Earlier I reported that Hilton is introducing a new top elite level. THe chain has now confirmed it, and several of the benefits have leaked.
For several years, Hilton Honors has had the weakest elite offerings of major hotel loyalty programs. They don’t guarantee late checkout, promise upgrades to suites, and the food and beverage benefit no longer covers the cost of breakfast at many hotels in the U.S. They’re simply uncompetitive with Hyatt, Marriott and even IHG.
Conrad Koh Samui
THey’re finally doing something about it with the new Diamond Reserve status tier.
- The new elite level above Diamond “requires 80 nights per year AND $18,000 in qualifying spend”
- 120% bonus points-earning (versus 100% for Diamond). There may be other benefits.
- Milestone rewards offered at 120 nights would include a choice between 30,000 bonus points and a confirmed upgrade (it is not clear whether this is a suite upgrade or not).
- All benefits of lower status tiers:
- And, reportedly, lower elite tiers have qualification requirements reduced 30%.
Resorts World Las Vegas
Hilton is now teasing a new top status level in social media, highlighting the leaks:
Hilton was surveying Diamond+ status in 2016. The Honors porgram tested confirmed-at-booking suite upgrades with a small group of top elite customers in 2019. So this has been a very long time in coming.
Conrad Bora Bora Nui
(HT: US Credit Card Guide)
Reading between the lines… Hilton Diamond is the new Marriott Platinum… many ‘earn’ it by paying a $550 annual fee… it’s mostly good for ‘free’ breakfast (often, a mere $25 credit!)… otherwise, gonna be a lot of ‘sorry, due to availability…’ for any and all requests for upgrades, early or late check-ins.
There is no change between new Diamond and old Diamond. It always provided very little real on the ground benefits. Gold is still the sweet spot if they provide free breakfast.
@1990 I wish it was $25. It’s generally $15 or $18 in select markets, and hasn’t changed since the amounts were rolled out 5 years ago, in spite of all the inflation we’ve had. ($25 might be at WA properties?) $15 doesn’t cover much at all these days.