Jew Tip of the Day: Getting 20% off at most Hilton, Hampton Inn, Garden Inn, Doubletree, and Embassy Suites

[Dan Druff]

UPDATED DECEMBER 2017

There are many good ways you can save on hotel rooms, and none of the best ones involve those terrible mainstream sites like Priceline, Orbitz, or Hotwire.

The Hilton "family" of hotels includes Hilton, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree, and Embassy Suites.

These all tend to be fairly good quality. While not luxurious, they are usually solid, and are often the best properties in smaller towns.

Hilton has a little-known "MVP" program that usually gives you 20% off the "best available rate". Even better, it does NOT require you to pay in advance and forfeit your right to cancel. Most Hilton discounts require this, but this one doesn't. You simply get 20% off and can cancel for a full refund usually up until the day before your stay.

Just enter one of these two corporate IDs when booking online:

Hampton, Doubletree, and Embassy Suites: 0561135262 or 0560041604

Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn (may even work at some Hilton Grand Vacations properties): N0041604 (or just 0041604 if it doesn't work). Also try 1135262.

Don't get scared when entering a corporate ID. This is Hilton's own MVP ID, and it is completely legal. You are allowed to use it, as the MVP program is open to everyone.

The only thing you need is a HHonors account number. You can get one (for free) by going here: https://secure3.hilton.com/en/hh/cus...oinHHonors.htm

I have saved 20% many times with this MVP code.

Note that these codes are not personally linked to me, so I don't gain from you using them. I'm just passing on this info. Also, these may vanish at any time, so don't bitch at me if they stop working.

Also note that some properties are not part of the MVP program, in which case these codes won't do you any good.


Edit 7/18/2015:

There is now a second (albeit slightly inferior) code you can use to save at Hilton properties, if the MVP code does not work.

The Gold Medal Code is also completely legal and allowed for everyone to use. It will save you 15%.

For North America, South American, and Caribbean: 3000700

For anywhere outside the "Americas", use 113000700 (for Hilton/Doubletree) or 3000700 (other brands)

The Gold Medal Code works more widely than the MVP, but you should try MVP first because the discount is better.

Gold Medal Code will also work on Hilton brands where MVP doesn't, such as Conrad and Waldorf Astoria.


ALSO: You should check rates on trivago.com and see if they are lower than the Hilton website. If they are, you can submit a BEST RATE GUARANTEE claim, which will get them to match the rate AND send you a $50 check after your stay. You do this here: http://hiltonworldwide.hilton.com/en...overview.jhtml ... Beware that you CANNOT use any discount (AAA, MVP, Gold Medal, etc) when using the Best Rate Guarantee match, so sometimes you will be better off just doing the MVP/Gold Medal rates, because it might save you more than $50 after tax.

[superallah]

[joseythepussycat]

I'm partially Jewish so I feel the need to give a tip as well, ladies if you have hair on your toes please pluck or wax them. Thank you.

Your 1/4 Jew friend,
Josey

[Rollo Tomasi]

I'm partially Jewish so I feel the need to give a tip as well, ladies if you have hair on your toes please pluck or wax them. Thank you.

Your 1/4 Jew friend,
Josey

Josey do the Pollack women in Pittsburgh still braid their armpit hairs


and tnx Druff only I stay at Hampton Inn's on business trips because they are consistently good, even in small towns and give a big breakfast free

[Sloppy Joe]

Solid info Druff, it worked for me in ATL this weekend.

Thanks!

[Hockey Guy]

I stay at the Hilton chain on a regular basis since I'm a Hilton "Gold" & find them to be consistently good value as well as I get upgraded whenever possible.

As Rollo pointed out, they do a pretty good free breakfast as well.

[Daredevil]

Has anyone stayed at the Trop in Vegas? I know that's a doubletree now...

[joseythepussycat]

I'm partially Jewish so I feel the need to give a tip as well, ladies if you have hair on your toes please pluck or wax them. Thank you.

Your 1/4 Jew friend,
Josey

Josey do the Pollack women in Pittsburgh still braid their armpit hairs


and tnx Druff only I stay at Hampton Inn's on business trips because they are consistently good, even in small towns and give a big breakfast free

Rollo all of the pollacks live on pollack hill and dont creep down into the city, I don't know how they handle their body hair

[Dan Druff]

I'm partially Jewish so I feel the need to give a tip as well, ladies if you have hair on your toes please pluck or wax them. Thank you.

Your 1/4 Jew friend,
Josey

Is this a problem in Pittsburgh?

Fortunately none of the women I've dated have had hair on their toes (or at least they got to it before I could see it), but I do agree it would really turn me off.

[joseythepussycat]

I'm partially Jewish so I feel the need to give a tip as well, ladies if you have hair on your toes please pluck or wax them. Thank you.

Your 1/4 Jew friend,
Josey

Is this a problem in Pittsburgh?

Fortunately none of the women I've dated have had hair on their toes (or at least they got to it before I could see it), but I do agree it would really turn me off.

Druff yes it is. But the men here love it! Some of Toms most recent conquests have been rather fuzzy!!

[ShadyJ]

I travel for work now, and I only get an allowance of $90 $65 hotel $25 for food, but if you pay less for the hotel you still get the full reimbursement. Priceline is the nutz hands down. I get 3 star hotels for $50 night. I recently stayed in chicago in a 3 star that was $179 night for $49.

[Deal]

I travel for work now, and I only get an allowance of $90 $65 hotel $25 for food, but if you pay less for the hotel you still get the full reimbursement. Priceline is the nutz hands down. I get 3 star hotels for $50 night. I recently stayed in chicago in a 3 star that was $179 night for $49.

$90 per diem is pretty low. I can't imagine eating out for a day for $25. I think 10 years ago I was getting $55 plus hotel expenses whatever they happened to be. Is that a point of potential negotiation? $125 seems more reasonable. I mean can they really expect that you can always find a hotel room for $65 and then also eat fast food?

[ShadyJ]

I travel for work now, and I only get an allowance of $90 $65 hotel $25 for food, but if you pay less for the hotel you still get the full reimbursement. Priceline is the nutz hands down. I get 3 star hotels for $50 night. I recently stayed in chicago in a 3 star that was $179 night for $49.

$90 per diem is pretty low. I can't imagine eating out for a day for $25. I think 10 years ago I was getting $55 plus hotel expenses whatever they happened to be. Is that a point of potential negotiation? $125 seems more reasonable. I mean can they really expect that you can always find a hotel room for $65 and then also eat fast food?

They actually just upped it before I started, so everyones happy except me.

[Hockey Guy]

$90 per diem is pretty low. I can't imagine eating out for a day for $25. I think 10 years ago I was getting $55 plus hotel expenses whatever they happened to be. Is that a point of potential negotiation? $125 seems more reasonable. I mean can they really expect that you can always find a hotel room for $65 and then also eat fast food?

They actually just upped it before I started, so everyones happy except me.

That's actually pretty sad.

[Dan Druff]

I travel for work now, and I only get an allowance of $90 $65 hotel $25 for food, but if you pay less for the hotel you still get the full reimbursement. Priceline is the nutz hands down. I get 3 star hotels for $50 night. I recently stayed in chicago in a 3 star that was $179 night for $49.

Priceline is hit and miss. About 10 years ago, I took a monthlong road trip where I had no set plans, but just figured out where I wanted to stop for the night, and used Priceline to get a hotel. Did I get a lot of cheap places to stay? Yes? Did I get some amazing bargains in decent/nice hotels? Yes. But did I end up in some dumps that were listed as "3 star" and "4 star"? Yes.

That's one of the reasons I stopped using Priceline. Here are some other reasons NOT to use Priceline for hotels:

- Hotels with Priceline contracts tend to be struggling, and there's usually a reason for it. Often the service and/or rooms at these hotels is lacking.

- You have no power at the hotel as a Priceline customer. They can (and sometimes do) give you the worst rooms in the place, and there's nothing you can do about it. For example, I once won a cheap Priceline bid at what seemed like a nice high-rise hotel. When I got there, they placed me in their low-rise annex -- a total dump of a motel that they bought and added to the main property a few years back. This was completely legal and allowed by Priceline rules.

- Resort fees. Hotels can charge resort fees, and you have to pay whatever they charge. This can turn a "great" Priceline deal into a not-so-great deal.

- No abilty to review properties before you select them. In 2003, reviews online were few and far between, so this didn't matter. However, in 2013, you can get a very good idea of how good most hotels are by reading Yelp and Tripadvisor, so I hate giving up that important piece of guidance.

However, I do understand that you're traveling on an LOL-$90-per-diem, so I don't really blame you for using Priceline in your situation.

I worked for a very large company in 1996, and they sent me on travel to Hunstville, Alabama. This company gave nice per diems for big cities (such as $250 for NYC), but screwed you in smaller, typically lower-cost locations. While it makes sense to adjust the per diem based upon your location, you can stay in a reasonable place in NYC and eat okay for $250/day. I got $65/day for Hunstville, which was a joke. There were only two hotels that were charging less than $65 -- Days Inn and some independent motel. I chose the Days Inn out of familiarity.



Among the fun I had at the (franchised) Days Inn, owned by an obnoxious Indian guy:

- My room shared a common wall with another room where they were doing major construction starting at 7am! I was not warned about this. I was jarred awake at 7am by drilling and power sawing. When I called to complain, the owner was not there and everyone was under strict orders not to allow anyone to move rooms. By the time I reached the owner, hours later, he told me "everyone gets up at 7" and that it's my fault for sleeping in too late!

- Because I couldn't reach the owner until 3pm, he told me that I couldn't check out without paying for another day, since it was after checkout time. My luggage was trapped in the room and he disabled my key until I paid him.

- I showed up at the hotel and tried to BS the desk guy into letting me in, hoping he didn't know my situation. The desk guy, a heavy-set black dude, said, "Aw... I know who you are. And I know how my boss can get. I'm just gonna give you this key to get in there to get your luggage, and when he asks me, I'll say I was confused." I was very grateful for this. No idea why he risked his job for me, but he probably hated his boss as much as I did.

- I was at least smart enough to only reserve the room (and sign for) one night, figuring I would move if the place sucked. This made it impossible for him to charge me for checking out before the 2nd night without enough notice. However, I was still pissed and felt I deserved my money back, given that I was jarred awake at 7am by construction on a common wall that he knew about and chose not to warn me. I tried to charge it back on my credit card. The credit card company denied my claim, saying that because I "stayed the night", I got what I paid for. When I called to speak to the department that handles this, I asked what if the construction was at 4am instead of 7am. They said, "Then we would have ruled in your favor." I asked what their cutoff time for construction noise on a common wall was. The woman was flustered and said she didn't have one, but that she felt 7am still gave me "a night of sleep". Awful.

- As a final kick in the ass, I found a month later that my credit card was used during the night I stayed there to order a delivered steak dinner. This was done by a different front desk employee, and this occurred BEFORE my issue the next morning, so it wasn't done to punish me. The idiot employee accidentally signed his own name on the slip instead of mine. The police were not interested in this when I reported it, because I was no longer physically in Alabama. A stereotypical hick cop told me on the phone, "You're in California, we ain't got no idear how to take a report from another state over the phone."

I moved to the independent hotel and it was actually decent.

Ah, per diem memories...

[big dick]

jfc this pisses me off just reading about your experience.

[anonamoose]

$90 per diem is pretty low. I can't imagine eating out for a day for $25. I think 10 years ago I was getting $55 plus hotel expenses whatever they happened to be. Is that a point of potential negotiation? $125 seems more reasonable. I mean can they really expect that you can always find a hotel room for $65 and then also eat fast food?

They actually just upped it before I started, so everyones happy except me.

Are they using the federally determined rate?

That's extremely low. I usually got 90 dollars a day just for food.

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/10...aign=shortcuts

[Dan Druff]

BUMP:

Scroll up to original post to see an UPDATE regarding another discount code.