Hilton HHonors - German Offer: Sign-up for HH Credit Card and be Gold as long as you are a cardholder

HH has promo in Germany where it offers Gold status for as long as you are a cardholder when signing up. You have to be signing up for a HH card for the first time. Annual fee of 48 Euros. Offer was seemingly mailed out to current German HH members, and T&Cs state that it is only available for those who received an invitation to this offer.

Not sure how big HH is in Germany, but seems like a further dilution of HH Gold.

Looks like this is now a permanent offer, comes with 10,000 bonus points as well.

http://www.hhonorscard.de

And it is valid for current holders of the card too. I got the confirmation from HH in writing that I would maintain Gold status as long as I have this card. Not a bad deal at all, given that a turnover of 20k buys Diamond.

And it is valid for current holders of the card too. I got the confirmation from HH in writing that I would maintain Gold status as long as I have this card. Not a bad deal at all, given that a turnover of 20k buys Diamond.

After June, I had more than 20k EUR paid by my credit card in 2012, and inquired with the HHonors team of the DKB whether I would now be upgraded to Diamond. (Have been HHG for a few years: never been Diamond.)

Yesterday, I got a call from the DKB and talked to a person who was not very knowledgeable about HHonors. At first, she claimed that DKB had nothing to do with my HHonors status and that they could not check whether I had Diamond or Gold status. After a while she asked me whether "I had used my Diamond status before". I didn't really understand: she then explained that "if you have never used your Diamond status before (sic!), it will happen in 2013; we'll check how many people have made the threshold and then you will get Diamond status".

This does match the description on their webpage

Maßgeblich für die Statusqualifikation sind die insgesamt erzielten Umsätze innerhalb eines Kalenderjahres. Unter „Kalenderjahr“ versteht man den Zeitraum vom 1. Januar bis 31. Dezember eines Jahres. Karteninhaber müssen sich jedes Kalenderjahr neu für ihren Status qualifizieren.
Mit Erreichen des Mindestumsatz (Diamond Status 20.000 Euro) verlängert oder verbessert sich Ihr derzeitiger Status und wird im 1. Quartal des Folgejahres – erstmalig in 2013 – berücksichtigt. Bei Nicht-Erreichen des Mindestumsatzes gelten die regulär festgelegten (Re-) Qualifizierungsuntergrenzen für den jeweiligen HHonors Status Level in einem Kalenderjahr (in Hilton Worldwide Hotels).

but is a bit weird, also because it doesn't say exactly when the status change will happen.

but is a bit weird, also because it doesn't say exactly when the status change will happen.
Well, I think it does say when it will happen: Your status will be updated during the 1st quarter of each year, beginning with 2013. So even if you already exceeded the 20.000EUR spending requirement and you've already spent more than 20.000EUR, your status will remain at Gold level until the 1st quarter of 2013 (unless you qualify for diamond earlier because of conventional ways like nights spent/stays/status points).

"Mit Erreichen des Mindestumsatz (Diamond Status 20.000 Euro) verlängert oder verbessert sich Ihr derzeitiger Status und wird im 1. Quartal des Folgejahres – erstmalig in 2013 – berücksichtigt."

Damn.. Asian countries sure are losing out on all these lucrative Credit Card offers....

We suck.... :(

The same in the rest of Europe (other then UK or Deutschland). All my HH points and status are earned the hard way - but even though, already qualified for Diamond (based on 100k base points).

But still there is hope for non-UK, non-Germany citizens, because this card can be applied for by Europeans from other countries. Some reasons that are keeping me from getting this card are: (1) I don't need to become a Gold. (2) The card has a 1.75% charge on non-euro payments. My current cards have just a 1% or 1.2% charge. (3) My current cards are virtualy no-cardholder-risk, no-interest, no-fee cards. Would I give this up for what - at best - would result in an extra award night a year?

Following on from Sisosig's post, the only major qualification for those outside Germany is a German bank account. Certainly, residence and nationality don't seem to be a problem.

No currency surcharge in most of the countries I visit is attractive. These are € countries and a handful of others. Oddly, € transactions in some other countries are accepted surcharge-free, though that implies DCC!

I'd like such a card for my € expenditure earning points. I have other zero surcharge cards but they don't offer points. How can I get a German bank account? I used to have one when I worked in Germany but that was a while ago.

Apparently, only DKB and Postbank open accounts without a German address. Does anybody have any experience of this? I found some discussion at http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t255311.html

How can I get a German bank account? I used to have one when I worked in Germany but that was a while ago. Apparently, only DKB and Postbank open accounts without a German address.

You will nevertheless have to travel to Germany at least once. You can open an account online either at DKB or Postbank (I haven't heard of any others for non-residents) but they will generate a "legitimation" : a form of identification that is processed by either the German post or a German bank. So you will need to travel to Germany to do this. You can do on a stop-over too, as there are post offices in airports.

I would suggest DKB over Postbank because DKB provides the Hilton card : if you have an account with Postbank, DKB will require a new "legitimation". If you're a DKB customer, you can add the card to your account with just a click.

If you have other questions, feel free to ask. My pleasure to answer and....refer :) Bonus always appreciated :D

So much about the "loyalty" program...

If you have other questions, feel free to ask. My pleasure to answer and....refer :) Bonus always appreciated :DThanks very much.

Travelling via Germany is not a problem, and the tip about which bank to use is appreciated. :)

I would suggest DKB over Postbank because DKB provides the Hilton card : if you have an account with Postbank, DKB will require a new "legitimation". If you're a DKB customer, you can add the card to your account with just a click.
With DKB and applying for the card, do you have to have applied for the bank account first or can you do it alongside the credit card application? I ask as I already have the card and Deutsche Bank account and I recommended the card to a friend but I am unsure of whether he can do both at the same time or not.