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Select Business School Grads Can Get Free Hilton Gold Status up to 2020!

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    Via The Reward Boss, Hilton is offering instant free gold elite status to recent graduates of certain business schools.  This gets you free breakfast (worth at least ~$20!), internet, and more.

    Depending on the school, you’ll get gold elite status until at least 2016 or 2020.  Gold elite status normally requires 20 stays or 40 nights at Hilton hotels (or having the right credit card!) so this is a great deal!

    This is a smart promotion on Hilton’s part.  They’re locking-in the loyalty of business school grads, a third of whom will go into consulting (which is VERY travel-intensive).

    You Could Use Gold Elite Status for Free Breakfast at the Hilton Moorea, French Polynesia

    How Does It Work?

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for Northwestern (Kellogg) Graduates

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for Harvard Graduates

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for Berkeley Graduates

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for NYU Graduates

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for Dartmouth Graduates

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for Duke Graduates

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for Cornell Graduates

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for Emory Graduates

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status for Georgetown Graduates

    Hilton sent targeted emails to Class of 2014 business school graduates offering them free gold elite status.  The terms and conditions say the offer is only valid for the email recipient and can’t be transferred.  And you must activate your status by June 30, 2014.

    If you don’t see your school on the list, it doesn’t mean you can’t try to register.  Just substitute your school name into 1 of the URLs listed above and see if it works.

    This Offer Is Supposed to Be Only for 2014 MBA Grads…But of Course I Tested It Out!

    But even if you didn’t get an email, you might be able to sign-up for the deal if you still have a valid business school email address!

    Use Your Business School Email Address to Sign-Up

    I graduated from Northwestern (go Wildcats!) years ago, but I was able to use my active Kellogg email account to sign-up and get instant free gold status!  Remember, it has to be a working email address, because they’ll send you a confirmation email once you register.

    Use a Valid Email Address Because You’ll Need to Confirm Your Registration

    In the interest of blog research, I used the same email address to register a family member and it worked! 🙂  As always, do what you’re comfortable with.

    Hilton Let Me Use My Email Address to Register a Family Member

    What Perks Do You Get With Gold Elite Status?

    Link:   Hilton Gold Elite Status Benefits

    Gold Status is the middle elite membership level in the Hilton hotel loyalty program.  For a mid-tier status level, the perks are pretty good!  You’ll get:

    My favorite perks are the free breakfast (worth ~$20 or more, especially in Europe) and free internet access.  You could save a lot of money and maybe even get a room upgrade!

    Room Upgrades Are Always Nice, Especially When They’re Not Expected

    So if you can get it, this free gold elite status offer from Hilton is a very good deal!

    Other Ways to Get Free Hilton Elite Status

    Link:   Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card (Free Gold Status)

    If you’re not an MBA graduate, don’t worry.  You can still get free status from Hilton!

    You’ll get free Hilton gold elite status and 2 free weekend nights at any Hilton after meeting minimum spending with the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card.  You can read my review of the card to see why it’s one of my favorite hotel credit cards!

    You also get free Hilton Gold status with the American Express Reserve card, but I prefer the Hilton Reserve card because you get 2 free weekend nights which are worth more than the Hilton points from the American Express Reserve card.

    Bottom Line

    Hilton is giving away instant free gold elite status to recent graduates from certain business schools until June 30, 2014.

    The offer is supposed to be targeted to the Class of 2014 only, but if you have a working business school email address (like I do, from my Northwestern days) you can still sign-up for the deal!  And you might be able to sign-up friends and family, too.

    I like free gold elite status for the bonus points, free breakfast and internet, and 5th night free on award stays.  You get a lot of perks that can save you money!

    Please let me know in the comments if you find any other schools that work with this deal!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)