Bits: Hilton status match working, 30%-50% off non-flight Avios redemptions inc wine

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News in brief:

Hilton status matches working OK

I wrote about Hilton HHonors offering to match your status in another existing hotel programme last week.

The good news is that Hilton is now processing the matches successfully. I sent in a screenshot of my IHG Spire Elite status and my account was upgrading to Diamond. This is the first time that I have ever had top tier Hilton status, albeit that the extra benefits over Gold are not huge.

The main one, apart from better upgrades, is guaranteed club lounge access. Click here to see Hilton status benefits in full.

I also sent over my wife’s Accor Platinum status. This account shows no stay activity. She got a slightly bizarre response that said a) she could have a match if she verified the telephone number on her account (?) and then said b) she can’t have a match but if she sent a statement showing stay activity with a competitor she would get a ‘fast track’ offer. I have no interest in a Fast Track challenge for her – I may well wait until nearer the 11th January deadline for matches and simply re-apply.

Hyatt, on the other hand, has had an about-turn on its own status match. After offering Diamond to anyone who showed top tier status with a competitor, they are now restricting it to SPG Platinum members only. Everyone else will only receive Hyatt Platinum which only requires five stays to earn anyway – the list of Hyatt Platinum benefits is here.

Hyatt hasn’t even processed this for me yet, despite sending me an acknowledgement of receiving my match request. This will cost them some business as I would have moved my upcoming Istanbul trip to the Park Hyatt if I had been able to use a guaranteed Diamond suite upgrade.

30% to 50% off some avios.com ‘non flight’ redemptions

If you move your Avios points from British Airways Executive Club to avios.com, using ‘Combine My Avios‘, you can advantage of some interesting non-flight bargains.

Full details are here.

There are some wine selections reduced by 30%, quite a few ‘experience’ or ‘pampering day’ vouchers and a few annual memberships. These include the RHS, English Heritage, Tastecard, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and the National Trust for Scotland.

The biggest discounts are on spa days, helicopter rides, indoor karting, indoor skydiving and supercar driving, all reduced by roughly 50%.

These offers run to 14th December.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

Hilton Honors

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Tony says:

8 Dec8 December 11:19

I got a match on Accor Platinum too from HHonors Gold. Had a stay at the T5 Sofitel last week and have 5 upcoming Hilton stays (10 nights) which probably helped.
Stuart says:

8 Dec8 December 13:18

Hilton diamond match for IHG spire gained through credit card signup bonus (60k) & virgin transfer.

Took about 7 business days
Majunga says:

8 Dec8 December 15:52

Than you Rob. Matched to Diamond from IHG Plat.
Keith says:

8 Dec8 December 18:14

Applied Monday lunchtime with my Accor platinum which has had activity and matched to diamond by the morning so very happy.
fbrj says:

9 Dec9 December 07:53

Got a match to Diamond. Was blue HHonors (no stays) and supplied Accor Plat. Initially matched to HHonors Gold. Wrote back saying I was “disappointed”. Just heard “after further review” matched to Diamond. I have just completed 12 nights at various Sofitel hotels in Asia and elsewhere – reminder of this seemed to do the trick!
DW201 says:

9 Dec9 December 12:12

Interesting point to note:

I am currently diamond with Hilton and nothing with anyone else (practically live in hotels for work). I messed up this year and put too many stays through 3rd party websites so was only going to get gold next year (less bonus points and upgrades 🙁 ). Was going to accept this but this promo pissed me off that with all my stays all you keenos will be higher status than me despite no stays (in hilton or IHG from the sounds of things) 🙂

Wrote an email stating my displeasure about the stories on HFP and FT (and the 100k points promo I wasnt eligable for a few months back) and got an initial ‘jog on’ email back, replied stating that I was unhappy that my loyalty wasn’t being rewarded properly and today I get an email saying I am diamond till 2017 like the rest of you 🙂

Always worth a cheeky email…
- fbrj says:
  
  9 Dec9 December 14:42
  
  I can understand your frustration – but now I’ve got Diamond I will actively look at Conrad and Hilton, whereas before I wouldn’t have considered them and have stuck almost exclusively to Accor. So from Hilton’s point of view their matching is likely to generate new business that might otherwise have gone elsewhere. I am a 100% leisure traveller and although my Accor Plat initially came with an Amex card I now have earned Accor Plat in my own right. In other words my Plat status has been earned with my own cash – whereas yours (probably – unless your own business) has been provided by your employer. There are often two ways at looking at most “issues” – but glad your email did the trick – like mine!
  - DW201 says:
    
    9 Dec9 December 15:19
    
    Fair points! I do think that Gold would have been a pretty good deal (breakfast and lounge are available at this level) and would have separated those that have ‘earned’ it from those who have matched.
    
    Although to be honest my “frustration” was more jealousy that I hadn’t bothered to do the Virgin => IHG Spire transfer… (A similar feeling to my lazyness with the supercard or whatever it was called – ive already got a perfect exchange rate Debit card (N&P) so didnt bother with the trial assumin git would come out to everyone soon after 🙁 )
TheHotelier says:

9 Dec9 December 22:49

I tired my luck with my IHG Platinum, sent a kindly worded email and received HHonors Diamond in return, very happy as I use the Manchester Hilton a lot. Many thanks, this is a whole new world!
Peter says:

10 Dec10 December 11:28

Help please from the HfP community. Today is business day 9 and I have still not had a response from HHonors on my status match request (despite an automatic receipt stating “please allow up to 5 business days for your information to be processed”). I supplied all the requested information about my SPG Platinum status. I have just called HHonors customer care (UK) to be told that this particular status match request programme is being handed by email correspondence only out of Texas in the USA. Trawling through this thread I can see a couple of people seem to have either spoken to a relevant HHonors person and/or had one-to-one email correspondence with a HHonors employee and succeeded in pushing for a response and/or a reconsideration of their status match request. What should I do other than being patient? Thanks for your help.
- Rob says:
  
  10 Dec10 December 11:37
  
  If you got the automatic receipt I would relax, they will get to you.
- Louise says:
  
  11 Dec11 December 21:41
  
  Submitting my claim this morning, SPG Gold from Amex Plat – received reply tonight giving my Hilton Gold. 🙂