Re-Qualifying for Gold - Status Re-Match?
 

So I've been gold all this year from a Status Match back in 2013 when I first joined Club Carlson, and am just 5 nights off requalifying for the next year, but of course elite nights reset tomorrow.

I thought well, there's a slim chance they might work with me on this, and I already have 5 nights booked in January so that could work to my advantage. Maybe I could ask them to give me an extra month, or requalify me in advance?

So I emailed in to Club Carlson support, because I had nothing to lose.

They replied to me saying sorry but it won't be possible either way, and the reset date of Jan 1st is final, so there's nothing they can do about that, but....

They then went on to tell me that if I still held my status with IHG, I could email their status matching address once again, and have it re-matched for 2015-16! This seems a little odd to me - surely the whole point of status matching is to encourage you to switch allegiance to Club Carlson rather than your usual brand? Also seems odd that nearly re-qualifying for Gold, and having the remaining nights needed booked in January doesn't warrant an extension, yet holding status with a competitor does?

Regardless, I've duly sent off a screenshot of my IHG Plat valid thru 2016, and am waiting on Carlson to match to Gold.

Does anyone know if this is something Club Carlson do as standard? i.e. can you just do another status match when your current status expires, or is this something they offered to me especially as a result of my email?

Would appreciate thoughts as this seemed an odd way of doing things, and even more odd if they just let people rematch!

PS: Happy new year all :)

Happy New Year !

I have maintained IHG Plat for several years but have never done enough stays to automatically qualify for Gold with Club Carlson

However, I have requested (and received) status match on two consecutive occasions by the method that you describe.
So, hopefully you won't have any problem.

Cheers.

And to you too!

Thanks for this - I'm surprised they'll so willingly re-match, but I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Do you know if they'd still do this if I had done little/no Carlson stays this year? Or do they require some evidence of commitment to Club Carlson?

EDIT: Also just noticed my elite nights etc have not yet reset - any idea when this usually happens?

Happened for me some five hours ago.

Sorry for the delayed response.

For the past few years I have had just a handful of stays (max 8) per year at Carlson properties but never no stays during the year.

The only answer I accept is they will status match you again instead of giving you one more month to re-qualify because they are simply stupid, especially after last year when the program gave loads of elite qualification nights.

I can't stop thinking CC is being managed by someone from the Hilton family.

How long does it take for CC customer service to decide and reply? Thank you. :)

...and when it's this close to the start of the new status year, will they likely wait until the new one to make it happen? Have not heard back in going on two weeks. Thank you. :)

I would definitely email again, it shouldn't take that long. Did you use the dedicated status match email address? If so, try [email protected] - they matched me pretty quickly on there.

Thank you, hcuk94. I grew up, became more patient, and it came through without more effort. But my impatience was vis a vis some stays where it would have been a material benefit. Myself to thank for not getting to it sooner (...digression). And no, I forgot about the dedicated path, and went through the "Contact Us" email form. The response couldn't have been more welcoming, FWIW. :)

Does CC do "soft landing" status downgrades?
 

Didn't manage to make Concierge again for the new year, and still was a couple of nights short for Gold...so few CC properties where I've been travelling this year. So will I be dropped all the way down to basic or just one tier down to Gold, or to Silver based on the nights I did stay last year?

Fwiw, I was downgraded from Concierge to Gold (with just a few stays). So, they do seem to do "soft landing" one tier down.

Seems that's the case as my account now shows "Gold after March 1". Though wasn't sure if that was indeed a "soft landing" or residual from my previous Gold status through the Amex Platinum hotel status benefit. Thanks for confirming the "soft landing" practice though.