If there was ever a time when I was making a first world travel grump, it’s when I’m complaining that I can’t apply for a status match for top tier hotel status because I already have next to the top-level status. But that’s where I am and I’m just a smidge aggravated that I can’t apply for Hilton Diamond status.
Why can’t I? Because I’m already a Hilton Gold.
HARRUMPH!!!!!
Let’s set up this scenario.
I’ve been a Hilton Gold because of my American Express Platinum card.
As a Platinum Cardmember, you are invited to enroll in complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status1, an elite tier in Hilton Honors.
Even though I canceled the card, Hilton never dropped my status. Sure, I was happy about this during my first ever business trip where I was able to get free breakfast every morning. It also meant I earned an 80% bonus on the Hilton points earned for my stay. Sweet!
When I volunteered for my second ever business trip I was already figuring out how I might be able to work these stays into some sort of hotel status for the next year. This was going to be a two-week assignment and I’d be racking up 16 nights at a hotel. Surely there might a status match depending on the hotel chain.
I just got my travel plans from the corporate travel agent. I’ll be staying at a Hampton Inn. Awesome, I just read on One Mile At A Time about Hilton’s new status match program. If you stay 18 nights at a Hilton within 90 days of your match request, you’ll receive Diamond status until March 31, 2021. That would mean I’d have status thru our trip to Japan next year and I’m sure I’d be able to take advantage at least once during the vacation. All I’d need to do is stay for two more nights and I had an idea of a stay I could transfer to a Hilton to make that happen.
Then I read the terms of the status match:
Why are Gold and Diamond members restricted from Status Match?
Gold and Diamond members are already experiencing the benefits that come with elite Hilton Honors status; we will therefore not process these requests.
Because I’m already a Gold member, I can’t apply for a match to Diamond status.
Really? Like I shouldn’t even be a Gold status anymore. It’s your fault, Hilton, because you should have dropped me back to Member status when I canceled my Platinum card. If you would have done that, I could work the system to get to Diamond. But because of you, I’m stuck at Gold.
What does not being a Diamond keep me from that I don’t have as a Gold member?
I lose out on Lounge Access and I only get an 80% bonus on points instead of 100%. The rest of the benefits like status gifting and 48-hour room guarantee aren’t worth anything to me.
If I really wanted Hilton Diamond status that much, I could always apply for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card. It has a $450 annual fee but provides automatic Diamond status. If you’re interested in getting the card, you can use our AMEX referral link and get the 150,000 Honors points when signing up for the card. We get a referral bonus for everyone who signs up with our link, which helps keep the lights on at YMMV headquarters.
Looking at the differences in the levels I’m not sure I’m missing out on much by not being able to get to Hilton Diamond. I’m limited to upgrades to executive rooms and not 1-bedroom suites but we’re not suite upgrade people. The only other thing I’m missing out on is free Premium internet. We’re only playing our “Sleep” playlist on Spotify and not streaming Netflix so regular internet is enough to handle that bandwidth.
I would have loved if I could have worked this work trip into a way for me to get Hilton Diamond status but then I remember I don’t care about status. It’s bad enough that I had to spend a year with Sharon being a Marriott Platinum. Did I really want to worry about me being a Hilton Diamond for the next year? Sure I did but I’ll live without it.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
6 comments
Out of curiosity, did you see if you could have your gold status rescinded?
I could imagine the chaos this would cause at Hilton. Anyway, it doesn’t seem I’m missing out on much. I’ll be happy with the 80% bonus points on top of the current Hilton promo.
Umm who’s stopping you from getting the Aspire card?
I can think of 450 reasons I’m not applying for the Aspire card.
I can think of 2×250 + 250 + 150,000 + 1 reasons why you should, in addition to the Diamond status. How is this even a question? How does one write a blog post lamenting the lacking of Hilton Diamond status and expect to be taken seriously?
The card’s benefits exceed that amount. Why be so cheap?