Check your account: Hilton elite nights posting for 2022, alongside other major programs
Editor's Note
It’s one of my least favorite times of the year: Seeing my status levels reset to zero come January every year. It’s a reminder that the hamster wheel of status chasing never really ends.
But there are some bright spots. Rollover credits, miles or free credit card nights courtesy of some of our favorite programs like World of Hyatt and Hilton are here.
In fact, some of us at TPG and some readers have seen rollovers and credits -- including Delta SkyMiles MQMs, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton and Hyatt stay credits -- hitting our accounts.
Consider this your annual reminder to check your accounts and make a plan.
Want more airline news and advice from TPG? Sign up for our daily newsletter
Delta SkyMiles
TPG’s Scott Mayerowitz flagged that his MQMs (Medallion® Qualification Miles) had already rolled over as of Jan. 2.
When I checked my account, I was thrilled to see that my MQMs had also already posted. And it’s not just MQMs above and beyond your earned status … it’s all of them going all the way back to 2020!
Rollovers were already one of our favorite perks of Delta Medallion status.
During the pandemic, Delta became even more generous. As you likely know, each year you have to fly a certain number of miles (MQM) or segments (MQS), and spend a certain amount of money (MQD) to reach each status tier.
Related: Everything you need to know about 2022 status rollovers
In a normal year, any extra MQMs earned beyond a specific status level would roll over to the next year. But since 2020, Delta has been rolling over all your MQMs. That’s right, all Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) from 2020 were rolled over to 2021 and all those were added to your MQMs from 2021 and are being rolled over to 2022 to qualify for 2023 Medallion Status.
So if you earned 246,153 MQMs combined in 2020 and 2021 as Scott did, you will see all those MQMs posting to your account. Scott had 101,081 MQMs in 2020 and 145,072 in 2021, which is how he got to more than 246,000 already this year.
Related: Delta extends elite status again
In my case, I earned 82,645 in 2020 and another 51,905 in 2021, which is how I ended up with more than 134,000 MQMs for 2022.
I still need to satisfy the spend requirement during 2022 to get Diamond status ($9,000), but I’m already done with the MQM requirement.
If I simply want to keep my current Platinum status, I can either spend $6,000 or I can get a spend waiver by spending $25,000 on my Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card.
If you spend $25,000 in a calendar year on the card, Delta Air Lines waives the Medallion® Qualification Dollar (MQD) requirement for status at the Gold, Silver and Platinum levels. (To get the waiver for Delta Diamond status, you’d have to put $250,000 in spend in a calendar year on the card!)
It’s not just the Delta Reserve card that comes with that perk. If you spend $25,000 in a calendar year on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card ($250 annual fee; see rates and fees), you can also get the spend waiver for Silver, Gold or Platinum status.
Related: Why I’m keeping my Delta Reserve card
Delta had already said all current elites will see their status extended through Jan. 31, 2023, so don’t worry if you still don’t have any MQMs.
Marriott Bonvoy
More good news comes courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy. Scott’s elite nights just for holding two Marriott credit cards already arrived in his account.
These are bonus nights courtesy of holding a Marriott credit card that automatically awards you 15 elite night credits per year, per type of card.
In Scott’s case, he has a personal and a business Marriott card. If you have more than one Marriott personal card, you can only get 15 nights. But if you open a business card and a personal card, you can get up to 30.
Related: Getting 30 Marriott elite night credits via cards
This can provide a large boost toward Bonvoy elite status qualification, essentially lowering the requirements for Platinum status to just 35 actual nights, or in Scott’s case, just 20 actual nights.
Director of content for news and features at TPG, Andrea Rotondo also got her credit card nights posted. Talk about fast-tracked to status!
Related: Marriott Bonvoy makes it easier to earn elite status and redeem points in 2021
You’ll find this 15 elite night benefit as a perk of the following cards:
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card ($95 annual fee)
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card ($125 annual fee, see rates and fees)
- Ritz-Carlton Credit Card — which is closed to new applicants
The information for the Ritz-Carlton Credit Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: Maximizing redemptions with the Marriott Bonvoy program
World of Hyatt
Qualifying nights courtesy of World of Hyatt are also now posting. A survey of TPG employees and folks in the TPG Lounge Facebook Group suggests many folks are getting them on Monday, Jan. 3. My colleague Victoria Walker was the first to notice the nights hit her account this morning. I got mine around 4 p.m.
You get five night credits in World of Hyatt just for holding the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
Back in October, Hyatt announced a new business card called the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card that sadly, does not get you five elite-qualifying nights in World of Hyatt.
So no matter how many Hyatt cards you have, you’ll only get five night credits. Still, we’ll take it. And keep in mind, you can earn two additional tier-qualifying nights for every $5,000 you spend on the personal card and five additional nights for every $10,000 you spend on the business card.
It gets you at least a little of the way toward the 60 nights you’ll need in 2022 for status next year. So far, Hyatt hasn’t reduced the qualification requirements for 2023 the way the company did last year.
Hilton Honors
All elite nights earned in 2021 will automatically count toward 2022 status qualifications. As of Jan. 11, we're finally seeing rollover nights post to Hilton accounts.
As a reminder, Hilton Honors reduced elite requirements again this year:
- Silver status after seven nights, three stays or 17,500 base points
- Gold status after 28 nights, 14 stays or 52,500 base points
- Diamond status after 42 nights, 21 stays or 84,000 base points
Related: Hilton slashes elite requirements again for 2022
You can have Hilton status just by having the right credit card. In fact, I got top-tier Diamond status just by opening the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.
The information for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The Aspire with Hilton Diamond status for as long as you have the card. While the card has a large annual fee of $450 (see rates and fees), there are other valuable inclusions like an up to $250 annual Hilton resort credit, up to $250 yearly airline credit and a free weekend night when you open the account and each year on your card anniversary.
Related: Top-tier Hilton status just by opening a credit card
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Amex Card, click here
For rates and fees of the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business, click here
For rates and fees of the Amex Hilton Honors Aspire card, click here