I successfully did the Hilton/Wyndam/Ceasars status matching method as described here by Druff several years ago. It was even better than advertised since I never used the Hilton credit card and they eventually canceled the card and did not charge me the $95 annual fee.
So it was 100% free!

When i tried to do it this year I got the bad news that others had already reported that the method no longer works. When I followed all the steps I got a message saying that the status would be matched "within a few days" but nothing happened. I ried it three times with the same result, however I did retain platinum status, which at least gets me free parking. Don't know how that happened since I certainly don't have enough tier points to justify it.

I had just applied for the Founder's Club membership at $295 when I discovered the status match idea, so I never gave them any money.
They still send me offers to renew but I think it's at $495.

I hope to win enough this year so that I don't have to worry about trivial matters like resort fees!