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Hilton offering free Gold status after three stays – open to everyone

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Hilton HHonors has launched a new ‘fast track to Gold’ promotion in association with airberlin.

Unlike many similar promotions run by Hilton, this one is open to everyone.  It is even being openly promoted on airberlin.com – click on ‘topbonus’ and ‘news and special offers’..

You are directed to this special Hilton HHonors registration page to register.

Hilton Gold 350

Here are the rules – read them carefully:

You need to complete THREE Hilton stays, across any brand, within 90  days of registering – so think carefully about what date you should register

You must register by 31st December 2015 (EDIT: the rules changed after I published this article and you must now register by September 30th)

Reward stays or ‘cash and points’ stays WILL count

Your Hilton HHonors Gold status will run until March 2017

If you credit your stays to airberlin topbonus, you will also receive bonus miles – double on your second stay, triple on your third stay and quadruple on your fourth stay.  The rules do NOT say that you must credit the three qualifying stays to airberlin – it appears OK to take ‘100% points’ instead of some points and some miles.  You could also choose to take some points and take some miles in Iberia Plus or British Airways Executive Club (Iberia is more generous).

What is good about Hilton HHonors Gold?

Hilton Gold is probably the best mid-tier status of any hotel chain.

The key benefit is free breakfast, except at Waldorf-Astoria properties.  You should also receive some sort of upgrade (Hilton is very good at upgrading, unlike some other chains) and a late check-out on request.

On my two Hilton stays last week, I was upgraded on one and got a 2pm late check-out on both, as well as free breakfast.  At Syon Park I also received 2 x £10 free drink vouchers per room.

You will also receive bonus base points on every stay.  If your employer pays for your breakfast, you can – at some brands – choose to receive 1,000 bonus points instead.

Full details of Hilton HHonors Gold benefits can be found here.

If you think you can squeeze in three Hilton Group stays within 90 days – and remember that includes Hampton, Conrad, Waldorf-Astoria etc – then this is definitely worth a look.

Remember that you MUST register via this page – and that the 90 days starts counting from the day you register.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points and they come with generous sign-up bonuses. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Category

Hilton Honors, oneworld alliance partners

Comments (83)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • pauldb says:
    29 Jul29 July 10:25

    Bit of a beginner question. I have a stay coming up but we are travelling with an HH Plat and let them book both rooms in the hope their status might rub off. I see they can claim points for up to 2 rooms, but stay credit for only one. Can I opt to have the points and stay credit myself, by giving my card at check-in (I’m not currently even named anywhere on the res).

  • Mycity says:
    29 Jul29 July 13:25

    Sorry but off topic, but does anyone know if the Travelex Supercard is down? I’ve used it for the last week in the states now being declined, tried calling them but no answer

    • Nick says:
      29 Jul29 July 17:28

      I’ve been using my Supercard in the US for the last 7 days and it’s been fine.

    • Rob says:
      29 Jul29 July 17:56

      Working fine in Germany!

    • Pol says:
      29 Jul29 July 18:02

      Could it be a problem with your attached card rather than supercard, maybe they are blocking it because you have a large number of purchases to the same place i.e supercard.

      • Mycity says:
        29 Jul29 July 18:32

        Thanks all for the help, Pol may be right as I’ve pushed over £1000 on one card maybe it’s the card provider. I will switch cards and get back to you all later.

        • Mycity says:
          30 Jul30 July 02:15

          Seems Pol was correct, I changed the card I use and it’s fine. Clearly the card provider has stopped it.

          • Peter Taysum says:
            5 Aug5 August 03:20

            My bank stopped my card for using it for Supercard. They didn’t like a hotel booking for around 350 quid. Called them from Hawaii, and all sorted. “It was an unusual transaction” apparently… I’ve found it really useful…

  • Marco says:
    29 Jul29 July 14:15

    I have reserved a Hilton weekend night in September by using the Barclaycard free night voucher.
    Would anybody know, if I were to pay for two more nights at that same hotel back to back with my voucher night, would that count as two stays or only one stay?

    • Alan says:
      29 Jul29 July 14:18

      It would only count as one stay.

    • Kai says:
      29 Jul29 July 15:53

      And you won’t earn any points from your paid nights either.

      • Nick says:
        29 Jul29 July 17:34

        Are you sure about that?

        • Michael says:
          29 Jul29 July 18:14

          Does Hilton gold status give you access to their lounges .. .i e Dubai (the walk) ?

          • Fadi says:
            29 Jul29 July 19:22

            Yes. Specifically for the walk this was my first Hilton as a Gold and I had access for a guest who was not staying at the hotel. Which was handy for a meeting.

          • dave w says:
            29 Jul29 July 20:30

            Guaranteed access for Diamond only, usually they extend this to gold but it’s at the hotels disgression….

          • Rob says:
            29 Jul29 July 21:27

            Only if upgraded to a room on the Club / Executive floor

          • Michael says:
            29 Jul29 July 21:47

            Thought I might save a few pounds. Was going to book the executive room with breakfast in Dubai, but after reading this it might work out cheaper doing 3 separate nights/ weekends in my area (Scotland) but if it’s not gaurenteed…..Suppose I can book a room only and get the free breakfast for 2 and if I don’t get the Exec Upgrade just pay for it.

  • DW201 says:
    29 Jul29 July 17:07

    Im thinking this is a typo – you cant get any status with a hotel chain with no stays unless you match from another scheme (and then they set you a challenge.,,,)

    • JQ says:
      29 Jul29 July 18:33

      … you can get status with many chains just by holding a credit card.

      • dave w says:
        29 Jul29 July 20:29

        Silver with the hilton card in the UK. Are you talking US cards?

      • Rob says:
        29 Jul29 July 21:27

        Not to a massive degree:

        SPG Amex – Preferred Plus status (bit less than Gold but does have late check-out)
        Marriott – Marriott Silver automatically, not worth much
        IHG Visa – Gold automatically, not worth much
        IHG Premium Visa – Platinum automatically, can be good but worth less now Spire introduced as top tier
        Hilton – Gold but you need to spend £10,000 in a CALENDAR year; Silver is automatic but not worth much
        Amex Plat – Carlson Gold, Starwood Gold and Accor Platinum – good deals but £450 annual fee

  • John says:
    29 Jul29 July 18:21

    If I have recently registered for fast track gold status via another route, but haven’t stayed anywhere yet, could I register for this instead?

  • Mycity says:
    29 Jul29 July 20:27

    I’ve just tried to register for this, I’m currently Gold, just joined Topbonus, however when I try to register it tells me I’m already registered for this offer, erm how? How can I check if I’m registered?

    • Rob says:
      29 Jul29 July 21:24

      Perhaps already being Gold throws up that message?

    • Wally says:
      29 Jul29 July 22:28

      I saw that message initially (and I’m Silver) but tried a second time and it worked!

      • Mart says:
        30 Jul30 July 07:53

        Ditto – said im already registered [and Blue]. I then linked my air berlin account number to my hilton honours account incase it was that and it worked 2nd time.

  • gs says:
    30 Jul30 July 00:25

    would a free night from the HH credit card and 2 reward stays count?

    • Alan says:
      30 Jul30 July 03:14

      Yes, as long as they weren’t consecutive nights in the same property.

  • Joe says:
    30 Jul30 July 08:14

    ‘Thank you for your interest but you are already registered for this promotion’

    Errr, no I’m not – never clicked on it before

    • Joe says:
      30 Jul30 July 08:20

      Although has worked at the second attempt – have three Hilton stays next month, so hopefully that should extend me to March 2017

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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