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The recent, no quibbles, Hilton HHonors status match made life extremely easy for status matchers. Not only were applications dealt with promptly and efficiently by Hilton, it even had its own dedicated website.
The good news is, it’s back. If you have status in any other programme, simply go to this dedicated page to have it matched by Hilton. You need to apply by 30 June, 2016 and the matched status with Hilton HHonors will (impressively) last until 31 March, 2018.
The only minor “catch” is that you will also need to provide Hilton with evidence of a stay within the last 12 months with the hotel loyalty programme you are matching from. That said, if you have status, this is unlikely to be a major issue.
What exactly is a “status match”?
For anyone that’s unsure, a status match is simply a process by which a loyalty scheme will match your status in another loyalty scheme. For this Hilton status match, for example, if you have Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum (i.e. the top status level), you will be matched to Hilton Diamond.
What are the benefits of Hilton status?
Hilton status benefits are outlined here. While Diamond is clearly the status to be aiming for, Hilton Goldis widely recognised as one of the most generous mid-tier hotel loyalty levels out there, with guaranteed free breakfast, and lounge access/room upgrades regularly offered.
Gold status is easy to secure – they have regular promos, fast-tracks and credit cards potentially offering it. Diamond doesn’t offer a great deal more than Gold – but does give you lounge access even if you do not get a room on the Executive Floor (Gold technically doesn’t let you in the lounge unless they upgrade you, but there are plenty of examples of them making exceptions, especially in Europe).
What level will Hilton match me to?
As noted above, the status you get with Hilton (Silver, Gold or Diamond) will depend on the tier level you have with the loyalty programme you submit to them (e.g. you can expect that SPG Gold Preferred Guest will get you Hilton Gold, while SPG Platinum Preferred Guest will get you Hilton Diamond).
Just to remind you, we at InsideFlyer have taken advantage of this status match already, and it was wonderfully straightforward.
Thanks for the reminder Tom! I had forgotten about this from the original post. I have Spire Elite status with IHG Rewards Club and have applied for the match. I’ll see if they can do better than the timeline from the post in December, although given that it’s US based, they might not be online at the moment.
So all I have right now is 1326 – applied for the status match through the dedicated page and received a confirmation message on the page to say they are ‘on it’ but it might take 10 business days for my account to be updated. We’ll see!
I had my status matched to Diamond on the basis of IHG Spire, so I don’t expect you to have any problems at all. Definitely one to follow up if nothing happens within 10 days, but I’d be amazed if you’re not Diamond by then. Enjoy!
I did Hilton’s last match to Diamond from IHG Platinum. I’m hoping my wife can do the same now with one additional year. Would the stay need to be a paid stay? All of her stays so far have been with points from the credit card bonus. I’m also wondering if I could get the extra year by applying again now.
I don’t think they will mind whether the stay is paid or not – if your wife has the status and evidence of a stay I’d be amazed if that’s not enough.
Just to provide an update on this, I had a bit of a mare trying to get the match.
I did everything as requested and twice in the last 4 days I received replies informing me that ‘after careful review, we are unable to process your request with the provided documentation as they are ineligible to compare against Hilton HHonors program’ and that I should e-mail them back with a screenshot or photo of my existing hotel membership card with your name printed clearly on it (handwritten names or those that appear to have been altered will not be accepted) and a copy of my recent account statement and activity (those that appear to be altered will not be accepted).
After doing this for the third time (and also sending a ‘diplomatic, but not happy that I’m being messed around’ reply, the confirmation e-mail came through today and they have matched me to their Diamond status. With the added bonus that this is valid until March 2018! I checked the forums and in the US it seems that this has been happening, but not sure if anyone else has experienced this in the UK?
And I’ve just started a new contract and there is a Hilton just around the corner from where I work… Happy days. 🙂
Glad you got there in the end. You definitely had a less straightforward experience than me.
My suspicion is, based on your experience, that they have been inundated by a series of dodgy photoshop jobs. Certainly their statement that documents “that appear to be altered will not be accepted” suggests people have been trying to abuse the offer.