Hilton has been offering a status match for several years now, which allows anyone with elite status from a competing hotel chain to match it to the Hilton Honors programme, bypassing the regular qualification requirements.
Successful applicants receive an instant upgrade to Hilton Gold for a 90-day period, which provides free breakfast and the possibility of a room upgrade or late check-out— perks which could be especially useful for an upcoming trip.
Completing six nights during the 90-day period will further extend Hilton Gold status through to the end of March 2028. Alternatively, completing 12 nights will upgrade the member to Hilton Diamond, also valid till the end of March 2028.
Hilton Honors 2026 status match programme
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The Hilton Honors 2026 status match programme is now accepting applications. To apply for a status match, you’ll need to provide your Hilton Honors account number and:
- proof of status with a competing chain
- proof of a “recent stay”
Hilton does not define how recent your stay must be, but for last year’s status match, it was defined as one stay within the past 24 months with the competing chain.
Once you submit your registration, Hilton will evaluate it and provide a decision within 5-7 business days. If your status match is approved, you’ll get instant Hilton Gold status for a 90-day period.
During this 90-day period:
- Staying six nights will extend your Hilton Gold status till 31 March 2028
- Staying 12 nights will upgrade you to Hilton Diamond status till 31 March 2028
This is a slight reduction from the eight (Gold) and 14 (Diamond) nights required for last year’s status match, and reflects the reduced qualification criteria for 2026.
Award stays do not count towards achieving the status match requirement. Moreover, you can’t count stays completed before your status match was approved, so be sure to submit your request well in advance of an upcoming stay.
While the FAQs say that only Hilton members with Silver or no elite status are eligible for the status match, this is contradicted by the T&Cs, which say that only Hilton Diamond members are excluded. For what it’s worth, I suspect the FAQs are correct, based on past years’ matches.
Which programmes will be matched?
Hilton’s T&Cs say that it will only match elite statuses from hotel loyalty programmes listed in the status dropdown menu, namely:
- Accor Live Limitless
- Accor ALL Signature (Brazil)
- Best Western Rewards
- Choice Privileges
- Fiesta Rewards (Grupo Posadas)
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
- Radisson Rewards
- World of Hyatt
- Wyndham Rewards
Despite the wording, Hilton also has an “Other” category, with manual input for hotel loyalty programme and tier. There’s no harm trying to match Shangri-La Circle or GHA DISCOVERY status this way, though past data points have reported rejections.
If you’re rejected, there is a potential workaround through Best Western, who have a very liberal “status match, no catch” programme. This doesn’t require you to submit any proof of stay, and from what I hear will match pretty much everyone.
Keep in mind this won’t override the stay requirement, so you’ll still need to do at least one stay with a Best Western hotel to submit your application.
What benefits do Hilton elite members enjoy?
Here’s a quick recap of the benefits offered at various levels of the Hilton programme.
Hilton Gold is arguably the sweet spot for hotel status, since it gives you complimentary breakfast for two adults (except in the USA, where they’re doing that annoying F&B credit instead) that can save you a lot of money at expensive resorts.
Hilton Diamond offers some incremental benefits like lounge access and supposedly better room upgrades, though your success with the latter will really vary depending on geography and when you stay.
In any case, Hilton Diamond is no longer the top dog from 2026, following the introduction of a new Diamond Reserve tier that requires 80 nights and US$18,000 of eligible spend. This adds benefits such as 4 p.m guaranteed late check-out, plus advance upgrade awards that can be used to book suites.
Conclusion
Hilton Honors has extended its status match programme, which grants Hilton Gold upfront, and the possibility of retaining it or further upgrading to Diamond by completing six or 12 nights within a 90-day period.
The nights requirement this year has been reduced slightly to match the reduced qualifying criteria, and represents just under half of the normal requirement.
If you’ve managed to match a programme other than the ones listed in the drop down box, do let us know!
Didn’t they use to allow existing Hilton Diamond members to apply for the fast track status match so you didn’t have to stay as many nights to maintain your Diamond status?
They have, and I was offered this over the phone with the Diamond Desk. A lot of it has to do with literally the fact there are no Hilton properties to stay at in certain cities on certain dates when one is there. I just found out today that my Diamond went to Silver despite the fact that I met the quota for a fast track to keep Diamond in Jan 2024. I didn’t have any time to call because the diamond desk closes really early. When I first became Gold, Hilton Honors in Dallas Call Center over the phone… Read more »
Hilton is terrible, I’m diamond and all they do is take away benefits each year.
Given the restrictions for Hilton Diamond in US, I’d much rather use Marriott Platinum benefits instead which gives free lounge access there, and you’d get free and really good breakfast spread.
Can i apply for the status match only in November?
Hi Milelion, I submitted my Hilton status match application 3 days ago and just got approved. Hoe\However, the email I received says the status will only be retained till 31 March 2025 instead of 31 March 2026 upon completing the challenge: “xxxx, We’ve upgraded you to Gold. Thank you for choosing Hilton. We’ve upgraded your status to Gold for the next 90 days. Just be sure to stay at least 8 nights within that time period to extend your status through March 31, 2025. If you stay for 14 nights within the next 90 days, we’ll upgrade you to… Read more »
only hilton knows. given that their website says 31 march 2026 in black and white, i would certainly raise the question.
Tried requesting a status match using GHA Discovery Titanium and received the following reply via email. 😅
Thank you for your interest in Hilton Honors elite status. We cannot process your request with the provided documentation as the program is ineligible.
Here is the list of eligible competitor brands:
– Marriott Bonvoy
– IHG Rewards Club
– World of Hyatt
– Best Western Rewards
– Choice Privileges
– Le Club Accor Hotels
– Radisson Rewards
– Wyndham Rewards
Please resubmit your documents via the online status match page for re-evaluation within 5-7 business days.
I had the same experience. But it made me think of a workaround – MC world instant status with Wyndham, stay 1 night, status match to Hilton.