Hotel Elite Status Series: Hilton HHonors

Posted by Noob Master on Jan 15, 2013 in Axon and Glon, Credit Cards, Hilton Honors, Hotels, Points, Uncategorized | 2 comments

I like having hotel status because it can make my stay more comfortable, save me $$$, make me feel like a VIP, and impress my wife (most importantly). Plus, there are easy ways to achieve hotel status. You can either sign-up for a hotel rewards card (gasp), status match, accumulate paid stays (what?), or through rewards card spending. I’m continuing my Hotel Elite Status Series with Hilton HHonors today. Awesome Sauce.

Hotel Elite Status Series

• Hyatt GoldPassport 
• Hilton HHonors

Status levels/requirements

Silver Status:

You will receive Silver status with 4 stays or 10 nights. The perks are:

Rewards cards

If you love earning points through rewards cards, then Hilton is your hotel group. There’s a plethora (3 amigos) of cards that can generate Hilton HHonors points. I won’t go over all these options now, since I have done so extensively in the past.

I hold two Hilton-branded cards: the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card and the American Express Hilton HHonors card. They both hold a special place in my heart for different reasons.

The Citi Hilton Reserve card comes with a sign-up bonus of 2 free weekend night certificates after spending $2,500 in 4 months. Other perks are:

• Earn 10 HHonors Bonus Points per $1 spent on hotel stays within the Hilton HHonors portfolio
• Earn 5 HHonors Bonus Points per $1 spent on airline and car rental purchases
• Earn 3 HHonors Bonus Points per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases
• Enjoy the benefits of HHonors Gold status as long as you are a cardmember
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases
• Travel with ease and enjoy global acceptance with your Citi chip credit card
• Earn an anniversary bonus of 1 weekend night certificate at select hotels and resorts within the Hilton HHonors portfolio each cardmembership year with qualifying purchase

I love this card because it gives me Hilton Gold status for as long as I hold the card! That’s free breakfast, Internet, and possible room upgrade to the Executive Floor and it’s Lounge. It’s also great for International travel, because it has zero foreign transaction fees, and it’s a chip card.

If you spend $10,000 annually on your Reserve card, you will get an additional free weekend night certificate. And if you spend $40,000 in a calendar year – you will receive Diamond Status. Balling.

The $95 annual fee isn’t waived for the first year, but the perks warrant the fee (in my opinion). I’m hanging onto this card for awhile.

Plus, you can get TWO of these cards at ONCE via the double browser trick. Here’s video proof. 

I hold the American Express Hilton HHonors card so I can have access to AXON awards. There’s also no annual fee on this card, so I will keep it forever. That is, if I don’t upgrade it to the Amex Surpass. I also get 6x points per $1 at grocery stores, drug stores, and gas stations.

That brings us to the American Express Surpass card. You will receive 40,000 Hilton HHonors points after first purchase, and another 20,000 after spending $3,000 in 3 months.

The Amex Surpass cards gives you Gold status for the first year only, then you have to spend $20,000 annually to maintain your Gold status. Ouch. It does have the same option to earn Diamond status after spending $40,000 in a calendar year.

You do get the perk of earning 6x points at grocery stores, drug stores, and gas stations. The $75 annual fee isn’t waived.

Status matching

Hilton HHonors doesn’t offer a very lucrative status match, but you do have some options. You must have proof of your stays, so status earned from signing up for other programs rewards cards won’t get you very far with Hilton. Sad face. As usual, it doesn’t hurt to have some upcoming Hilton stays booked before you email Hilton.

You can email Hilton and send a pdf of your status activity with your current hotel group, and see what they come back with. It seems there’s a Gold status challenge of 4 stays in 90 days, or there’s Diamond status challenge of 21 nights in 90 days.

Check out this Flyertalk thread for more details.

Award chart

Here’s the standard award chart for Hilton HHonors:

Standard Award Chart

And here’s the award chart for Waldorf-Astoria properties:

Waldorf Award Chart

Yeah, these are steep prices, but we all know Hilton HHonors points can be earned in bunches. There’s the Citi Hilton and Hilton Reserve cards, Amex Hilton and Hilton Surpass, plus you can transfer points/miles earned from 2 Hawaiian and the Virgin Atlantic cards (1:2). So yeah, there are options (don’t forget about the double browser tricks on the Citi cards, too).

But the real value is taking advantage of AXON and GLON awards. Check it – it’s important.

Tip: Try searching for awards while “signed out of your HHonors account” if you aren’t seeing any availability.

My strategy

I’m loving my Gold status with Hilton, and I’ll probably just have to be content with it. I’ve thought about running the $40,000 necessary through my Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card for Diamond status, but that’s a lot of trips to CVS!

Plus, I’m not sure the difference between Gold and Diamond is worth it. At least not for me, where it would take some managing to meet the $40,000 spending threshold. If the $40,000 isn’t an issue, then why the h@#% wouldn’t you go for it?! I do love that they have the option to spend for top tier status.

I will meet the $10,000 threshold on my Citi Reserve for the free weekend night certificate. I’ll also keep earning HHonors points by using my Amex Hilton card for Vanillas Reloads at CVS every now and then. I’m not looking to abuse it, and honestly I would rather earn Ultimate Rewards points, but 6x Hilton HHonors points per $1 isn’t bad.

I’ll probably be adding a Hawaiian Airlines card to my next app party too, so I can transfer the miles to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio. Like I said Hilton HHonors points are flying from the sky!

My next planned stays at Hiltons will be in Dublin and London on our upcoming trip in May. Can’t wait!

If you aren’t a member of Hilton HHonors you can sign up here.

Learn to love it.

[Disclaimer: I receive a referral for the Citi Hilton Reserve, but not the other cards. But, don't let that stop you from applying.]

— Noob Master