I have a trip to London coming up and hotel rates are outrageous! I looked through all my preferred brands and even with AAA and a corporate rate, I couldn’t find anything reasonable. So I had to look at a Hilton hotel, but the problem was, I have no status with Hilton. After some searching, I found a link on Points, Miles & Martinis with info about a fast track to gold status. What a great find!
All I had to do was sign up using this link (if you have signed up for fast track before, it seems that it will not allow you to sign up again) choose the date for my 90-day fast track period and then within about 10 minutes my account showed gold status and I booked a hotel in London! To maintain the gold status, you need to complete 4 qualifying stays or 9 nights within 90 days from your start date.
This is a great way to get gold status if you have upcoming travel with Hilton and haven’t used a fast track before.
Nice find and a fair headstart to get some ‘status’ in your life. That said, Hilton’s Gold does not really offer much and most of the important perks are qualified with the “Subject to Availability” qualifier. As we know, that means dofferent things to differet front desk personnel and/or their mood during your check-in process. Of questionable real value, but better than nothing. I have not looked at the details yet, but if Hilton’s Gold includes a decent breakfast, then the deal is worth the trouble. Any room upgrades will remain a crap-shoot, but that’s +/- the same with any chain.
@Cook – it does include free internet and 25% points bonus, so that’s a nice perk for me!
In addition it includes:
Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and DoubleTree by Hilton™ Benefits
All Hilton HHonors Gold guests will receive the following:
Upgrades to Preferred Rooms..
Gold HHonors guests will receive upgrades to preferred rooms, based on availability for the entire stay at the time of check-in. Upgrades for Gold HHonors guests may include the next-best available room from the room type booked. Upgrades may also be rooms with desirable views, corner rooms, rooms on high floors, rooms with special amenities or rooms on Executive Floors**, as identified by each property. Some exclusions based on rate and room type may apply. See Terms & Conditions for details.
AND choose ONE of the following:
Earn 1,000 Hilton HHonors® Bonus Points per stay.
Continental Breakfast.
You will receive complimentary Continental breakfast for you and up to one additional registered hotel guest in the same room each day of your stay.
** Executive Floor Lounge Access Policy
The following policy will apply at all Waldorf Astoria® Hotels & Resorts, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and DoubleTree by Hilton⢠hotels with Executive Floor Lounges. Executive Floor Lounges are available only at select properties.
If you are a Gold HHonors guest, you and up to one additional registered guest in the same room will be granted complimentary access to the Executive Floor Lounge only if you receive a room upgrade to the Executive Floor or an upgrade to a room type that confers Executive Floor Lounge access benefits.
If you are a Diamond HHonors guest, you and up to one additional registered guest in the same room will always enjoy complimentary access to the Executive Floor Lounge, even if you do not receive a room upgrade to the Executive Floor.
At Embassy Suites Hotels® choose from:
HHonors Gold Members choose two:
Sweet Tooth (two Candy Bars)
Two Bottles of Water
Two Regular Colas
Two Diet Colas
Two Regular Lemon-Lime Sodas
Two Pieces of Fruit
Salty Snack (popcorn, pretzels, etc.)
or
HHonors Gold Members can choose:
HHonors Gold Members earn 500 HHonors bonus points.
At Hampton Inn® and Hampton Inn Suites® choose from:
One bottle of water and one snack item.
250 HHonors bonus points.
At Hilton Garden Inn® choose from:
Daily complimentary hot cooked-to-order breakfast for you and up to one additional registered hotel guest in the same room each day of your stay
750 HHonors bonus points
At Hilton Grand Vacations:
Early Check in/Late Check out, upon request, subject to availability.
Two bottles of water per stay.
1,000 HHonors bonus points per stay.
At Homewood Suites by Hilton® choose from:
Two bottles of water per stay and Pepperidge Farm cookies.
250 HHonors bonus points.
At Home2 Suites by Hilton® choose from:
HHonors Gold member can choose:
Bottle of water and a snack provided to guest through front desk.
100 HHonors bonus points.
Benefits when staying at Waldorf Astoria hotels:
Expedited HHonors check in at designated desk
Late checkout based on availability
Two bottles of water per stay
Complimentary health club access where available, owned and operated by the hotel
Welcome beverage (up to two guests)
One category room upgrade* (excludes suites, Napua Tower at Grand Wailea and Imperial Floor at Rome Cavalieri) and choose ONE of the following:
1,000 HHonors bonus points
One in-room movie included with your stay (where locally available)
*Note: if a room upgrade is unavailable, the member will receive both of the above benefits.
Thanks. You make several excellent points – about points . Internet access (free) would h ave been next on my list. The bonus point accumulations are nice, but points is not usually a major consideration for me and I darn sure don’t do Mattress Runs and the like. I go where I need to go and selected routes, carriers and hotels according to the specific trip’s needs. The points and status game (hobby) does not really enter into my business plans, but it is sometimes fun to watch, hence my readings of these blogs. For me, travel is a business necessity, not a pleasurable persuit. Quite by accident, I guess I have some miles and some ‘status’ a few places, but achieving such has never been a goal or even a consideration. Given a block of free time, travel is the last thing on my list; I much prefer to stay home and enjoy my little piece of Heaven, deep in some Oregon forest. Thanks for your update and the details.
Which Hilton brand will you be staying with in London? Anxious to hear what perks they make available to you.