As I mentioned in Hilton AXON Awards for New Category 7 Bookable Through June 14, AMEX cardholders can still book Hilton AXON awards but only for the new Category 5-7 hotels (that is, the hotels that are now in Hilton Category 5-7 after the Hilton HHonors Massive Devaluation of March 28).
That means that while you can book some decent properties such as the Conrad Algarve or Conrad Centennial Singapore for 4 nights for 145,000 Hilton points, it's currently not possible to book Hilton's new Category 8-Category 10 hotels, such as the Conrad Maldives or Conrad Koh Samui, which are now both Category 10, since the new AXON awards for Hilton Category 8-10 aren't bookable yet.
But thanks to Mr Pickles we now know what the Hilton AXON rates are starting June 15, and it's not pretty: the Conrad Maldives and Conrad Koh Samui, which used to be 145,000 points for 4 nights are now 300,000 Hilton HHonors points for an AXON 4 night award. That's over double the cost. The Starwood Cash & Points devaluation and Marriott/Ritz-Carlton devaluation pale in comparison.
The other thing to note is that the new Hilton AXON rates are *more expensive* than reserving 4 nights at the low season rate. This is especially dramatic for Category 7 Hilton hotels, since low season is as low as 120,000 points for a 4 night stay, yet the new AXON rate as of June 15 is 190,000 points: 70,000 points more than just booking regular awards for the 4 nights. So if you do plan to redeem for any Hilton AXON awards at the new rates, you'll do better to just use 5th night free during low season, not an AXON award.
Now, keep in mind that some of these properties have a very limited low season: for example, the Hilton Bora Bora Nui doesn't even offer a low season rate: it's at 95,000 Hilton points no matter what time of the year you go. And the Conrad Koh Samui only has low season rates in February and March of 80,000 points per night (I haven't even seen the lowest rate of 70,000 points per night available), so it's true that most of the year you'll “save” 80,000 points off the new expensive award rate of 380,000 points. At 75,000 points per night, this would just barely be a better deal than 5th night free, which works out to 76,000 points per night for the Conrad Koh Samui and other Category 10 properties.
New Hilton AXON Award Rates in Effect June 15:
- Category 5: 130,000 points, up from 125,000 points now (4 night stay at new rates: 120K-160K points)
- Category 6: 160,000 points, up from 125,000 points now (4 night stay at new rates: 120K-200K points)
- Category 7: 190,000 points, up from 145,000 points now (4 night stay at new rates: 120K-240K points)
- Category 8: 220,000 points, no current AXON award (4 night stay at new rates: 160K-280K points)
- Category 9: 260,000 points, no current AXON award (4 night stay at new rates: 200K-320K points)
- Category 10: 300,000 points, no current AXON award (4 night stay at new rates: 280K-380K points)
What do you think of the new Hilton AXON awards?
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Hilton AXON Awards for New Category 7 Bookable Through June 14
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