New tier level in HH

[Zenichiro]

Well, IMHO the obvious solution is to try and improve the hotels in the US so the benefits "mean something" at all. I also think Diamond Reserve as long as it's set the way it is now is probably going to be rare compared to the other tiers so IDK how much it'll affect Diamond or Gold members.

I guess I just don't understand what the EQNs even are at Hyatt or Marriott. The level of card just gets you status and FNC(s). And spending I believe $18k of direct spend gets you Diamond Reserve - so... I think they do what you want just... a little differently? Or I'm missing something.

I don't know what Hilton cards you're using, but Aspire gets you Diamond automatically, and you should switch if not using that and want status. But Surpass with that spend would also get you Diamond. So... again, what? Is the issue that credit card spend can't get you to Diamond Reserve? I think the entire point of DR is to get a tier that is again tied to actually staying at the hotels vs "everyone getting it" with a credit card. So I doubt they want to change that - but give them time for some $1k a year annual fee "Inspiration" card (lol).

I think it's obvious there are 3 markets -

1. the masses of expedia bookers - this is irrelevant IMO to them.
2. The points people - this is also mostly irrelevant. Most points people I've talked to don't care about any of the new DR perks, they care about free nights, and in most cases these changes help or are neutral to them however they're earning points. Those going for spend at the hotels get higher status quicker and therefore get more bonus points (except Homewood suites and Spark, which for some reason are halving their points earning. I guess cheaper hotels? What do all the sub-brands earn as base points anyway?). For the CC earners this matters 0.
3. The people who travel in hotels A LOT and spend A LOT and have a reason to actively compare the Hyatt and Marriott and aren't as price driven as the other 2 but are more experience driven. And this is who DR is for.

If I'm right, I am actually hopeful they won't devalue HH any more at the existing tiers for a bit as they don't intend any real percentage of stays to be by DR members, and are instead trying to onboard more people to their credit cards or at least to the Honors program to get them out of #1.

Hilton has a compelling product to #1 and #2 IMO and I've said why before, but #1 is simply price based and so getting them into a loyalty program might get them to #2 somewhat.

You’re right that Hilton’s Aspire card gives automatic Diamond status, and the new Diamond Reserve tier seems aimed at people who actually stay a lot of nights. But the bigger issue is that Marriott and Hyatt both reward members for spending and staying, while Hilton only recognizes nights stayed.

With Hyatt, you get 5 elite qualifying nights each year just for holding the card and 2 more for every $5,000 spent. If you put around $60,000 on the card, that’s about 29 nights toward Globalist before you’ve even booked a stay. Hyatt cardholders also earn one to four Category 1–4 free night certificates, which count as real qualifying nights, plus Club Access and Guest of Honor awards that provide extra value for loyal members.

Marriott works similarly. Most of their cards give 15 to 25 elite nights automatically, and if you hold both a personal and business card, those stack, so you can start the year already halfway to Titanium.

Hilton doesn’t offer any elite qualifying nights from credit card spend. The Aspire card gives Diamond automatically, but that’s a fixed status that doesn’t build toward higher or lifetime tiers. None of your card spending helps you reach the new Diamond Reserve level.

To make it tougher, Hilton is ending rollover nights after 2025. In the past, if you stayed 80 nights and requalified for Diamond, the extra nights rolled into the next year. Starting in 2026, you’ll need to stay all 80 nights again to qualify. It’s not impossible, but when you compare it to Hyatt and Marriott, it’s hard not to feel like Hilton is missing a chance to reward true loyalty, especially since Diamond status is already available through a credit card free as you pointed out.

 

[jp10558]

You’re right that Hilton’s Aspire card gives automatic Diamond status, and the new Diamond Reserve tier seems aimed at people who actually stay a lot of nights. But the bigger issue is that Marriott and Hyatt both reward members for spending and staying, while Hilton only recognizes nights stayed.

With Hyatt, you get 5 elite qualifying nights each year just for holding the card and 2 more for every $5,000 spent. If you put around $60,000 on the card, that’s about 29 nights toward Globalist before you’ve even booked a stay. Hyatt cardholders also earn one to four Category 1–4 free night certificates, which count as real qualifying nights, plus Club Access and Guest of Honor awards that provide extra value for loyal members.

Marriott works similarly. Most of their cards give 15 to 25 elite nights automatically, and if you hold both a personal and business card, those stack, so you can start the year already halfway to Titanium.

Hilton doesn’t offer any elite qualifying nights from credit card spend. The Aspire card gives Diamond automatically, but that’s a fixed status that doesn’t build toward higher or lifetime tiers. None of your card spending helps you reach the new Diamond Reserve level.

To make it tougher, Hilton is ending rollover nights after 2025. In the past, if you stayed 80 nights and requalified for Diamond, the extra nights rolled into the next year. Starting in 2026, you’ll need to stay all 80 nights again to qualify. It’s not impossible, but when you compare it to Hyatt and Marriott, it’s hard not to feel like Hilton is missing a chance to reward true loyalty, especially since Diamond status is already available through a credit card free as you pointed out.

I suppose it's possible that Hilton thinks that the benefit from the credit card is the status you get from having the card. This seems better to me than requiring number of night stays also. And given the "issue" of people getting status from the credit cards, I can see why they want to change the highest status to actual stays at the hotels. I just think they're splitting the credit card users from the stayers. Mixing that such that spend counts for nights would be pretty confusing to HH members. So, does it start adding "days" to the 60 days of being "Diamond"? Do you have to spend enough to overcome the 60 days? Are you suggesting you must spend up to the 60 days to get "Diamond" at all vs coming with the card?

 

[TolmiePeak]

I suppose it's possible that Hilton thinks that the benefit from the credit card is the status you get from having the card. This seems better to me than requiring number of night stays also. And given the "issue" of people getting status from the credit cards, I can see why they want to change the highest status to actual stays at the hotels. I just think they're splitting the credit card users from the stayers. Mixing that such that spend counts for nights would be pretty confusing to HH members. So, does it start adding "days" to the 60 days of being "Diamond"? Do you have to spend enough to overcome the 60 days? Are you suggesting you must spend up to the 60 days to get "Diamond" at all vs coming with the card?

Should all status be based on the amount of profit you generate for the underlying company?

 

[jp10558]

Should all status be based on the amount of profit you generate for the underlying company?

I would think so? The benefit of the status programs to the company is keeping people booking at the hotels, and to counteract the booking.com sort of sites for getting the cheapest hotel at that second when booking.

They're in business to make money, the status is costing them money, but they make it up (hopefully) on loyalty to the brand.

 

[Eric B]

Should all status be based on the amount of profit you generate for the underlying company?

Given that the alternative would be to randomly assign status to everyone that might do some business with the underlying company, I suspect that the management of the underlying company would prefer to provide the incentives that are based on the status, which they must pay for, go to the customers that they make the most money from.

Profits to the underlying company come in several tracks, of course. They do make money from the cobranded credit cards and HGV pays Hilton, the underlying company, for the points they award and the status they grant to owners of Hilton-branded resorts based on their Elite Status or Max Benefit Level, each of which are based roughly upon maintenance fees and capital investment that contribute to HGV profits.

I much prefer doing business with companies that recognize the value of providing me with good service and incentives commensurate with what I am paying them. It sure beats sleeping in the back of my pickup truck and hoping that some business will randomly assign me status as a method of getting the perks that go along with it.

 

[Zenichiro]

I suppose it's possible that Hilton thinks that the benefit from the credit card is the status you get from having the card. This seems better to me than requiring number of night stays also. And given the "issue" of people getting status from the credit cards, I can see why they want to change the highest status to actual stays at the hotels. I just think they're splitting the credit card users from the stayers. Mixing that such that spend counts for nights would be pretty confusing to HH members. So, does it start adding "days" to the 60 days of being "Diamond"? Do you have to spend enough to overcome the 60 days? Are you suggesting you must spend up to the 60 days to get "Diamond" at all vs coming with the card?

I’m not saying Hilton should take Diamond away from Aspire cardholders or make people “spend up to 60 nights” to get Diamond. Aspire can keep granting Diamond exactly as it does now.

What I’m asking for is simple: let credit-card activity add elite-qualifying nights (EQNs) the way Hyatt and Marriott do. EQNs are just nights that add to your yearly total. They’re not a separate “days of Diamond” clock.

Here’s how it works elsewhere.
Hyatt: 5 EQNs each year just for holding the card, plus 2 EQNs for every $5,000 in spend. Put $60,000 on the card and you’re at roughly 29 nights toward Globalist before any stays. Award night certs also count as real nights.
Marriott: most cards give 15–25 EQNs automatically, and personal + business can stack, so you start the year partway to Titanium.

It isn’t confusing: EQNs from cards plus nights you actually stay equals your status tally. Hit the threshold, you qualify or re-qualify. Your Aspire card can still grant base Diamond on its own.

Right now, Hilton offers no EQNs from card spend. So, Aspire gives you Diamond, but your card spend doesn’t move you toward Diamond Reserve or lifetime status, and rollover nights end after 2025. The ask is both/and: keep card-granted Diamond and also recognize card engagement with EQNs so loyal members can progress, just like Hyatt and Marriott.

 

[HuskerATL]

Just remember though, you also get Diamond with Elite Premier and I think Max Premier plus and Centum

 

[Eric B]

Just remember though, you also get Diamond with Elite Premier and I think Max Premier plus and Centum

I find myself wondering if that will change. Centum for someone in HVC will easily get someone MFs of >$18K/year. In HGVC you could be Centum with lower MFs, but there's the capital investment as well as the guarantee of the income stream over multiple years, too.

 

[HuskerATL]

I find myself wondering if that will change. Centum for someone in HVC will easily get someone MFs of >$18K/year. In HGVC you could be Centum with lower MFs, but there's the capital investment as well as the guarantee of the income stream over multiple years, too.

I could see them giving Centum Diamond Reserve. For elite, the highest level is elite premier but it is only 54,400 elite qualifying points compared to 100k+ Max points

 

[WaikikiFirst]

you also get Diamond with Elite Premier and I think Max Premier plus and Centum

OK. It is surely possible but almost inexplicable that someone paying MFs on >50 K pts would not have an Aspire, to get it that way. not that I know if there is a quirk with craig. tomh: 54K pts @ $0.12 MF/pt = almost $6500 & that gets 14x HH pts, right, so you get about 90K HH pts just paying MFs. 90K HHs is like another FNC

seems to me they have set up to kill upgrades for std Diamond?

 

[HuskerATL]

OK. It is surely possible but almost inexplicable that someone paying MFs on >50 K pts would not have an Aspire, to get it that way. not that I know if there is a quirk with craig

I joke that I am double diamond because I have it both because of EP and the Aspire but my wife is triple diamond since she has it because of EP, secondary on my Aspire, and her own Aspire....

There are folks out there who are EP and don't have the Aspire card though. I know of, at least, one....they just don't use Amex.

 

[HuskerATL]

OK. It is surely possible but almost inexplicable that someone paying MFs on >50 K pts would not have an Aspire, to get it that way. not that I know if there is a quirk with craig. tomh: 54K pts @ $0.12 MF/pt = almost $6500 & that gets 14x HH pts, right, so you get about 90K HH pts just paying MFs. 90K HHs is like another FNC

seems to me they have set up to kill upgrades for std Diamond

who dabbles at just 54k though....that is just for amateurs... Gotta be 100k+ and at 14x about $10k MFs so 140,000 HH points....and that is basically a FNC...for some places. Not Pedrigal though, it is now 250k for their standard rewards.

or go the Surpass route and 12x so 120,000 HH points and your are almost at the $15k FNC mark....

 

[Eric B]

I joke that I am double diamond because I have it both because of EP and the Aspire but my wife is triple diamond since she has it because of EP, secondary on my Aspire, and her own Aspire....

There are folks out there who are EP and don't have the Aspire card though. I know of, at least, one....they just don't use Amex.

I guess we're quadruple diamond than from having 3 Aspires and Max premier plus. We're blowing 3 FNCs on 3 nights at Pedregal coming up in the Spring and working on setting it up for the Fall. I've given up wasting FNCs on the local Waldorf Astoria, which only costs 110,000 points per night now....

 

[HuskerATL]

I guess we're quadruple diamond than from having 3 Aspires and Max premier plus. We're blowing 3 FNCs on 3 nights at Pedregal coming up in the Spring and working on setting it up for the Fall. I've given up wasting FNCs on the local Waldorf Astoria, which only costs 110,000 points per night now....

We have 3 nights there in March, using FNCs, before our week at CA in the 3 bed grand penthouse oceanview... Should be a nice trip..

 

[HuskerATL]

Yowzers: Does Hilton Honors Have Well Over A Million Diamond Members?

While hotel groups don't reveal how many elite members they have, it appears Hilton Honors may have close to 1.4 million Diamond members.

onemileatatime.com

 

[Zenichiro]

Yowzers: Does Hilton Honors Have Well Over A Million Diamond Members?

While hotel groups don't reveal how many elite members they have, it appears Hilton Honors may have close to 1.4 million Diamond members.

onemileatatime.com

That’s about what I figured too. Considering Amex reports roughly 500,000 to 700,000 Aspire cardholders, the numbers line up. If that’s accurate, Diamond members make up less than 1% of Hilton Honors’ 235 million total members.

 

[Eric B]

On the positive side, the 500K-700K Aspire cardholders are not necessarily frequent stayers at Hilton hotels but use the FNCs and status when they go to them. (Kind of like many of us.) The net result is that the hotel Diamond-member loading is probably a bit lower than the numbers alone would predict, not even taking into account the number of elite and max HGVC members also get status by means other than stays and spend at Hilton hotels.

The overall reformulation of the Hilton Honors tiers gives me the impression that Hilton recognizes this. They are making it a bit easier to achieve the tiers in the program for hotel guests and adding a new tier that so far seems achievable only through hotel stays, similar to Marriott Bonvoy Ambassadors. (Though the elite night credits for their credit cards count towards that minimum night criterion, they still have to meet the $23K spend criterion - if someone can do that with a higher per night spend due to the lower actual elite nights stayed they are a better "customer" for Marriott to sell to their real customers, the hotel owners/franchisees.)

In my view, the change will be dilutive to a certain extent for Diamond level members because of the lower number of nights needed for qualification but the people that qualify that way will not have the same characteristics as those that do through credit cards or HGVC ownership. Because they get Diamond by staying, they don't get the FNCs credit card holders do and will be spending points for stays - that could make it easier overall to book the higher cost hotels/resorts (e.g., Pedregal) for those of us with FNCs. It already seems much easier to book Pedregal with FNCs than it did before because the price in points has risen some sharply there, leaving many more standard reward nights available to grab with FNCs.

Bottom line is that I don't think the change will be as earth-shattering as some seem to think. I am quite interested in hearing how HGV will address the change in any case.

 

[brp]

Between my wife and I, we spend roughly $100 K a year on Hilton cards, another $8K directly at Hilton hotels, and stay 40 + nights annually. Under Hyatt or Marriott, that would easily qualify us for top-tier status with better benefits. With Hilton, that loyalty earns nothing toward status, which feels like a major miss.

Agreed. This is why our main program is Hyatt where we have their top tier. They reward spend. We do have Hilton Diamond, but that's just through a credit card on minimal stays, and pretty much all international where lounges matter. I don't see this as a good thing to current Diamond members.

Cheers.

 

[h2oflyboy]

I can’t believe I hadn’t seen this thread for almost 3 weeks!!! One of the things that irks me is HH gives away Diamond Status with their Aspire CC. Another is losing benefits as a current HH Diamond.

If you add up the HOA/MF - we Centum+ members, probably pay more than the minimum new spending levels than HH customers. This is regardless of whether you bought retail or resales.

Yes, they should upgrade the Centum+ to Diamond reserve. I’d love it - just to get rid of the email offers to upgrade your room.

I got an idea for the DR bennies… FREE PARKING!!!

 

[h2oflyboy]

Have had some nice upgrades including at Grand Wailea in Maui to a nice oceanfront room, on FNC & HGVC TS promo stays (before I earned HGVC PNG status)..
Also at WA Monarch Beach, had a beautiful room, overlooking the fireworks for July 4th; was like a front seat, from our own private balcony; upgraded again as Diamond, on another FNC.

My experience at the WA GW was not as nice, I went from the Garden King to a Dbl Queen with Ocean Views - I sometimes feel when paying for my Hilton bookings using my rewards, I get looked down on because I didn’t give them cash! “Oh… you used points for this reservation…”

In order to be a complete sentence, it really should be “….” rather than “…”. Just saying “…” leaves out the period following the ellipsis. Punctuation is still important despite the prevalence of social media shortcuts!

I used the ellipsis without the 4 dots in the post above

I don't see the word "upgrade" anywhere in that Diamond portion of the graphic. That is a downgrade, isn't it?

Yup - exactly what I was concerned about in my previous post!

 

[Eric B]

My experience at the WA GW was not as nice, I went from the Garden King to a Dbl Queen with Ocean Views - I sometimes feel when paying for my Hilton bookings using my rewards, I get looked down on because I didn’t give them cash! “Oh… you used points for this reservation…”

I used the ellipsis without the 4 dots in the post above

Yup - exactly what I was concerned about in my previous post!

You also omitted the comma after “Oh” before the first ellipsis! Commas matter! “Let’s eat Grandma!” is not the same as “Let’s eat, Grandma!”.

Did you rearrange the furniture there?

 

[h2oflyboy]

You also omitted the comma after “Oh” before the first ellipsis! Commas matter! “Let’s eat Grandma!” is not the same as “Let’s eat, Grandma!”.

Did you rearrange the furniture there?

Nobody is eating grandma! The ellipsis makes the pause as if it were a comma. I would not use both as it is redundant, unnecessary, and a waste of punctuation.

I trump your comma request with an Oxford comma.

See you tomorrow!

…yes, I moved the desk chair to the window. I can now put my feet up on the bed.

 

[Eric B]

Nobody is eating grandma! The ellipsis makes the pause as if it were a comma. I would not use both as it is redundant, unnecessary, and a waste of punctuation.

I trump your comma request with an Oxford comma.

See you tomorrow!

…yes, I moved the desk chair to the window. I can now put my feet up on the bed.

Reasonable minds may disagree… with unreasonable minds! That comma performs a necessary function in the sentence different from the function of the ellipsis! And take your shoes off!

 

[HuskerATL]

Another new "secret" level....The Honor Society. I wonder if it comes with a secret handshake...

Hilton Confirms New Secret Elite Tier Above Diamond Reserve — Called “The Honors Society” - View from the Wing

Hilton has confirmed that a new invitation-only elite tier sits above its freshly launched Diamond Reserve level — an unpublished status called The Honors Society. The company isn’t sharing details yet, saying guidance will come in early Q1, but internal systems and prior leaks make clear this...

viewfromthewing.com

 

[h2oflyboy]

Another new "secret" level....The Honor Society. I wonder if it comes with a secret handshake...

Hilton Confirms New Secret Elite Tier Above Diamond Reserve — Called “The Honors Society” - View from the Wing

Hilton has confirmed that a new invitation-only elite tier sits above its freshly launched Diamond Reserve level — an unpublished status called The Honors Society. The company isn’t sharing details yet, saying guidance will come in early Q1, but internal systems and prior leaks make clear this...

viewfromthewing.com

...from the Hilton.com site

https://www.hilton.com/en/p/hilton-honors/tier-updates/