What you need to know about the Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond food and beverage credits

Back in December Hilton Honors announced an extension and increase of the daily food and beverage credit Gold and Diamond elites receive at their “full service” and “lifestyle” brands, e.g., the properties where breakfast isn’t automatically included for all guests.

If you didn’t read the e-mail or already deleted it, here’s the chart they attached to explain the change:

There are two changes being announced here: first, the food and beverage credit is being extended through 2022. Second, in “select markets” the food and beverage credit is being increased by $6 per person per day in the designated markets.

“Free breakfast” has never meant the same thing to everyone

Since I have seen some people complain about this change as “devaluing” the breakfast benefit, the most obvious thing to point out is that long before the pandemic, different properties around the world have interpreted the Hilton free breakfast benefit in very different ways. Four in particular stand out to me, although each has its own subtypes:

• access to the executive or club lounge. This is my favorite version of the benefit, and I’ve encountered it most frequently in Europe, where lounges will often have full buffet spreads in the morning, and then snacks, hors d'oeuvre, and sometimes cocktails in the evening. Keep in mind Hilton’s odd rule that Gold elites only have access to executive lounges if they’re upgraded to a lounge floor, while Diamond elites have lounge access regardless of their room type.

• the “continental breakfast” or “cold buffet.” I’ve seen this breakfast benefit most commonly at Hilton and DoubleTree properties in the United States. The restaurant will typically be laid out as a buffet, but separated into sections so that your “free breakfast” voucher only entitles you to pastries, fruit, cereal, etc., while the “hot breakfast” area with omelettes, bacon, pancakes, and things of that nature is monitored to make sure you’re upcharged in case you cross the cordon.

• the “full breakfast.” I don’t remember the last time I encountered this at a Hilton in the United States, but I’ve run into it multiple times in Europe, where they seem to make less of a fuss over the technical differences between a “cold” and “hot” breakfast.

• the “breakfast credit.” Far from being a response to COVID-19, I’ve seen the breakfast credit used to replace the elite breakfast benefit for years. It was typically “pegged” to the price of a continental breakfast or “cold buffet” on the menu, but properties routinely told me I could order anything and just use the value of the credit. During my 2019 stay at the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui I was explicitly told “you’ll just get a $250 credit at the end of your stay,” and we were glad to spread the credit across multiple meals and venues throughout our stay.

The “COVID” food and beverage credit is better in 3 out of 4 cases

Once we’ve broken down like this, it’s obvious that the food and beverage credit being offered through 2022 is better is all but one case. If a hotel has an executive lounge, then you’ll still be able to have breakfast, snacks, and cocktails there, depending on the property. If a hotel previously offered a continental breakfast or cold buffet, then the food and beverage credit should cover that cost, but with the added flexibility of being able to use your credit for lunch, dinner, or drinks, instead of just during breakfast. And if a hotel already offered a breakfast credit, then you’ll see one or both of added flexibility and increased value (in the “select markets”).

Only in the case of “full breakfast” properties are you likely to come out seriously behind, downgrading from either the hot buffet to the cold buffet or from your selection from the breakfast menu to a fixed continental option.

Of course, that is based on a static, short-term equilibrium of the system. Both travel hacking and hotel management are dynamic and iterative, so it’s more than possible that some “winners” will be shunted over time into the “losers” box.

Most obviously, properties that currently offer executive lounges may close them and switch to a food and beverage credit. If the general idea of hotel executive lounges was to keep down staffing costs by having a minimally staffed space to serve business travelers who didn’t want to wait for a full breakfast service, then hotels may decide they were too successful, and sending guests through the restaurant ends up more profitable.

Similarly, to the extent lounges allow families to save money feeding their kids in the morning, offering free breakfast to adults and charging for whatever the kids order is one option at least some properties will surely explore.

The “continental breakfast” or “cold buffet” is a way to cheaply finesse the elite benefit and I assume that practice will continue, with prices in select markets simply rising accordingly, and properties coming out somewhat ahead after taxes and tips.

Relevant questions going forward

There’s something inherently bizarre about the process of interrogation that happens when you’re checking into a hotel. Wifi? Parking? Late checkout? Airport shuttle? Breakfast?

Nothing about that changed with the new Hilton Gold and Diamond food and beverage credits. You still have to ask: what can you spend food and beverage credits on? Do you have to use them every day, or are they cumulative during your stay? Are any locations on the property excluded?

I think Hilton Honors food and beverage credits will prove more valuable than the previous breakfast benefit because I don’t think very many people were getting much value from the original breakfast benefit. Having a benefit, known in advance, that I can use for anything on the menu, any time of day, is simply more valuable to me than a croissant I can pick up at the breakfast bar between 7 and 10 am.