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Update 1/31/21: Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to gift Gold status to someone if you have Hilton Diamond status. This opportunity wasn’t originally included in today’s Last Chance Deals post, so we didn’t want you to forget about this. Thanks to reader Klanfa for the reminder.
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Hilton Diamond members: starting next week and through January 31, 2021, you will be able to gift Hilton Gold status to a friend or family member as a one-time special gift if you currently have Hilton Diamond status (even if you only got that status via the Hilton Aspire card!). If you have Lifetime Hilton Diamond status, you will be able to gift Diamond status to another member. Either way, that’s pretty awesome.
Gift Gold status to a friend with Diamond status
Hilton offers what is far and away the best mid-tier hotel elite status. That is because Gold status gets you free breakfast at almost all Hilton hotels & resorts worldwide (there are a handful of properties that give you a couple of $10 vouchers for breakfast, but the vast vast majority of properties, even top-end luxury properties like the Conrad Bora Bora, offer free breakfast to Gold members). Being able to gift Gold status to someone who may be “new to the game” is a nice benefit. Note that the Hilton Honors program has long offered this ability, but it is typically only available to those members who stay 100 nights within a calendar year. If you have status and also manage to hit 100 nights this year, you will be able to gift status twice.
Upgrades are obviously YMMV, but Greg has gotten some nice suite upgrades via Gold status. I don’t think I ever got upgraded to a suite as a Gold member, but I did get upgraded to the club level once when I stayed at the Hilton connected to the event center where the Olympic trials for the US Swimming team was happening (I was there to watch the event). It was kind of cool sitting next to Michael Phelps’ mom in the lounge (for real) and being surrounded by Olympic-caliber swimmers in the hallways. Apart from that, I was always happy with free breakfast.
Being able to give those benefits will be particularly nice for those whose Diamond status comes from having the Hilton Aspire card. The card already comes with an excellent collection of benefits. This one-time chance to gift status is a nice little bonus.
Obviously the gift of Hilton status will be of more limited use in 2021 given that most people probably still won’t be traveling extensively (at least for the first half of the year) and breakfast offerings in many places have been trimmed back (in some places almost embarrassingly so). However, if you know someone who will be traveling, this will be a pretty nice gift. Furthermore, we expect elite status requirements for most programs to be reduced next year. I have to think that another round of status extensions seems unlikely, but on the other hand it certainly isn’t impossible that we’ll see another round of status extensions if travel doesn’t seem to be recovering next year. It isn’t impossible to imagine your friend getting a couple of years of status out of the gift (albeit an unlikely scenario).
Lifetime Diamond members can gift Diamond status
If you have Hilton Lifetime Diamond status, you will be able to gift Diamond status to another member. Given that Diamond status comes with lounge access and even more points per dollar, that is obviously a nice little upgrade for free — assuming that lounges are open and serving something worthwhile.
Bottom line
This is obviously a nice little deal from Hilton. It is a one-time deal, so you’ll only be able yo gift status once and you have until January 31st to do it. This could be a nice little holiday gift to a friend or family member that will be traveling next year (or perhaps hold out until near the end of January to get a better idea of who in your life would benefit from it the most). It’s a nice deal for those with Hilton status.
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On a similar subject, I just got billed my $450 annual fee for the Aspire card and called in to check for retention offers. Agent said they will be starting a $20/monthly dining credit for 2021 on this card starting Feb 1, and to call back then (tomorrow) to get it activated. Thought this might be worth mentioning to your readers.
Thanks for that info! I was about to cancel mine for the year, since my Diamond status was extended to 2022. That might be enough for me to keep it.
Any ideas if we did not receive an email how to get the code?
Just got shutdown for this offer. Got Diamond status via the Aspire CC. Called in to find out the gifting procedure and was told 6o nights are needed.
Agent was wrong. My wife and I both have status from the Aspire card and both received emails from Hilton confirming that we can gift Gold status. If I can find a link to do it online, I’ll update.
There is some suggestion that it is targeted. Re-scanned my email and did not see anything. Can you provide the subject line of the email?
Same here. I was told I needed a certain number of nights in 2020, and she couldn’t find anything about qualifying via Aspire CC. I was told to send my request to priorityletter@hilton.com.
I found a page that says you can gift Gold status with 30 nights in 2021 or Diamond status with 60 nights in 2021. Rollover nights do not count. https://www.hilton.com/en/p/status-gifting/
Is there a link to gift status?
https://www.hiltonhonors.com/en_US/gift-status-hilton-gold/claim-code-entry/
You (Diamond) have to call hilton at 800-446-6677 or email them at priorityletter@hilton.com to receive a code if you did not receive the email. Then click link above and enter to code. I tried to call but waited 35+ min and gave up. Im gonna email.
HT: PointsGuy (benji)
https://thepointsguy.com/news/gift-free-hilton-elite-status/
Are you sure about Diamonds via CC? I have that through Aspire but my account says, “Elite status giftingIf you hit 60 nights in the calendar year, you can gift Gold status to any member. If you hit 100 nights then that gift is upgraded to Diamond”.
Sorry, I see now you said starting next week!