Achieving elite status by combining Hilton Surpass spend and hotel stays

Hi everyone,

I'm a new member and I was wondering if it's possible to achieve Gold or Diamond by combining the credit card spend with hotel stays. I understand we get automatic Silver by being a cardmember, and I don't know if we need to work from Silver onwards. I have emailed Hilton HHonors about this and they don't seem to know. They told me it's either credit card spend or hotel stays, but not both, and I don't know if I can accomplish just one of these. I'm currently a Diamond until March 2013, but I think this was possible due to both as I didn't spend that much on the credit card, nor did I have many stays. I know that my Marriott credit card automatically gives me Silver Elite, and they credit 15 nights to my account to beging with, so I know I'm starting from Silver and know exactly how many stays I need for Gold, but with Hilton, I'm not sure how it combines for both the credit card spend/nights stayed at Hilton properties.

I would appreciate any insight on this.

 

It sounds like they gave you the (correct) answer. Perhaps you were Diamond for some promotional reason.

 

The only way to get staus with the AMEX Surpass is to spend $20,000 annually on the card for Gold or $40,000 for Diamond. You can also earn Diamond status with 100,000 HHonors base points.

 

Thanks for the response! What if I were to stay at Hilton properties and earn Gold status for 2013-March 2014 and then spend the $20,000 on the Amex Surpass card. Would this give me 2 years of Gold or would this get me from Gold to Diamond? Or maybe it's useless to try to do both--hotel stays and credit card spend. I have some upcoming stays this year and want to see what's the best course of action to earn at least Gold for 2013. I don't use this credit card frequently, as I usually give preference to the Amex card that gives me Delta elite status.

 

Spend on your Amex and stays are two separate non-combinable methods of getting status. By acheiving both in any qualifying period will not piggyback and your status will be for which ever one grants the higher status.

 

Even though the AMEX starts you at HH Silver, you don't get 4 stays credit, unfortunately. That would be a great perk. Like newbluesea mentioned, credit card spend and stays are two separate issues. If you're looking for HH Gold, you'll get it when you reach 16 stays or $20K in spend, whichever comes first.

If you have the means, it'll be easier and (most likely) cheaper to get Gold based on stays/nights than spend on the AMEX.

 

Getting gold via base points is $6k at Hilton for 60k base points (or 16 stays or 36 nights); Diamond is $10k for 100k base points (or 28 stays or 60 nights). So the spend is 3-4 times higher for the card than the Hilton stays would be.

Let's just say I don't aspire to ever attain Diamond based on nights or stays.

 

Good points, as I forgot to fully describe that Gold and Diamond can be earned by spending on base points at Hilton hotels, and this is an advantage over other hotel loyalty programs that have a strict night or stay requirements for earning elite status.

 

Remember that the Amex spend and stay credit (either nights, stays or $) are completely separated. That said, getting Gold for 20K on Amex is one of the best deals around, and usually the way I maintain my Gold status. If you have Gold status otherwise, 20K on the Amex will not gain you additional year of Gold. If you only aspire for Gold than the regular Amex card (no fee) might be better suited for you.

 

If I'm already Gold this year, can I spend $20k now to renew my Gold for next year, or do I have to wait until 2013 to do the spend?

 

This year spend will give you gold for the reminder of this year and for next year.