Get Hilton Diamond with just 9 nights (or days) with a new Hilton status match

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Hilton Honors has offered a status challenge program for years, letting you match your elite status from Marriott Bonvoy, IHG Rewards Club etc for Hilton Gold or Diamond.

Hilton has now reduced the status challenge requirements, effectively cutting the required number of nights in half.

You can now get Hilton Honors Diamond Elite with just nine nights (or day rooms) or Gold Elite for five nights (or day rooms).

Hilton has also extended the validity of the status you receive by a year to March 2023.

Clearly most of us won’t be stepping into a hotel for a couple of months at least, but it is worth keeping in mind for when you do start travelling again. There is no cut-off date for applications.

Day rooms will also count as nights for the purposes of this match. If you cannot work from home at the moment, you can book day rooms relatively cheaply via hilton.com. Simply select the same day for check-in and check-out.

How to get a Hilton Honors status match

If you have considered switching your hotel stays to Hilton but don’t want to go ‘cold turkey’ because you have status with your main chain, Hilton has a solution.

Via this link, you can match your existing status with another hotel loyalty programme into Hilton Honors. You must be at least ‘mid tier’ although Hilton will define at its discretion what counts from each particular scheme.

You can definitely match from the following programmes:

Accor Live Limitless
Best Western Rewards
Choice Privileges
IHG Rewards Club
Marriott Bonvoy
Radisson Rewards
World of Hyatt
Wyndham Rewards

It is not clear if other schemes are still accepted. Hilton recently changed the terms and conditions to say:

“Only elite statuses from another hotel loyalty program that are listed in the status dropdown menu are eligible for status matching.”

….. but the dropdown menu still includes an ‘Other’ option!

How does the Hilton Honors status match work?

The match rules are simple:

You will receive Hilton Honors Gold Elite status for 90 days from the date of acceptance (usually 5-7 days after you email your request)

To keep Gold Elite until March 2023, you need to complete 5 nights (or days) for cash within 90 days

To be upgraded to Diamond Elite until March 2023, you need to complete 9 nights (or days) for cash within 90 days

Note that, as well as having status in another programme, you must also have evidence of a stay within the last 12 months with that programme. If, for example, you have IHG Rewards Club Platinum status via the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard, you would also need to show evidence of an IHG stay in order to be matched.

The match is only available for Hilton Silver Elite or base members. You cannot use it to get Diamond if you are already Gold.

How do you get a Hilton Honors status match?

Is a Hilton Honors status match worth doing?

Potentially, yes.

Hilton Gold Elite is generally seen as the best mid-tier hotel status because it gets you free breakfast. You don’t get free breakfast with IHG Rewards Club even if you are a top tier Spire Elite member!

Hilton Diamond Elite comes with guaranteed lounge access, when the hotel has a lounge. Again, good luck with that as an IHG elite member.

Timing is key, of course.

Once you are accepted, you get the benefits of Gold status for 90 days. There is no point triggering this match now unless you are staying in hotels for work or other essential purposes.

Given the fairly quick turn-around time, your best bet is to trigger the challenge when you can be more certain of completing the required stays.

You can apply for your Hilton Honors status match here.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (December 2021)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card? It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status. We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with American Express Gold (20,000 bonus points), the American Express Rewards Credit Card (5,000 bonus points) and – for small business owners – American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus points) and Business Platinum (40,000 bonus points).

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points.

(Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Category

Hilton Honors

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

Iris says:

16 Jan16 January 07:02

What is the experience of status matching Hilton Diamond to Marriott Platinum Elite in recent times? Do they ask you to stay a number of nights within 90 days? If yes, how many? Have those been reduced too?
- jil says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 07:57
  
  Marriott Platinum Elite requires stay 15 nights in 90 days to keep it.
- John says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 11:29
  
  I was Marriott Gold, triggered the Diamond->PE match in October as it then looked like I could do the 15 nights and perhaps the PE benefits would make it worthwhile switching, two more lockdowns put paid to that!
  
  We did fit in a couple of breaks with PE status, but aside from the points boost there was no benefit – breakfast was included in bookings anyway – both bookings were for exec room/suite.
  
  In spite of both hotels being at very low occupancy and with significantly reduced facilities, neither offered a room upgrade. At St.Pancras there was a vague mention of a one-off drink and snack as ‘compensation’ for the Chambers Club being closed, wow.
  
  In comparison, with Hilton Diamond we’ve been upgraded on almost every stay.
  
  Obviously others may do better out of PE, but I felt no incentive to switch default choice away from Hilton.
  - Harry T says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 14:31
    
    I was Marriott Platinum for the majority of the latter half of 2021 and was essentially always upgraded from a base room to a suite (I did prompt if it wasn’t immediately offered). Lots of free breakfast too, which was useful as it wasn’t normally included in the healthcare rate I used. Maybe I just chose more elite friendly hotels?
  - Anuj says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 19:37
    
    Does anyone know if I can trigger the Marriott status match by applying for the Amex card for 13 nights and then stay another 2?
    - Rob says:
      
      16 Jan16 January 21:00
      
      No. Reward nights don’t count either.
Yau says:

16 Jan16 January 09:23

I am a Hilton gold now, how many nights do I need to stay to achieve Hilton platinum? Do I need to enroll in this matching scheme to achieve platinum with just 9 nights?
- Mr(s) Entitled says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 09:31
  
  The article states that if you are Gold the scheme is not open to you.
  - babyg says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 10:46
    
    Yeah i tried this last year as a GOLD – and as the article states “You cannot use it to get Diamond if you are already Gold.” Hilton would not budge for me, i ended up with diamond thanks to the double reward bonus after 15 nights (10 planned – 5 work space/overnight bookings), silly they exclude GOLDs.
- Steven says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 09:36
  
  You could always enroll your other half if they are not a Gold HH member.
james says:

16 Jan16 January 09:45

Further devaluation of the Diamond level, Hilton have been great up to now but they are in danger of going too far
- babyg says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 10:47
  
  yawn – thats fine to say during normal times, but its empty everywhere… perhaps towards mid 2023 it could become an issue…
- Mike says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 15:06
  
  Status match Diamonds are at the bottom of the list for upgrades. Guests are ranked by stays, £ value and other criteria.
  - Brian W says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 18:48
    
    How do you know that @Mike? Assuming you work for Hilton?
    
    I’ve always wondered what factors make a difference, what are the other criteria involved that you’ve mentioned?
    - Mike says:
      
      17 Jan17 January 11:02
      
      No Diamond is alike. The Best Guest ranking helps Front Desk staff allocate their attention where it is best placed. Hotels can see in an instant that you’re Diamond with a few stays and any FOM worth his/her salt (lol) can put two and two together. They can see also see your total points (on the system).
      
      It seems obvious they need a way to allocate upgrades when there are a finite number of premium rooms and an ever increasing number of Diamonds.
      
      I know of a FOM who was fully aware of Chinese customers with photoshopped matches bought from Alibaba and employees working for the likes of Accenture with Diamond and 2 stays.
      
      One thing to bear in mind is that while hotels are empty it’s false to assume that means upgrades are easier due to fewer Elite guests. I know of a couple of hotels that have fewer premium rooms as a proportion of rooms for sale than pre-Covid for upgrades. It’s harder to sell expensive rooms hence those rooms are closed off. There’s an higher cost to service a premium room, housekeeping, supplies etc all the while room rates are rock bottom. Certain countries require hotels to leave rooms unoccupied for 24-48 hours between guests, further squeezing inventory and revenue.
      
      Moreover, across all the chains owners are relatively free to do as they please with little likelihood of sanction.
      Hilton’s number 1 priority is to keep doors open so they can cream off some of the revenue. An open hotel that is losing its owners money is better for Hilton than a shuttered hotel even if its just a few % of what it was paying them last year.
Dave says:

16 Jan16 January 09:47

I was on the challenge at the end of last year. I’m two night short as two of my reservations got cancelled (by Hilton) due to the strict Scottish lockdown. It’s against the law to travel outwith my council to get to the nearest Hilton. Are Hilton likely to grant me the status, or at least extend the challenge, since I would have been diamond had they not cancelled my bookings?
- Blenz101 says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 12:43
  
  From what I have read on here you are likely to be out of luck as whilst the matching is generous Hilton do apparently like to stick to the rules.
  
  In Hilton’s defence, 90 days is pretty generous to get the required number of nights in, especially as they were offering double credit last year.
  - Dave says:
    
    17 Jan17 January 17:23
    
    Thanks that’s what I thought. Hilton cancelled all my remaining bookings due to Scottish gov rules. My 90 days was more like half that!
Venturelog says:

16 Jan16 January 10:10

Hi Rob
I don’t think this article applies now, as you need 18 nights or stays. The double promo finished on the 31st dec 2020.
- FFoxSake says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 10:16
  
  It does still apply – did you actually click the link in the article?
  
  match to Gold
  Stay 5 nights within your 90 day trial period to keep Gold status through March 31, 2023.
  
  upgrade to Diamond
  Stay 9 nights within your 90 day trial period and we’ll upgrade your status to Diamond through March 31, 2023.
  - Venturelog says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 10:21
    
    Yes your right, apologies
- Rob says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 11:13
  
  No, Hilton has relaunched the match.
Prins Polo says:

16 Jan16 January 14:40

Any rumors Hyatt may be offering a match on a similar basis?
Neil says:

16 Jan16 January 15:29

So to be clear…

As a Gold Member, this isn’t available to me. However, so long as I achieve 15 nights on 2021, I will still receive Platinum until March’23…. Surely achieving 15 nights in 12 months is easier than 9 nights in 2.5 months!?! Or have I missed something?!
- TJ says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 16:22
  
  For 2021, Diamond is 30 nights or 15 stays (https://hiltonhonors3.hiltond3.com/rs/even-more/faq/).
  - Neil says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 17:52
    
    So I am correct then….?! You can do 15x 1 night stays and get diamond …
    
    “ 2. Can a Member qualify for status in 2021 through stays or Base Points?
    Yes, the ability to qualify for status through nights, stays, or Base Points remains. Similar to nights, stay and base point requirements have been reduced by 50% (Silver: 2 stays or 12,500 Base Points; Gold: 10 stays or 37,500 Base Points; Diamond: 15 stays or 60,000 Base Points).”
    
    So it’s 30x nights OR 15x stays OR 60,000 points…
    
    Clarification welcomed!
    - DT says:
      
      16 Jan16 January 18:35
      
      Yes you are correct, though for some 9 nights is easier than 15 stays.
      
      For example my stays in the last 10 months and for the next few months are 5+ days at a time. I hit 38 nights last year, with Q4 stays doubling in nights to total 66 status nights. But only had 9 stays
      - Brian W says:
        
        16 Jan16 January 19:35
        
        How could some people earn 15 stays yet earn less than 9 nights for those stays? Is it not the case that 9 nights is easier to earn, as opposed to 15 stays, for everyone?
    - Steven says:
      
      16 Jan16 January 20:26
      
      Would AMEX Membership Points converted to HH points count towards the 60,000 base point requirement? TIA
      - Rob says:
        
        16 Jan16 January 20:59
        
        No. No transfer to any scheme counts towards status.
Neil says:

16 Jan16 January 19:44

@Brian W …of course you can get 9 nights in 15 stays, but if you’re already Gold (like me) this offer in the article isn’t available to us… the next best route to diamond therefore is 15 stays!
- Brian W says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 19:47
  
  Gotcha, I missed the fact you were Gold already @Neil. Makes sense.