For more than two years now, Hilton has been offering holders of Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cards a fast track to Gold status with 2 stays or 4 nights.
Given that Hilton Gold normally requires 20 stays/40 nights/US$7,500 in annual spending, this represents a great shortcut to elite benefits including room upgrades and free breakfast.
The latest iteration of this offer expired on 31 July 2019, and August went by with no updates. For a while it seemed like the plug had been well and truly pulled on this.
But here’s some good news: from 1 Sept 2019 to 31 Dec 2019, the Hilton Gold fast track promotion is back.
The SOP is the same as before. Navigate to the promotion landing page, agree to the T&C, register your eligible Visa Signature or Visa Infinite card, and provide your Hilton account details.
Once you register, you have 90 days to complete your 2 stays or 4 nights. If you’re successful, you’ll get Hilton Gold status for the rest of 2019 and 2020.
To re-qualify for Hilton Gold in 2021, you’ll need to make the usual 20 stays/40 nights/US$7,500 of spend from 1 Jan-31 Dec 2020. All stays must be booked directly with Hilton to qualify (i.e no OTA bookings).
Which cards are eligible for registration?
Any Singapore-issued Visa Signature or Infinite card will be eligible to register for this offer. Here are some entry-level ($30K income requirement) Visa Signature cards you can get:
- Citibank Rewards Visa Signature
- Maybank Horizon Visa Signature
- DBS Altitude Visa Signature
- UOB PRVI Miles Visa Signature
- Citibank PremierMiles Visa Signature
If you open your wallet, you’re bound to find at least one, probably two Visa Signature cards. That’s good, because should you register and fail to meet the fast track requirements, you will not be able to register again with the same card. You can, however, create a new Hilton account and use a different Visa Signature card to register.
Other points to note
Conrad BangkokBased on past experience, award stays have counted towards the 2 stay/4 night criteria. However, given that Hilton no longer counts award stays under its main status challenge program, I wouldn’t be so confident the same still applies.
If you’re booking a revenue rate, do note that there’s no need to actually use the registered Visa card to book or pay. You can if you want to, but the purpose of the Visa Signature/Infinite card is simply to get your foot in the door for the challenge.
Remember that consecutive nights at the same property booked separately will still be counted as a single stay, so the easiest path towards qualifying would involve either doing a single 4-night stay, or doing two 1-night stays.
Conclusion
Breakfast at Hilton SandtonHilton Gold may not be the highest tier in the program, but it is arguably the most useful mid-tier hotel status out there because of the free breakfast and upgrade perks.
If you’re thinking about taking up this status challenge, you should also consider first getting instant Hilton Silver via the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend so that you can earn a bonus 15% points when making your qualifying stays.
You could also consider booking your four night stay through the Citi Prestige, in order to get the fourth night free. Rates booked by the Citi Prestige concierge will qualify for Hilton status credit.
(HT: Georgina)
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