Upgrade to Surpass Honors AmEx: Earn 50,000+ bonus points
Oct 26, 2010, 10:18 am
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,655
Aug 15, 2011, 9:02 pm
#18
Join Date: May 2009
Location: dfw
Programs: exp 4.3mm miles
Posts: 124
Surpass cc How long to get upgraded to gold?
Sorry if I missed the answer on threads. I applied to upgrade my hh card to surpass last Thursday. We will be staying in premium view tower room at falls view Hilton niagara falls Canada this Friday. Was told it takes a week to 10 days to get card which means we won't have card more than likely as tomorrow last day to get mail before leaving. Several questions. Do I need the surpass card in hand or can the desk look up my gold status? Should I call hh tomorrow to see if they can update the hotel reservation with gold status? Lastly, will I get a free breakfast as gold member at this property? Any comments on this hotel or suggestions. Again, sorry but this is my first fore into the hotel ft side. Appreciate very much your indulgence for this hotel newbie ft'er!
Aug 15, 2011, 9:27 pm
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Programs: Delta DM & MM, Hilton DM, Marriott gold, Hyatt Globalist, Alaska 75K, Wyndham Diamond,
Posts: 15,397
Having the surpass card in hand has nothing to do with your hilton status when you check in. A friend of mine upgraded his card in early January and he said it took him about a week for the status to upgrade to Gold.
If you look on this forum there was a promo giving instant gold if you had a signature visa but not sure if that promo is still valid.
As long as you have your my way preference set to upgrade/breakfast, and your gold status is showing up at check in, you will receive a free breakfast for two each day. It's suppose to be a continental breakfast (or whatever is being served in the lounge if you get upgraded to an executive floor at a property with a lounge as a gold), but at some properties you get a buffet with hot foods or a voucher you can use on a hot breakfast.
If you look on this forum there was a promo giving instant gold if you had a signature visa but not sure if that promo is still valid.
As long as you have your my way preference set to upgrade/breakfast, and your gold status is showing up at check in, you will receive a free breakfast for two each day. It's suppose to be a continental breakfast (or whatever is being served in the lounge if you get upgraded to an executive floor at a property with a lounge as a gold), but at some properties you get a buffet with hot foods or a voucher you can use on a hot breakfast.
Aug 16, 2011, 6:38 am
#20
Join Date: May 2009
Location: dfw
Programs: exp 4.3mm miles
Posts: 124
Thanks very much. I'll be sure and confirm gold status in effect and request the breakfast upgrade! I'm looking forward to staying in a high floor at the Fallsview hilton tower. Looks like a nice property! Really glad I don't have to have the surpass card in hand! Thanks again for your great help!
Aug 16, 2011, 8:06 am
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Programs: Delta DM & MM, Hilton DM, Marriott gold, Hyatt Globalist, Alaska 75K, Wyndham Diamond,
Posts: 15,397
Thanks very much. I'll be sure and confirm gold status in effect and request the breakfast upgrade! I'm looking forward to staying in a high floor at the Fallsview hilton tower. Looks like a nice property! Really glad I don't have to have the surpass card in hand! Thanks again for your great help!
Aug 16, 2011, 6:25 pm
#22
Join Date: May 2009
Location: dfw
Programs: exp 4.3mm miles
Posts: 124
As expected credit card did not arrive but I did confirm w Hhonors and am now gold. Signed up for breakfast option and crossing my fingers for full hot breakfast. At any rate thanks for the pointers. Looking forward to niagara falls!
Aug 19, 2011, 8:10 pm
#23
Join Date: May 2009
Location: dfw
Programs: exp 4.3mm miles
Posts: 124
Well thanks again. The checkin desk today had my gold card in their system, got the free wifi, and will get two (for me and my wife) buffet breakfasts. (worth $40) We're on the 44th floor of the north tower wi th probably the best view ever of both the U.S. and Canada Falls! Looking forward to the view from the restaurant which is on the 33rd floor for breakfast tomorrow morning. Wow! Just saw a fabulous fireworks show to boot! First time I've ever looked down on fireworks going off. Highly recommend this hotel. North tower premium view as high up as possible the way to go, IMHO!!!
Oct 11, 2011, 6:46 pm
#24
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 302
Upgrade to Surpass HHonors AmEx: Earn 50,000+ bonus points
I recently upgraded to HHonors Surpass AmEx because I had some high dollar stays coming up for work and wanted to earn the extra points for the dollar spend. I also have only a few months left in my "membership year" for AmEx so the pro-rated annual fee was a nice incentive.
I would also be eligible for 20,000 HHonors points after my first spend (40,000 minus my previous first spend bonus on basic HHonors AmEx of 20,000 = 20,000 additional). (See post #9 below for an update to this.)
The night that I received my new card in the mail and activated it, I received the following email a few hours later...
Of course, receiving the offer AFTER I had just activated my new card a few hours earlier upset me. So, I called the 800 number on the back of my card and was escalated to a customer care supervisor who advised he wouldn't be able to apply the promo to my account after the fact, but he would escalate the case again and hope for a better result.
I decided to play the phone roulette game and call back to see if someone else could apply the promo right away. No deal. So, I took to twitter and got ahold of Beth from the Social Media team who immediately applied the RSVP code to my account and said he would monitor my account for the $3,000 spend to hit (which I did this weekend in one stay). Now, I'm just waiting for the bonus to hit my HHonors account.
The 20,000 first spend bonus has already hit my HHonors account, so I am looking at a total of 70,000 bonus HHonors points for upgrading to Surpass on a pro-rated annual fee. Not bad! (See post #9 below for an update to this.)
The reason for this post...not sure if this info can help anyone, but there is a great bonus out there to upgrade to Surpass.
HockeyCoachBen
The night that I received my new card in the mail and activated it, I received the following email a few hours later...
Dear HockeyCoachBen,
Take advantage of the opportunity to earn 50,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points to use for your next hotel stay!2 When you upgrade to the Hilton HHonors™ Surpass® Card from American Express, you can earn 50,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points when you spend $3,000 in the first three months of Cardmembership. You'll also enjoy:
Complimentary Hilton HHonors Gold status3 for your first year—enjoy free WiFi access, the option to choose breakfast at many hotels, late check-out and room upgrades upon availability, plus a 25% bonus on all the Hilton HHonors Base Points you earn.
Free Priority PassTM membership—you'll get access to 600 airport lounges in over 90 countries around the world, and we'll waive the $99 annual membership fee.
9 points for every eligible dollar spent at hotels within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands; 6 points for every dollar spent on groceries, gas, and cell phone, internet, and cable bills; and 3 points for each dollar spent on anything else.
The annual fee is $75
RSVP CODE: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
EXPIRATION DATE: 01/04/2012
OR CALL: 1-888-721-1765
Take advantage of the opportunity to earn 50,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points to use for your next hotel stay!2 When you upgrade to the Hilton HHonors™ Surpass® Card from American Express, you can earn 50,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points when you spend $3,000 in the first three months of Cardmembership. You'll also enjoy:
Complimentary Hilton HHonors Gold status3 for your first year—enjoy free WiFi access, the option to choose breakfast at many hotels, late check-out and room upgrades upon availability, plus a 25% bonus on all the Hilton HHonors Base Points you earn.
Free Priority PassTM membership—you'll get access to 600 airport lounges in over 90 countries around the world, and we'll waive the $99 annual membership fee.
9 points for every eligible dollar spent at hotels within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands; 6 points for every dollar spent on groceries, gas, and cell phone, internet, and cable bills; and 3 points for each dollar spent on anything else.
The annual fee is $75
RSVP CODE: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
EXPIRATION DATE: 01/04/2012
OR CALL: 1-888-721-1765
I decided to play the phone roulette game and call back to see if someone else could apply the promo right away. No deal. So, I took to twitter and got ahold of Beth from the Social Media team who immediately applied the RSVP code to my account and said he would monitor my account for the $3,000 spend to hit (which I did this weekend in one stay). Now, I'm just waiting for the bonus to hit my HHonors account.
The 20,000 first spend bonus has already hit my HHonors account, so I am looking at a total of 70,000 bonus HHonors points for upgrading to Surpass on a pro-rated annual fee. Not bad! (See post #9 below for an update to this.)
The reason for this post...not sure if this info can help anyone, but there is a great bonus out there to upgrade to Surpass.
HockeyCoachBen
Last edited by HockeyCoachBen; Oct 12, 2011 at 6:28 pm Reason: Corrected first spend statement.
Oct 11, 2011, 7:29 pm
#25
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
Thanks for the info, I've been thinking about upgrading my card as well, and the 50k bonus points is a great incentive.
Your point about the "membership year" made me think about something - the upgraded Surpass card says that you'll be given complimentary gold status for your first year. Is this a full calendar year after you upgrade, or just the duration of your first "membership year". So for example, I got the standard Hilton card in March 2011, and am thinking about upgrading in October 2011. Is the complimentary gold good until March 2012 or October 2012?
Your point about the "membership year" made me think about something - the upgraded Surpass card says that you'll be given complimentary gold status for your first year. Is this a full calendar year after you upgrade, or just the duration of your first "membership year". So for example, I got the standard Hilton card in March 2011, and am thinking about upgrading in October 2011. Is the complimentary gold good until March 2012 or October 2012?
Oct 11, 2011, 7:43 pm
#26
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 302
Thanks for the info, I've been thinking about upgrading my card as well, and the 50k bonus points is a great incentive.
Your point about the "membership year" made me think about something - the upgraded Surpass card says that you'll be given complimentary gold status for your first year. Is this a full calendar year after you upgrade, or just the duration of your first "membership year". So for example, I got the standard Hilton card in March 2011, and am thinking about upgrading in October 2011. Is the complimentary gold good until March 2012 or October 2012?
Your point about the "membership year" made me think about something - the upgraded Surpass card says that you'll be given complimentary gold status for your first year. Is this a full calendar year after you upgrade, or just the duration of your first "membership year". So for example, I got the standard Hilton card in March 2011, and am thinking about upgrading in October 2011. Is the complimentary gold good until March 2012 or October 2012?
Since you are in the second half of the current year, a status upgrade would be good until February 2013. (The remainder of the current calendar year & the entire next calendar year would be your upgraded "year", but because HHonors cycles status in February for some reason, you would also get the first two months of 2013.) At least, that is my understanding of the system.
Also, I should mention this seemed to be a targeted promotion. Not sure how to get "targeted" other than to hit the AmEx website a couple days in a row "checking out" the Surpass card but never upgrading. Thats what I was doing when the email came.
Last edited by HockeyCoachBen; Oct 11, 2011 at 7:44 pm Reason: Spelling
Oct 12, 2011, 3:15 pm
#28
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 422
I did not receive a targeted email or other message, but after logging into Amex site and browsing cards, this offer was available for the Surpass upgrade. Is this standard now?
Was going to go for it but with the Premium Room redemption fiasco....Not so much.
Was going to go for it but with the Premium Room redemption fiasco....Not so much.
I would imagine once you paid the annual fee (wether pro-rated or full-boat) AmEx simply submits paperwork to upgrade your HHonors account to Gold then it would be up to HHonors terms and conditions for how long your Gold status lasts and has nothing to do with your AmEx membership year (expiration date per-se).
Since you are in the second half of the current year, a status upgrade would be good until February 2013. (The remainder of the current calendar year & the entire next calendar year would be your upgraded "year", but because HHonors cycles status in February for some reason, you would also get the first two months of 2013.) At least, that is my understanding of the system.
Also, I should mention this seemed to be a targeted promotion. Not sure how to get "targeted" other than to hit the AmEx website a couple days in a row "checking out" the Surpass card but never upgrading. Thats what I was doing when the email came.
Since you are in the second half of the current year, a status upgrade would be good until February 2013. (The remainder of the current calendar year & the entire next calendar year would be your upgraded "year", but because HHonors cycles status in February for some reason, you would also get the first two months of 2013.) At least, that is my understanding of the system.
Also, I should mention this seemed to be a targeted promotion. Not sure how to get "targeted" other than to hit the AmEx website a couple days in a row "checking out" the Surpass card but never upgrading. Thats what I was doing when the email came.
Oct 12, 2011, 3:42 pm
#29
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Philly, Madrid
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 2,591
Isn't 60k better than 50k?
I just logged in and also see the 50k after $3000 offer to upgrade my card.
But I also called in and was offered 40k to upgrade plus 20k for my first 8 stays. So this must be the standard upgrade offer by phone?
It seems like a no-brainer, unless I'm missing something?
But I also called in and was offered 40k to upgrade plus 20k for my first 8 stays. So this must be the standard upgrade offer by phone?
It seems like a no-brainer, unless I'm missing something?
Oct 12, 2011, 5:08 pm
#30
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Philly, Madrid
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 2,591
Oops! Never mind... I just screwed myself by hitting the wrong button on the website and upgraded with the 50k promo. I'll call to try and fix it, but it may be too late for me.