Last week, right after we covered the Marriott and Starwood merger, Hyatt—long known for not even offering status challenges—rarely went public with a status match program, granting its Hyatt Platinum and top-tier Hyatt Diamond status to mid- and upper-tier elites from other hotel groups. And now Hilton has also launched a 2016 elite status match.
Hyatt Status Match
To request a Hyatt status match, you’ll need to prepare:
- Proof of elite status with a competing hotel program (Marriott, Hilton, SPG), such as a screenshot or a scan of your physical card
- Proof that you have stayed at that hotel at least once this year, such as a screenshot from the website
Then send an email to [email protected] and remember to include your Gold Passport number and name. Note that Hyatt is currently receiving a large number of status match requests, and with Thanksgiving happening now, the staff handling these requests may be on holiday. Hyatt has already indicated that existing match requests may take up to 14 days to process. The matched status level also seems somewhat random. Early on, almost everyone could use SPG Gold or Hilton Gold to receive Hyatt Diamond, meaning a mid-tier elite could be bumped all the way up to Hyatt’s top tier. Now, however, you may only receive Hyatt Platinum. Even so, unless you have a specific reason not to, we still recommend sending the email as soon as possible, since the offer could end or be devalued at any time. The elite status you receive will be valid through February 28, 2017. If you want to learn about the benefits, see here.
Hilton Status Match
Hilton doesn’t want to fall behind either. An HHonors staff member leaked its status match plan in advance on FlyerTalk. You just need to send proof of elite status with another hotel group, such as a screenshot or a scan of your physical card, by email to [email protected] before January 11, 2016, and include your Hilton HHonors number. Again, we recommend acting right away and emailing Hilton for a status match. Hilton will likely match mid-tier elites to Hilton Gold and top-tier elites to Hilton Diamond. The Hilton elite status you receive will be valid through March 2017.
The Elite Status Domino Effect
Because many credit cards on the market offer hotel elite status benefits, statuses like Hilton Silver, Hilton Gold, SPG Gold, and Hyatt Platinum are everywhere. Combined with the status match programs offered by hotel groups, you can potentially first get Hilton Gold through a credit card such as The Platinum Card from American Express, then use that to match to Hyatt Diamond, and then use Hyatt Diamond to match back to Hilton Diamond. In other words, you can go full circle and get a free upgrade to a higher Hilton tier. And once you have these two top-tier elite statuses, it becomes much easier to get elite status with almost any other hotel program as well. You can also try requesting status matches with other hotel groups on your own. This makes it possible to get high-level elite status across multiple hotel programs with almost no hotel stays at all, while enjoying all kinds of benefits. Have you done a status match today? Come share your experience with everyone!