Hilton Honors continues to offer it’s Gold and Diamond status match program in 2018 and has now extended the valid through date of successfully completed matches through March 2020.
The status match program requires a successful applicant to have 4 stays in 90 days to retain Gold or 8 stays for Diamond. Hilton Honors briefly offered status matches without any stay requirements back in 2016.
You can access Hilton’s page for status related benefits here and the match page here.
Note that the match page has not been extended with the 2020 date yet (at the time of writing this piece). The email that you receive after completing the match (see below) will contain the correct date, however
READ MORE: Hilton Honors Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions
Hilton Honors matches your competing status to Gold or Diamond and you then have to do either 4 or 8 stays to extend the status through March 2020.
Hilton Honors does matches from Choice Privileges, World of Hyatt, IHG Rewards Club, Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. They do mention that other programs would be eligible as well.
You must send a copy of your membership card (can be a screenshot) and your most recent account activity (screenshot too). You should black out any other information than your name and the account number. Note that you must send this information in JPG format only (PNG is quite popular today).
Acceptable forms of status validation include a screenshot of your current account status or your membership card. Acceptable forms of stay validation include a screenshot of your previous reservations or hotel receipt, redacting any personal information other than your name and membership number. We accept .jpg files only. Please do NOT send us any personal information (including your phone number, address, social security number, date of birth, user name, passwords, or credit card information).
I would expect them to match IHG Rewards Club Platinum & Spire, Marriott Rewards Gold & Platinum, Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum, Choice Privileges Diamond to Hilton HHonors Diamond considering that the number of nights/stays would be comparable.
Here’s the email that Hilton sends out after successfully processing the match:
Once you have uploaded the info, you should hear back from Hilton Honors within a couple of days. The Gold or Diamond status is valid for 90 days and the expiry date is shown on the email. You then need to do the 4 or 8 stays (note STAYS not NIGHTS) to keep it.
Here’s the email that Hilton Honors sends out after successfully completing it:
Hilton Honors has now extended the validity of the matched status through March 2020.
Conclusion
There are Gold fast track offers requiring just three stays over 90 day that I have written about here. These don’t give you the Gold or Diamond status up front, however.
It is good that Hilton continues to offer matches, and it should not be too difficult for those that plan on moving stays to Honors to fulfill the stay requirements.
It is great that Hilton Honors has now moved the valid through date of successfully completed matches until March 2020.
Here are the terms and conditions
Offer is valid for recipient only. Invitation and offer is non-transferable and status matches cannot be bought or sold. Offer only redeemable once for the lifetime of the promotion. To match your status with Hilton Honors Gold or Diamond status, you must provide your Hilton Honors account number and proof of current equivalent tier status with Starwood Preferred Guest, Marriott Rewards, IHG Rewards Club, Hyatt Gold Passport, Choice Privileges, or other hotel loyalty program. Blue, Silver, and equivalent statuses are not eligible. Acceptable forms of status validation include a screenshot of your current account status or your membership card. Acceptable forms of stay validation include a screenshot of your previous reservations or hotel receipt, redacting any personal information other than your name and membership number. We accept .jpg files only. Do not send any personal information (including your phone number, address, social security number, date of birth, user name, passwords, or credit card information). Hilton reserves the right to downgrade or remove individuals from the program at any time upon submitting any fraudulent documentation for validation. Must be a Hilton Honors member to participate in the promotion. After registering and tier status is validated, Hilton Honors elite tier status will be valid for the following 90 days. Hilton Honors members must complete four stays at Hilton Portfolio hotels during the Promotional Period to maintain Gold Elite status through March 31, 2019. Hilton Honors members who have been granted diamond status match must complete eight stays at Hilton Portfolio hotels during the Promotional Period to maintain Diamond Elite status through March 31, 2019. Thereafter, standard tier requirements must be met to maintain elite status. Please allow up to 5 business days for your upgraded elite status to be reflected in your Hilton Honors account profile. Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond status members may choose from a variety of on-property benefits, which vary by hotel and are subject to availability. For additional information on tier benefits and qualifications, please visit http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/
Well, if you are currently a Hilton Diamond member, would that make requalifying until 2020 easier? I can’t see where current Hilton Diamond members would be explicitly excluded in the T&C…
I just did, by creating a new Honors account.
Then make sure your email and fone and stuff are different in both the accounts. Very rare but legally they can close your accounts.
Yep. BTW It’s quite strange that they provide a tool within the website to combine accounts.
in addition to that, I like the new Hhonors Aspire card, which comes with Diamond status as part of the basic benefit for the $450 annual fee. Sees like a great benefit.
I’m a diamond member with expiration date March 2018, I have enrolled to the status match during January this year, is the extension to March 2020 relevant in my case as well in case I make the 8 stays? Or just for those who enroll to the status match from now going forward??
No idea. Probably not for 2020
Yes, the status will be good to March 2020, because one always gets the current year (which is currently 2018-2019) for free and then the consumption of the status earned through the match starts the following year (2019-2020).
Do you think it’s worth doing the status match for Diamond if I already have Gold via the Amex Plat?
Is it worth doing the status match for Diamond if I already have Gold via the Amex Plat?
I’m based in Europe and my longer vacations tend to be in Asia.
No.
I bet you have never been a HH Diamond. If you have been, then you must not have known how to take full advantage of it, because unless free breakfast is your idea of the ultimate elite perk, there is no comparison between HH Golds and HH Diamonds (guaranteed, at least, exec floor upgrades and lounge access; unlimited complimentary suite upgrades; Diamond Reservations Guarantee aka “Diamond Force”; much higher points earning per stay; overall better status recognition than Gold; etc; etc).
Thanks for the informative reply, DCS. I’ve now requested a status match to Diamond.
been HH diamond for 2 year never got upgraded to a suite.
Sorry to hear that. Why not join a program were you’ll have better luck?
If you can complete the challenge, I would do it.
Thank you, John. I’ve gone ahead with the status match. One thing that swung it is that I am visiting HKG in May and I want more choice than what SPG/MR offers me. I’d like to try the Conrad to see what they have to offer Diamond members.
I retained Accor Platinum for 2018. Anyone know the likelihood of Hilton matching Accor status as it is not one of the main options listed (I would need to select ‘other’.).
You should try and let us all know!
You ll certainly get the match. I got the gold match sometime back with an Expedia gold. So Accor plat is definately something better than that,
I just got Diamond from Accor Platinum
I tried with my LeClub Accor Platinum and get Diamond Status. It works!
got this match on Feb 8, but according to Hilton’s email only till March 2019
… to extend your status match through March 31, 2019.
It seems that the post means that the email from Hilton shows the 2020 date “after” he finished succesfull the challenge..
If I reserve 8 stays of 1 night to retain status it’ll count?
Correct if you switch the hotel after every night.
I am an IHG Platinum Elite. Would that transfer to Hilton Diamond with this offer of a match?
Does reward nights (redeemed using hilton points which I’ve purchased) count towards the 8 stays?