enkey

Is there a month in a year beyond which you get upgraded till 2020? eg. if you complete the challenge in first 6 months of 2018 then you might get upgraded only till 2019, but if you complete in the later part of 6 months it is till 2020 lets say?

yurtripper

Anything after January should be fine, although February I'm not entirely sure. But basically from March onwards you should get it till 2020 rather than 2019 (it will definitely be 2020 for challenges completed at this time of year).

jeanie

I thought that only paid stays qualified for gold or diamond challenges. Points stays count as well? So if you found a hotel for 7500 points per night, you could get diamond with 8 stays for 60,000 points?

yurtripper

Yes, points stays count as well. That's an advantage Hilton has over Marriott.

You can actually requalify for Diamond using 240K points (48 reward nights at 5K properties, plus 12 free nights).
That's the same as 3 nights at Conrad HK, for instance.

groovbusta

Completed a 16 night / 90 day Diamond challenge in May that was offered through my company travel desk. Diamond status took 3-4 days to show up in the HH app. Enjoying my first diamond suite upgrade with family now...

Staley Cornell

Excellent!!! I am heading to Orlando next weekend and will complete my first stay as a Diamond. Fingers crossed on the upgrade!

Flying Kiwi

I'm planning to apply for Diamond status match challenge June 1, in hopes of getting status through to 2021. Assuming I get the challenge, does anyone know if a stay of June 2-5 would count?

hikouki

I currently have Spire Elite status with IHG, and I'm looking to switch to HiltonHonors. Do they offer a status match challenge?

Main reason for switching is the lack of choice of hotels when traveling to certain destinations. Also, I find it annoying that IHG is not extending status, but instead just reducing point requirements for elite qualification during this Covid crisis. (It is not that people don't want to travel but either it is not safe for some, or it is prohibited/ impossible for others).

Anyway, I have heard good things about HHonors from people who made the switch. For those of you that did switch, what are the advantages of the HH program over IHG's?

I never meet the requirements in terms of number of nights for IHG, by the way. However, I always exceed the points required for a qualification tier. I tend to book refundable rates when traveling. When traveling outside the US, I tend to pick the mid- to upper-level brands.

jerry a. laska

See:
https://statusmatch.hiltonhonors.com
Also see:
The Definitive Hilton Honors Status Match Thread
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...2019-a-15.html
Hilton Honors Diamond VIP Status Short Cuts: Fast Track, Instant, Challenges & Comps
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...atch-help.html

ORD-TGU

Honest question, why did you chose to stay at IHG to get Spire? What are the current benefits as Spire that you enjoy the most?

When looking at IHG program, I do remember noticing that many properties do not offer free breakfast or have a lounge, which I enjoy on vacation award stays.
Did you get those benefits as Spire.

hikouki

Honestly, I didn’t know how much greener the pasture was on the other side of the fence!

I don’t travel for business so my hotel stays are really sporadic. I was not really aiming on attaining status with IHG. It so happened that most of the most convenient hotels for my trips were IHG properties, so I signed up for membership. Before long, I just woke up to platinum elite early last year then spire late 2019! But now I have come to realize how little they value my business or any other member’s. I have almost 500k points with them, and I dunno what to do with those.

I am thinking of applying for status match when this covid thing is over and I can travel again.

LATraveler1963

Hilton Diamond Status in the age of COVID-19. Long time Hilton Diamond (always qualify with stays not nights) Easier for me to get 30 1 night stays as I usually max out around 50-55 nights in a year. Has anybody heard if Hilton will extend this years qualification and/or make adjustments. I'm 7 stays into my re qualification (I average 2-3 stays per month) but have had to cancel a half dozen reservations through May 15. Thoughts?

sethb

Hilton just extended status, no re-qualification necessary. There's a whole thread here on that.

IAN-UK

Unless you are Royal Ambassador with IHG, it would be difficult to find any scenario in which you wouldn't be better off redirecting your loyalty to Hilton.

RA stays at (most) Intercontinental hotels are far, far better than anything you'll find at any Hilton. But in comparison with other IHG/Priority Club/Ambassador programmes, HH wins hands down. Particular areas of coverage might modify this view (Jakarta has over half a dozen IHG hotels covering most of its brands; Hilton has just one hotel, a DoubleTree). But by and large I've found Hilton group hotels in most places I travel to - and I've still got a large stache of IHG points for other places.

IHG used to have some attractive marketing gimmicks, earning extra points or offering some dramatically reduced redemption rates on a changing 2-monthly rota. But while IHG has now drastcally reduced or removed these, Hilton appears to have got more switched on to keeping its members happy in terms of earning points.

A downside of HH is that redemptions can be absurdly expensive, whereas absurdity has crept in at just a few IHG properties.

I think you've already worked out the major Diamond advantage of lounge access (where lounges exist), and breakfast at just about all Hilton family hotels. automatic, no begging and no "as a one-off gesture".

The US is rarely in my travel plans, but friends there tell me these advantages might not be as obvious there


But the big indicator of the Hilton approach is he way it handled the virus-fuelled issues. A simple, easy to understand, blanket one-year extension of status PLUS a comprehensive conversion of all reservations to a flexible basis. On the other hand, IHG's exhibited a typical short-term approach to flexibility in reservations, introduced a complicated and half-hearted approach to helping members retain status, and tried to encourage stays through ill thought-out "flash sales" at a time no responsible organisation should be promoting travel.

ORD-TGU

With 500K points, I personally would stick with IHG and burn the points.
If you are eligible to apply to the Chase IHG Premium card, you can take advantage of the 4th night free.
If you decide to go with Hilton, try and get a credit card, I recommend the Aspire. Hilton has a lot of properties, 5th night free using points.
Hilton Diamonds are treated very well internationally, that is where I redeem my points. In the US, too many Diamonds fighting for upgrades, and ridiculous resort fees.
I hope you are using cash back portals for your stays, IHG frequently has up to 10% cash back.