To the chagrin of some members and in step with the predictions of others, Hilton HHonors is about to implement a series of changes to its reward categories.

Members will recall that hotels around the world are grouped into one of seven categories for purposes of award redemption, beginning with “Opportunity” level hotels at 7,500 points per night, and escalating all the way to category 7 hotels, at 40,000 points per night.

Effective June 1, the hotel reward category for over 900 Hilton Family hotels will be changing. That represents about one-third of Hilton properties worldwide.

Essentially, many of these hotels are going up in value. Curiously, though, some seem to be making gigantic leaps. The Hilton Nairobi, just to name one example, is jumping from category 1 to category 4.

Reservations made prior to June 1 for reward stays at these hotels will be honored at the hotels’ current HHonors reward category.

While this is not the first time Hilton has made these kinds of changes, it is one of the first times that the program has given ample notification. Members were given the news a full 6 months in advance, and still have plenty of time to make reservations at the “old” levels.