Complimentary Elite memberships for Platinum and Gold Members

[oz_mark]

Based on this thread and the How long for complimentary hotel status to come through thread, people are getting their status through 31 Mar 2013. Maybe Hilton's IT system cannot handle many different expiry dates, so they are giving the normal status match expiry. Like others, I was going to wait until just before my current HH Gold status is due to expire 31 Mar 2012 because the complimentary status is supposedly only 6 months or 12 months with 4 stays. I am going to take a chance that I will also get the 31 March 2013 expiry and go ahead and apply for the complimentary status today.

Actually, given some of the promotions in the US, the system does have some ability to downgrade people mid year. There have been promotions with credit cards, for example, where people have been downgraded at the end of the promotion period if they have not met the hurdle. Now, it may well be that this is done manually.

Having said all that, I will be interested in the outcome of your application for diamond. I am gold till next year, and am going to fall short of requalifying, so have been toying with doing my application early. My concern is that the promotion may be pulled before March next year, as there is no real way of knowing whether this is ongoing or not.

 

[dfcatch]

In already gold till 2013, so planning on holding off on the diamond...... Perhaps risky.....

 

[farstar]

If I do need to do 4 stays in 6 months then I think it is unfair that the first I heard of my membership was when I received my Diamond card Yesterday but my HHhonors account says I joined on the 3rd of October, so if it is 6 months I have lost 1 month because they took a month to post the card to me and didn't even email me though when I logged on to the HHonors site they already had my email address.

 

[DC3]

If I do need to do 4 stays in 6 months then I think it is unfair that the first I heard of my membership was when I received my Diamond card Yesterday but my HHhonors account says I joined on the 3rd of October, so if it is 6 months I have lost 1 month because they took a month to post the card to me and didn't even email me though when I logged on to the HHonors site they already had my email address.

Does your card show expiry of March 2013?. If so, then you'll have about 17 months of diamond status, as long as you have 4 stays within the first 6 months. Sounds good to me.

 

[farstar]

Does your card show expiry of March 2013?. If so, then you'll have about 17 months of diamond status, as long as you have 4 stays within the first 6 months. Sounds good to me.

Yes it does but I have lost a month already so it is 4 stays in first 5 months.

 

[MrJetset]

Just as the Hhonors match was manually processed, I dare say that downgrades will be processed to. While my knowledge of Hhonors is limited, generally hotel programs stick 100% to any T&Cs so I would not be surprised if without making the 4 stays in 6 months, if you get downgraded.

Frankly, if you don't think 4 stays in 6 months is worth it to maintain top elite status in a hotel program, than you don't deserve it!

 

[JohnK]

Yeah, but where does the 6 month then 12 month after 4 stays come in?

FWIW, if you earn Diamond by Feb one year, you'll have that status until end of March two years later.

Interesting information. I have not seen any mail yet from Hilton to check the expiry of my HH Diamond status. If it is March 2013 all the better.

Is the requirement for those status matched to complete the 4 stays by February or March 2012?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Is the requirement for those status matched to complete the 4 stays by February or March 2012?

The HH earning year is a calendar year. March just seems to be a grace period before descent. Has anyone who's received their card, received any info on this 6 months? I've been assuming it's 6 months from the date you became HH diamond (according to the web site).

 

[straitman]

The HH earning year is a calendar year. March just seems to be a grace period before descent.

as you say the HH earning year is a calendar year. The membership year however runs 1 April to 31 March.

 

[ncm]

I know this thread has gone a bit cold, but hopefully a few more people have been able to get their HH and Europcar status matches completed and can pass on their experiences.

Just wanted to get a couple of things clarified if I may please from those who have already taken up the offers, or even those with an opinion on how they see the situation at the moment. Some commentary on my points below would be much appreciated.

I've got my VA WP status match and obviously want to make the most of the benefits.
I am not currently a HH member.
I am already a Europcar Privilege member.

Hilton

• If I join HH after 1/1/12 (say 15/1/12) I will get instant Platinum status but then have until 15/7/12 to complete 4 stays (per the offer rules) to crystalise my Platinum membership for 12 months.
• Will that mean I have HH Plat until 31/3/14, because the first full 12 months of being Plat would only be the 2013 calendar year (per serfty), thereby giving me the ~50 weeks of 2012 for free?
• The extra 3 months in 2014 i.e. until 31/3/14 would then be the membership re-assessing period before being dropped back (per straitman)
• I don't have any HH bookings this year so can hang on until 2012 to make the application (provided the benefit isn't pulled by VA). I can easily get 4 stays done in six months with a few trips to see the in-laws in Yorkshire though.

So if I timed this right and joined in January 2012 (and had 4 quick stays) I could potentially get ~26 months as a HH Plat?

Europcar

In the next six months I have already booked some upcoming rentals in TFN, BSL and MUC plus I have the need for a car in MEL, NAD, CPT and JTR. The free upgrade would obviously be very handy as would the additional driver for Mrs NCM. The free weekend rental is also obviously a nice benefit to have to use from London.

• If I upgrade my Privilege account to Privilege Elite (anybody know timeframes on doing that?) what are the connotations for re-qualifying and when do Europcar membership years start and finish? The TFN rental is at Christmas for 9 days so I wouldn't mind the benefits applying for that, but obviously if the membership year situation works like I think it does for HH above then it will be ok to hold off and ask for the upgrade to Elite in January as well so that I could keep it for longer - keeping it for all of 2013 would far outweigh the upgrade in TFN.

The expiry of my Velocity Plat membership would have no bearing on either of these programs either?

What does everybody think? Have I read the information in the thread wrong because it seems that holding off for a little while before taking up the offer may mean a longer period of being able to enjoy HH Plat at the least.

Thanks
NCM

 

[kaz]

Can anyone who got Hilton status upgraded advise the expiry date? Is it 12 months from the status upgrade? Or does it tie up with expiry date of Velocity status?

It's 12 months from HH Complimentary Elite membership upgrade. I just applied tonight and immediately upon application it stated in "My Benefits" that the 12 month membership commences from 15/11/11 (so nothing to do with expiry of Velocity status)

 

[simongr]

It's 12 months from HH Complimentary Elite membership upgrade. I just applied tonight and immediately upon application it stated in "My Benefits" that the 12 month membership commences from 15/11/11 (so nothing to do with expiry of Velocity status)

And again there is conflicting evidence on this. the Honors website does not show your renewal date. This is because all HHonors renewals occur on 31 March for the qualifying period that ended 31 Dec. DJ/VA have tried to establish a process around. However all cards issued through the DJ/VA status uplift are showing a mar 2013 expiry.

 

[ncm]

So going back to my post (#170) does this mean that a membership applied for in early 2012 might be valid until March 2014?

 

[simongr]

The answer is still that people do not know.

 

[ncm]

ok, thanks simongr. I'm going to wait until next year to kick my HH Plat off now so I'll happily be the guinea pig on this one...

(And I've got an enquiry in with Europcar to find out their rules vis-a-vis status re-calculation too).

cheers
NCM

 

[reductionist]

ok, thanks simongr. I'm going to wait until next year to kick my HH Plat off now so I'll happily be the guinea pig on this one...

I plan on doing this too.

I'm currently HH Gold but I will fall short of requalifying this calendar year by about 4 stays.

 

[castow]

I have seen reports on other frequent flyer websites where people have been able to successfully status match their Hilton Gold and Diamond levels with other hotel chains such as the Hyatt. Has anyone been able to successfully do this under the complimentary Velocity Elite Membership and if so what were the t&c's you had to jump through to successfully claim the status match?

 

[tuapekastar]

I have seen reports on other frequent flyer websites where people have been able to successfully status match their Hilton Gold and Diamond levels with other hotel chains such as the Hyatt. Has anyone been able to successfully do this under the complimentary Velocity Elite Membership and if so what were the t&c's you had to jump through to successfully claim the status match?

Welcome to AFF castow! I don't yet have my HH match (only recently requested). I imagine it might be early days for those matched by Velocity as far as trying a further match from HH to other hotel schemes. An interesting idea though and I'm sure some people would be interested in doing so. As a solely self-funded leisure traveller there is not too much point me jumping around matching too muchas maintaining a reasonable status in one scheme is problematic, or at the very least I've got to pick and choose with whom and when. A little different for me with airlines though, although the Flying Blue match I took up was probably a bit optimistic.

 

[oz_mark]

I have seen reports on other frequent flyer websites where people have been able to successfully status match their Hilton Gold and Diamond levels with other hotel chains such as the Hyatt. Has anyone been able to successfully do this under the complimentary Velocity Elite Membership and if so what were the t&c's you had to jump through to successfully claim the status match?

I don't believe Hyatt match any more, but instead may offer a challenge. As for other chains, some will request evidence of stays.

Which chains do you have in mind?

 

[MrJetset]

You'll find it impossible to status match a complimentary membership. Most chains ask for your total stays and nights over the last 12 months.

I believe *wood and Hyatt have stay challenges now.