Hotels are an equally important and expensive part of booking a vacation. Many individuals prefer to book with various online travel agencies, such as Hotels.com, to secure lower rates than what may be available when booking directly with the hotel.
But what about if you could take advantage of the lower rates sometimes offered by online travel agencies, and then make them even lower through price matching while still booking directly with the hotel?
Let’s take a look at the Hilton Price Match Guarantee program and how you can take advantage to save money on your next Hilton hotel booking.
What is the Hilton Price Match Guarantee Program?
Hilton’s Price Match Guarantee program is a tool that Hilton uses to ensure that customers are booking directly with Hilton instead of other booking sites. This program incentivizes customers to book directly with Hilton while still receiving lower rates that can be found through other booking methods.
Ultimately, if you find a lower price for a Hilton brand hotel on an online travel agency or hotel booking site, you can submit a claim through the Hilton Price Match Guarantee program to save money on your hotel booking. If the claim is validated, customers will save 25% off the lower rate that was found.
You can refer to the terms and conditions of the program here.
Benefits of the Hilton Price Match Guarantee Program
The most obvious benefit of the Hilton Price Match Guarantee program is that it gives participants the opportunity to save a significant amount of money on their next Hilton hotel booking. If you can find a lower qualified price, being able to save 25% off your whole stay can be a game changer when it comes to trip budgeting.
Additionally, when you have a verified claim through the program, the finalized booking will be made directly with Hilton. This means you can earn Hilton Honors points on your stay, as well as enjoy the benefits of Hilton Gold status or Hilton Diamond status, if you happen to hold either of those. This is a massive benefit since if you had booked with an online travel agency, you would have not been able to earn points or take advantage of your status.
How to Submit a Hilton Price Match Guarantee Claim
In order to submit a successful Hilton Price Match Guarantee claim, customers will need to find a lower rate than what can be booked on the official Hilton website at the same hotel with the same room types and conditions (such as the same cancellation policy).
Once a lower qualified price is found, customers will need to contact Hilton via the online claim form or via phone to start the Price Match Guarantee process.
Finding a Lower Hotel Room Rate
Before you start the process, identify the dates and hotel you wish to stay at and perform a search on the official Hilton website or the Hilton Honors app. This will give you the price for the stay when booking directly and will provide you with an anchor price you want to beat. It is recommended to make a refundable reservation to lock in the rate.
From here, it is time to start searching for cheaper rates for the same dates, hotel, and room type. You may want to use Hotels.com, Expedia, or any other hotel booking site to compare prices against the Hilton website. When you are looking at properties, ensure that you are meeting all of the terms and conditions of the Price Match Guarantee program.
Once you find a lower qualifying room rate on a different booking site or online travel agency within 24 hours of making your booking with Hilton, take notes of the website, the rate, room type, and any other relevant details so you will be prepared with all of the information required to submit a Price Match Guarantee claim.
Submitting the Hilton Price Match Guarantee Claim – via Online
The most straightforward way of submitting a Hilton Price Match Guarantee claim is to submit the online claim form here. You can either start a claim with an existing Hilton reservation (which is the easier method) or initiate a claim without an existing reservation.
Of note, you must use the online claim form if your claim involves another site’s mobile app as you will need to provide screenshots of the app and reservation details for proof.
To submit a claim with an existing reservation, you will need to enter the confirmation number, last name, and arrival date of the reservation that you have already booked with Hilton. This form needs to be submitted within 24 hours of making the booking with Hilton.
This will validate your existing reservation, and bring you to a page where you can provide any and all information about the lower price including where you found it, what the price was, and any comments you would like to provide for clarification.
Once the form has been submitted with all details and proof of the lower price, Hilton aims to validate the claim within 48 hours of receiving it. If they require any additional information in regard to your claim, they will reach out via email.
Submitting the Hilton Price Match Guarantee Claim – via Phone
If you don’t want to submit a claim online, you can also submit a claim via phone call which may result in a more immediate claim resolution. Not to mention, speaking to a representative over the phone will allow you to clarify any details about the lower rate you found in real-time, which may be preferred as hotel rates can change frequently.
To submit a Hilton Price Match Guarantee via phone, you can call the official Hilton call center at 1-800-445-8667 if you are located in Canada, the United States, Puerto Rico, or the US Virgin Islands. This method is required for claims made the day before or the day of arrival, as you would be unable to submit an online claim with short notice due to the 48-hour turnaround time.
Ensure you have all details about your Hilton reservation in addition to the lower qualifying rate you found prepared in advance of the call. This includes the name of the website or online travel agency where you found the lower rate, the room rate, the room type, and the dates of your stay.
If the representative can validate the claim while you are on the phone, you will receive an email that your claim has been approved.
Once the Price Match Guarantee Claim is Approved
If Hilton is able to verify the availability and eligibility of the lower price, they will match the lower price plus provide an additional 25% off of the room price for the entire booking.
If the claim that was submitted contained a current reservation at the Hilton property, they will modify the reservation and send a new email confirmation for the booking in addition to an email denoting that the Price Match Guarantee claim was approved.
If the claim submitted does not involve a current Hilton hotel reservation, a tentative reservation will be secured and you will be notified by email of the next steps you need to take to complete the reservation process. You must complete the reservation within 24 hours of receiving the email. If you do not, the claim and the tentative reservation will be canceled.
The booking price change is not effective until you receive an email confirmation from Hilton reflecting the new, lower reservation price. Note that once you have an approved Price Match Guarantee claim, any changes you make to your reservation may invalidate the claim.
Either way, congratulations on saving 25% off your next stay at a Hilton hotel! There is no limit to the number of Price Match Guarantees you can take advantage of, so it is always worth doing some searching to see if you can save money on your next booking.
Conclusion
The Hilton Price Match Guarantee can be utilized to combine the low prices of online travel agencies and the benefits of booking directly with Hilton. While it can be tough to find a valid rate and will most definitely require a bit of research in order to push through an eligible claim, it is absolutely worth the work when you consider you can save 25% off the lower rate you found.
Josh Bandura
Latest posts by Josh Bandura (see all)
- Review: RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card - Oct 11, 2024
- FlyerFunds Rebates: Tangerine Credit Cards - Oct 10, 2024
- Review: Conrad Tokyo - Oct 5, 2024
- Best Credit Cards in Canada (October 2024) - Oct 1, 2024
- Review: Nozomi Shinkansen Green Car (Tokyo to Osaka) - Sep 28, 2024
Hilton price match is a disaster. I got an email that they would honor the match but I had 24 hours to reach them by phone. I called 3 times, spent over an hour and never got through to someone who could help. I think it’s fraud and hope someone pursues it. I’d love to see a class action suit to stop this.