Free Hilton HHonors Gold status with 6 easy steps

Hilton HHonors is one of the worst hotel programs in terms of points redemptions, but one of the most generous when it comes to elite status benefits.  Out of all hotel programs, only Hilton, Hyatt, and Starwood Preferred Guest offer free breakfast to top-tiered elites, and only Hilton offers it to their mid-tiered Gold elites.  In fact, one of the biggest gripes that top-tiered Hilton Platinum elites complain about is the general lack of differentiation between Platinum and Gold benefits.  That being said, Hilton is offering free Gold status for 1 year to Australian residents with a Visa Infinite credit card.  There are easy ways to circumvent the Australian residency and Visa Infinite card benefit, as outlined below:


1.  Login to your Hilton Honors account.  If you don't already have an account, you can create one for free.

2.  Create an Australian address by using this address generator.  Don't worry, you're not creating or replicating a real address.

3.  Change the address on your Hilton Honors profile to your newly generated Australian address.

4.  Generate a random Visa Infinite credit card number by using this website.  Scroll down to "Generate a credit card number" and select "Visa - Chase Manhattan Bank".  Replace the output with “4119 45xx xxxx xxxx” and hit generate.  Don't worry, you're not creating or replicating a real credit card number.

5.  Go to Hilton's Visa Infinite landing page and enter the credit card number that you generated.

6.   Gold status should be reflected on your account within 24 hours.  Then change the address associated your account back to your actual home address.


On top of free breakfast, Hilton Gold offers the following benefits as outlined on their website, many which are better than top-tier benefits for low-end hotel loyalty programs:

• Space-available upgrade to a preferred room (Waldorf Astoria^® Hotels & Resorts, Conrad^® Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton™)
• Quick Reservations & Check-In based on room preferences
• Late Checkout
• Express Checkout
• Spouse Stays Free
• Complimentary In-Room, High-Speed Internet Access during stays
• Complimentary Access to Fitness Centers/Health Clubs
• 2 Complimentary Bottles of Water per stay (Waldorf Astoria^® Hotels & Resorts, Conrad^® Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton™, Embassy Suites™, Hilton Garden Inn^®, Hilton Grand Vacations^®)
• eCheck-in: Select your room and check in 24 hours in advance at participating properties
•  Earn a 25% bonus on all Base Points

The Gold status offer is good through May 31st, 2013, but since Visa and Hilton can choose to pull it at any time, you should do it now.  You will be granted Gold status through March 31st, 2014.