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Get a Hilton Honors Diamond status match to 2026 with 14 nights – and Gold for 90 days

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If you have considered switching your hotel stays to Hilton but don’t want to go ‘cold turkey’ because you have status with your main chain, Hilton has a solution.

Hilton Honors has offered an occasional status challenge program for years, letting you leverage your elite status from Marriott Bonvoy, IHG One Rewards etc for Hilton Gold or Diamond. The challenge has just been rolled over for another year.

Importantly, even mid-tier elites (eg Marriott Bonvoy Gold) get a fast track to Hilton Diamond.

Hilton diamond status match

Irrespective of whether your current status is mid tier or top tier, you get Hilton Honors Gold Elite status for 90 days.

You retain your Gold Elite status if you complete eight nights in 90 days. You will be upgraded to Diamond Elite if you complete 14 nights in 90 days.

Your status would last until 30th March 2026.

How to get a Hilton Honors status match

Via this link, you can match your existing status with another hotel loyalty programme into Hilton Honors.  You must be at least ‘mid tier’ although Hilton will define at its discretion what counts from each particular scheme.

You can definitely match from the following programmes:

  • Best Western Rewards
  • Choice Privileges
  • IHG One Rewards (still called ‘IHG Rewards Club’)
  • Marriott Bonvoy
  • World of Hyatt

There is also an ‘Other’ box in the dropdown menu.

Hilton honors status match

How does the Hilton Honors status match work?

The match rules are simple:

  • You will receive Hilton Honors Gold Elite status for 90 days from the date of acceptance (usually 5-7 days after you email your request but the rules say 7-12 business days)
  • To keep Gold Elite until March 2026, you need to complete eight nights for cash (reward stays do not count) within 90 days of approval
  • To be upgraded to Diamond Elite until March 2026, you need to complete 14 nights for cash within 90 days of approval

Note that, as well as having status in another programme, you must also have evidence of a ‘recent’ stay with that programme.

If, for example, you have Marriott Bonvoy Gold status from American Express Platinum, you would also need to show evidence of a recent Marriott stay.

The match is only available for Hilton Silver Elite or base members. You cannot use it to get Hilton Diamond if you are already Hilton Gold.

Hilton Honors status match

Is a Hilton Honors status match worth doing?

Potentially, yes.

Hilton Gold Elite is generally seen as the best mid-tier hotel status because it gets you free breakfast. In North America, you get a food and beverage credit instead of breakfast – the good news is that this can be used towards any meal or at the bar, the bad news is that it rarely covers the cost of an actual breakfast.

Hilton Diamond Elite comes with guaranteed lounge access when the hotel has a lounge, which is a good reason to push for it. You will also have a higher priority for upgrades.

Timing is key, of course. Once you are accepted, you get the benefits of Hilton Honors Gold status for 90 days.  There is no point triggering this match now unless you a stay coming up before mid August.

Given the fairly quick turn-around time, your best bet is to trigger the challenge when you have a trip firmed up. There is no major risk of it being withdrawn, given that it has been running for a number of years now.

You can apply for your Hilton Honors status match here. Our full review of Hilton Honors is here.

Click here for a complete guide to getting hotel elite status, including Hilton Gold Elite, from UK credit cards.


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

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

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

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.

We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

You can apply for either card here.

NEW: Hilton Honors Plus Debit

12,000 bonus points (special offer), Hilton Gold status and NO FX fees Read our full review

NEW: Hilton Honors Debit

3,500 bonus points (special offer), Hilton Silver status and 0.5% FX fees Read our full review

There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.

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

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

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.)

Comments (34)

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

  • Nick G says:

    I tried the challenge earlier this year but due to various reasons missed it by 2 nights. Now back to silver.

    With the increase in free to gold and above that now gets you free breakfast/free parking/use of pool etc I’m keen to get Gold again.

    Have a 4 night paid stay at the WA Berlin via Emyr coming up. Keen to try and use those nights to get some way back.

    Is my only option to get the platinum card for HH Gold?

    • Rob says:

      Platinum is the easiest option if you can’t get a match.

      Remember the Plat fee is still refundable so you can sign-up, bank the £300 of dining credit, £100 of Harvey Nicks credit and the hotel status cards and then cancel in a couple of months – you’ll only have paid £100ish in fees.

      • Nick G says:

        True. What about the status expiry date though of HH if I did that?

        • Rob says:

          It’s random. Guaranteed to Feb 25, possible it would be set to expire Feb 26, possible it continues for years and years even if you cancel ….

          • Nick G says:

            Thanks Rob

          • Dirtyneedlebluesky says:

            I wonder if this is your l how I always maintain IHG Plat status through a legacy promotion. I don’t make anywhere near the stays I should to retain yet every year it comes through!

          • babyg_wc says:

            yup, years and years here……..

          • CJ says:

            Mine continued for 10 years without ever doing the required number of stays to maintain the status. Then eventually dropped me to silver.

  • Sam says:

    I had Hilton Gold for a bit (various targeted offers thru covid) and it just expired in March 2024 so I’m back to nothing.

    Would i be eligible for this (matching IHG platinum) or does it only apply to people who are ‘new’ to Gold?

    • blenz101 says:

      You can participate provided you have never had a status match in the past.

  • Dave S says:

    Not sure why I bother with diamond any more. When the give it out with cards or status matches it’s a bit of a kicker for those who actually got it by earning 60 nights. It’s rare I’ve had upgrades, perhaps 2 meaningful ones in about 2 years, and in the US the breakfast benefit is poor. I’m Hyatt Globalist and Marriott Titanium and have had far more upgrades with them, especially Hyatt since Globalist is pretty hard earn without doing the stays so there are less Globalists eligible for upgrades when staying. Diamond is so common place especially in the US it may as well be a lower tier these days

  • David says:

    Yeah… so the links go to some other site that is NOT Hilton. Be careful out there folks.

    • Rob says:

      Eh? The status match page is hosted on hiltonhonors.com – admittedly this is separate to hilton.com but Hilton has used hiltonhonors.com for loyalty stuff for years.

  • Amy says:

    What a joke. As a Diamond member that has 70 nights year to date. That don’t need more members crowding the lounges. The over sell them already. If there was a match to Marriott or Hyatt I would jump ship and leave Hilton honors in a minute! I am sick of HH after 7 years.

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

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