A growing number of travellers want more than a room confirmation when they book a hotel. They want upgrades, breakfast, VIP amenities, and someone to handle the details — the kinds of perks usually associated with an expensive travel agent or a premium credit card program, like American Express Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Here is the hack most people don’t know: Hilltop Travel Co. offers those same types of perks through a complimentary booking benefit, with no agent fee and no premium card required.
Hilltop Travel Co., a travel concierge founded by Lillian Hocevar, offers its Hotel Booking Benefit on preferred partner hotels. Here is how it works. First, a traveller visits Hilltop’s website, where the benefit is presented as a complimentary service. Second, the traveller uses Hilltop’s booking link to search for and book a hotel. Third, because the reservation is made through Hilltop, the company arranges the benefit with the preferred partner hotel. The benefit itself carries no extra charge, although the hotel stay itself is booked and paid for in the usual way.
What perks can be included? The benefit centres on preferred partner amenities and VIP perks: upgrades where offered, breakfast where offered, and WiFi where offered. That “where offered” matters, because availability varies by hotel, room category, and dates — the same is true of agent and card programs. For qualifying reservations, additional complimentary services may be available, such as arranging airport transfers and additional concierge support.
Why does this exist? Hotels work with selected travel partners, and those partners can arrange amenities that a standard self-booking often doesn’t include. Normally, access to that partner layer comes through an agent you pay, or a premium card you pay an annual fee for. Hilltop’s model removes that paywall for the benefit itself: the traveller gets partner-style perks, and Hilltop earns through the booking relationship.
And the price angle: bookings through Hilltop’s link can be cheaper than on other sites, but that is a “can be,” not a guarantee. Hotel rates move, so compare the same hotel, room, and dates before you book. If Hilltop is lower, you save and get the perks. If it’s the same, you still get the perks at no extra charge for the benefit. Either way, you have not paid an agent or a card fee to access them.
What should readers watch for? Check that the hotel is a preferred partner hotel. Check which perks apply to your room and dates. Confirm any qualifying services before you travel. And remember: Hilltop is not American Express or Chase, and this is not their program — it’s Hilltop’s own benefit, offering the same types of perks through its preferred partners.
For travellers already planning to book a preferred partner hotel, the takeaway is simple: you don’t need an expensive agent or a premium card to get partner-style hotel perks, and comparing the price through Hilltop’s link can sometimes save you money on top of that.
