Several revised adjustments to policies of the Hilton Honors frequent guest loyalty program were released earlier today to provide maximum flexibility and value to greater than 108 million of its members due to the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — including the extension of the expiration date of points and the reduction of the qualification requirements for earning elite status.
Hilton Honors Extends Expiration Policies, Reduces Elite Status Qualification Requirements by 50 Percent, and Increases Flexibility Again
Before the details of the new program adjustment policies for 2020 and 2021 are outlined, know that members of the Hilton Honors frequent guest loyalty program are being given potentially great opportunities to earn even more points to use towards a future stay starting this month — and as a member, in addition to redeeming Hilton Honors points on hotel stays, charitable contributions, and various partners, you can:
- Register for the Double Rewards promotion to receive double Hilton Honors bonus points per stay as well as double night credits until Thursday, December 31, 2020, which means that every night you stay counts twice towards earning the next elite tier status — as well as even more Hilton Honors points to use toward a future stay at a participating hotel or resort property.
- Earn 10,000 Hilton Honors points simply by completing your first survey within 90 days by Thursday, December 31, 2020 — but you must join Guest Opinion Rewards prior to completing your first survey 10,000 Hilton Honors points by the end of the year.
- Earn 250 Hilton Honors bonus points simply by linking your Hilton Honors membership account with your Lyft membership account; and earn an additional 750 Hilton Honors bonus points on your first ride bonus for a total of 1,000 Hilton Honors bonus points — but you must link your membership accounts prior to completing an eligible ride operated by Lyft by Thursday, December 31, 2020 at 11:59 in the evening Eastern Standard Time.
- Earn 5,000 Hilton Honors points simply by spending a minimum of $25.00 at a participating restaurant, bar, club, or other dining establishment within 30 days of joining as a member of the Hilton Honors dining program by Thursday, December 31, 2020 — and after that, you can earn 10 Hilton Honors points for every United States dollar spent this year.
- Apply for the Hilton Honors American Express Card by Sunday, January 31, 2021. New card members can earn a $100.00 statement credit after their first card purchase and 75,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after spending $1,000.00 in purchases on the card within the first three months. With the statement credit and 75,000 Hilton Honors bonus points, members could enjoy two nights at one of the mountain getaway properties used as an example later in this article — and still have points to spare! Plus, the $100.00 statement credit is received after the first purchase — including gasoline or road trip snacks — and can help offset part of the cost of any trip mementos.
- Receive a bonus of 100 percent on any purchase of a minimum of 10,000 Hilton Honors points — up to a maximum limit of 160,000 Hilton Honors points for $1,600.00, which is $0.005 per point when factoring in the bonus points — but you only have until Thursday, December 31, 2020 to take advantage of this offer.
- As an extension to Hilton EventReady with CleanStay, you can earn double event planner points with this flexible offer, which applies to events booked through Thursday, December 31, 2020 for meetings or events occurring now through Monday, May 31, 2021. Members in the Event Planner Program can now receive double Hilton Honors Points — that is, two points per eligible United States dollar spent — in addition to extended flexibility allowing meetings and events to cancel without penalty up to eight days in advance of arrival.
Extension of Elite Level Status
All members whose elite status was scheduled to be downgraded in 2020 and 2021 will automatically be extended through Thursday, March 31, 2022 — which means that you will continue to enjoy all the Diamond, Gold or Silver elite status level benefits to which you have access today for the next 24 months.
Originally, members whose 2019 elite status was to be downgraded on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 initially automatically received an extension through Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
Extension of Expiration of Points
All Hilton Honors points which were scheduled to expire between now and Thursday, December 31, 2020 was initially paused until further notice; but now the expiration date has been set for Friday, December 31, 2021 — and no points will expire until at least then, no matter when they were earned.
Reduction of Qualification Requirements to Earn Elite Status by 50 Percent
The qualification requirements to earn elite status across all tiers will be reduced by 50 percent — including stays, nights, and base points earned in 2021 — to allow you to achieve elite status in half the time.
For example, in order to earn Gold elite level status:
| Minimum Requirements to Earn Gold Elite Level Status |
Temporarily Revised |
Original Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Nights to Complete | 20 Nights | 40 Nights |
| Minimum Stays to Complete |
10 Stays | 20 Stays |
| Minimum Hilton Honors Points to Earn |
37,500 Hilton Honors Points | 75,000 Hilton Honors Points |
Also, all 2020 nights will automatically roll over to the 2021 calendar year to help you upgrade your elite tier status even faster.
Milestone Bonus Night Threshold Lowered
The Milestone Bonus Night threshold was lowered to begin at 20 nights in 2021 — the threshold was previously 40 nights — to align with new Gold elite level status qualification and allow you to earn rewards faster.
Members who have earned Gold elite level status will earn 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points for 20 nights stayed; and will continue earning the additional 10,000 bonus points every ten nights above that level in a calendar year. At 60 nights, a member would still earn the additional milestone bonus of 30,000 bonus points.
Fewer Nights to Stay For Gifting or Upgrading Elite Status by Diamond Members
Reducing Gifting Status Night Threshold to the new Diamond status night qualification. The minimum threshold of the number of nights which are required to either gift Gold elite level status or upgrade the gift to Diamond elite level status by Hilton Honors members who have earned Diamond elite level status have been reduced as follows, according to the chart:
| Minimum Requirements of Nights to: |
Temporarily Revised |
Original Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Gift Gold Elite Level Status |
30 Nights | 60 Nights |
| Upgrade Gift to Diamond Elite Level Status |
60 Nights | 100 Nights |
Extension of Weekend Night Rewards Earned on Eligible Hilton Honors American Express Cards
All Free Weekend Night Reward certificates which were issued in 2020 and will be issued in 2021 will continue to be valid for use during any night of the week instead of only on weekend nights.
The expiration date of all Free Weekend Night Reward certificates which are issued in 2021 will be extended to Saturday, December 31, 2022.
Free Weekend Night Reward certificates which have not expired as of Thursday, December 31, 2020 will expire in accordance with their previously communicated terms. This means that according to this article from Wednesday, March 25, 2020, the expiration date of all Weekend Night Rewards which have not expired as of Wednesday, March 11, 2020 — and all Weekend Night Rewards which will have been issued until Sunday, August 30, 2020 — will automatically be extended through Tuesday, August 31, 2021.
Bonus Points Continue to Count as Base Points on Eligible Hilton Honors American Express Cards
Bonus Hilton Honors points will continue to count as base points on eligible purchases through Friday, December 31, 2021 on all eligible Hilton Honors American Express cards; and they will also count toward the qualification of elite tier status — including Lifetime Diamond Status.
Summary
If you are not already a member of the Hilton Honors frequent guest loyalty program, you can join now free of charge.
While most of the revised adjustments to policies of the Hilton Honors frequent guest loyalty program is good news, two items stand out to me that I believe should have been revised as well — but perhaps I am asking for too much:
- The expiration date of all Free Weekend Night Reward certificates — regardless of when they were issued — should have been extended to Saturday, December 31, 2022, and not just those which will be issued in 2021.
- The flexible change policy and cancellation policy should have been extended as well, as only individual reservations which were booked prior to Thursday, October 1, 2020 are eligible for free changes or cancellation up to 24 hours before the day of arrival.
All photographs ©2018 and ©2019 by Brian Cohen.
