Diamond rollover...?
 

After a few years of gold I have been diamond since mid 2011. And very handy it has been, too and I would wish to retain the benefits through next year. Unfortunately a couple of long hauls didn't happen and at the end of this year I anticipate being around 95,000 points, within sniffing distance of the 100k but clearly not sufficient to meet the criteria.

Given that some programmes are flexible, for instance I have had my BA gold status renewed a couple of times when well short of the mark, I wonder if I could expect Hilton to do the same. Or are they sticklers for the rules?

Would appreciate some advice from those of you more familiar with HHonors practices than I.

Thank you in anticipation.

I am not aware of any such convention, formal or informal, and if one did exist i would think it would operate at the 1-2% of threshhold vs 5%.

Since you are qualifying on points you need spend vs nights or stays. If you would otherwise do any holiday hosting you could try to do it at a Hilton property and bounce for a room to aggregate the spend to a folio and HH credit- plenty of such options here in London.

How close are you for stays/ nights?
Just curious with that high of a spend.


You Diamond status will not rollover.

When did you qualify for Diamond status?
If after April 1 2012, it would not expire until March 31, 2014.

I have never heard of them rolling over, rather intrigued by your comment about BAEC doing that though.

One of the easiest ways to maintain Diamond is you get over the 28 stays, should be quite simple if you are building up 95K in points. Just need to move around a bit during your stays.

Although there may be exceptions out there, generally HH is a do or don't program. No special consideration is built into the program. If you fail to make status you are dropped to what ever you do make. No soft landing. I went from Diamond to Silver and only that because I own a HGVC.

Best advice is to track your progress and work to earn status.

Can you sneak in a mattress run or two ?

It depends, you can hit 100k base quite easily in 1 stay. Not everyone always has stays in the cheapest room category.

You won't automatically get maintained at Diamond. If you were very close, and with some stays booked early new year Customer Services might be do something for you but I wouldn't count on it.

How much do you value the diamond benefit? Whether its worth chasing is only something you can decide. If you visit lots of places with proper exec lounges, then the benefit of access irrespective of upgrade availability might be worth it. Potential for better category of upgraded rooms?

5k base points would be around £330 spent on one or two nights in the UK - with food charged back to the room that's easily achievable, especially in London. Remember you need to check out on or before 31 December.

I'm only 203 points short (as of now) and I wouldn't bet on getting Diamond without crossing the 10,000 point requirement. I would recommend doing a short weekend trip somewhere fun, where you wouldn't normally consider, get a expensive room (splurge) and enjoy your "investment" for next years Diamond! :)

In 2011 I was Gold and had 27 stays and well over 90,000 base points (but under 100) and I decided that Diamond was not worth it so I didn't bother. Almost as a silent protest as I am sure I could have found a $50 Hampton Inn.

For some reason they made me diamond. They never told me why and I kept my mouth shut.

I remember hearing some folks back in '08/'09 when the economy turned that were very close to diamond however came up a bit short. Long story short they were given diamond for the next year, however it was made clear that was a one time deal. I haven't heard of them offering that since the '08/'09 years. So my understanding is they will not allow you diamond status unless you meet one of the three criteria.

You stated you are 5k short on points. How many stay's or nights would you need to re-qualify? A mattress run on the cheap could be accomplished if you only need one or two stays. If you need much more then I'd do a weekend getaway with the Mrs. to reach 100k base points... she'd enjoy the weekend, you'd enjoy the weekend, and you would also enjoy diamond status for next year.

BA extended tier status during the ash cloud era but the BA Flyertalk board is full of posts from people whose status hasnt been rolled over since.

Thanks everybody, from that I can conclude that a rollover is unlikely, ie I will have to reach 100k. My stays are habitually infrequent and high value so more stays is not an option. A 'mattress run' might be, but frankly life is too short to stay in hotels unnecessarily, no matter how pleasant Hilton make the occasion. In any case, my itinerary for next year looks less crowded than usual so the £330 or so may not be a solid investment.

The benefit gap between Gold and Diamond isn't that great, the main benefit being the executive lounge with the occasional upgrade welcome.

Gold isn't exactly slumming it....

I'm at 59,999 right now, not sure if I will have any more hilton stays this year. (SPG Q4 is a better deal).

Assuming I will fall back from diamond to gold since I am within one point.

Assume Silver & you won't be disappointed. Unless you're one of the random few who get given unearned status for reasons known only to god(s).