SvnTwoo

I am a current Marriott Platinum Elite, after speaking to a Hilton guy on my flight home tonight I decided I would check out Hilton Props.

Right now I only have two stays last year at Hilton's for 13k points. I typically stay 4-5 nights a week at a hotel.
What I need to know?
-He mentioned a double dip, points + miles?
-Does Hilton do any promotions I need to sign up for?
-Will HH match my Marriott status?
-What is the HGI Bed and Breakfast rate mean? Do I just get a breakfast? Or delivered to room?

Anything else I need to know?

MoreMilesPlease

LarkSFO

I recently completed the challenge (from Ritz/Marriott Plat) and am now Diamond through early 2014.

The challenge is 'Stay 21 nights in 90 days'.

You can PM the HHonors representative here on FT to initiate the challenge.

SvnTwoo

thanks for the info.

I was able to contact HH and they said to fax a request for Tier Compete and my current Marriott status info over and they will get back to me.

azepine00

It may be worth staying enough for gold. Hh dia is essentially equivalent to gold and Hilton points are being aggressively devalued into cashback kind.
Look into PC, Hyatt and spg rather than hilton for better program value.

keeton

Yes, go the HHonors.com home page and sign up.

This is a local property rate and not HGI-wide. Note that once you attain Gold or Diamond status, you can select breakfast as your "My-Way" on-property benefit even when you book a cheaper room.

Yes - get one of the HH co-branded credit cards. There is the free Amex, the Amex surpass and the just-announced Citi card. The free Amex gets you 6 pts/$ at HH properties while the latter get you 9 pts/$ plus a bonus on certain categories of spending.

If you do all of the bonuses, double-dip and pay with the co-branded CC you will be raking in the points. Keep in mind that award redemptions will cost more points than the equivalent MR award, but if you do as above, you should come out ahead.

Time traveller

I would say HH Gold is fairly similar to Marriott Gold except the lounge access is not guaranteed with HH Gold. I don't think there is a significant benefit of being a HH Diamond as compared to HH Gold as others have mentioned here, but the same can be said for the marginal benefit of Marriott Platinum vs. Gold. The top tiers do get better room upgrades than the mid tiers in both programs though.

One thing to note about HH elite levels is that it is a lot easier to hit Gold or Platinum via credit card spend and so many peole complain about this "dilution" effect.

stifle

I agree with the last sentence. I hit diamond on stays last year and will renew it this year, and I have to say it rather cheapens the top tier when it's given only by credit card spend.

LarkSFO

How many people do you think put $40K on their surpass / citi card to achieve Diamond status?

Additionally, if they are achieving status through CC spend, that means they are probably not staying in Hiltons all that often and are really not competing with you for Diamond upgrades with any great frequency.

I understand your concern, but I don't really think the impact of CC Diamonds is that great.

I 40

I wouldn't "lose" Marr Plat for HH, but if you can get Diamond easy, not bad. I use it was the extra pts and amenities on check in, even if the pts are overvalued.

boilers

You can use the gyms/fitness centers for free.

toomanybooks

And if you are willing to hotel-hop, especially during promos like "stay 4, get 1," you will be surprised how fast it adds up.

shoreline

^ +1

I agree. I think the number of diamond members from mere CC spend is a very low percentage.

Also, Gold members receive a 25% bonus while Diamond receive a 50% bonus. Plus, the Diamond 48hr guarantee may be a big benefit for the OP (who sounds like a frequent business traveller).

LarkSFO

Lucky (one mile at a time) did a review of Gold vs. Diamond Today.

Really did not make Diamond sound too compelling.... (for my stay pattern anyway)

SvnTwoo

thanks again