Hilton HHonors Elite Status Is a Great Luxury for Loyalty Goal. Let Us Show You a Few Shortcuts!
January 2017
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Elite status at hotels can greatly increase the comfort of your stay as well as quickly multiply the points you earn toward free night awards.
Many of our Members want to know about legitimate shortcuts to enjoy Hilton HHonors Elite status sooner - so we have a few suggestions to help you speed things along!
Whether you earn Hilton HHonors Elite status by achieving the nights, stays or points required or by having the right credit card or even by completing a fast track offer, making it to Elite status will change the way you travel with Hilton!
LET’S START BY DISCUSSING WHAT TYPE OF BENEFITS YOU’LL ENJOY AT EACH HHONORS ELITE STATUS LEVEL:
Just for joining Hilton HHonors…
Members will enjoy free Wi-Fi on all stays booked through Hilton and late check-out when available. So if you haven’t already you should join!
Silver status is achieved after four eligible stays or 10 eligible nights and you will enjoy:
15% Elite status bonus
5th night free on Standard Room Reward stays of 5 nights or more
Complimentary access to fitness centers/health clubs
2 bottles of water per stay
Gold status is achieved after 20 eligible stays, 40 eligible nights or 75,000 Elite qualifying “base” points and you will enjoy:
All of the rewards of Silver status
25% Elite status bonus
My Way Gold Membership includes these benefits at most hotels:
Space available upgrades
Breakfast for 2
1,000 bonus points
Executive Floor Lounge access for the member and 1 guest only if you receive a room upgrade to the Executive Floor
Diamond status is achieved after 30 stays, 60 nights or 120,000 Elite qualifying “base” points and you will enjoy:
All of the rewards of Silver and Gold status
50% Elite status bonus
48-hour room guarantee
My Way Gold Membership includes these benefits at most hotels:
Space available upgrades
Breakfast for 2
1,000 bonus points
Executive Floor Lounge access for the member and 1 guest
OK, SO WHAT COUNTS AS AN ELIGIBLE NIGHT, STAY OR QUALIFYING POINT TOWARD ELITE STATUS?
Eligible nights and stays are typically stays booked through Hilton that earn HHonors points
Award night redemptions and Points + Money nights count as eligible nights too, but if one or more nights of a stay is a Free Award Night or Points + Money Award night, no Elite qualifying base points on the room rate will be earned for that stay
HHonors Elite qualifying “Base Points” are earned on hotel stays at a rate of 10 points per dollar spent at most hotels
HHonors Bonus Points earned during stays by choosing the My Way Points & Points Earning Style or as a result of Elite status, through a promotion, as a result of credit card spend or with any Hilton HHonors partner DO NOT count toward Elite tier qualification
NOW LET’S DISCUSS HOW TO ACHIEVE ELITE STATUS WITHOUT ALL OF THE PESKY ELIGIBLE NIGHT, STAY AND POINT REQUIREMENTS:
The Credit Card Option:
The Hilton HHonors credit cards include automatic Silver or Gold Status
The Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card and Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from American Express include automatic Gold status and both cards award Diamond status after $40,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year
The Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card (with no annual fee) includes automatic Silver status and awards Gold status after 4 stays within the first 90 days of account opening or after $20,000 in eligible purchases each calendar year
The Hilton HHonors Card from American Express (with no annual fee) includes automatic Silver status and awards Gold status after $20,000 in eligible purchases each calendar year
In late 2015, the American Express Platinum card partnered up with Hilton HHonors to offer automatic HHonors Gold Elite status to card members! If you have an Amex Platinum card and are not yet Gold or Diamond, go for the Gold today!
The Gold and Diamond status match challenge options:
Hilton has numerous Elite status fast track offers in the market at any given time. The Gold status match challenge generally requires four eligible stays within 90 days and the Diamond challenge requires 10 stays within 90 days.
The “Ask Hilton for a fast track challenge” option:
Generally you get one shot at a challenge every few years - so choose your challenge period wisely to maximize your likelihood of meeting the goals
To be considered for a fast track challenge, you will need to request the challenge and send in proof of your Elite status level with Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Starwood, Fairmont or AccorHotels and proof of your account activity for the past 12 months to hhonors@hilton.com
trvlvip Tip:It’s worth a try to ask for a 10 stay (instead of 21 night) Diamond challenge and immediate Gold status for the duration of your Diamond challenge if you have top level status at a competitor and a night-based challenge better meets your needs.
If you successfully complete your challenge in 2017, the status is valid until March 2018
The fast track challenge by email invite option:
Hilton is quite generous with their fast track to Gold offers and sends special invites through email; Hilton has arrangements to offer the Gold fast track challenge to employees of certain companies like Accenture or through many of Hilton’s partner airlines without requiring any level of competitor Elite status:
For example, emails with invite codes (that can only be used once) are often sent to members of the rewards programs for France-KLM, Alitalia, Turkish Airlines, Etihad Airways, Airberlin, Ethiopian and Saudia airlines offering immediate HHonors Gold status for 90 days, which is extended through March of the following year with only 3 eligible stays; the offer often comes loaded with double bonus miles on the second stay, triple miles on the third stay and quadruple miles on the fourth stay as long as Points + Miles is chosen as the My Way Earning Style Option with the miles credited to the airline you were invited through
Hilton also has a well-known MVP Valued Partner in Sports Gold fast track offer requiring 4 stays in 90 days and the only stated requirement is that you must be an MVP member affiliated with a sports group or event
The Wrap-Up:
If you travel frequently and Hilton is your preferred hotel company, you may stay with Hilton enough to achieve your desired Elite status level. Or if you have a Hilton HHonors credit card that grants an Elite status you are happy with, good for you!
If you haven’t yet achieved Gold status, but are one of the lucky ones who received an email invite for a Hilton fast track to Gold offer and feel certain you can complete the stay requirements, we suggest you go for the Gold!
Or if you hold mid or top-level Elite status with Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Starwood, Fairmont or AccorHotels, we suggest you reach out to Hilton HHonors by email at hhonors@hilton.com or phone with the required proof of competitor status and activity. It will help to be tenacious with multiple requests if you are not granted a challenge with your first try.
If you successfully achieve Elite status and were able to score an easier route to HHonors Gold or Diamond, go ahead and tell us all about it with a nice note on Facebook and Twitter!
And if you haven’t already, sign-up for FREE travel updates so you never miss an important trvlvip Perk or Tip about Hilton HHonors!
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