To begin, yet another PSA: The Hilton group is currently having a 40% flash sale across Asia Pacific. The sale ends at the end of 9 Dec 2016 SGT and is valid for stays completed from 8 Dec 2016 to 17 Apr 2017. This represents great value, especially if coupled with ongoing points promotions (currently until 31 Jan 2017). It’s a great time to book some regional travel or staycations!
Anyway – once upon a time, when I was first introduced on the MileLion Facebook page, I was referred to as ‘a Hilton man’. It’s been almost three months since, so I figure it’s about time for me to get to work on bringing balance to the Force coverage of competing hotel loyalty programmes on this site.
First off, a confession: The number one reason I’m currently concentrating on Hilton properties is really to maximise the use of my Diamond status obtained through the insanely generous but now-defunct status match offer. I’ve also not been patronising the other major chains (e.g. SPG) much so I might not actually know what I’m missing!
That said, I was pretty happy back when I was a HHonors Gold member, and still recommend the programme to friends considering pledging their allegiance to a particular hotel chain. For me, it really boils down to three main factors: easy maintenance, decent benefits and generous bonuses.
Easy Maintenance (for VI cardholders)
I don’t travel for work very often, so I actually find it difficult to earn status with any hotel programme. Thank goodness for fast track / status match options! Aaron’s previously covered various options available for a number of programmes – my favourite remains the 2 stays (or 4 nights) fast track with a Visa Infinite.
The nice thing about this option is that you can trigger it even before your current status expires – for example, if it’s expiring in Mar 2017, it’s possible to kickstart the VI fast track process now such that you have Gold seamlessly extended until Mar 2018.
A VI is not necessarily the easiest card to apply for, but if you value the benefit(s) enough it might be worth considering tying up some assets with the issuing bank in order to get one.
(This is in fact the main reason I keep my CIMB Visa Infinite around. Before 2016 they actually used to grant Gold status instantly without the need for stays – seems like Hilton’s decided they have more than enough status-holding guests now, though!)
Decent Benefits
If you compare the fast track options available out there, you might notice that it’s actually easier to attain SPG Gold (and LeClub Gold if you’re willing to pay), but a comparison of these tiers reveals that HHonors Gold is the only one of the lot worth bothering with (to me, at least).
The Points Guy compared different programmes and tiers some time last year and not all that much has changed since then – Hilton and Marriott are often considered to have the best mid-tier programmes. I’ve broken down the key features of the programmes we have accelerated access to below, omitting common features like accelerated point gain and late check-out that they all have:
| Qualification Requirements | Express Fast Track | Key Benefits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marriott Rewards Gold | 26 stays/50 nights | Link existing SPG Gold account |
|
| Hilton HHonors Gold | 20 stays/30 nights | With Visa Infinite, stay 4n or 2 stays at Hilton properties within 90 days | (For Conrad, Hilton & DoubleTree)
|
| LeClub AccorHotels Gold | 30 nights | Pay for ibis Business Card for 90 euros (less VAT) |
|
| Starwood Preferred Guest Gold | 10 stays/25 nights | Payment with World Mastercard, 1 stay in Asian Pacific property |
|
It’s not quite comparing apples to apples – you can see that it typically takes more stays to qualify for HHonors Gold than SPG Gold, for instance. Still, since these are the membership tiers that are available for fast track, it makes sense to compare these (relatively) easily attained membership tiers and see what nets you the best benefits.
To me, the main differentiator between HHonors and SPG Gold is the confirmed free breakfast, and the possibility of being upgraded to executive levels (with executive lounge access). While the latter is not guaranteed by any chance, a fair number of properties tend to be pretty generous and allow access to Golds as well as Diamonds (it helps to do some research beforehand).
I’ve not really tried Marriott or AccorHotels yet as I’ve found these chains to be have fewer properties in the places I tend to go. Although – with the current option to link your SPG to Marriott accounts, this puts Marriott Gold in relatively easy reach. The listed benefits look great and I’m rather inclined to give the chain a try – it probably makes sense to look at the areas you’re likely to travel to and check the availability of properties in those regions.
Generous Bonuses
HHonors Gold members get an additional 25% HHonors points from room bookings. Assuming you have set your account to the Points + Points earning style, that’s a total of 175% of the usual earning rate, or 17.5 HHonors points per US dollar spent. Using OMAAT’s 0.4¢ valuation of HHonors points, that’s about a 7% return in value on your hotel spend.
Over the past year in particular, HHonors has been running various promotions that accelerate the accrual of HHonors Points. I’ve highlighted some of these before – but right now, some of the ongoing offers (which can be stacked) include:
- Double points (triple if booked over app) – extended till 31 Jan 2017
- Visa 5000 points – till 31 Jan 2017
- Visa double points in Asia Pacific – till 31 Dec 2016
If all the stars align and you manage to book a stay in the Asia Pacific region on the Hilton app and pay with an eligible Visa card, you’ll net quadruple points on top of what you usually get, or 47.5 points per USD spent. How does a 19% rebate sound to you? Because that’s what it effectively amounts to – and that’s not including the bonus 5000 points (a US$20 value)!
These bonus points really go a long way towards redeeming additional free nights, and I hope these offers continue through 2017…
Conclusion
There are only so many hotel status tiers available for fast track in our local market, and of the lot, I find that Hilton HHonors Gold is a solid choice.
More recently, Marriott Rewards Gold has become a tempting option since it can now effectively be matched from SPG Gold. Perhaps I’ll reevaluate the situation when my Diamond status finally lapses? For now, I’m probably sticking with Hilton.
Glad to see a Hilton fan here!
When you guys travel, don’t you like to try hotels that look better or more interesting than a branded hotel?
I like airmiles like all of you, but I rather book a hotel i am interested in via hotels.com. their reward scheme is good, book 10 rooms, get 1 room back free at the average rate of the 10 rooms.
Usually I’d agree (I used to stick with OTA bookings in the past); however, with fast track status available I’d say it depends. How much do you value the occasional upgrade, for instance? Executive lounge access? I personally rather enjoy these benefits, and I’ve also found it helps to have a corporate HQ to raise issues with, if the actual property is unable to resolve them. (I use a similar line of reasoning for flights – when paying for my own flights I typically just stick with whatever’s cheap and convenient. When I previously held (Cathay Pacific) Marco Polo Gold… Read more »
I have 2 issues with OTAs.
No walk policy and no upgrades.
That is not worth the savings.
One of friends had a booking at a hotel that went on strike, the OTA simply refunded the money and had my friend rebooked at another hotel, lower tier and at the higher prices.
SPG requires 10 stays or 25 nights for gold.
Thanks! Will get that updated.
(That’ll teach me to rely on secondary sources…)
My free Hilton Gold will expire in Mar 2017, I think. Would I be able to get it again? Can it be from the same card or another VI card?
My personal experience from 2013/2014 was that you could renew status seamlessly using the same VI card. Nothing in the T&C prohibits this.
Why not just try it now, and see how it goes? My wife recently activated the VI Gold challenge and didn’t get any email update regarding it; had to email HHonors to check (and they verified that the 90-day challenge had started). She’s currently on a matched Diamond status, so I think it’s highly likely that you can just use the same VI to extend your current Gold status…
I heard award nights also count towards the challenge. Is that right?
No personal experience here but I’ve heard the same (that award nights count). 2x DoubleTree JB stays, perhaps?
I have the same issue. I got my Hilton Gold from VI. I am actually interested to know if we can do status match with any other Hotel Program before my Gold Status expires in 2017. Any readers here have any luck in doing status match?
this was a few years ago but I got my hilton gold matched to ihg. this was back in the day when they didn’t ask for any proof of activity with hilton, just a scan of your membership card, mind you. the rules may have since changed.
I usually check at statusmatcher.com – recent reports indicate successful matces from HHonors to chains like Club Carlson, Best Western, Loews… may or may not be useful, depending on where you travel.
Hi Aaron, I recall there was some hilton or ihg fast-track by credit cards Singapore credit cards. Do you know if it’s still available ?
any Visa infinite cardholder can do the 4 stays to gold challenge
do I need to use the VI to pay for the stay?
Nope…
The HHonors Points 80% Bonus with a minimum 5,000 points purchase is available on purchases made between January 19, 2017 at 12:01am ET and February 17, 2017, at 11:59pm ET. Hilton HHonors™ and Points reserve the right to change or terminate the discount promotion at any time. All purchases must be made through the Purchase page on HHonors.com.
Good buy?
I personally don’t buy HHonors points, even on sale – you can take a look at this OMAAT post with some illustrations.
That said, if you already know specifically what you would like to redeem, you can just check if the value you get exceeds 56¢ (US) per point, which is the approximate cost during this promotion.
(Also, promo was almost over by the time you’d commented, I think!)
I bought 50K points to top up my account to make a specific booking over the Easter weekend. In that case the maths was easy and I saved over a $100.
I agree with the general consensus that its unwise to buy points speculatively – which is what Hilton would love you to do…
Hi, the 2 stays or 4 nights, is it for every calender year? Eg currently I’m already gold via visa infinite, but expiring soon. However, last year I stayed 6x about 10 nights. Will I continue to be gold? In my app it’s showing 20 stays in 2017 to retain gold. Should I call now or wait to see if my gold is extended? Thanks for advice/info.
It’s per year; not automatic. You’ll need to initiate the challenge again in order to re-qualify.
There’s been some debate about whether you can continuously request the match, but I’ve not had problems with doing so thus far (have only tried twice, though).
I went on hilton chat, and the CSR told me the same. She did say can re-register yearly though. I’m going to go for it, hopefully have enough stays/night before my gold expires.
Hi Aaron
I just got scammed by a Hilton. A few days after checking out, my credit card got charged for internet which I did not use. Every email I send in stating I did not purchase internet gets the same reply.. I purchased it so I need to pay for it. What do you advise I do in this situation?
I’ve never encountered this before, so can only make some general suggestions. I assume you’re not a Hilton Honors member, since internet access should be complimentary for even entry-level members (and it’s free to register). Some thoughts: 1) Sounds like internet usage was only charged later – was it not reflected in the bill upon check out? Only added later? That’s rather odd, in itself. 2) Would ask the property for details of login access, like date/time, data used, MAC address… they should be prepared to substantiate their claim of internet usage, if they’re charging for it. 3) If making… Read more »
Bump for help!
Thanks for the advice. Will give it another shot!
If all else fails, trigger charge back on your credit card.
I tried but it didn’t work. This is unlike a fraudulent charge where you can dispute it. It was a charge at a merchant whose services I used. The bank can easily argue it is between me and the merchant should the merchant charge me for additional services I did not consume.
what louist said is helpful. do you have any status with hilton? did you book via official site or via third party? which property is this?
Hi Aaron I emailed three times in the past week to multiple Hilton email addresses. I asked for a breakdown of charges and questioned why I was not charged at check out and only one day later. I only received one reply… that it has been forwarded to the hotel but so far the hotel has not tried to contact me. I could call them… but given Iwould need to pay international calling rates that might not be a good idea for a USD9.95 charge. I booked via a third party but that is irrrlevant. I never told the check… Read more »
Cancel your card and request for a new credit card with a different number. That should stop all the upcoming charges at least.
Would have tried the credit card chargeback route but sounds like you’ve already done so. Surprised that the card company will not allow a chargeback for a sum you did not sign for, especially with documentary proof of having attempted to dispute the charge with the merchant, even asking for usage details (and being ignored by them). For the customer service route, can try the FlyerTalk forum rep or even @HiltonHelp on Twitter. The latter is also supposed to be quite responsive. The former might work better since there is a dedicated person staffing the account, rather than a pool… Read more »
[…] this is mid-tier status, but it’s been mentioned numerous times that Hilton Gold is probably just as good as Hilton Diamond, and I can’t think of too many cards that come with top-tier status in any […]
[…] Gold may not be the highest level in the program, but Louis has made the point that Hilton Diamond doesn’t represent a lot of incremental value over Gold, given that Hilton Diamond benefits are rather lackluster (no official suite upgrades policy, no […]
do I need to use the VI to pay for the stay?
Previously, no. But that’s a bit of a moot point, given that the fast track is no longer being offered right now.