I just recently got upgraded to VA Platinum after previously dropping from Platinum to Gold and then back to Platinum again.
I was told by Virgin Australia that I am eligible for a complimentary upgrade to Hilton Diamond once again. I had previously had Hilton Diamond provided before when I was previously platinum.
I called up HHonors to follow up and they looked up my details and found an old number. Hilton has advised me that it's a once in a lifetime promotion and that they would not honour it even if they did receive a request (they also confirmed they have not received any request from Virgin Australia). Has anyone had this issue?
I also checked the I don't have an existing Hilton membership box when applying.
Unfortunately it’s a one-off for the life of your account regardless of how many times you drop / regain Platinum. The person you spoke to at Virgin gave you the wrong guidance..
While officially the rules have been stated it's a once off. I received by email from Virgin it is once per time you hold the the status. If you change down to gold and back again you should be able to retrigger. Can confirm I have done this 3 times. (Diamond, Gold, Diamond) in my experience Hilton know very little about the promotion and it's best to avoid speaking to them about it at all. Just have Virgin do the talking.
My experience with the complimentary VA statuses is that while they used to trigger every time you'd move up the ladder (even if you'd been at that level before and had opted-in before), they no longer re-trigger when returning to a tier if you'd opted in previously.
For example, I recently dropped from Velocity Gold to Silver, but while I was Gold some years ago, I'd opted-in for Hilton Honors Gold. I later moved back up from Velocity Silver to Gold, but the option to opt-in for another round of complimentary status wasn't available: the system just showed the date that I'd initially opted in, with no option to do it again.
Thanks Everyone for your inputs. @ChrisCh I had to request Virgin Australia to manually reactivate the hotel partners program when I went from Platinum to Gold then back up to Platinum - because it didn't do it automatically, similar to what you described. It took about 5-10 business days because they had to put in a service request for another team to do it.
This morning, I called VA Velocity member services and they have 'escalated it'. I'm not holding my breath but as suggested in this thread, will let them do the talking. I agree the HHonors staff aren't too familiar with the promotion.
If I had known there would be an issue like this, I would have chosen IHG instead.
Hi Everyone, I'm happy to report that I just received an email from Virgin Australia advising me that my account has been upgraded to Diamond. I also logged in and can see this has been done.
So those that retain Platinum status year after year actually get the raw end of the pineapple with this arrangement. Wonderful!
Hang on... is that right? If so that's messed up. Blue Diamond is awesome and I've stayed at Hiltons many times this year because of it, but there is no way I can retain on my hotel nights alone. Has this been confirmed with VA & Hilton? @ChrisCH perhaps this can be an AusBT guide after speaking with both VA and Hilton?
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on
Virgin Australia HHonors complimentary Diamond
donatello
donatello
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 22 Jul 2014
Total posts 24
Hi
Zac
Zac
Member since 23 May 2014
Total posts 19
Unfortunately it’s a one-off for the life of your account regardless of how many times you drop / regain Platinum. The person you spoke to at Virgin gave you the wrong guidance..
banana0692
banana0692
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 03 Oct 2016
Total posts 11
While officially the rules have been stated it's a once off. I received by email from Virgin it is once per time you hold the the status. If you change down to gold and back again you should be able to retrigger. Can confirm I have done this 3 times. (Diamond, Gold, Diamond) in my experience Hilton know very little about the promotion and it's best to avoid speaking to them about it at all. Just have Virgin do the talking.
Chris C.
Chris C.
Member since 24 Apr 2012
Total posts 1,116
My experience with the complimentary VA statuses is that while they used to trigger every time you'd move up the ladder (even if you'd been at that level before and had opted-in before), they no longer re-trigger when returning to a tier if you'd opted in previously.
For example, I recently dropped from Velocity Gold to Silver, but while I was Gold some years ago, I'd opted-in for Hilton Honors Gold. I later moved back up from Velocity Silver to Gold, but the option to opt-in for another round of complimentary status wasn't available: the system just showed the date that I'd initially opted in, with no option to do it again.
If it's still working for you, however, enjoy. ;)
donatello
donatello
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 22 Jul 2014
Total posts 24
Thanks Everyone for your inputs. @ChrisCh I had to request Virgin Australia to manually reactivate the hotel partners program when I went from Platinum to Gold then back up to Platinum - because it didn't do it automatically, similar to what you described. It took about 5-10 business days because they had to put in a service request for another team to do it.
donatello
donatello
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 22 Jul 2014
Total posts 24
Hi Everyone, I'm happy to report that I just received an email from Virgin Australia advising me that my account has been upgraded to Diamond. I also logged in and can see this has been done.
BJ01
BJ01
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 07 Dec 2015
Total posts 57
So those that retain Platinum status year after year actually get the raw end of the pineapple with this arrangement. Wonderful!
Jazzop
Jazzop
Member since 02 Dec 2016
Total posts 124
Hang on... is that right? If so that's messed up. Blue Diamond is awesome and I've stayed at Hiltons many times this year because of it, but there is no way I can retain on my hotel nights alone. Has this been confirmed with VA & Hilton? @ChrisCH perhaps this can be an AusBT guide after speaking with both VA and Hilton?