Get instant free Hilton HHonors Gold Elite status until August 31, 2011 just by signing up here (hat tip to Lucky & Gary). All you need is a Visa Signature Credit Card.
Million Mile Secrets reader Israel (Thanks Israel!) points out that existing Hilton Gold or Diamond members will get 5,000 points for registering!
The perks of Hilton Gold status are fairly decent for a mid-tier status level:
- Free internet access
- A space available upgrade to the executive floor or the next best available room type
- Free Continental breakfast
- 25% bonus points on stays
Free Hilton Gold Status
The free internet access and the free breakfast could alone save you $20 to $30 per night!
And if you stay 3 times at any Hilton by August 31, 2011 your Gold elite status will be extended through March 2013. The offer terms indicate that you have to pay for your 3 stays with a Visa Signature card.
My experience with Hilton HHonors:
There are mixed reports on getting upgrades as a Hilton HHonors Gold Elite member, but I’ve been upgraded about 60% of times:
- My first upgrade was to a suite at the Beijing Hilton on a paid corporate rate
- My last upgrade was to the executive floor at the Hilton Omaha on a reward night, where Emily and I had access to the executive lounge.
- We weren’t given an upgrade at the Hilton in Agra, India, on a reward night on Christmas day, when we visited the Taj Mahal, but we did get complimentary American breakfast which saved us $30!
I don’t go out of my way to stay at Hilton hotels since the point earning rate is low (there aren’t a whole lot of ways to earn bonus points) and the redemption rates are usually not a good value to me.
How to leverage the deal:
1) Sign up for the offer even if you don’t plan on staying at a Hilton in the next 2.5 months. You have nothing to lose and if your plans change you will get the benefits of status!
2) If you’ve got many stays (reward or paid) planned at Hilton hotels within the next 20 months, you may want to consider signing-up for the instant Gold status and staying 3 times by August 31, 2011 to maintain your Gold status until March 2013.
Not only will you save $20 to $30 per night (more in Europe) on future stays, but you may also get a room upgrade!
However, you should evaluate your incremental cost in staying 3 times at a Hilton versus the potential savings in internet fees and breakfast costs.
- For example, paying $300 for 3 nights at a Hilton brand hotel to maintain Gold status may be worth it if you later plan on staying, say, 15 nights in Hilton hotels during the next 21 months.
- That’s because having Gold status will save you $300 to $450 (15 X $20 to $30 in savings) PLUS give you a decent shot at being upgraded!
In summary, this is a good deal if you’re contemplating future stays at Hilton hotels since you could get something (Gold status) for about 3 minutes of your time.
Have you stayed at a Hilton as a Gold Elite member? What was your upgrade experience? Tell us about it in the comments!
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I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! 
Thanks for the tip! I do enjoy free stuff.
I also found that if you register a SECOND Visa Signature card for this promo, Hilton will reward you with a free 5,000 points. Not sure if it works for a third, as two cards are all I have.
@Stefan - You’re welcome!
I did hear about the reports of an additional 5,000 HHonors points if you register a second or third time, but it didn’t work work for either Emily or me, and we used 3 different Visa Signature cards!
Thanks for posting your experience though; perhaps it will work for other readers!
Unfortunately the two Visa cards that I have must not be considered signature cards as they would not verify.
Shucks! I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out.
Has anyone tried using this HHonors Gold to get a status match with another hotel program?
This promotion is great as Hilton Gold Status gets you much more than gold status in other major chains! Also, if you already have gold or platinum status, upon registering you will receive 5,000 Hilton Honor points as you will not be eligable for the intended promotion.
@Dealswelike – You’re right – Hilton Gold is a pretty good mid-tier status!
I ned to use my corporate charge card for all stays. Does anyone know if you can simply close out the account/payment (say the last $5) using a visa signature for the deal to work?
@Farhan – The T&C doesn’t seem to mention that you have to use your Visa Signature card to pay for the stays, but the CSRs and some folks on FT believe that you have to use the Signature card. I suppose that you could try to pay $5 with a Visa Signature card and see what happens.
I just saw this and although, I am already a Gold member through my Surpass AMEX card, I registered my visa AA card and received the message for 5,000 points.
My assumption is that is only if you were a gold already through some othe rprogram, not if you got it from registering the VISA card.
That is probably why you did not get the 5,000 points.
Thanks anyway & keep it coming.
This site is a treasure trove!!
@Israel Husarsky – Thanks for sharing and the kind words! I’m going to the update the post to mention that you might get an extra 5,000 points if you register for the promotion and are already an existing Gold or Diamond elite.
Use your new Gold Hilton HHonors card for status match with Best Western. They will give you a Platinum card. I like Best Western hotels in Europe, they are usually better priced than the big chains and sometimes even better located.
@NotMe2012 – That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
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Thankyou. I looked in Hilton today and 5000 points granted!
@Kam – Awesome!
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Out of curiosity, I can find nights @ the Las Vegas Hilton for $42 a night. So I could book 3 different nights (and not even stay there since I live in vegas) and get Gold through 2013 for $126?
@Rupen, while it is a good rate, with taxes etc. you are still looking at $150+. I do not believe it would be worthwhile by itself. You may wish to combine it and apply for the no-fee AMEX hilton card which can allow you to earn up to 62,500 points (with $500 spend and 4 stays). If you add this with the 5000 points above, it is a great deal. https://www262.americanexpress.com/apisites/microsite/apply/hilton-hhonors-card/71-1000-78
@Rupen - Unfortunately, you have to stay at the hotels to get credit for the stay. But since you live in Vegas, it may be easy to do! Just remember, that back-to-back stays may get rolled into one stay, so don’t book your stays as consecutive stays.
Kam’s suggestion is the easier way to get Gold for a year!
@Kam – Thanks for sharing!
I signed up for this back in June, and I was thinking about staying 3 nights at Hilton properties. I already have the AMEX HHonors card, so I called the reservation line to discuss the proposition of staying 3 nights at Hilton. What I found was: 1) you have to stay there, 2) 2 consecutive nights at the same place = 1 stay. the cheapest I could actually accomplish this deal in my area was around $172.00.
I then realized I could just apply for the HHonors Surpass card (http://www304.americanexpress.com/getthecard/learn-about/Hilton-HHonors-Surpass). Which gives a free year of Gold (in effect – Gold until March 2013 based on when ) +an additional 40,000 HHonors points (yes, if you have the current HHHonors AMEX, you can get the 40,000 bonus again according to my phone discussion).
All you have to pay is the $75 annual fee for the card. I’ve got a lot of HHonors points stored up, so when it’s time to use them, I’ll get the surpass card rather than try and squeeze three nights in by the end of August.
@Steve - It does make more sense to get the card and more than a year of gold status, instead of spending $172 for 3 stays which you may not need! Nice to know that you can apply for the AMEX card again!
I did this deal and it was great. I had a trip to England planned, so having the Gold Status give me an instant savings. The Hilton in Swindon England charged 15 Pounds per day for Internet, which was free as a Gold Member. It also got me a free Breakfast Buffet. I was there for 5 nights, so this was a hugh savings for me.
When I got back to the U.S. I decided I wanted to keep the Gold Status, so to makeup the needed stays, I booked a weekend at my local Hampton Inn. Any Hilton brand hotel counted towards the stays.
Then in Novemeber I went to Las Vegas and stayed at the LV Hilton. I was there on a casino promo rate of 4 nights for a total of $139 (for all nights). Then the Gold Status got me a free upgrade to their Grand Room mini suite. It also got me free Breakfast Buffet for two each day, savings of $15/buffet and free Internet in my room, saving of $14/day. So Gold Status is well worth it.