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Get instant Diamond status with Sandman / Sutton Place hotels
RSVP Rewards is a Canadian hotel rewards program. Two brands operate under the scheme: Sandman which is midscale and The Sutton Place which is upscale. Outside Canada they run two hotels in Texas and four hotels in the UK: London Gatwick, Newcastle, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
RSVP Rewards have four membership tiers: Red, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. Both Platinum and Diamond tiers have the following benefits:
- Room upgrade
- Early check-in
- Late check-out
- Breakfast box or credit
- Corporate lounge access
The breakfast benefit seems to apply in Canada only. I didn’t figure out what the “corporate lounge” is – I thought it’s like the club lounge at other hotel chains, but couldn’t find any relevant information although I checked quite a few hotels.
RSVP Rewards has a partnership with Visa Canada:
- Visa Infinite cardholders receive instant Platinum status
- Visa Infinite Privilege cardholders receive instant Diamond status
Only cards issued in Canada are eligible. The gifted status seems to be valid as long as the partnership lasts, not just limited to the first year.
On the sign-up page there’s a Check Eligibility button, and you’ll need to verify with the full 16-digit number. A hint for you: both 451504 and 450003 are valid bins, although I don’t know whether they are Privilege cards or not.
If you are based in Canada, or have a plan to visit their hotels in the UK, the status might be useful.
Hyatt status challenge offer for corporate clients
Hyatt has brought back its exclusive elite tier offer, which allows members who work for select companies to earn Explorist and Globalist status much faster.
- You need your Hyatt membership number and a company email to register
- Once enrolled, you are on an Explorist trial for 90 days
- Stay 10 nights during the trial to extend your Explorist status through Feb 2026, or
- Stay 20 nights to earn Globalist status
To know if a certain company is eligible, just try with a random email address with the respective domain (e.g. [email protected]) and see if there’s any error message. Just like the current Hilton offer, it seems to be very widely available, and targeted companies include Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Huawei, Bloomberg, Cisco, KPMG, Accenture and more.
You’ll receive an activation email if the company email is qualified. Note that however, once you’ve confirmed the 90-day clock starts right away, and you can only sign up once every three years. The timing is important.
For those who are in need, it’s a great offer to earn Hyatt status in an accelerated way. For me however it’s a non-starter: I only stay at Hyatt hotels occasionally, and with the positive 2024 changes it’s really easy for me to enjoy Globalist benefits with my friends’ GOH privileges.
Instant GHA Titanium status with Mastercard
GHA has a long-term partnership with Mastercard, allowing cardholders in Asia Pacific for an instant status match. Geographically it might not fit the majority of our audience, but it’s worth a refresher.
If you have a Mastercard World Elite issued in Asia Pacific, you can claim GHA Titanium status by registering at the Mastercard redemption portal. Note that they now verify full card number, expiry date and CVV so you must have a valid card, although they don’t run a name check.
Despite that I have an eligible card, this approach doesn’t work as I couldn’t see the GHA match offer in my account. There’s an alternative though – you could register with Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services, link the card and email [email protected] for a manual match.
After two days I received a response along with a link to activate my Titanium status, which came through and is valid till the end of 2025!
I don’t stay at GHA hotels often at all, but when I do the double upgrade and 4pm late checkout are very useful.
Red by Dufry Platinum upgrade via status match
This is an interesting and unusual status match opportunity. Red by Dufry is inviting many eligible members to match to their (top) Platinum status.
The offer’s landing page is here, which is hosted by statusmatch.com.
- You need to have qualifying elite status with a hotel or an airline
- If approved, you will be granted Platinum status for one year
- Application is free
- There’s no deadline currently
You can find qualifying programs and statuses here.
- For airlines, all elite tiers are included. For example BA Bronze and AF Silver are both accepted.
- For hotels, the lowest elite tiers are excluded. For example Hilton / Marriott Silver aren’t eligible, but Gold and Platinum are.
In summary the match is very easy, but to be honest I still don’t understand what the requalification criteria are – I barely used Red but was never downgraded from Platinum although it’s been a few years now.
Red by Dufry owns hundreds of duty-free airport stores all over the world, mainly in Europe and Americas. As a Platinum member you are entitled to 10% discount on your purchase, and you can also earn 1 Avios per £1 / €1 spent.
You also get free lounge access at Zurich and Basel airport.
Strawberry Hotels (Nordic Choice) Platinum status match
Strawberry Hotels, formerly known as Nordic Choice, has finally launched a status match program. targeted at Finnair Plus members.
You can see the offer page here.
- Finnair Basic and Silver members can match to Silver
- Finnair Gold members can match to Gold
All you need to do is login in to your Strawberry account, choose Corporate Agreement, and enter the corresponding code.
It’s 60788670 for Silver and 60788671 for Gold. Well, guess what 60788672 gives you…
On the offer page they say you’d be upgraded in 10 minutes, but for me it took about one hour. Log out and back in again if the status doesn’t change.
Note that if your account was previously enrolled in another status match program, you might not be able to enrol to this one again.
Strawberry offers some solid member-exclusive perks. Silver members enjoy 4pm late checkout and 9pm same-day cancellation already. Platinum members get guaranteed room upgrade and free gym access even when not staying at the hotel. Free breakfast is not a benefit, but it’s included for all guests at many Nordic hotels anyway.
Last chance to buy Accor Gold & Oneworld Ruby for only £65!
We wrote about fast track opportunities for Accor a while ago, and one major shortcut was to purchase the ibis Business card, as you are granted Gold status for as long as you have a valid membership. Sadly it is coming to an end soon, and you need to jump onboard before it is too late!
As explained by Accor, the ibis Business program will discontinue on March 22nd and be replaced by a new program called ALL PLUS ibis, which will continue to offer some sort of discount for ibis stays. The new membership doesn’t gift Gold status anymore, but offers ten night credits annually instead.
If you join ibis Business now, you are still gifted Gold and it will be valid throughout your subscription period. So the best strategy would be:
- Buy ibis Business now – reports suggest that the Gold status is valid through 2024
- You will earn additional ten night credits on March 22nd
For the UK, a one-year subscription costs £65 whereas it’s £119 for two years, and it’s usually €90 / €159 for most other countries. I’m not sure if the two-year subscription comes with a longer Gold validity.
Accor Gold isn’t hugely useful outside China where they offer daily breakfast for one, but room upgrade and late check-out are still something. Beware that buying ibis Business will create a new Accor account, so if you have an existing account you might need to merge them.
Qatar Airways has an ongoing promotion with Accor, which allows Accor Gold members to fast track to Qatar Airways Silver after only one flight. Silver status (Oneworld Ruby) offers extra baggage allowance and free seat selection when flying Qatar Airways and its partners (BA, AA, Cathay etc.), plus you can access the dedicated Silver Lounge at Doha.
There will also be a new ALL PLUS Voyageur membership (converted from the old Business Plus program) which offers 20 night credits annually.
IHG Platinum & Diamond fast track offer
Although their Platinum status had been quite attainable at a low cost, IHG has rarely provided official status match or fast track opportunities. To celebrate the launch of their One Rewards program, IHG has now opened the flood gate.
You can view the offer here. Although you must select a hotel scheme and membership tier to proceed, there’s no level requirement or proof of membership needed, so it’s more of a survey than status match initiative.
In short:
- Register by July 31
- Enjoy instant Platinum trial for 120 days
- Stay 5 paid nights during the trial to keep Platinum status, or
- Stay 15 paid nights to upgrade to Diamond
- Mr & Mrs Smith hotel stays are included
The offer is open to everyone except residents of Greater China, and stays in Greater China don’t count.
WARNING: don’t register if you are a Diamond member already, otherwise you’d be downgraded to Platinum. I learned it the hard way…
It’s a very good promotion. In the worst case scenario you’d be granted a free Platinum trial for 120 days, which is literally available to everyone.
Should you be interested in the Diamond challenge, 15 nights within 90 days is quite achievable and much easier than the regular 70-night requirement. Considering that Diamond benefits will receive a significant refresh in June, the challenge may well be worth it.
Match to Preferred Hotels Authority for free upgrade, breakfast and lounge access with Mastercard World Elite
We wrote about Preferred Hotels’ program update last year, as well as the status match opportunity to Elite with Mastercard at that time. The promotion has got even better now.
You could check out the offer on Mastercard’s site here. Until January 2023, select Mastercards issued in Asia Pacific qualify for special Preferred Hotels benefits:
- World Elite – match to I Prefer Authority
- Elite – match to I Prefer Elite
- Platinum & Titanium – match to I Prefer Explorer
- Others – 2,500 bonus points upon enrolment
Even if you are familiar with I Prefer, you may have never heard of Authority – it’s a new top-tier status introduced last July, and by invitation only.
Authority privileges include welcome gift, room upgrade, free breakfast and lounge access. It’s more or less on the same level with Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum and Hyatt Globalist, which is pretty valuable.
In order to apply for the match, all you need is the BIN (first 6 digits) of a qualifying Mastercard. However, after submitting my application, I received a reply asking me for a photo of my credit card, including the key information.
9Once that’s sorted, you’ll want to create an I Prefer account first. You may use my referral link which will give you a 1,000-point sign-up bonus. My quota is already filled so won’t earn anything myself, but the referred should be fine, and feel free to post your referral link in the comments.
Then you need to send an email to [email protected] with the title Mastercard Offer – Authority Tier, content following the template provided on Mastercard’s offer page. You should receive a reply within seven business days, and if approved the status is valid for a year.
Here are some Preferred Hotels in the UK:
- Royal Lancaster, London
- The Bentley, London
- The Beaumont, London
- The Stafford, London
- L’oscar, London
- Sea Containers, London
- The Lowry, Manchester
- The Grand, York
- The Fitzwilliam Hotel, Belfast
And there are plenty more in Europe and all over the world. The match is very easy and benefits are substantial, so it’s worth a few minutes of yours to submit an application. Remember that the status is only valid for one year, so you may want to apply nearer the deadline if you have no immediate travel plans.