Hilton HHonors - Making the switch in 2002

Some starter questions:
1) How easy/hard is it to get Gold or Diamond VIP comped? (I had 130+ nights last two years between Holiday-inn's and Starwood. Also flew 200K actual miles last year.)
2) How do I transfer airline miles into Hilton points at a 2:1 ratio? Are there better ratios for different airlines?
3) Are the reward stay locations worth it?

Thanks,
possible HH newbie http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by GenieFlyer (edited 01-24-2002).]

GenieFlyer -- Here are some answers.

1) Diamond is rather hard to get comped, but Gold is pretty much a sure thing.

2) Detailed information on the exhange rate and transfer process of airline miles into HH points can be found here: http://www.hilton.com/en/hhonors/rewards/exchange_1.jhtml .

3) There are plenty reward stay locations "worth it" (e.g., Hilton St. Lucia, Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico, Langham Hilton in London, Cairns Hilton, etc).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GenieFlyer:
How easy/hard is it to get Gold or Diamond VIP comped? (I had 130+ nights last two years between Holiday-inn's and Starwood. Also flew 200K actual miles last year.)</font>

With 130+ documented hotel days last year, you should be able to get Diamond comped (regardless of what others on this board may say). If you have upcoming reservations at Hilton properties, include the reservation numbers with your request. There is a formula that is followed to approve requests for Diamond comps. Ask HHonors for the DiamondVIP telephone number to call.

If they insist that Diamond is never comped, hang up and call again. Sooner or later, someone will put you through to the right person to consider your application.

Good luck.

Welcome to the largest and easist program to accumulate points. Postings are very quick now must be new computer or software.

I switched last year from Marriott.... have not looked back. Very happy.....

and welcome to our wHHorld

Thanks all.

Also, FYI - I sent in a fax on 01/24 requesting a comp to a higher elite status, based on my history at other hotel brands over the past few years and the fact that I had made a few reservations in advance for the month of February. I have a feeling they'll probably offer me gold, but it'd be a great feeling to start off with diamond.

That would guarantee Hilton my loyalty for life http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif