your Team Members maintain only one active IDM / Lobby account and one Hilton Honors account entitled to Go Hilton
• Inform all Team Members at your hotel of Program Rules and consequences for violations (loss of Go Hilton privileges and notification to their GM)

DO NOT

• Use the “Disable User” function in IDM to terminate Go Hilton access when the Team Member leaves employment with your hotel! (“Disable User” does not end Go Hilton access; only “Terminate User” ends Go Hilton access)
• Book Go Hilton Team Member (TM) or Family & Friends (F&F) SRPs through PMS, Horizon, Journey, or any other on-property channel (such “out of channel” bookings are canceled by the Go Hilton team)
• Add rooms or add nights to existing Go Hilton bookings with on-property channels, since those would be like “out of channel” bookings
• Change primary guest names or change Hilton Honors numbers on Go Hilton bookings (such changes result in cancellations by the Go Hilton team)
• Change credit card information on Go Hilton bookings unless the card has been declined and/or the guest has provided an alternate card
• Convert non-Go Hilton SRPs into Go Hilton TM and F&F SRPs
• Convert F&F SRPs into TM SRPs or convert TM SRPs into F&F SRPs
• Cancel valid Go Hilton bookings because the daily rate fluctuates; above 90% occupancy the room would not have been effectively removed from availability when it was booked at the time of booking
• Search for or reach out to the Team Member’s home property to verify eligibility. This Team Member is verified during the booking process, but you can report any concerns to the Go Hilton mailbox
• Apply extra requirements to Go Hilton reservations that would apply to Go Hilton – do not require large deposits, authorizations, or other verification

Conclusion

The reader should discuss this with their friend to determine what was reported and whether they wish to report the property’s behavior. It is really up to the reader’s friend if they wish to have them on their F&F list or not.

The Go Hilton program for Team Members and their Friends & Family is fantastic (unfortunately, my friend is no longer with them but joined another company), and nobody wants to have their access temporarily suspended or revoked.

There might be some pushback in the reader’s case from the franchised property manager, who may not be happy with the cash they get from these stays.

However, they should then reevaluate whether being affiliated with the Hilton and one of their brands is the right choice for them rather than taking it with the Go Hilton guests.

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