My Hilton Gold status, via the credit card, arrived – this is how it worked ….

I wrote an article in February discussing the speedy arrival of my free night voucher from my Hilton HHonors Platinum Visa credit card.  It turned up just 13 days after I hit the £750 spending target. 

However, looking at the comments you left, it seems that I got lucky and just snuck in to the end of a batch.  I now tell people they should wait 6 weeks before chasing up.

Having got the free night, I turned my focus to getting my Hilton HHonors Gold status back.  This expired at the end of March.  I needed to spend £10,000 on the card to receive it.

You can see the benefits of Hilton HHonors Gold here.

All Hilton status cards expire in March.  The programme works on a calendar year and your old status continues until March whether or not you retain it.

The £10,000 of spending on the Hilton credit card to obtain Gold status must be done in a calendar year.  As I got my card in January, this was not a problem.  Some people are caught out by this – it is NOT a good card to get towards the end of the year.  If you don’t hit £10,000 by December 31st, your target is reset to zero and you need to start again.

This is the timeline I experienced:

I passed the £10,000 target on March 1st

The statement which included that transaction was issued on March 19th

The payment deadline for that statement was April 13th, although I had paid it earlier

On Tuesday April 20th I received an email:

Look at the dates.  I received Gold status for the rest of this year, all of 2016 and the first three months of 2017.  That is 24 months of Hilton HHonors Gold – or 24 months of free breakfast, as I prefer to see it.

The bad news for Barclaycard is that there is no need for me to keep the Hilton card now except for the fact that I receive 2,500 bonus Hilton points on my first four stays.

Once I have earned those, I will cancel it – and then reapply closer to April 2017 when my Hilton HHonors Gold will again expire.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – January 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

Get 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month* Read our full review