After we’ve taken a look at the frequent flyer programs, that offer a lifetime status, we now take a closer look into the world of hotels, and how their loyalty programs reward customers, that have held on to a status for many years. We found that only three hotel chains offer a lifetime status, and compared them.
Hilton Honors
Hilton Honors (Hilton, Conrad, DoubleTree, Hampton Inn, etc.) offers a Lifetime Diamond status. To obtain this status, you must have had the Diamond status for at least 10 full years (not necessarily consecutive years) and have either stayed 1,000 nights at Hilton hotels or earned 2 million base points.
Qualifying for the regular Diamond status requires 30 stays, 60 nights, or 120,000 base points per year. Assuming you stay 60 nights, you would need 1,000 / 60 = 17 years for the lifetime status. If you qualify every year with exactly 120,000 base points, you would also need 2,000,000 / 120,000 = 17 years.
World of Hyatt
World of Hyatt (Hyatt, Andaz, Thompson, etc.) also offers a lifetime status: the Lifetime Globalist. To obtain this status, you need to have earned 1,000,000 base points.
The regular Globalist status requires 60 nights or 100,000 base points per year. Assuming you qualify with the 100,000 base points every year, you would get the Lifetime Globalist status after 1,000,000 / 100,000 = 10 years.
Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott Bonvoy (Marriott, Westin, St. Regis, Ritz Carlton, Sheraton, Le Meridien, etc.) offers three Lifetime status tiers: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. For Silver, you would need to have held on to that status for 5 years and slept 250 nights. Lifetime Gold requires 7 years and 400 nights, while Lifetime Platinum even requires 10 years and 600 nights.
On a yearly basis, the Silver status requires 10 nights, Gold requires 25, and you need 50 nights for Platinum. Assuming you qualify with exactly that number of nights every year, you will need:
250 / 10 = 25 yearsfor Silver400 / 25 = 16 yearsfor Gold600 / 50 = 12 yearsfor Platinum
Comparison – Where is it the Easiest?
Based on the calculation made above, where we assume that one would qualify with the exact minimum requirement each year, where would you get a lifetime status the quickest?
| Program | Number of Years |
|---|---|
| World of Hyatt | 10 years |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 12 years for Platinum 16 years for Gold 25 years for Silver |
| Hilton Honors | 17 years |
It is worth mentioning that while Hyatt and Hilton only offer their highest tier as a lifetime status, Marriott also offers a lifetime status for the lower tiers. While it takes longer to get it, at least you can get it!
Cover Picture: (c) MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL