# Promise of HHonors Gold?



## BigIslandFan (Apr 17, 2015)

I clearly recall being told during our presentation in June of 2013 that hgvc members will retain hhonors GOLD status. I was just bumped down to Silver tier because I do not travel for work anymore.

I asked the club and they implied I was mistaking my Gold Season in hgvc for the Gold Tier with hhonors. No way I was confused. I saw this as a perk because of all of my hotels stays.

Does anyway else recall being promised Gold hhonors status for purchases around 6/2013


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## brp (Apr 17, 2015)

We were given lifetime Gold when we purchased HCNY a couple of years before that. We've since sold that and lost it, but we get HHonors Diamond through credit card spend.

When we got it with the purchase, though, it was written into the contract. If you don't have it written, it doesn't exist, unfortunately.

Cheers.


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## Talent312 (Apr 17, 2015)

If they said it, it was a lie. It's not in any promo or owner materials.
They only promise Silver (Gold is for HCNY or Elite status). However:
It's relatively easy to earn Gold with an affinity CC from AmEx or Citi.

I will lose my Gold status in 2016, becuz the point-devaluation has
led me to move on to travel rewards from sources other than Hilton.
.
.


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## topdog (Apr 17, 2015)

Same here.  Lost Gold this year after switching cc spending elsewhere. Not a big loss IMO.


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## MichaelColey (Apr 17, 2015)

FWIW, if you get the Hilton Honors Surpass AmEx ($75 annual fee), you get Gold status for free (and Diamond if you spend $40k/year).  The card is also good to use at Hilton (where you get 12 points/$), restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations (where you get 6 points/$).  You can rack up a lot of points.

I actually find HH to be a very good value for many mid-range hotels (with points required around 20k/night).  SPG can be a better value many times, if they have hotels where you want to go.

I spend a TON of nights (over 100/year) in hotels, doing work for our business, and Hilton Garden Inn is my favorite brand.  Many places I stay, I can find rates in the $70-$120 range.  When they're much higher than that, I often use points.  I like that as a Diamond (and even Gold), you get a very nice, cooked-to-order breakfast for free.


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## dvc_john (Apr 18, 2015)

BigIslandFan said:


> I clearly recall being told during our presentation in June of 2013 that hgvc members will retain hhonors GOLD status. I was just bumped down to Silver tier because I do not travel for work anymore.



Well,  Hhonors Gold is a perk for HGVC members, but only at the elite level. 14000 or more points bought directly (not resale).


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## CalGalTraveler (Apr 18, 2015)

dvc_john said:


> Well,  Hhonors Gold is a perk for HGVC members, but only at the elite level. 14000 or more points bought directly (not resale).



HHonors Gold is in our purchase agreement for NYC with a conversion rate of 50:1.  We are not at Elite level.  FWIW, credit cards get the same benefit for a lot less via resale!


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## MikeinSoCal (Apr 20, 2015)

I agree with topdog.  Gold isn't much of a lost.  I'm a Diamond and I don't think it's worth much either (at least not for the dollars I spend at Hilton).  I think all of the fast track programs are watering down the product.  Too many people can easily obtain Gold and/or Diamond with non-stays.


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## brp (Apr 20, 2015)

MikeinSoCal said:


> I agree with topdog.  Gold isn't much of a lost.  I'm a Diamond and I don't think it's worth much either (at least not for the dollars I spend at Hilton).  I think all of the fast track programs are watering down the product.  Too many people can easily obtain Gold and/or Diamond with non-stays.



Of course, if they don't stay much, then the fact that they have Gold or Diamond doesn't have as much of an impact. It's a watering down on an infrequent basis.

Cheers.


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## TheWizz (Apr 20, 2015)

From http://www.hgvcelite.com/recognition/hhonors/ :
*
HHonors*

As long as you qualify as Elite or Elite Plus, you may enjoy the privileges of HHonors Gold elite membership.  

For those Members qualifying as Elite Premier, the benefits of HHonors Diamond elite membership await.

I don't recall the exact page, but I'm pretty sure it is noted in the HGVC Program Rules that by default belonging to HGVC gives you HHonors Silver status.  I have heard of other folks that purchased (retail) in NYC getting HHonors Gold Elite benes included. 

Another way, besides the CC options discussed, to retain HHonors Gold Elite is to join the Grand Wailea Elite Club on Maui.  This gives you on-site discounts and 30% discounts off the room rates and also HHonors Gold Elite status as long as you are in the GW Elite Club.


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## janckenn (Apr 22, 2015)

What is the Grand Wailea Elite Club on Maui?


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## TheWizz (Jun 8, 2015)

janckenn said:


> What is the Grand Wailea Elite Club on Maui?



Apologies for the delay in responding, just saw this.  Here is a write-up I did on the GW Elite Club last year.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1645766#post1645766

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Cheers.


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## tompalm (Jun 8, 2015)

I just got the Hilton Surpass card with gold benefit. The big benefit is 80,000 points after $3000 of spending in three month. But, the fee next year will be $75 and no reward except the gold status and one extra point over the free no fee Hilton card.  The hotel that I like to stay in is the Embasy Suites and the free breakfast is included all the time.  So, after I get my 80,000 points, I plan to switch to the free card or the $95 Reserve card that offer VIP Gold.  Two questions I have?
1.  What does VIP provide over standard gold
2.  Is it worth paying $75 next year to keep the card I have now. From reading above it doesn't sound that way. But, I get one extra point over the free card that would provide about an extra 15,000 points or more. So the real cost of the card is a lot less, or maybe less than $20. 

Here is the info below

http://creditcardforum.com/blog/hilton-credit-card-offer/


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## amc347 (Jun 9, 2015)

The Grand Wailea Elite membership is totally different that hgvc. We are elite members too with grand Wailea. It was a flat $1500 for initial membership then annual dues of I think $250 this year. Gets you 30% off their "best available " rate category and 20% off food and spa. They give automatic gold for Hilton honors. It's worth it if you go there every other year or so. However, I find the AAA rate is almost as good or some of the special packages such as breakfast included is a good deal and you can't use the 30% off the packages. It did help us get a reservation when the place was fully booked though. They used to give 20% off at the builtmore and another place in Palm Springs (la Quinta?), but I don't see that currently listed as a benefit.


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## MichaelColey (Jun 9, 2015)

tompalm said:


> The hotel that I like to stay in is the Embasy Suites and the free breakfast is included all the time.


If you have Gold status (either through stays, the credit card, timeshares, or whatever), check out Hilton Garden Inn.  Their breakfast is only included for Gold or higher (and only if you select that option), but it's even better than Embassy Suites and there's not a wild mob of people.  And there are more HGIs and they're often cheaper.


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## djroboexpress (Jun 9, 2015)

michael if you buy from the developer a 14,000 point package you will receive the gold card or you can purchase any amount of points at the NYC clubs and you will receive also.


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## MichaelColey (Jun 9, 2015)

I spend a lot of time (well over 100 nights a year) in hotels, so I'm already Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum and Starwood Gold.


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## tompalm (Jun 10, 2015)

MichaelColey said:


> If you have Gold status (either through stays, the credit card, timeshares, or whatever), check out Hilton Garden Inn.  Their breakfast is only included for Gold or higher (and only if you select that option), but it's even better than Embassy Suites and there's not a wild mob of people.  And there are more HGIs and they're often cheaper.



Thanks, that is great info.  

Regarding the $95 Reserve card, they give you one free weekend night every year.  Does anyone know what the limitations are, like how long the certificate last and category of hotel it is good for.

With Marriott, I get a free night each year, but the certificate expires after a few months and the category of the hotel is so limited that I can't use it in Honolulu, or a lot of other places like LA airport hotel, etc... I plan to cancel that Marriott card next year.


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## tante (Jun 10, 2015)

tompalm said:


> Thanks, that is great info.
> 
> Regarding the $95 Reserve card, they give you one free weekend night every year.  Does anyone know what the limitations are, like how long the certificate last and category of hotel it is good for.
> 
> With Marriott, I get a free night each year, but the certificate expires after a few months and the category of the hotel is so limited that I can't use it in Honolulu, or a lot of other places like LA airport hotel, etc... I plan to cancel that Marriott card next year.



As far as i know there are no restrictions besides space availability, but you need to spend $10,000 to get that free night. So if you had a 2% cash back card that is $295 for the room (annual fee plus 2% cash back missed return).

Sure gold status is nice but you can do that with an amex Hilton with no annual fee.


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## Talent312 (Jun 10, 2015)

tante said:


> ...[Y]ou need to spend $10,000 to get that free night.
> So if you had a 2% cash back card that is $295 for the room (annual fee plus 2% cash back missed return).



But you would have spent that $10K anyway _(easy to do)_. Even w-free Am-Ex, you have to spend $20K to get gold-status _(also easy)_-- so you're spending the $$ somewhere regardless.

IMHO, the real question is: Is a weekend night 1x per year at $95 or gold-status a sufficient inducement to stick with HHonors as my primary CC reward program? My answer is: No. I'll keep HH around, but not as my primary  reward card.


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## tante (Jun 10, 2015)

Talent312 said:


> But you would have spent that $10K anyway _(easy to do)_. Even w-free Am-Ex, you have to spend $20K to get gold-status _(also easy)_-- so you're spending the $$ somewhere regardless.
> 
> IMHO, the real question is: Is a weekend night 1x per year at $95 or gold-status a sufficient inducement to stick with HHonors as my primary CC reward program? My answer is: No. I'll keep HH around, but not as my primary  reward card.



I wonder if that changed. I remember having a no annual fee Hilton card that gave gold with no spend requirement. 

My point isn't that $10k is a tough spend but would rather get $200 for doing that or a free weekend night (plus spend another $95). It just depends on the value you get, but $300 is my nightly out of pocket max per night.


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## MikeinSoCal (Jun 10, 2015)

tante said:


> Sure gold status is nice but you can do that with an amex Hilton with no annual fee.


However, that takes an annual spend of $20k.


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## tante (Jun 10, 2015)

MikeinSoCal said:


> However, that takes an annual spend of $20k.



I'm going to have to check my cards. I have no fee citi and amex and have good without the spend. I need to see if they took this benefit away.


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## tompalm (Jun 10, 2015)

Here is the info below. The free card provides 10,000 points if you spend $1000 at Hilton. I wonder if paying my HGVC maintenance fee qualifies for that. If so, that is an easy 10,000 points. The Surpass card is not looking to great right now. Gold with $20,000 of spending works for me. 

http://creditcardforum.com/blog/hilton-credit-card-offer/


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## brp (Jun 10, 2015)

tompalm said:


> Here is the info below. The free card provides 10,000 points if you spend $1000 at Hilton. I wonder if paying my HGVC maintenance fee qualifies for that. If so, that is an easy 10,000 points. The Surpass card is not looking to great right now. Gold with $20,000 of spending works for me.



Surpass gives Diamond with $40K spend. It's one of the few (maybe only?) programs that allows top tier with spend. Mrs. brp has that one for the status. And I have Amex Platinum for the lounges and other perks 

Cheers.


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## 1Kflyerguy (Jun 10, 2015)

tompalm said:


> Here is the info below. The free card provides 10,000 points if you spend $1000 at Hilton. I wonder if paying my HGVC maintenance fee qualifies for that. If so, that is an easy 10,000 points.
> 
> http://creditcardforum.com/blog/hilton-credit-card-offer/



I have the Surpass card, and have been quite happy with it.. Any spending at Hilton or HGVC seems to count as Hilton Hotel spending with Amex, and qualifies for higher point earning categories.  So i would guess the maintenance fee would qualify as hotel spend on the free card as well.


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## MichaelColey (Jun 10, 2015)

brp said:


> Surpass gives Diamond with $40K spend. It's one of the few (maybe only?) programs that allows top tier with spend. Mrs. brp has that one for the status. And I have Amex Platinum for the lounges and other perks


Technically, the Marriott Visa can, too. You get 15 elite nights a year for having the card, plus an extra for every $3k you spend, so spending $180k/year would get you Platinum.  But that's quite a stretch. 

For me, between 15+ nights with the card and 7 nights per Marriott exchange, Platinum is pretty easy to reach.


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