How long for complimentary hotel status to come through

[Danger]

I registered for HHonors Diamond through the DJ promotion in mid-December. I have planned the qualifying four stays meticulously, such that the first three will overlap with my existing Diamond membership and the fourth 'trigger' stay will be in early March, the thinking being that I will therefore get Diamond until 3/2014.

However, today in the mail I received a new Diamond card "Welcome to Diamond status" and a letter dated 20 December. This coincides very closely with when I registered with the DJ promo. The expiry is 3/2013. I'm concerned now that despite the DJ promo terms dictating four stays before Diamond is granted for a 'membership year', I'm only going to get Diamond until 3/2013, not 3/2014 as I've planned.

 

[serfty]

The T&C's are noted up thread.

At the very least your planned status needs to be based on that.

i.e. it's diamond for six months, then with four stays within that time you get a six month extension.

Given the Dec 20th date, any Diamond status from this benefit past Dec 20 2012 should be considered a bonus.

Of course, there are consistent reports of this 3 / 2013 date which is not in line with the T&C's.

Even with that, I am not sure how you were planning on 2014 with your strategy given the 4 stays related to a six month extension, not 12 months.

 

[simongr]

I assume the trigger for the 2014 thinking is that the person will "qualify" for Diamond in 2012 which generally would mean retaining Diamond until end Feb 2014.

 

[Danger]

The T&C's are noted up thread.

At the very least your planned status needs to be based on that.

i.e. it's diamond for six months, then with four stays within that time you get a six month extension.

Given the Dec 20th date, any Diamond status from this benefit past Dec 20 2012 should be considered a bonus.

Of course, there are consistent reports of this 3 / 2013 date which is not in line with the T&C's.

Even with that, I am not sure how you were planning on 2014 with your strategy given the 4 stays related to a six month extension, not 12 months.

I assume the trigger for the 2014 thinking is that the person will "qualify" for Diamond in 2012 which generally would mean retaining Diamond until end Feb 2014.

Yes, that's it. I had read post 134 here and thought I was on a winner with my planning for 3/14. My thinking was based on how Hilton years work, rather than the six months plus six months.

 

[serfty]

If that's the case I can see your misunderstanding.

HHonors is a bit like QFF - but on calendar years.

Qualify for a higher level and you have that for the remainder of the year and the year after that as well - i.e. you 'qualified' though DG for rest of 2011 and 2012.

Re-qualify in 2012 and have and have for 2013 - the 4 stays in six months would not, I reckon, relate to qualifying this way.

 

[bigbadbyrnes]

Opted into HHonours on 30/11/11, card arrived in the mail yesterday.

Still waiting on Europecar...

 

[awilcockson]

Posted a separate thread on this, but ...

Applied for HIG Platinum 29 August. Upgrade from Gold went through approximately 20th September ...

Reverted to Gold on 1st January!!!!

So a total of 3 months.

Be careful when you accept the offer, I dare say early in the year is better than later.

 

[markis10]

Opted into HHonours on 30/11/11, card arrived in the mail yesterday.

Still waiting on Europecar...

What was your HH expiry?

 

[bigbadbyrnes]

What was your HH expiry?

The fancy pants gold card reads "Member since 12/2011. EXP 03/2013"

 

[GCC]

Qualify for a higher level and you have that for the remainder of the year and the year after that as well - i.e. you 'qualified' though DG for rest of 2011 and 2012.

Re-qualify in 2012 and have and have for 2013 - the 4 stays in six months would not

I am HH Gold and requalified gold for 2012. My plan was to wait until June, then apply for the upgrade to HH Diamond via Velocity , and that I would then be HH diamond (assuming I do the 4 stays in 6 months which is no problem) until march 2014.

Reading the above though,it seems there is no point in waiting until June - I might as well apply for diamond now and would still have the status until 2014?

 

[dsotm]

When do I find my expiry date on the HH site?

 

[markis10]

When do I find my expiry date on the HH site?

Its only on the members card AFAIK.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

What was your HH expiry?

I am HH Gold and requalified gold for 2012. My plan was to wait until June, then apply for the upgrade to HH Diamond via Velocity , and that I would then be HH diamond (assuming I do the 4 stays in 6 months which is no problem) until march 2014.

Reading the above though,it seems there is no point in waiting until June - I might as well apply for diamond now and would still have the status until 2014?

When do I find my expiry date on the HH site?

I just got off the phone to HH with some very clear information that answers these questions (I believe).

I asked basic questions and let the lady tell me how it was according to her computer, so there was no guess work and what she tells me tallies exactly with dates I have.

The "start" date of the 6 month, 4 stay period is the date shown as your opt-in date in your velocity account......that is, the date you accepted the Velocity offer. In my case, I "opted-in" (accepted the offer) on 28 August 2011, which was a Sunday. I didn't get the confirmation email until mid the next week (around the 30-8-2011). I didn't get a HH status upgrade until sometime in October. The HH lady tells me I have until 28 February 2012 to complete my 4 stays......which is exactly 6 months from my opt-in date. If I make my 4 stays, my HH Diamond will then expire March 2013. If I don't make my 4 stays (unlikely, 1 to go), my HH Diamond will expire March 2012 (I think she said 31 March, but this may be my misunderstanding).

The reason why they do March reviews for a calendar year is because they MANUALLY check every account status between 1 January and 31 March, for the previous year. Computers don't do this.

The important part of the dates above is that there was no prompting from me. She read these from her file records and they tally exactly, so I believe this is correct.


EDIT: HH also knew my "start" date (she told me) as I tried to wrangle a stay I made a few weeks earlier as my 4th stay.........didn't work, she knew it was before my start date.

This may also explain why I've never received a Diamond card. I received a Gold card for a separate HH account and that shows an expiry of 03/2013. I think from memory, the 4 stay in 6 months bit only applied to Diamond, not Gold. Did anyone get a Diamond card sent to them?

 

[serfty]

When do I find my expiry date on the HH site?

Using the site, the only way is to request a new card be sent. If a new one does arrive check the expiry date on that.

Otherwise, call HHonors and ask.

 

[simongr]

I just got off the phone to HH with some very clear information that answers these questions (I believe).

I asked basic questions and let the lady tell me how it was according to her computer, so there was no guess work and what she tells me tallies exactly with dates I have.

The "start" date of the 6 month, 4 stay period is the date shown as your opt-in date in your velocity account......that is, the date you accepted the Velocity offer. In my case, I "opted-in" (accepted the offer) on 28 August 2011, which was a Sunday. I didn't get the confirmation email until mid the next week (around the 30-8-2011). I didn't get a HH status upgrade until sometime in October. The HH lady tells me I have until 28 February 2012 to complete my 4 stays......which is exactly 6 months from my opt-in date. If I make my 4 stays, my HH Diamond will then expire March 2013. If I don't make my 4 stays (unlikely, 1 to go), my HH Diamond will expire March 2012 (I think she said 31 March, but this may be my misunderstanding).

The reason why they do March reviews for a calendar year is because they MANUALLY check every account status between 1 January and 31 March, for the previous year. Computers don't do this.

The important part of the dates above is that there was no prompting from me. She read these from her file records and they tally exactly, so I believe this is correct.


EDIT: HH also knew my "start" date (she told me) as I tried to wrangle a stay I made a few weeks earlier as my 4th stay.........didn't work, she knew it was before my start date.

This may also explain why I've never received a Diamond card. I received a Gold card for a separate HH account and that shows an expiry of 03/2013. I think from memory, the 4 stay in 6 months bit only applied to Diamond, not Gold. Did anyone get a Diamond card sent to them?

Thanks swanning_it - it seems to have worked as some of us were expecting - for those getting the 12 month qualification due to four stays we are being treated as if we qualified in 2011 (which essentially we did).

Interestingly based n this my four stays did include the stay on 1 Sep (opted in 30 Aug) - I have had 7 stays since then so should be fine anyway.

I would love to see VA try something like reduced qualification status matching with HHonors (or another program). That would be a major benefit - for example qualify as HHonors Gold and VA Plat then you get HHonors Diamond. I would probably switch to VA for something like that.

 

[simongr]

This may also explain why I've never received a Diamond card. I received a Gold card for a separate HH account and that shows an expiry of 03/2013. I think from memory, the 4 stay in 6 months bit only applied to Diamond, not Gold. Did anyone get a Diamond card sent to them?

Yep - I did - 3/2013 expiry.

 

[Qld4101]

Yep - I also got a card with the 03/2013 date on it.. Would be interesting to see how they handle anyone that doesn't make the 4 stays in 6 months and has a card with an Exp of 03/2013........

 

[dfcatch]

I am HH Gold and requalified gold for 2012. My plan was to wait until June, then apply for the upgrade to HH Diamond via Velocity , and that I would then be HH diamond (assuming I do the 4 stays in 6 months which is no problem) until march 2014.

Reading the above though,it seems there is no point in waiting until June - I might as well apply for diamond now and would still have the status until 2014?

I'm in exactly the same situation and starting to think that I may as well "activate" Diamond now

 

[kpc]

If that's the case I can see your misunderstanding.

HHonors is a bit like QFF - but on calendar years.

Qualify for a higher level and you have that for the remainder of the year and the year after that as well - i.e. you 'qualified' though DG for rest of 2011 and 2012.

Re-qualify in 2012 and have and have for 2013 - the 4 stays in six months would not, I reckon, relate to qualifying this way.

I am HH Gold and requalified gold for 2012. My plan was to wait until June, then apply for the upgrade to HH Diamond via Velocity , and that I would then be HH diamond (assuming I do the 4 stays in 6 months which is no problem) until march 2014.

Reading the above though,it seems there is no point in waiting until June - I might as well apply for diamond now and would still have the status until 2014?

I'm in exactly the same situation and starting to think that I may as well "activate" Diamond now

I'm a little confused. I'm Hilton Gold til March 2013. If I apply my Hilton Diamond offer now and have 4 stays in 6 months, I probably will be Diamond til March 2014 (not March 2013) based on what I read above...Is that correct? If I wait to activate it in June this year, and have 4 stays within 6 months, I think I will definitely have Diamond til March 2014.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I'm confused too
I'm in the same situation as kpc .
Became Gold in March 2011, good until March 2013.
Options are:
Work on retaining Gold through stays /base points this year. Gold status through to March 2014
Activate the VA offer, Instant Diamond, do 4 stays and then I will be Diamond until March 2014.
I think there is no advantage to waiting to activate the Diamond offer now that its 2012 ?
In fact I will probably be able to change a couple of booking room types as I will have guaranteed Exec Lounge access which I don't currently get as Gold.