HHonors Gold/Diamond for Velocity Gold/Plat

[Deleted member 29185]

This is crazy. I'm on the phone to my Hilton friend literally spelling out V-E-L-O-C-I-T-Y. They have no idea.

I've then very politely told them to Google it. Then I got hung up on.

Called back and second agent didn't treat me like a liar which is nice.

They say they can't see anything from VA about it. Hmmm.

HH staff not immediately being familiar with the VFF offer is not unexpected IMHO. Being hung up on is inexcusable however.

 

[Fiches Mouser]

Sure, I don't expect them to have existing knowledge but they can't even find any info about it at their end.

One of those times when you can learn more from publicly available information than the very company offering it.

I don't mind explaining it to them but I just wish VA communicated it a little better.

 

[Caversham04]

It has been very helpful to hear everyone's stories and I thought I would add another data point to the conversation.

Ron the Hilton Honors representative on the phone said while Hilton had indeed sent me an email confirming my upgrade to Diamond, Virgin Australia Velocity had not sent through the confirmation code (or promo code) to activate the Diamond status on my Hilton Honors account. He suggested I reach out to Virgin Australia Velocity and get them to send the appropriate code to Hilton and that would sort out the whole situation.
So I rang Velocity and the person on the phone was not familiar with the promo code situation, but said she would email their internal people who handle this and also Hilton. She said give it a week, but given her lack of familiarity with the and the topic I am less than optimistic.
It has been a pretty disappointing experience really.

I just spoke to the Platinum helpdesk at Velocity, and they told me there was nothing they could do (which I took to mean there's nothing "would" do); I'd just have to wait. For a Diamond status request that was made in mid-Feb and was confirmed by HHonors via e-mail in mid-March, it's getting very shabby.......

The lady I spoke to initially didn't think that I could even get the HH Diamond status as a VFF WP as I'd already had HH Gold via VFF Gold........ Some education of the CSR's is required - she was very surprised when I pointed out that I could request Diamond online after logging into my VFF account, so it was unlikely to be a mis-understanding at my end

 

[Flashback]

I just spoke to the Platinum helpdesk at Velocity, and they told me there was nothing they could do (which I took to mean there's nothing "would" do); I'd just have to wait. For a Diamond status request that was made in mid-Feb and was confirmed by HHonors via e-mail in mid-March, it's getting very shabby.......

The lady I spoke to initially didn't think that I could even get the HH Diamond status as a VFF WP as I'd already had HH Gold via VFF Gold........ Some education of the CSR's is required - she was very surprised when I pointed out that I could request Diamond online after logging into my VFF account, so it was unlikely to be a mis-understanding at my end

Have you messaged the VA rep on here to see if they can assist?

 

[xtoss]

Wish this would reset after maybe a couple years of retaining platinum so you could opt in again. Miss my diamond status since I have been opted in for a couple of years now and diamond has run out

 

[notzac]

I never did get around to requesting either Hilton Diamond or IHG Platinum - I've just opted in to the Hilton offer; will be entertaining to see how long it takes!

 

[lobo76]

If you've already taken up the gold offer can you take the plat one if the Gold is still valid?

 

[bcworld]

If you've already taken up the gold offer can you take the plat one if the Gold is still valid?

I did.

HH Diamond is my favourite Velocity Plat benefit.

 

[Caversham04]

I never did get around to requesting either Hilton Diamond or IHG Platinum - I've just opted in to the Hilton offer; will be entertaining to see how long it takes!

That will depend on your definition of "entertaining"

 

[Caversham04]

Have you messaged the VA rep on here to see if they can assist?

I will give it a try now!

 

[Spacetravel]

Update:
Ok after calling HHonors again to follow up on my case that I had been given last week. I spoke with a new rep was the most helpful so far.

First of all they read out a notification they had which indicated the Virgin Australia Diamond Elite offer had expired, the "instant upgrade to diamond elite status 6 month trial" as they called it. They said it had been changed to a new offer "instant upgrade to diamond elite status for 1 year" this change is probably what is causing all these issues.

Anyway they said they checked a number of systems and they couldn't find anywhere to say I had requested the upgrade and asked me to send them the emails about my request.

I emailed both the email from Velocity and HHonors along with a screen shot of my benefits page showing the request. I also sent a link to the terms and conditions of the offer on the Velocity website to educate them in case the reader isn't familiar.

I'll keep you updated.

Edit: At least I received a quick reply, just received this:

Thankyou for your inquiry regarding your tier. We appreciate you taking thetime to contact us.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Iapologize for the delay, we are processing your tier inquiry request withVelocity. Please allow more time for your request to be fully processedand resolved. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ifthere is anything else we can assist you with, please do not hesitate tocontact us. For immediate assistance, please click on the link below forthe contact number of the Hilton Worldwide Service Center location nearest you.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/support/index.html.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bestregards, [/FONT]

That was hardly helpful.. -__-

 

[Spacetravel]

Ok So I called again after the unsuccessful email. The person I spoke to not having any idea about the promotion again, after explaining, they had a chat to their back office team who gave me a new case number and told me to email my email in again. I sent in the email and received exactly the same response as above.

The person on the phone gave me some bonus points at least, it was either 2500 or 25000 - yes I know massive difference, but forgot what they said exactly.

Either way I am becoming really frustrated as I am going around in circles and doesn't look like this is ever going to be completed. Which I have 4 stays in the next month which doesn't look like I will be platinum for now

 

[Spacetravel]

On Tuesday I called the VA plat line who said they would look into it and today I received this email:

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding your Hilton HHonors account.

Your account has been upgraded to Diamond VIP per the Virgin Australia trial. Please note once the Diamond VIP trial expires then you will need to re-qualify for the same status by having 30 stays, 60 nights, or 120,000 Base Points within a calendar year.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your continued loyalty to Hilton Worldwide and the Hilton HHonors program.

Great it finally went through, but there is no mention of the 4 stays to keep it for the full term. My hhonors account has updated, however the expiry says 2015 not 2016

 

[notzac]

That will depend on your definition of "entertaining"

Soo.. my account has already been upgraded. Was looking at redemption options online and noticed my account was no longer Blue. No communication from Hilton, so I have exactly no idea when the upgrade happened - I'm guessing it was done on the 22nd of April or so.

Sub 10 day turnaround seems pretty decent!

 

[Flashback]

On Tuesday I called the VA plat line who said they would look into it and today I received this email:



Great it finally went through, but there is no mention of the 4 stays to keep it for the full term. My hhonors account has updated, however the expiry says 2015 not 2016

The online account won't show the expiry - you need to see the card..... that's what matters.

 

[N860CR]

How are people finding the best way to fix this issue? I applied for gold about 4 weeks ago and have heard nothing. I've got about 6 Hilton stays booked starting in 3 weeks and I really want it done.

Are the Gold team helpful on the phone or should I try social media?

 

[Clobu5]

Ordered my gold today. Will see how long it takes to come through..

 

[Kangarucci]

I applied to opt in as Platinum via Velocity Frequent Flyers on April 5. Didn't hear anything until today when an email from HHonors came stating that I had joined on April 10, my membership number, new deals and that I was Platinum. Logged onto my account and all was sweet.

 

[GCC]

How are people finding the best way to fix this issue? I applied for gold about 4 weeks ago and have heard nothing. I've got about 6 Hilton stays booked starting in 3 weeks and I really want it done.

Are the Gold team helpful on the phone or should I try social media?

The Gold team are not at all helpful.

I started a thread on this issue in the "ask velocity ff" forum on 17 April, and to date there has been no response from the VA rep. So social media not helping much either. Maybe they are on holiday?

It would help if anyone experiencing issues with sign up to HH could post to that thread, and if you could be specific about:

• the benefit applied for, ie HH diamond for VA WP or HH gold for VA SG
• whether you have applied before, ie was HH Gold & VA Gold now as VA WP applying for HH Diamond or vice versa
• whether you are an existing HH member upgrading or joined when you opted in.
• if you have contacted and/or HH and the outcome of the discussion (s)

cheers

 

[N860CR]

For what it's worth,

VA SG applied for HH Gold on 2/4. I've previously held HH Diamond as VA WP.

Nothing heard after initial email from VA. Contacted velocity via Facebook on Friday. Was told they would sort it out and check back by Tuesday. Just checked then and I've changed from silver to gold.