Hhonors Gold vs Diamond benefits at Hotels

[presley]

I have Gold Hhonors and I do like getting my water bottles and free breakfast. I am just weird like that. When I stayed at a Hampton a few nights ago, they welcomed me as Gold, but walked me outside and showed me where I could park in reserved spaces for Diamond. They didn't give me any other upgrades other than my regular Gold stuff, but I was wondering what the Diamond members have experienced. Do you usually get a room upgrade? I think I have only been upgraded twice as a Gold member.

I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth it to me to do the $40K spend in a year on my AmEx to get Diamond level or if I am better off doing most of my charging on a normal cash back card. I do love cash back, but usually after a long day of driving, I really appreciate the little things like bottles of water when I arrive, etc.

 

[Nomad420]

I have only been Gold for past year and have gotten upgrades probably 60% of my stays. Some have been nice. They do throw the breakfast at you which was recently helpful on a Boston trip. I have no experience with the Diamond level benefits but would be interested to hear what they are as well.

 

[Shmiddy]

I'm Diamond - sometimes I get upgraded but other than earning points faster it's not much more. Oh - and you get zilch for HGVC stays as an owner.

 

[ljmiii]

As a Diamond I and my family were upgraded to a suite in London last year. I also had seen 'Diamond only' availability for points stays...but that was before the most recent revamping of the points program to 'demand driven point prices'.

 

[ohdewer]

I have Gold Hhonors and I do like getting my water bottles and free breakfast. I am just weird like that. When I stayed at a Hampton a few nights ago, they welcomed me as Gold, but walked me outside and showed me where I could park in reserved spaces for Diamond. They didn't give me any other upgrades other than my regular Gold stuff, but I was wondering what the Diamond members have experienced. Do you usually get a room upgrade? I think I have only been upgraded twice as a Gold member.

I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth it to me to do the $40K spend in a year on my AmEx to get Diamond level or if I am better off doing most of my charging on a normal cash back card. I do love cash back, but usually after a long day of driving, I really appreciate the little things like bottles of water when I arrive, etc.

As a Diamond you get access to rooms that may not be available to the public when booking online, some with only 24 hours advance notice. To be honest, you don't really get to see the difference until you go to the "fancier" hotels. When I traveled a lot for business, I had Diamond level status and stayed at the Hilton and Conrad hotels in Tokyo, London, Singapore, Berlin, Paris, i.e most of the larger cities in Europe and Asia. They have a Diamond desk for checking in and sometimes you go to the executive lounge. There, you get glasses of champagne, beer or wine while you are doing the paperwork. My wife says those trips turned me into a hotel snob, which if you are treated that way for a few years, you do start to expect it. I'm Gold now with Hilton and don't miss all the hassles with travelling, but I would love to be Diamond again and stay some of those hotels once more.

 

[jd2601]

Typically you do not see as much benefit US properties vs international. Higher level hotels also see more benefits. Hampton not much benefit maybe an occasional upgrade. Hilton and Conrad lounge and concierge upgrades more plentiful.

I am not sure if Waldorf Astoria give much benefit to status. It all helps!

 

[RX8]

Due to work transfers and staying in hotels for a period of time I have been Diamond twice before. My diamond status this time around just ran out and I fallback to Gold (HGVC and Citi card both provide Gold).

I don't really see a difference other than accumulating more points on hotel stays. One benefit that I did like, but have used only once, is the room guarantee on short notice. I got last minute tickets to see Paul McCartney and all local Hilton hotels were booked. I used diamond status to book a room at a hotel that had no availability within walking distance to the concert. I just hoped that they had a block of rooms set aside for that and that I didn't put someone else out without a room.

 

[brp]

In some places Gold gets Continental Breakfast and Diamond gets Full (but those are rare). Also, Diamond gets Executive Lounge access whether or not they get an upgrade to an EL floor. Really, though, the differences are not apparent often.

We don't use the water bottle option as they're wasteful so that perk is irrelevant to us.

Cheers.

 

[DazedandConfused]

the best perk of Diamond is getting a guaranteed room and this is great for college football games and graduations when they sell out a year in advance and you forget to book a room

 

[Helios]

I have Gold Hhonors and I do like getting my water bottles and free breakfast. I am just weird like that. When I stayed at a Hampton a few nights ago, they welcomed me as Gold, but walked me outside and showed me where I could park in reserved spaces for Diamond. They didn't give me any other upgrades other than my regular Gold stuff, but I was wondering what the Diamond members have experienced. Do you usually get a room upgrade? I think I have only been upgraded twice as a Gold member.

I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth it to me to do the $40K spend in a year on my AmEx to get Diamond level or if I am better off doing most of my charging on a normal cash back card. I do love cash back, but usually after a long day of driving, I really appreciate the little things like bottles of water when I arrive, etc.

I've been getting Diamond via $40K spending with the Amex but after looking at this in detail this year will be my last. I don't really use that much and the few times that I do I rarely get an upgrade. So, I'll stick with SPG/Marriott Plat.

 

[Helios]

the best perk of Diamond is getting a guaranteed room and this is great for college football games and graduations when they sell out a year in advance and you forget to book a room

I used this perk once, but the price for the Diamond Guaranteed room was pretty high.

 

[Helios]

Forgot to mention, I'll remain Gold compliments of the Amex Plat without a min spending. I think that will be good enough for my ocassional use of Hilton. I think it will be better than forfeiting better rewards on $40K spend on the Amex card.

 

[ljmiii]

I've been getting Diamond via $40K spending with the Amex but after looking at this in detail this year will be my last. I don't really use that much and the few times that I do I rarely get an upgrade. So, I'll stick with SPG/Marriott Plat.

Hilton's decision to restructure their redemption system to make points useful only when/where you can get a cheap room for cash anyway was truly braindead. I just don't stay at Hiltons anymore...once I use the boatload of HHonors points I've built up I'm out.

Like you I might keep the Honors Surpass Amex around. But if my Sapphire Reserve counts HGVC MFs as 'travel' I might not - 3 Chase points are about as useful as 12 HHonors points under the new regime. It's a shame...but between the new point system and Hilton's continued denial that HGVC exists (and visa versa) they have pushed me into always staying at SPG/Marriott.

 

[Helios]

Hilton's decision to restructure their redemption system to make points useful only when/where you can get a cheap room for cash anyway was truly braindead. I just don't stay at Hiltons anymore...once I use the boatload of HHonors points I've built up I'm out.

Like you I might keep the Honors Surpass Amex around. But if my Sapphire Reserve counts HGVC MFs as 'travel' I might not - 3 Chase points are about as useful as 12 HHonors points under the new regime. It's a shame...but between the new point system and Hilton's continued denial that HGVC exists (and visa versa) they have pushed me into always staying at SPG/Marriott.

I am thinking about switching to the no fee amex hilton, just to keep a hilton cc.

i have the sapphire reserve and pretty much use it for all travel purchases, even spg or marriott charges. i have the spg card which is mainly used for non travel purchases that take amex.

 

[jd2601]

I used this perk once, but the price for the Diamond Guaranteed room was pretty high.

I have had the same luck with this perk, either it is considered a special event and not eligible for this or price was astronomical. I also have had them walk me multiple times when sold out as a Diamond when there capacity was oversold. Typically they give you points to equal the room. I was surprised they would do this type of treatment. Main perks I see are Lounge access or free breakfast (typically full breakfast) and more points.

 

[Helios]

I have had the same luck with this perk, either it is considered a special event and not eligible for this or price was astronomical. I also have had them walk me multiple times when sold out as a Diamond when there capacity was oversold. Typically they give you points to equal the room. I was surprised they would do this type of treatment. Main perks I see are Lounge access or free breakfast (typically full breakfast) and more points.

One thing that really annoys me is how inconsistent the breakfast perk is at properties that don't have lounges. For instance, at Hilton SF Union Square (just to name one where I have experienced this) they give you a credit for the continental breakfast section. The continental breakfast credit can be applied to the full breakfast if that is what you want. Is this really necessary? Doesn't seem like a way to reward your diamond clients...

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I have been Diamond for about 10 years now. At first i was earning via work stays at Hilton properties, but more recently my work travel has slowed and i earn Diamond status via the Amex spend. I still find value in diamond status, over the years i have received some great upgraded rooms. But that is really hard to quantify, as you certainly don't always get those upgrades.

Sometimes at HGVC resorts the desk clerk tells me they gave a better room or location, based on my status... not really sure if that is true or they are just saying that to sound good...

I use my Hilton Amex for most spending, but use my Chase Shappire for all non-Hilton travel.

 

[MichaelColey]

I'm Diamond with Hilton (and Platinum with Marriott and Starwood), but most of the perks I find the most valuable (particularly breakfast at Hilton Garden Inn) are Gold perks. I almost never get an upgrade (for domestic stays). The difference between Gold and Diamond is very minimal in most cases. At some brands (particularly Hampton Inn and Embassy Suites), there are no real perks for ANY status -- everyone already gets breakfast and there are seldom any upgraded rooms to even have a chance to get upgraded to.

If you travel internationally, I think most of the big chains are much better about upgrades. I've had some fabulous upgrades with Starwood, Marriott and (to a lesser extent) Hilton when traveling overseas.

 

[Helios]

I'm Diamond with Hilton (and Platinum with Marriott and Starwood), but most of the perks I find the most valuable (particularly breakfast at Hilton Garden Inn) are Gold perks. I almost never get an upgrade (for domestic stays). The difference between Gold and Diamond is very minimal in most cases. At some brands (particularly Hampton Inn and Embassy Suites), there are no real perks for ANY status -- everyone already gets breakfast and there are seldom any upgraded rooms to even have a chance to get upgraded to.

If you travel internationally, I think most of the big chains are much better about upgrades. I've had some fabulous upgrades with Starwood, Marriott and (to a lesser extent) Hilton when traveling overseas.

I've also experienced better treatment at international properties as Diamond, but then I have also seen better perks with SPG/Marriott (Plat with them). So, I usually end up at SPG/Marriott.

 

[MikeinSoCal]

I've been Diamond for about 7 years now. The only perk I see over Gold is when I check in and they thank me for being a Diamond member <sarcasm>.

 

[brp]

I've been Diamond for about 7 years now. The only perk I see over Gold is when I check in and they thank me for being a Diamond member <sarcasm>.

We just finished a Hilton stay in Portland. As Diamond:

We were charged $25 for an early check-in, which I would not have expected for a Diamond member. To be fair, this was the *last* King room (and I confirmed that on the App) and they said that they usually hold it for issues, so need to charge the fee. To also be fair, when we found the room simply too small and asked for a different room, even with a different bed configuration, they moved us to another room on the spot even though they would now need to do some housekeeping on the first room.

We got continental breakfast vouchers that had the "Diamond" box checked from the "Diamond/Gold" choices and then had the same $4 up-charge to go from continental to full breakfast. I know it's policy, but why have the check box if there will be no difference in application of policy (when last we were in Santa Rosa, Diamond got full with no up-charge and Gold has to payn the up-charge).

We also got a late checkout to 2PM (instead of the 1PM usual), ostensibly because of Diamond, although that was not stated explicitly.

Overall, some differentiation for Diamond, but not substantial.

Cheers.

 

[Helios]

So, they really push their luck in the event of issues. They charged you $25 for the room used in case there are issues...

I'll say that the up charge is ridiculous IMNSHO. As a Diamond I have paid, IIRC, $25 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in addition to the coupon. I believe the coupon basically discounted breakfast $10.

 

[brp]

So, they really push their luck in the event of issues. They charged you $25 for the room used in case there are issues...

I'll say that the up charge is ridiculous IMNSHO. As a Diamond I have paid, IIRC, $25 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in addition to the coupon. I believe the coupon basically discounted breakfast $10.

Had they not also moved us to a different room (and incurred cleaning charges on the first room), I would have written to tell them how bush league this is. I didn't because they really were very full and did do something nice for us.

I'm also fine with the upcharge as it's in the rules. $4 is very reasonable. I've had servers at various places that wrote the bill as "continental," thereby eliminating the upcharge. They got bigger tips. Hilton SF Union Square is one of the lamer in this regard.

Cheers.

 

[Helios]

Had they not also moved us to a different room (and incurred cleaning charges on the first room), I would have written to tell them how bush league this is. I didn't because they really were very full and did do something nice for us.

I'm also fine with the upcharge as it's in the rules. $4 is very reasonable. I've had servers at various places that wrote the bill as "continental," thereby eliminating the upcharge. They got bigger tips. Hilton SF Union Square is one of the lamer in this regard.

Cheers.

I know, $4 is nothing. I think it's just the principle. Charging $4 (or any upgrage) to their Diamonds is not very rewarding to me...

 

[GT75]

I appreciate the OP starting this thread and asking the question. I also am HH Diamond level. I have been upgraded very few times. I do enjoy the breakfast at Hilton Garden Inns but you get that at gold level. I really haven't experienced any different except for the designated parking stop at Hampton Inn (Wow, that certainly isn't worth much). Actually, I was wondering what was so special about being "Diamond level" so I was glad to read about everyone else experiance/comments.