How to get a Hilton Honors status match
The benefits enjoyed by Hilton’s most loyal guests can be just a few clicks away.
By Matt Lennon, May 31 2022
Want to enjoy perks such as free breakfast, room upgrades and access to Executive Lounges at hotels like Hilton, Conrad and DoubleTree by Hilton? Then get onto the fast track to Hilton Honors Gold or Diamond tier with this Hilton Honors status match.
As long as you hold equivalent top-tier membership in the loyalty program of a competing hotel group, Hilton can set you up with an instant 90-day trial period of Hilton Honors Gold so you can sample the benefits of that status on your next Hilton stays.
And by clocking up just seven nights at properties in the Hilton group within those 90 days, that Hilton Honors Gold card is yours for almost two years. Add another five nights to your short-term tally and your Hilton Honors status will be elevated to Platinum, again for almost two years.
Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond status serves up a range of practical benefits across the Hilton portfolio, which along with its namesake includes Waldorf Astoria, DoubleTree, Conrad, LXR, Curio Collection, Embassy Suites and more.
Here's everything you need to know about the Hilton status match program.
Hilton Honors status match: who is eligible?
First up, Hilton says it will offer a status match only to people who haven't been granted a Hilton Honors status match before.
If you tick that box, progress to step two: you'll need to hold equivalent status with a competing hotel group. Some of the better-known hotel loyalty programs and tiers you can use for the Hilton Honors status match include:
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Accor ALL: Gold, Platinum
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Best Western Rewards: Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Diamond Select
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Choice Privileges: Gold, Platinum, Diamond
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Marriott Bonvoy: Gold, Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador
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Radisson Rewards: Gold, Platinum
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World of Hyatt: Explorist, Globalist and Lifetime Globalist
Of course, you'll also need to belong to the Hilton Honors program (click here to join for free) – but you don't need to be starting from scratch as a new member. Even if you hold Hilton Honors Silver status, a higher level of membership in a competing hotel loyalty program will get the Hilton Honors status match underway.
Hilton Honors status match: how it works
Once approved, you’ll enjoy an immediate boost to Hilton Honors Gold on a 90-day ‘trial’. Some of the benefits you’ll instantly enjoy include:
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Room upgrades (subject to availability)
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Free breakfast (depending on which Hilton hotel you’re staying at)
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An 80% bonus points haul on in-house purchases
That 90-day period then encompasses a very modest 'status challenge' whereby you'll need to stay seven nights at any Hilton property to turn your trial into nearly two more years of Gold status, with your newly-bestowed credentials valid until 31 March 2024.
Better still, if you stay a further five nights, your newly-won Gold membership will firm further and turn into Diamond status, unlocking perks including:
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Access to hotel executive lounges (where available)
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Double points earn
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Faster WiFi
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Rights to gift status to a friend or family member.
Normally you’d need to collect 28 nights to reach Hilton Honors Gold or 42 nights for Diamond, so this promotion represents a serious 'discount' to earning status.
Of course, once you’ve locked away Gold or Diamond tier until the end of March 2024, you will need to clock up the full number of nights at Hilton properties – 20 nights for Hilton Honors Gold, or 42 nights for Hilton Honors Diamond – to stay minted into 2025 and beyond.
Timing your Hilton Honors status match application
You’ll need to be ready to go once approved, as the 90-day clock starts as soon as your application is rubber-stamped.
This means the best time to apply for the status match is around 2-3 weeks before your next trip, as it can take up to 14 business days for applications to be approved.
If you haven’t received your status trial and you’ve already checked in to a Hilton property, unfortunately that stay won’t count.
Hilton Honors status match: how can I apply?
If you’re already a member of Hilton Honors, click to statusmatch.hiltonhonors.com and be ready to upload proof of your 'status and stay' with an eligible competitor.
According to Hilton, acceptable forms of status validation include a screenshot of your current active account status, while acceptable forms of stay validation include a screenshot of your recent reservations or hotel receipt, redacting any personal information other than your name and membership number.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 May 2018
Total posts 2
FYI I tried this in April before a trip to the US to stay in a Hilton property. 2 things for people to know:
1. You can ONLY apply via their automated form, with no ability to look at exceptions, just referring you back to the form in all instances; and
2.They want evidence of your normal bill at your current hotel group, so if you haven't been travelling because of COVID, then you're S.O.O.L. (see point 1 about not willing to look at exceptions)
23 Jul 2017
Total posts 93
I stayed at the Cairns Hilton last year, and without a doubt it was the worst experience I've had at a "quality" hotel. I'm a Gold Hilton member.
1) The manager told me it didn't work in Cairns. Really? 2) Housekeeping was unbelievably poor. Tea/coffee sachets and mini milks weren't replaced. Toiletries in the lavatory/shower/bath room also weren't replaced. The room floor wasn't properly vacuumed. (I left a small fingernail sized piece of paper on the floor in an obvious position. It was still there two days later). 3) We were given a first floor room that faced the garage of the hotel opposite. 4) Service in the restaurant was just appallingly slow, and the place wasn't even well patronised that night.
The only positive about our stay was one lady at reception, when told of the situation in the room, collected the items we needed and brought them to us. She was a credit to a bad hotel. She'd be a credit to any hotel.
On approaching the manager while we were there, he just flicked it all off as our being "complaining" customers. We weren't doing more than trying to explain the situation. If that's the way Gold members are treated, heaven help non-members. I wrote to him and headquarters and got the same brush off. Why can't we at least get a "we're sorry" email?
Cairns was the second hotel where service was cavalier. The place at Surfers Paradise was almost, but not quite as bad.
If this is the treatment handed out to Gold members, and you have the equivalent at other chains, don't try to join the Hilton programme. You may get the lack of service we received.
16 Apr 2021
Total posts 2
Has anyone been able to get this to work? I've tried multiple times, multiple browsers and it fails whenever I upload either the evidence or the stay details. PITA as you have to go through multiple validation steps each time too.
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