Hilton Honors Gold & Diamond Status Match & Fast Track Change 2021

Hilton has offered matches to its Gold and Diamond tiers for years with varying terms and halving the number of nights to complete it in 2021.

Hilton continues to match to Gold status upfront for 90 days, during which the member can retain it or advance to Diamond through March 31, 2023, by consuming 5 or 9 nights. Hilton has slightly changed the T&Cs of the match on Thursday (February 25).

You can access Hilton’s page for the status match here and status-related benefits here.

Here’s the latest change:

Your proof from the competitor must be from the last 24 months (Previously 12)
The processing time has gone from 5 to 7 business to 7 to 12 (remember BUSINESS DAYS – processing the match can now take more than TWO WEEKS).

Match Requirements:

You get Gold trial status for 90 days. You then need to consume during that period:

5 nights for Gold
9 nights for Diamond

Note that all qualifying nights count towards the match, including award nights. EDIT: The T&Cs state that award nights are not eligible for this match. They have, however, traditionally counted.

Most nights booked through third-party platforms (read OTAs) are not valid to earn points or nights with Honors and won’t qualify for this matching program either.

Matched Programs:

Hilton lists “other” but then states that they would only match programs listed on the drop-down menu.

Only elite statuses from another hotel loyalty program that are listed in the status dropdown menu are eligible for status matching.

You must send a copy of your membership card (can be a screenshot) or your most recent account activity (screenshot) and proof of a stay at a hotel within the past 24 months.

Acceptable forms of status validation include a screenshot of your current and active account status. Acceptable forms of stay validation include a screenshot of your recent 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). Only elite statuses from another hotel loyalty program that are listed in the status dropdown menu are eligible for status matching.

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).

Once you have uploaded the info, you should hear back from Hilton within a week. The Gold status is valid for 90 days, and the expiry date is shown on the email. You need to do the 5 or 9 nights (note NIGHTS, not STAYS) to keep it or be upgraded to Diamond.

Hilton Honors Gold & Diamond benefits grid (access here):

Conclusion

It is nice that Hilton has decided to halve the number of nights consumed within 90 days for both Gold and Diamond matches, considering that they did the same for those qualifying the traditional way this year.

Honors Gold is the most useful midtier status among the hotel programs as it comes with a complimentary breakfast.

Here are the terms and conditions

By providing your information and participating in this promotion, you acknowledge and agree to our Global Privacy Statement (available upon request at any Hilton Front Desk). You also acknowledge and agree that the personal information you provide will be used for the purposes detailed in our Global Privacy Statement, and this may include: providing services and transactions, better understanding customer needs, and sending special offers, promotions, surveys and other marketing information be email, post or telesales. In addition, you acknowledge that your information will be entered into our database controlled by Hilton at its headquarters in the U.S. You further agree that all Hilton companies, owners and operators of our franchised and managed hotels, and service providers, may receive and use this data for any of the purposes listed above and access it globally, including from countries where data protection laws may differ from those of your home country. For your security, the data protections provisions of the Global Privacy Statement shall apply to all data processing, and you may request rights of access, correction, and objection as described therein. Once enrolled in Hilton Honors, you can manage your communications preferences online by going to the Email Subscriptions section of your Hilton Honors Profile. If you do not wish to receive marketing information from Hilton you may unsubscribe at any time.