What hotels are currently offering status matches?
Mar 9, 2017, 10:06 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: New York and Vienna
Programs: PA WorldPass Platinum, AA, DL, LH. GHA Black, SPG and HHonors Gold
Posts: 3,870
What hotels are currently offering status matches?
Aside from SPG and Marriott as well as Hyatt and MLife, I don't see much evidence of current status matches that are available.
I thought it would be useful to prepare a master list as some people may be shopping around for a new hotel chain at the start of the year.
I thought it would be useful to prepare a master list as some people may be shopping around for a new hotel chain at the start of the year.
Mar 9, 2017, 1:30 pm
#3
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Milesbuzz has a status match thread IIRC. (Granted, Milesbuzz has gone dormant in the past few years. Back when non-credit-card promotions were much more common, it was full of action.)
With easy credit-card paths to SPG/Marriott Gold, HH Diamond, and Hyatt Platinum, status-matching in the hotel world isn't all that interesting. There was a brief period when Hyatt was offering SPG Plats Diamond status. In fact, if you're SPG Plat right now, it might be worth an email to the Hyatt social media contact(s) - they might do it. But they *wouldn't* do Hilton Diamond to Hyatt Diamond, perhaps because they know it's a credit card status and perhaps because they know SPG Plats are the group who appreciated the similar kind of recognition that Hyatt Diamond offers. By contract, Marriott Plats and Hilton Diamonds don't get that recognition - they mainly get rewarded on the award redemption side of things.
IHG tosses around status matches like candy, except perhaps the IC program-with-a-program elite statuses. I was IHG Platinum one year and I don't even know how I got it. (It was utterly useless.)
With easy credit-card paths to SPG/Marriott Gold, HH Diamond, and Hyatt Platinum, status-matching in the hotel world isn't all that interesting. There was a brief period when Hyatt was offering SPG Plats Diamond status. In fact, if you're SPG Plat right now, it might be worth an email to the Hyatt social media contact(s) - they might do it. But they *wouldn't* do Hilton Diamond to Hyatt Diamond, perhaps because they know it's a credit card status and perhaps because they know SPG Plats are the group who appreciated the similar kind of recognition that Hyatt Diamond offers. By contract, Marriott Plats and Hilton Diamonds don't get that recognition - they mainly get rewarded on the award redemption side of things.
IHG tosses around status matches like candy, except perhaps the IC program-with-a-program elite statuses. I was IHG Platinum one year and I don't even know how I got it. (It was utterly useless.)
Mar 10, 2017, 3:19 pm
#4
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: ORD
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IHG tosses around status matches like candy, except perhaps the IC program-with-a-program elite statuses. I was IHG Platinum one year and I don't even know how I got it. (It was utterly useless.)[/QUOTE]
Looks like IHG Spire Elite is similar the MR Platinum Elite. Any Spire members have any feedback on the program...upgrade frequency, etc. thanks.
Looks like IHG Spire Elite is similar the MR Platinum Elite. Any Spire members have any feedback on the program...upgrade frequency, etc. thanks.
Mar 10, 2017, 9:36 pm
#5
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Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 2,231
Mar 11, 2017, 3:15 am
#6
Join Date: Jun 2012
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You do get extra bonus points though.
Mar 13, 2017, 7:41 pm
#11
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Posts: 2,231
It was couple years ago. I don't keep up how it works now.
https://thepointsguy.com/2014/10/com...tus-challenge/
https://thepointsguy.com/2014/10/com...tus-challenge/
Mar 20, 2017, 9:35 am
#12
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Marriott traditionally does status challenges (as opposed to straight matches for HH members), but if the status reflects Plat *during* the challenge, your chain could still work.
Mar 20, 2017, 10:18 am
#13
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1,884
Do we have any confirmation that HH considers IHG Spire equivalent to Diamond? I know Hilton is pretty loose, but even they might look at Spire as a not-quite-real status. I can see them (a) countering with free Gold, because they *really* give away Gold like candy or (b) wanting to see actual stay screenshots, showing something that might realistically turn into Hampton Inn stay activity.
Marriott traditionally does status challenges (as opposed to straight matches for HH members), but if the status reflects Plat *during* the challenge, your chain could still work.
Marriott traditionally does status challenges (as opposed to straight matches for HH members), but if the status reflects Plat *during* the challenge, your chain could still work.
Mar 23, 2017, 7:24 pm
#14
Used to be 'Travelergcp'
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: New Orleans
Programs: AA Plat, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,826
Matches are always negotiable if you're truly a 50-100 night/year customer. If you're scamming your way into a match from a status you never really earned in the first place or from credit card spend, like myself, you're going to have to wait for a promo.
Mar 24, 2017, 11:19 am
#15
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I remember in the final year of Northwest Airlines' existence, I received an unsolicited NW Gold card in the mail. Came from our corporate travel agent, who said it was a promo where they gifted it to a ton of people.
I had just started a gig in Denver and was about to book a bunch of UA tickets, so I scanned the NW Gold card and sent it off to UA with a standard form on the same corp TA's website. Within a few days, United had mailed me a 1P card!! Ended up flying UA pretty consistently for a couple years solid as a result of that match. Actually made 1K the "real" way...
I think that's the only time I've parlayed a freebie status into a match. I also used to get unsolicited SPG Gold cards in the mail (15 years ago) but don't think I did anything with them.
I had just started a gig in Denver and was about to book a bunch of UA tickets, so I scanned the NW Gold card and sent it off to UA with a standard form on the same corp TA's website. Within a few days, United had mailed me a 1P card!!
Ended up flying UA pretty consistently for a couple years solid as a result of that match. Actually made 1K the "real" way...I think that's the only time I've parlayed a freebie status into a match. I also used to get unsolicited SPG Gold cards in the mail (15 years ago) but don't think I did anything with them.