Back in October, I wrote about the new deal that American Express had done with Hilton HHonors to offer status as part of the American Express Platinum benefits package.
It had been slowly rolling out globally but had not yet reached the UK.
However, a development has occurred!
If you go to the Platinum cardmembers website, you now get taken to this page:
Do you see what I see?
Hilton HHonors – Gold status (gets free breakfast)
Shangri-La Golden Circle – Jade status
Melia Rewards – Gold status
I will do another article next week looking at each of these in detail and explaining what benefits they bring. They definitely add value to the Platinum package.
But here is a shock ….
Amex giveth but Amex taketh away ….
The following message appears on the Platinum website if you look closely enough:
Enrolment to receive the American Express benefit of 1-year complimentary Le Club AccorHotels Platinum tier membership will end on 15 April 2016; after which Cardmember requests cannot be accepted, and Cardmembers will not be enrolled or upgraded to Le Club AccorHotels Platinum tier.
Yes, after 15th April you will no longer be eligible for free Accor Platinum status. Your existing status will continue to be valid until it expires, of course.
I never took great advantage of this, but my wife used it successfully at the Sofitel in Sochi. Even on my last Novotel stay I received two free drinks, an upgrade and bonus points. I would rather have Hilton Gold than Accor Platinum, but at the same time I wouldn’t swap Accor Platinum for Melia Gold. This was, after all, the only top tier status that came with Amex Platinum.
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About Head for Points
Has anyone actually managed to enrol? The form doesn’t work for me, just goes back to the same page. Can’t even put my full Melia account number in because mine ends with a letter and the form only accepts digits. The form states the wrong status levels, and misses it entirely in one place. I suppose even for a £450 premium product you can’t always get your content editors to do a proof read….
I would give them a few days. It isn’t officially announced yet after all.
I managed to get it to work today, after failing over the weekend. The enrollment page has changed this morning, asking you to confirm more details (title, address, etc), so I assume they’ve got their back-end sorted now.
Also, on the Melia point, it works if you just drop the letter off the end of the account number. Works on melia.com too, so it’s not an issue. I actually wonder whether the letter is only put on at registration in order to designate an unverified account.
Yep, it worked for me too.
Mine shows HHonors Diamond btw!
As I got the Hilton Diamond status through status match (was a gold as I had put through £10k on the Hilton Visa last year), the loss of Accor Platinum is a definite dis-benefit.
AP was very handy in Asia- on one trip to Thailand, one Mercure upgraded me to Executive floor & lounge access, one Novotel upgrade to Junior Suite (with free bottle of wine and snacks). Breakfasts thrown in at both. Couldn’t ask for more.
No need for Priority Pass so Platinum benefits for me are now down to the car hire and travel insurance. Time to ditch it and research decent insurance.
So Hilton Gold status is back, Q: is it just going to be for 1 year then back down ( like last time we had it ) or is it going to be like the Accor platinum keeping the status year after year even if you never stay?
Permanent
I received a letter and a brochure from Amex through the post today informing me the changes to the hotel benefits.
However, I have noticed on the Hilton Gold section, it did not mention the “complimentary continental breakfast”. In my opinion, this is one of the most important benefits of the Hilton Gold status, not to mention it on a official document is rather strange… unless Hilton has planned to change the Gold status soon?
Sloppy Amex writing, almost certainly.
Remember, Amex does not mention the hotel benefits AT ALL on the Platinum website (the marketing website, not the members site).
What about the Shangri La Jade top offer of “priority upgrade to the next available best room category if the reserved room type is not available at check-in”. Is this the best they can offer…. And other benefits of free wi-fi, how is this a status benefit in 2016? Accor will be greatly missed by myself.
Ah..True!! Hopefully this is just another case:))
Oops.. just to clarify, I was replying to Rob’s reply earlier.
So with the Golden Circle Jade, you should ALWAYS book the hotel 73 hours before you need it hoping that the room level you would have booked is then sold out forcing them to upgrade you!
I was trying to book the Sofitel in Heathrow the week before last on the Accor app on my phone and it didn’t work. I then realised my last platinum membership had expired a few days earlier, so I called Amex Platinum first to ask whether I needed to renew my membership for Accor platinum, or if it would automatically renew. I was told it would automatically renew, but that there were changes coming.
I called Accor direct to book the hotel and queried my membership – and I was told I have platinum membership ‘for life’ – not quite sure who to believe, but I will certainly be sad to see the Accor Platinum membership go – and it’s certainly something I will have to bear in mind when/if I renew my Amex Platinum as I can’t really see the new benefits much of a match.
Starting too fall out of love with the Hilton Brand. Checked in to the Hilton NEC on Wednesday night and promptly checked out. Executive room with threadbare carpet, shower that trickled, shower tray that filled with water, broken toiletry tray and I mean it didn’t have 1 single metal bar in it, cheap toiletries but worst of all was the toilet paper. It brought back memories of school. It was worse than single ply happy shopper stuff! Oh and no spirits in the executive lounge!!
I spoke to the manager who seemed ashamed. At £269 a night I expect a LOT more.
So i promptly booked a room at the new Genting hotel over the road. WOW. Superior room, same price. Nespresso coffee machine, two complimentary bottles of Prosecco in the fridge, two complementary A5 note books, nice toiletries and lovely soft towels. Of course the rooms etc are only three months old, but the extras were way beyond anything the Hilton are offering.
Went and spoke to the manager at the hilton the next day and told him he needs to go and spend a night over the road, because if he doesn’t up his game he’s going to be running a very quiet hotel. He agreed.
In general, I will always take a new hotel over an old one. A new Premier Inn puts most 20 year old Hiltons to shame.
And why pay £450 for hilton gold when you can pay £18
go on, put us out of our misery – how? 🙂
Hi, I have just successfully applied for a platinum card and received it, and also a supplementary card for a friend at a different address which has arrived here.
I see from other posts that this is normal.
But what I am wondering is will the priority pass come here too, or will it go to the address I provided for the second card holder?