Hilton co-branded card upgrade/downgrade [Consolidated]
Oct 20, 2018, 7:59 am
#76
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: PHX
Programs: HHonors Lifetime Diamond, UA Million Miler Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,142
I'm sorry for the OP, and I wouldn't personally have a problem if Chase bent the rules to help them out, but I doubt they will. I'm sure they deal with this particular issue a lot---customers missing sign up bonuses, and I doubt they will bend. Sign up bonuses are a big expense and they really have little incentive to cave, since you are already a customer. Yes, you could cancel, but I'm sure they are aware that the majority of those who lose signup bonuses will stay.
I knew of a couple cases where people missed the 100,000 Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus, and Chase wouldn't budge. Many years ago, I had a$35 late payment fee. I called Chase and they waived as a special courtesy. They also lowered my APR when I used to carry a balance. However, those were relatively minor concessions compared to what you are asking. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask. Good luck.
I knew of a couple cases where people missed the 100,000 Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus, and Chase wouldn't budge. Many years ago, I had a$35 late payment fee. I called Chase and they waived as a special courtesy. They also lowered my APR when I used to carry a balance. However, those were relatively minor concessions compared to what you are asking. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask. Good luck.
Oct 23, 2018, 11:33 am
#78
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: NAS
Posts: 61
Update
A Supervisor did call me back. And just as many of you predicted, it was a flat NO. She seemed to have a script so it seems this might happen more often than not.
Some comments she made were
-Where do we draw the line? Is it two days? Two weeks? (when I mentioned that I met the minimum two weeks after deadline)
-If we did this for you, we would have to do it for everybody
-You've had three months to meet this
Everything she said was true so I didn't push it. But the attitude was more of a Let me get this over with. Cordial but firm. They've been trained well.
I've accepted it and moved on. Maybe a more squeaky wheel could have gotten the oil but not this one. Hopefully this will be a reference for anyone in the future that misses their bonus.
A Supervisor did call me back. And just as many of you predicted, it was a flat NO. She seemed to have a script so it seems this might happen more often than not.
Some comments she made were
-Where do we draw the line? Is it two days? Two weeks? (when I mentioned that I met the minimum two weeks after deadline)
-If we did this for you, we would have to do it for everybody
-You've had three months to meet this
Everything she said was true so I didn't push it. But the attitude was more of a Let me get this over with. Cordial but firm. They've been trained well.
I've accepted it and moved on. Maybe a more squeaky wheel could have gotten the oil but not this one. Hopefully this will be a reference for anyone in the future that misses their bonus.
Oct 23, 2018, 12:15 pm
#79
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,107
If you were within 3 months of card activation, but 3 months and 2 weeks outside of card approval, then maybe you would have had a shot?
Other than that, it certainly is a case of where do they draw the line. It sucks, but is what it is at this point.
Other than that, it certainly is a case of where do they draw the line. It sucks, but is what it is at this point.
Oct 23, 2018, 6:18 pm
#81
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,055
sorry for your loss of points. The position from Amex is understandable, but I am surprised they are not throwing you some sort of bone or a challenge for future spent. Do you have other Amex cards? Good customer?
Nov 26, 2018, 5:09 pm
#83
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
The 150K upgrade to Aspire was in both our accounts for MONTHS then disappeared.
We went on a month long international trip and got back on late night Thanksgiving Day. On Saturday when I finally got around to look at card activities etc I saw a 150K upgrade to Ascend offer sitting in my AMEX offers under the no fee Hilton card. Husband's offer remains to Aspire.
Given the Aspire 150K upgrade has been in and out at least 3 times I dont see it will go away anytime soon.
I may bite the 150K Ascend upgrade in late Dec when ready to pay some bills but not now.
UPDATE
Received an email for Ascend 150K upgrade offer for husband's account. His was to Aspire shown in his AMEX online as recent as 2 days ago. Now he received the 150K Ascend offer.
There is no mentioning of expiration date either in the email or on the offer landing page (which requires you to log in to go further).
A friend who was not eligible for Ascend upgrade before, now found he was eligible thru the offer page after he logged in.
We went on a month long international trip and got back on late night Thanksgiving Day. On Saturday when I finally got around to look at card activities etc I saw a 150K upgrade to Ascend offer sitting in my AMEX offers under the no fee Hilton card. Husband's offer remains to Aspire.
Given the Aspire 150K upgrade has been in and out at least 3 times I dont see it will go away anytime soon.
I may bite the 150K Ascend upgrade in late Dec when ready to pay some bills but not now.
UPDATE
Received an email for Ascend 150K upgrade offer for husband's account. His was to Aspire shown in his AMEX online as recent as 2 days ago. Now he received the 150K Ascend offer.
There is no mentioning of expiration date either in the email or on the offer landing page (which requires you to log in to go further).
A friend who was not eligible for Ascend upgrade before, now found he was eligible thru the offer page after he logged in.
Last edited by Happy; Nov 27, 2018 at 3:07 pm
Dec 2, 2018, 7:43 am
#84
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
My wife is targeted for the 150k Aspire offer, which she’s signing up for today. Today is also the only day Target is selling gift cards for 10% off. If she upgrades this morning and uses her existing no-fee card to make purchases later tofay, will those purchases count toward the $4k spend requirement?
Dec 2, 2018, 12:22 pm
#85
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
My wife is targeted for the 150k Aspire offer, which she’s signing up for today. Today is also the only day Target is selling gift cards for 10% off. If she upgrades this morning and uses her existing no-fee card to make purchases later today, will those purchases count toward the $4k spend requirement?
I've been told by Amex CSRs that purchases before the Amex website shows it as Aspire that may not count.
Of course, the question with any online store is: Do they charge when you make the purchase, or only when they ship it? I don't know it works for Target, Amazon doesn't tend to charge until they ship it for purchases that it ships, but they charge right away for third-party merchants.
Dec 2, 2018, 7:26 pm
#86
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
Only if she waits to make the purchases after the Amex website shows her card as Aspire,which may or may not be later today (given that today is a Sunday, and it's after 11 am PT / 2 pm ET as I write this). In my case, I upgraded very early PT (early ET) on Friday morning and it was the evening PT before my card showed as Aspire online.
I've been told by Amex CSRs that purchases before the Amex website shows it as Aspire that may not count.
Of course, the question with any online store is: Do they charge when you make the purchase, or only when they ship it? I don't know it works for Target, Amazon doesn't tend to charge until they ship it for purchases that it ships, but they charge right away for third-party merchants.
I've been told by Amex CSRs that purchases before the Amex website shows it as Aspire that may not count.
Of course, the question with any online store is: Do they charge when you make the purchase, or only when they ship it? I don't know it works for Target, Amazon doesn't tend to charge until they ship it for purchases that it ships, but they charge right away for third-party merchants.
Dec 3, 2018, 10:48 pm
#87
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: DL PM, HH Diamond, Marriott Plat, AA, WP
Posts: 840
It was more than 12 hours for me, I think I clicked it at 3am and it wasn't until 9pm or so that I could see Aspire. But I did it before the Target gift card sale, so I could use it, but then I brought my Marriott card to Target instead of the Hilton card ( had switched from a Doubletree to a Courtyard and changed out credit cards without thinking).
Dec 4, 2018, 1:04 pm
#88
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
I gotta say, you answered my question as well as can be expected. We were wondering why her account didn't show Aspire, since we figured it would be instantaneous. In any case, she upgraded around 6 AM PT and we just noticed it on her profile now (12 hrs later). She made some purchases on Amazon earlier today; 1 purchase has a $1 authorization, the others haven't been billed yet. I hope all these will count.
Now that it's showing as an Aspire, it should show (in the upper right of the Home page) a progress bar towards a free night based on $60k of spend. Well, if you hover over that progress bar, it shows your spend since it was officially an Aspire. That spend amount lags a couple days sometimes, but once you can figure out what it's missing, you should be able to verify from that progress bar whether those Amazon purchases counted.
Assuming that progress bar doesn't reset Jan 1 (I'm not familiar with the free night for $60k calendar since I'm not going to pursue that), then it could be used to track your overall progress toward the $4k in spend needed for the upgrade bonus. Any spend that would count toward the free night would also count toward the upgrade bonus.
Dec 24, 2018, 3:52 pm
#89
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: HKG • Ex SFO, NYC
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP; Marriott Amb; Hyatt Globalist; Shangri-la Diamond; IHG SpireAmb; Hilton D; Accor G
Posts: 3,319
How long does an upgrade to Aspire take? I just processed mine and got the approved message, despite not being offered any points — but I want to use the 2018 travel credit before the new year.
Dec 30, 2018, 1:00 pm
#90
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
But beware, people who've made the airline choice on the same they made the purchase have in many cases never received the credit. It's thus safest to wait at least a full day after selecting your airline before making the purchase.
So if you haven't already selected the airline, I think you have to today if you plan to make the purchase tomorrow.
But hopefully you figured this out already, because your post that I'm replying to was about 6 days ago.