So with hotel chains vying for your business, you may be wondering which direction to turn. If you already have status in one and think you are likely to manage the stays required, there is little to lose by doing a status match or aiming for status in Marriott. With last year’s status being carried over anyway, now is a great time to get a different group status to give yourself more coverage worldwide.
In this post:
Hilton status match
Hilton has long done status matches, and I think I originally started with them with a status match many years ago. If you have any high status in a hotel chain you may wish to take advantage of the new 2021 Hilton status match offer. This will give you 90 days at the equivalent level in Hilton, plus you will be able to extend that to the full year if you make a minimum number of stays during the 90 days. I really like Hilton Gold and Diamond status as for my travel patterns they offer a lot of value for money. With free breakfast for both tiers and automatic lounge access for Diamond, it’s a good scheme. I also have a good success rate for suite upgrades as a Diamond.
The status match is particularly generous this year as if you meet the requirements you will get status until March 2023. Even the most pessimistic would expect travel to have returned to some sense of normality by then!
Which other hotel schemes and status levels can I match from?
Here are the ones most readers will have:
- World of Hyatt – Explorist, Globalist + Lifetime Globalist
- Accor ALL Gold + Platinum
- IHG Rewards Gold, Platinum + Spire
- Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Platinum, Titanium + Ambassador
- Radisson Rewards Gold +Platinum
There are a few more schemes listed plus “other” which is worth a go if you have something fairly mainstream such as Discovery GHA, Shangri-La or Langham for example.
What do I get?
- Hilton Gold for 90 days
- stay five nights during the 90 days and keep Hilton Honors Gold status to 31 March 2023
- stay nine nights during the 90 days and keep Hilton Honors Gold status to 31 March 2023
The 90 days starts from when you apply, not your first stay, so make sure you time it carefully!
What are the Benefits of Hilton Elite Status?
Hilton Honors elite status members will receive:
- Diamond – free breakfast, guaranteed lounge access, 100% bonus points, welcome bonus points, room upgrades (suites not included although occasionally offered nonetheless), late check-out (subject to availability, but often granted)
- Gold – free breakfast (or welcome bonus points), 80% bonus points, room upgrades (including to room types that include lounge access, however, this is not guaranteed), late check-out (subject to availability).
How do I apply?
- You need to go to statusmatch.hiltonhonors.com and fill in the form.
- Then you need to upload a jpg of your proof of status in another hotel chain. Acceptable forms of status proof include a screenshot of your current and active account status.
- Finally, you need to provide proof of stay within the last 12 months with the other Hotel Loyalty Program. Acceptable forms of stay validation include a screenshot of your recent reservations or hotel receipt, redacting any personal information other than your name and membership number.
HT: Australia’s Executive Traveller
Marriott Bonvoy 50% off renewing status & new double points/stays promotions
With most hotel chains offering easy ways to get status this year, it’s Marriott’s turn to get in on the action. One thing I love about Marriott is the fact that you get a guaranteed 4pm check out which is very useful with Platinum. They have already confirmed that status you earned in 2019 will be extended to 1 February 2022. However, they have now announced what else they will be doing to help you keep or gain status in 2021.
50% discount on renewing status in 2021
Marriott has announced that they will deposit half of the required Elite Night Credits for your 2021 Elite status into your account by 5 February 2021. This is quite clever psychologically, by showing a number already and how many left to get, it may spur people on to get status, rather than seeing a zero. In effect, it’s the same as Hilton’s get status for half the number of nights.
So this means that to requalify you will need:
- Ambassador Elite – 50 nights
- Titanium Elite – 38 nights
- Platinum Elite – 25 nights
- Gold Elite – 13 nights
- Silver Elite – 5 nights
They have also reduced the required spend for Ambassador Elite to $14K annual qualifying spend in 2021 only. In 2022, the spend requirement will return to $20K annually.
It’s great they have done that, but you may be thinking that many people will struggle to maintain status with that many nights still to get. One way to help would be to apply for a Marriott Bonvoy American Express as you get 15 nights credit with it. Fortunately, they have also rolled out a double night credit promotion…..
New Marriott stay promotion with double points and double night credits
The new promotion runs from 16 February until 22 April 2021. Any stays during this period regardless of when you booked them will count apart from reward stays. Obviously there will not be much of that period we are likely to be able to use in the UK, so hopefully they may do a similar offer again. The other catch is you must stay for a minimum of 2 nights which is a bit of a pain.
You will get both double points and double night credits on one room only per hotel stay within the promotion period (including stays that are only partially within). However, you must register in advance. Double points mean that you will now earn 20 points per $1 spent instead of 10.
I will publish the registration link when it is live.
In the meantime you can see all the current Marriott offers and waivers for Bonvoy members here.
1 comment
Yowser! Hello Hilton! Have been IHG platinum for years…Will be nice to move up in Hilton. I have a 2 week Frankfurt stay coming up in Hilton…perfect!
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