HH Gold via AMEX Spend - How Long?
 

According to my Nov AMEX statement, I passed the 20K yearly spend total that awards Gold HH status. Since then I've heard nothing from HH and my status remains silver. Does anybody know how long the change to Gold takes to post? Web site says it might take ten to twelve weeks - surely not. It's important because I've got several trips right after the holidays where I'd certainly like to be at Gold. A related question also: once my account does finally accurately reflect Gold status, do I have to do anything to get already made reservations to show Gold or will that happen automatically? Thanks for any help,

lex

My Gold status posted the same time that my AMEX HH points posted for that period. Generally my points post before I even receive the AMEX statement in the mail. When my gold status took effect all of my existing reservations automatically reflected the new status.

Thanks, rcurry. Looks like there may be a snafu with mine.

I would definitely call on that one because mine took effect immediately a few years back and generally reflects the update in subsequent years.

A quick search reveals a couple of thread on his same topic including:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ough-amex.html

I reached the threshold with my November statement and now the December statement has generated as well. My status still hasn't updated, despite 2 phone calls (one in Nov and another one today) and a "case number". Still waiting to speak to a supervisor to, hopefully, resolve.

***Supervisor manually updated to Gold, but has annotated file to say can't update manually again - must wait for Amex to send the info over. End result is okay status-wise, but I'm not thrilled with the way the process went. Makes it seem like I'm not deserving of the status. This is the first year I have used Amex to reach Gold (was Gold for many years, but went to Silver this April). Hopefully, next year will be smoother.

I'm a bit lost, and hoping you guys on this thread can help. I have a regular Green Amex. In the mail the other day, I received a Gold Membership card from Amex valid through Feb 2011. I called Hilton and merged this with my current silver status, and they upgraded me to gold.

The card also said if I stayed at Hilton between now and some point -- I can't remember exact date -- I would get 2x points. Well, I stayed on december 4, and have not seen the 2x points on my Hilton statement.

What should I do? i'm sorry if this isn't related to this thread. I'm not sure if the 20,000 spend applies to all Amex or just the Amex -Hilton card, if one exists.

How should I proceed to get the 2x points? thank you.

You and I must have very similar spending patterns. I crossed the $20,000 threshold on my AMEX statement that ended 11/2/09; yet still no upgrade to Gold on the HHonors site.

Idranet: Did you speak to a supervisor at Hilton or AMEX (or both)?

To anyone else who reads this thread: Did you experience the "10-12 weeks" the T&C claims it takes for status to be updated?

jws5527,

I spoke to a supervisor at Hilton (and offered again to fax both Amex statements showing that I had qualified for Gold).

Much faster than that for me; maybe 2-3 weeks at most.

I just passed the $20k threshold today - one day short of the deadline, but after my December billing statement.

Has anyone had any experience getting gold via spend, but having it happen AFTER the final billing statement of the year? Will I have to harass them about it?

Bump. I'm getting the runaround from AMEX and Hilton on this. AMEX confirms that I crossed the $20k threshold before December 31st, they say call Hilton. Hilton says it's not their fault and to call them back in mid-February since enough time hasn't passed.

So I've now lost out on a month of status; I've had two stays during that time where I've lost out on the bonus points and the nice amenities. Anyone know of someone who can straighten this out other than the traditional CSRs from either company?

Similar situation for me. Amex have confirmed to me that I passed 20k in Dec 09 but they can not force Hilton to give me gold status and when I inquired to Hilton this was their response -

Dear Mr. S,

Thank you for your message to Hilton Reservations and Customer Care. It is my pleasure to assist you today with your account.

We will update your HHonors account to Gold VIP tier status as soon as American Express sends the authorization form to our office to be processed.

So it seems like I will have to wait until Amex's 'system' gets its act together.

Same problem with me. Amex says they sent the info over, HHonors said they didn't. Have an upcoming stay next week and would like the extra points.

My husband and I (mutual account) were already Gold until March 2010, but wanted to extend it through Amex. We hit the 20K in spending in mid-December, after the billing date. My husband recently called Hilton to ask about his Gold expiration, and was told it's now March 2012, so Amex must have notified them properly in our case. Hope yours gets worked out okay.

UPDATE: I called American Express who agreed that I had met the requirements to be elevated to Gold status. We conferenced HHonors in on the call and they claimed that they must never have been notified by AMEX. I filed a "dispute" with HHonors and was told that it could take up to 30 days to have the "dispute" resolved.

Long story short: About 7-10 days later my status was updated on Hilton's website. FWIW, I was never directly notified by either AMEX or HHonors that the situation was resolved nor did I receive a welcome package from HHonors (I'm assuming there is one). I recently requested an additional HHonors membership card online.

I anticipate exceeding $20,000 in spending again in 2010; hope I don't have to go through this with AMEX/HHonors every year.

Same issue here. I went over the $20K on Nov 7th. 3 statements later (11/15, 12/15, 1/15), 4 calls with AMEX, 5 calls with Hilton, 2 Conference Calls with both AMEX & Hilton, 2+ hours of my time and still Silver. Now at 13 weeks since crossing the $20K level and counting. AMEX says thay have finally transmitted the info to Hilton. A week ago the CSR from Hilton said "it'll take 3-5 business days". Called Hilton today and the updated info from the CSR was "it'll take 3-5 business days". Kicking the can down the road . . .

Combine this with the AMEX point posting issues a few months ago and the recent devaluation from Hilton, and I'm thinking about moving on to a different hotel & card.

UPDATE: Gold VIP status given 2/16/10, 14 weeks after going over $20K annual spend.

Seems to be the norm now. I qualified prior to my December statement, called yesterday, and was told by the Amex CSR that it takes 10-12 weeks from qualification for the systems to catch up.

Just FYI to all of you in this situation. I had to call Hilton last week about this, and they assigned a case number. About 5 days later, I got my gold status.

If you don't have gold yet after reaching $20k spending last year, call them and have them start a case on your account.

Another FYI. I'm the OP on this thread. After repeated phone calls, official inquiries opened, conference calls between AmEx and HH Supervisors, not a thing had happened to move me from Silver to Gold thru mid January. I had actually reached the 20K spend in mid October (statement notification early Nov) last year. So, by mid Jan, just over twelve weeks had passed. I decided to throw in the towel and waste no more time on this farce.

Instead, I called the latest HH Supervisor who was helping me (not) and informed her that I was canceling all my Hilton booked stays,except one, in favor of my other hotel program, Marriott, and would not book any Hilton stays til this was solved. Hung up and promptly canceled four stays (seven nights), rebooked at Marriott properties, sent copies of the bookings to Hilton.

By mid Feb, nothing had happened (now approaching 16 weeks). Mrs Lexman and I went to Las Vegas for a week, returned Feb 17, and the HH site now had me at Gold status. Don't believe my petulant cancellations had a thing to do with the status change finally happening. Instead, methinks it's just a totally screwed up "promotion."

In the meantime, I certainly intend to keep my one Hilton reservation, which is for a week in May at the Rome Cavalieri on points. Meanwhile, I have notified HH that I've not received any Gold Welcome Packet (or card) and will continue to book my stays at Martriott until I do. Intend to send copies of Marriott folios to Hilton as the year progresses.

lex

My silver to gold update happened in late Feb (passed 20k spend in December). Did repeated e-mails to Amex and Hilton, don't know if that helped the process or if they were just their normal slow in communicating.

I’m sorry to hear some of you have encountered difficulty receiving your Gold VIP status at Hilton after meeting the $20,000 spend threshold. Please accept my sincere apology for any inconvenience this matter has caused you.

For our Hilton HHonors Surpass Card, Gold VIP is complimentary for the first year and then $20,000 in annual spending is required to maintain Gold status. The Terms and Conditions state “Allow 10–12 weeks for VIP status to be upgraded.”

For anyone who has met the spend requirement and would like me to look into why you have not received your Gold status, I kindly ask you to contact me via our Secure Message Center and I will be happy to research this matter further for you.

Please log in to our Secure Message Center at:

www.americanexpress.com/messagecenter

If you are not registered to access your account online, simply click on the “continue” box located on the right to create a User ID and password.

After logging in, click on the box “Compose A Message” and select “Social Media Inquiry” for “Choose a Topic.” If you address your email to me – Beth/FlyerTalk – I will respond directly to you.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Beth Henry
Amex Customer Care

lexman -

I want to personally reach out to you and apologize for the inconvenience you encountered attempting to resolve this matter. If you could send me a PM or email me through our Secure Message Center, I will forward your FlyerTalk posts and account information to the appropriate people to investigate and correct any defect associated with this feature.

Thank you for posting your experience on FlyerTalk.

Beth Henry
Amex Customer Care