Hilton HHonors elite status match email ping pong

Hilton HHonors made a FlyerTalk announcement (post #34) during Thanksgiving week that they will match HHonors elite status to your existing elite status in another program if you submit credentials by January 11, 2016.

SPG Platinum, Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond, IHG Rewards Club Platinum, Marriott Platinum are being matched to Hilton HHonnors Diamond, according to reports on FlyerTalk. Kimpton Inner Circle, Accor Platinum, Best Western Diamond are also mentioned. I have not seen any word about Choice Privileges Diamond or Club Carlson Gold or Concierge elite matches.

I sent in my request for a status match on Sunday, November 29 based on Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond.

We’re winding down for the Thanksgiving holiday and, as a heads up, I will be out of the office until Monday, but I wanted to let you know about our status match program…
We’ve been receiving a number of requests and yes, we do match status from other programs and we’d love to be your travel home.

1. We are matching status for 2016. To make sure you’re all set for the year, please submit your request by January 11, 2016. You’ll enjoy that status through March 2017.
2. All you need is something that shows your elite tier in another program and an HHonors number.
3. Email us at HHonorMyStatus@hilton.com and we’ll help get you started.

__________________
Hilton HHonors
FlyerTalk Ambassador

I was hoping to get matched to HHonors Diamond before my stay at the Washington D.C. Hilton this past weekend. I was invited by Hilton HHonors for a meeting and #HiltonatPlay NeonTrees@Play concert, so my hotel stay was free, but without HHonors Diamond elite status or even Gold elite, I did not have access to the Club Floor lounge. Brian Cohen of The Gate took me to the 10th floor lounge for breakfast and conversation Sunday morning before my flight home to Monterey.

Point #3 seems to be the key issue here for me with the Hilton HHonors email ping pong.

In my initial email I provided my name, address and HHonors account number with a screenshot showing my Hyatt Diamond status.

On Friday, Dec 4, I received a response from Hilton HHonors asking me to email my HHonors account balance as verification.

Dear Mr. Garrido,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding . We appreciate you taking the time to contact us.

Thank you for your request to “HHonor My Status.” For verification purposes, please respond with your current Hilton HHonors point balance. Once verified, we will be glad to process your request.

If there is anything else we can assist you with, please do not hesitate to contact us. For immediate assistance, please click on the link below for the contact number of the Hilton Worldwide Service Center location nearest you.

I promptly replied with my HHonors account balance, a paltry 14,739 Total HHonors points.

Today, December 7, I received another email from a different Hilton Guest Assistance Specialist asking me to resend my information.

Thank you for your request to “HHonor My Status.” We have reviewed your information. Please note the submitted screenshot must clearly display your name, the competitor logo/trademark information, and your current status with them. Please resubmit the noted information and we will be glad to continue to review your request. We look forward to your reply!

If you look at my initial screenshot, my name, Hyatt logo and current status is clearly visible. However, I noticed that there really is nothing in the picture showing my Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status is current. The image could be a screenshot from a prior year. So, I followed up with a different image showing my Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite status expires on February 29, 2016.

Anyway, still waiting for a Hilton HHonors status match in this email ping pong exchange.

Hilton HHonors is my ex-loyalty partner I kind of miss sleeping with these days.

Hilton HHonors was truly my first real love with hotel loyalty programs, primarily due to the fact that in 1999 I was able to transfer airline miles into HHonors points. I had a trip to Amsterdam planned and then learned that an upscale hotel like the Amsterdam Hilton or Starwood’s The Pulitzer was about the same price for three nights as the monthly rent on our four bedroom house.

In the five years between 1997 and 2003, I amassed millions of frequent flyer miles through frequent flyer promotions and internet shopping portals.

During those years, HHonors had numerous airline miles to HHonors points transfer partners including American Airlines, TWA, United Airlines and LatinPass. I probably transferred over one million miles over several years into HHonors points at an exchange rate of 1 mile = 2 points.

Until 2003, the cost of a 6-night HHonors reward stay at most hotels worldwide was 100,000 HHonors points. There was a small set of luxury hotels at 125,000 points for six nights. Best of all was many of those six-night reward stays received a rebate of points back to my account. On one trip we stayed six nights at the Amsterdam Hilton using 100,000 points for a $2,000 room rate hotel stay and a week later my account earned 43,000 points from our free award stay. HHonors was a generous hotel loyalty program.

Airline miles transfers into HHonors points provided us with $40,000+ in Hilton HHonors free hotel stays around the world between 1999 and 2004. HHonors Diamond elite meant I almost always secured reward stay reservations during the peak periods of travel like Christmas, Easter and summer when standard reward rooms were not available to lesser elite level HHonors members. My complimentary upgrade success to junior suites and suites was frequent enough to keep me a satisfied HHonors Diamond elite customer.

In 2003, HHonors reward stays increased in price, by 50% for many properties. Airline partners quickly dropped out of the miles-to-points exchange program. I did status matches from HHonors Diamond to SPG Platinum and Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond and moved most of my hotel activity to Starwood and Hyatt Hotels.

These days there are only a few miles to HHonors points transfer partners Amtrak, Hawaiian, Sri Lankan and Virgin Atlantic and a few other frequent flyer programs with poor exchange rates. Flying Blue, Miles & More, Avianca LifeMiles and Icelandair Saga miles and points can be used directly for hotel stay redemptions.

I look forward to giving Hilton HHonors more activity in 2016. A Hilton HHonors Diamond elite status match will be all the more incentive to get my head back into the Hilton family of hotels.