Hotels

Category Archives for Hotels.

Instant Free Hilton Gold Status Now Online

by Gary Leff on April 9, 2005

Apr 09 2005

Last week I posted a promotion code to receive instant Gold status with Hilton just by calling them up. It turns out that there’s a website where you can enroll with HHonors Gold status online. No phone call required! If you’re an existing HHonors member you still have to call with the promotion code to get the status… or you could open a new account with Gold and then merge the two. Once you’ve created the new account, log in online, choose ‘member services,’ and select ‘combine multiple accounts.’ Add your existing account into your new Gold one.

Free Gold Status

by Gary Leff on April 5, 2005

Apr 05 2005

As discussed at Flyertalk.com, Hilton is offering complimentary Gold status (details of Hilton status here). Just dial 1-800-HHONORS, ask for a customer service representative, and tell them you are calling about promotion code CTCH. This seems to work for most folks, and provides or extends Gold status instantly. The promotion is apparently with Citibank, with elite HHonors membership offered to Citibank members with special Chairmans status of some kind. However, the promotion code is currently mentioned in the main recording on the Hilton 800 number so it really isn’t a secret. This is likely just a mistake on Hilton’s part to publicize it this way. Some folks report problems signing up for the promotion, with representatives saying you need a letter from Citibank or asking whether you have a Citibank credit card, so your mileage…

New Hilton Alarm Clocks

by Gary Leff on March 30, 2005

Mar 30 2005

Via Tripso.com, Hilton is introducing alarm clocks with an iPod plugin and related sweepstakes. The clocks are supposed to be especially easy to set. Unfortunately this probably won’t solve the need to make sure the alarm clock isn’t already set when you check in — there’s little worse than being woken up in the middle of the night because the last guest thought it would be funny to boobytrap you by setting the alarm to go off at 3am.

A Good Hotel Responds to Their Guests’ Needs

by Gary Leff on March 22, 2005

Mar 22 2005

Via Tripso.com, Mariah Carey is a pretty demanding hotel guest. When the singer’s aides arrived at a London hotel at 2am yesterday to check preparations for her imminent arrival, they were dismayed to find the red carpet had not been rolled out. They explained that, whatever time of day or night she arrives, Miss Carey is always welcomed by a thick-pile red carpet illuminated by large white candles. Her limo circled the block while the hotel prepared for her arrival.

Great Changes with the Hilton American Express

by Gary Leff on March 7, 2005

Mar 07 2005

On Friday I mentioned a signup bonus of 15,000 points for the free Hilton American Express. Looks like from a discussion at Flyertalk that the card has some new improved benefits. Historically the card come with Silver elite status and has offered 3 Hilton points per dollar spent, plus an additional two points per dollar spent at Hilton hotels. Effective April 15th, there will be three new benefits: An additional two Hilton points per dollar spent (for a total of five) at supermarkets, gas stations, drug stores that are not departments of superstores or warehouse clubs, the post office, restaurants, and for cell phone bills. Five Hilton points per dollar spent is an excellent return for a free card. Gold VIP status for a year if you spend $20,000 or more on the card in…

Marriott Conversion Bonus

by Gary Leff on March 4, 2005

Mar 04 2005

Through May 31 American is offering a 20% bonus on points converted from Marriott. Registration required.

Free Hilton American Express with 15,000 Miles for First Use

by Gary Leff on March 4, 2005

Mar 04 2005

Also via Free Frequent Flyer Miles, as always the Hilton American Express has no fee. Now there’s an offer of 15,000 bonus miles with first use. As I’ve explained before, American Express is pretty good at figuring out who they’ve given signup bonuses to in the past. If you previously signed up for a Hilton Amex with a 10,000 mile offer you’ll probably get only 5,000 more points this time — that is, you’ll get the difference between what’s on offer now and what you’ve gotten in the past. In my experience, Bank One (actually now JP Morgan Chase) and Citibank are pretty good for giving multiple signup bonuses…

Marriott Bonus Point Offer

by Gary Leff on February 24, 2005

Feb 24 2005

Marriott is offering 2500 bonus points for each of the second through fifth stays between March 1 and June 1. Registration is required by May 15.

Hilton Introduces Rolling Elite Qualification

by Gary Leff on February 16, 2005

Feb 16 2005

Been pretty busy and my limited posting prevented me from mentioning a story that Notiflyer broke last week: Hilton HHonors has introduced a rolling elite-qualification program. HHonors now allows members to carry over stays from the prior calendar year in order to achieve HHonors VIP status. By comparison, most other programs only allow members to count stays in a calendar year (January through December) to count toward elite status.

Hilton Member-Get-Member Bonus

by Gary Leff on December 16, 2004

Dec 16 2004

Hilton is running a “member-get-member” promotion: refer a member, and if they stay at a Hilton hotel in 2005 you get 1000 bonus points. If they twice, they get 1000 bonus points. That’s my understanding of the offer via MilesLink, though the website still lists the 2004 expiration date. Sign up here, and if you need to be referred for the bonus miles feel free to use my Hilton HHonors number 839900993.