【1/8 Update】Hilton made several changes to member points earning and benefits in 2018. Here’s a summary and analysis:
- Gold and Diamond members now receive free breakfast at Waldorf Astoria properties 【already in effect】
The following changes took effect in April 2018:
- Changes to stay earning rules: The old Points&Miles option has been eliminated (you can no longer choose to earn fewer points on stays, and a previous bug will disappear). Points earning is now standardized as follows:
- Basic members: 10x points (10 points per $1 spent)
- Silver members: 20% bonus, or 12x points
- Gold members: 80% bonus, or 18x points
- Diamond members: 100% bonus, or 20x points
- Extra bonuses after 40 nights: If you stay 40 nights in a calendar year, you’ll earn an additional 10,000 points for every 10 nights after that. This bonus is awarded automatically, requires no registration, and has no cap. In addition, reaching 60 nights earns an extra 30,000 points.
- Automatic rollover of excess elite-qualifying nights: Nights beyond what is required for your elite tier in the current year will automatically roll over to the next year and count toward next year’s elite status. This is a nice change and makes status runs much easier.
- Gift elite status: If you stay 60 nights, you can gift Gold status to someone else; if you stay 100 nights, you can gift Diamond status to someone else.
Personally, I think these changes simplify Hilton’s earning rules and shift more rewards toward frequent business travelers, which is pretty much in line with industry standards. For people who stay less often, the impact is minimal. The new elite qualification rules and the extra bonus after 40 nights should encourage travelers with moderate hotel volume to choose Hilton more often.
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Introduction
The hotel in the photo above is the most memorable one I’ve stayed at, and in my view, the one that best represents Hilton.
The Hilton name was already famous to me back when I was in elementary and middle school. At the time, Hilton was basically synonymous with the most upscale and luxurious hotels. If I heard that someone had stayed at a hotel carrying the Hilton name, I thought that person was a big deal—after all, they could stay at a Hilton. Of course, back then I had no idea how to distinguish among Hilton’s many hotel brands. I just knew they were all called Hilton.
After coming to the U.S. for college, I gradually got into credit cards and traveled with some “high-roller” classmates, and I slowly developed a fuller understanding of these luxury and high-end hotels. It felt like entering a whole new world. As I learned more, I also realized that these famous hotel names are not quite as intimidating as they seem. That’s not to say they aren’t good—it’s just that for ordinary people like us, these upscale hotels are still very much within reach.
So today, I want to give everyone a detailed introduction to Hilton Honors elite tiers and its membership program. Hilton is, to this day, the only hotel group where I hold top-tier elite status—Hilton Diamond. I’ve always felt Hilton is pretty generous, often upgrading me to suites (or maybe I’ve just been lucky :oops:; a friend of mine is also Diamond and usually only gets bumped up one level). I’ll include everything I know in this guide, and if anything is inaccurate, please feel free to point it out. Thanks!
About Hilton
Hilton Hotels Group was founded in 1919 in Texas, USA. It currently has around 5,000 hotels and resorts worldwide, spanning 13 hotel and resort brands. Hilton International (HI), a branch of Hilton Group based in the United Kingdom, holds the rights to use the “Hilton” trademark outside the United States. Within the U.S., Hilton hotels are owned and managed by Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC).
As a global hotel group, Hilton naturally offers hotel and resort brands that cater to different market segments and age groups: 
Luxury
Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts: As Hilton’s top-tier hotel brand, Waldorf Astoria is a symbol of luxury and prestige. The famous Waldorf Astoria New York (which has already been acquired by China’s Anbang Insurance Group) is one of its flagship properties.
Conrad Hotels & Resorts: Named after Hilton founder Conrad Hilton, Conrad is another byword for luxury. The newly opened Conrad Xiamen in China has already become a local landmark, with both its interior design and overall architecture making a striking impression.
All-inclusive resorts
Hilton Grand Vacations: Hilton Grand Vacations belongs to Hilton Grand Vacations Company, LLC, a Hilton subsidiary. Elara, A Hilton Grand Vacations Club in Las Vegas has a very modern feel.
Full-service lodging
Curio, A Collection by Hilton: A luxury brand within Hilton’s portfolio. Curio means Hilton supports the property while allowing it to retain its original name. For example, the LondonHouse Chicago, Curio Collection by Hilton that I experienced previously kept its original name.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts: Hilton’s flagship brand. As of the first quarter of 2016, there were already more than 570 Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties across 84 countries and territories on 6 continents. The Waikoloa Village shown in the introduction photo belongs to this brand.
DoubleTree by Hilton: DoubleTree is a U.S. hotel chain brand. Most DoubleTree properties are independently owned and operated by franchisees or other third parties through franchising.
Embassy Suites: Embassy Suites is a hotel chain brand aimed at higher-end consumers. Similar to DoubleTree, most Embassy Suites properties are independently owned and operated by franchisees or other third parties through franchising.
Canopy by Hilton (online it’s usually just called the Canopy boutique brand: arrow:): As a new hotel brand launched in late 2015, and Hilton’s 12th brand overall, it was expected to attract a broad base of younger travelers. “Personalized” and “tech-forward” are the goals of this brand. (It seems the first Canopy in mainland China was expected to open in Xiasha, Hangzhou, which would give Xiasha two Hilton-affiliated hotels.) Since the brand was so new, I hadn’t stayed at one myself at the time—feel free to share any thoughts or stay experiences!
Select-service Lodging
Hilton Garden Inn: Hilton Garden Inn is Hilton’s brand aimed at middle-class travelers, with solid quality but relatively high prices. Many domestic cat1 Hilton properties are Garden Inns.
Hampton Inn: Hampton Inn is Hilton’s midscale hotel chain brand that offers limited food and beverage service.
Homewood Suites by Hilton: Homewood Suites is Hilton’s all-suite hotel chain brand with a residential, home-style concept.
Home2 Suites by Hilton: Home2 Suites is Hilton’s midscale all-suite hotel chain brand designed for longer-term stays.
Tru by Hilton: Hilton’s newest hotel brand, announced at the Americas Lodging Investment conference held in Los Angeles in January 2016, with the first hotel expected to open by the end of 2016.
Hilton official reference link: Click me! Click me!
Hilton’s Loyalty Program
Hilton’s membership program (its frequent-guest program) is called Hilton Honors.
Elite tier overview
Hilton Honors has four membership tiers: Blue, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. The table below compares the requirements to reach these 4 tiers and their commonly used benefits:
| Blue | Silver | Gold | Diamond | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying stay requirement | None; you get it just for signing up, basically the base level | 4 stays
or 10 Eligible Nights |
20 stays
or 40 Eligible Nights |
30 stays
or 60 Eligible Nights |
| Bonus points on stays | None | 15% | 25% | 50% |
| Executive lounge / breakfast | × | × | √
(you only get executive benefits if you are upgraded to an executive room) |
√
(always included) |
| Room upgrade | × | × | √
(basically limited to a one-category upgrade) |
√
(better upgrade odds, possibly even to a suite) |
| Late checkout
(just call the front desk from your room or ask at check-in) |
√ | √ | √ | √ |
| 5th night free on award stays | × | √ | √ | √ |
| Digital check-in
(check in on the Hilton app) |
√ | √ | √ | √ |
| Second guest stays free
(when selecting a room, just choose occupancy for one person) |
√ | √ | √ | √ |
| Free Wi-Fi | √ | √ | √ | √
(free premium Wi-Fi) |
| Access to the fitness center and swimming pool | × | √ | √ | √ |
| Complimentary bottled water at check-in at participating hotels | × | √ | √ | √ |
*Why specifically note “Second guest stays free (when selecting a room, just choose occupancy for one person)” in the table? Because when booking Hilton hotels, choosing one guest is often cheaper than choosing two guests. This benefit guarantees that as long as you are a Hilton member, you can still enjoy that pricing advantage.
**There isn’t a huge difference between Diamond and Gold benefits. The main differences are breakfast, upgrades, and executive benefits: for breakfast, Gold has to choose between a small number of extra points or breakfast; Diamond gets the extra points plus breakfast. For room upgrades, Gold is usually limited to a one-category upgrade, while Diamond may be upgraded to a suite and generally has better upgrade odds. As for executive benefits, Gold only gets them if upgraded to an executive room, while Diamond still gets executive benefits even if the hotel is full and the room itself is not upgraded.
One especially harsh feature of the Hilton program is that next year’s status is based only on the previous year’s hotel stays and points activity, and there is no soft-landing policy. For example, if Jiushen was Diamond in year one, but during that year only met the requirements for Silver, then once the Diamond membership period ends, Jiushen would be downgraded directly to Silver.
NEW! Hilton Diamond status can now be extended for one additional year under certain conditions. As long as you have held Diamond status for at least three years and completed at least 250 nights or earned a cumulative 500,000 points, you can extend Diamond for one year with no further reason required. This benefit can only be used once!
Lifetime status
For die-hard Hilton fans—people who stay at Hilton frequently or just book Hilton rooms whenever they feel like it—Hilton also created a lifetime status program. Once you meet the requirement, even if you basically ignore Hilton in the future and never stay again, you can still keep Diamond status every year.
- Lifetime Diamond: 10 years as a Hilton Diamond member (not necessarily consecutive), plus 1000 paid nights
Ten years of Hilton Diamond may not actually be that difficult for us, since Diamond status can be earned through credit cards. But 1000 paid nights is the real hurdle—award stays or Points & Cash stays do not count. Even if every stay were at a cheap $50-per-night property, you would still need to spend at least $50,000 at Hilton.
That’s honestly a bit too difficult for most of us, so I wouldn’t really recommend it...
Compared with mid-tier and upper-tier status at other hotel programs
Beyond earning points, the elite benefits people usually care most about include free breakfast, room upgrades, suite upgrades, and executive lounge access. Hilton Gold guarantees breakfast and offers a strong chance of getting executive-level benefits through an executive-room upgrade (which then comes with lounge access), so it can be considered one of the most rewarding mid-tier elite levels out there (with Marriott Gold being the only one roughly on par).
Hilton Gold vs. SPG Gold: not much to say here—Hilton Gold comes with breakfast plus upgrades, so it wins easily.
Hilton Gold vs. IHG Platinum: IHG Platinum does not guarantee breakfast unless you book one level below the executive category, which adds extra cost, so Hilton Gold wins again.
Hilton Gold vs. Hyatt Platinum: once again, Hilton Gold comes out ahead because breakfast is guaranteed.
Hilton Gold vs. Marriott Gold: the benefits are comparable, but Marriott Gold is far harder to earn than Hilton Gold (Marriott 50 nights vs. Hilton 20 stays or 40 nights).
How to earn elite status (standard approach)
If you want to keep your current elite tier or move up to a higher tier the following year, points matter, and Eligible Nights matter too—but the most important thing is still stays. Why are stays the most important? Because you can get Diamond with just 30 stays! Eligible Nights requires 60 nights, and qualifying points require 12W. Clearly, stays are the factor most likely to help you requalify or move up.
How do you earn eligible nights? Very simple: each night you stay earns one eligible night. But as a Hilton member, if you book two rooms under the same account during one stay, that counts as 1 stay and 2 eligible nights!
How do you earn stays? Each time you book one room for one stay, that counts as a stay. But be careful: if you keep booking the same hotel in the same place over a period of time, it will only count as 1 stay. For example, if I plan to spend four days in Las Vegas and use my own account to book three consecutive nights at Elara, A Hilton Grand Vacations Club in Las vegas, then when I check out, my account will only show 1 stay and 3 nights. This is very important to understand. If this happens, arguing with customer service will not help! Don’t ask me how I know...
Another key point—and the safest way to make sure you receive the points/eligible nights/stays you deserve—is this: book through the official website!! Bookings made through Citi Prestige via CWT, AMEX FHR bookings, and CSP/CSR Sapphire bookings also count. But if you book through other third-party websites, such as Hotels.com, Booking.com, Priceline.com, etc., you will not earn points, Eligible Nights, or stays.
Fast ways to earn elite status
Earning elite status through hotel stays is obviously only practical for people who travel constantly for work. For ordinary people like us, who may only stay at hotels a few times a year, how can we quickly get elite status and enjoy better benefits on our limited stays?
Co-branded credit cards:
Applying for a Hilton co-branded credit card is the fastest way to get elite status:
| Annual fee | Silver | Gold | Diamond | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMEX Hilton | None | √ (upon approval) | Granted after spending $20,000 in a calendar year | |
| AMEX Hilton Surpass | $75 | √ (upon approval) | Granted after spending $40,000 in a calendar year | |
| Citi Hilton | None | √ (upon approval) | Granted after spending $20,000 in a calendar year or after 4 stays within 90 days of account opening | |
| Citi Hilton Reserve | $95 | √ (upon approval) | Granted after spending $40,000 in a calendar year |
More detailed introductions to these four co-branded cards:
- AMEX Hilton: Click here! Click here!
- AMEX Hilton Surpass: Click here! Click here!
These four credit cards not only give you Silver/Gold status or free hotel stays directly, but can also help you earn Gold/Diamond status through qualifying spend. On top of that, by meeting the minimum spending requirement after opening the card, you can receive a large number of Hilton points as a welcome bonus. So if you are able to, why not apply for all four?
Status match
What is a Status Match? As the name suggests, it means using elite status from another hotel program to obtain Hilton status, also known as a direct elite status match. Here are several ways to do it:
Method 1: If you have elite status with another hotel program (such as Hyatt Diamond/Marriott Platinum/IHG Platinum), you can email your member status and your stay history from the past 12 months to [email protected] or call +1-800-446-6677 to request a Gold or Diamond challenge, or even a direct match. Generally speaking, IHG Gold may get you Hilton Gold, while IHG Spire members have a better chance of getting Diamond.
Or if you do not want to email or call, you can go to this page: https://hiltonhhonors.hiltonapps.com/ and upload a photo of your elite card from another hotel program plus your stay history from the past 12 months (must be in image format, such as .jpg or .png). About a month after submission, you may be granted the corresponding status or a challenge (for Gold: 4 stays within 90 days; for Diamond: 8 stays within 90 days).
In general, the chance of receiving a challenge is higher than getting a direct match. (Some time ago Hilton was very loose with these promotions—people could Photoshop elite cards and stay screenshots from other hotel programs, and there were even rumors that someone uploaded a picture of Doraemon and still got matched to Diamond: lol:) The Diamond challenge usually has one of the following requirements: 1. 10 stays or 16 nights within 60 days; 2. 21 nights within 90 days. The Gold challenge usually requires 10 or 12 nights within 90 days. My suggestion is that if you cannot get a direct match and can only do a challenge, go straight for the Diamond challenge! Since each account can generally do only one challenge in a lifetime, you might as well go for the more valuable Diamond status. In some cases, during your Diamond challenge period, Hilton may even give you Gold status first so you can enjoy Gold benefits right away.
Method 2: Visa infinite cards can be matched directly to Gold status: [Thanks to reader Yiming Xu for the helpful reminder: Visa infinite now has a new Hilton Gold matching policy.] Starting in 2016, as long as you have a Visa infinite card, you can first register for a Hilton account—of course it will only be Blue status at first. Then go to this promo page to register: https://www.visa-promotions.com/promotions/HiltonHHonors/tnc.jsp and link it to your Hilton account. Find an opportunity to stay twice at any Hilton-family property mentioned earlier, and after about a week, you should see your basic Blue account turn into Gold. While this policy is not as generous as the old one, getting Gold after just two stays is still pretty good. That said, I still recommend applying for a Hilton co-branded credit card, since it gives you status directly and also comes with bonus points.
Method 3: Strongly not recommended! For reading only! This upgrade method is very risky, and even after you get elite status, you could be audited and reverted back to Blue at any time. There are corporate employee and fan-reward offers—for example, HP employees could get upgraded to Hilton Gold after four stays, and some sports fans could also get Hilton Gold after four stays. You can search for the relevant keywords for details. This route to Gold is cheap and fast, but because these campaigns target specific groups, once the link leaks, anyone can register. Still, using this method means constantly worrying about being caught. If Hilton audits your account, being downgraded to Blue is the least of it—the bigger issue is the embarrassment. Also, these promotions usually only get you Gold anyway, so you are better off just applying for a credit card and getting the same level of status, plus Hilton points from the welcome bonus. So I really do not recommend this method. Be careful!
Method 4: Also strongly not recommended! Buying it on Taobao basically means paying someone to Photoshop documents for a status match. High risk—be careful!
Summary
In one sentence: if you do not currently have even a mid-tier or top-tier elite card from any hotel group, then Hilton HHonors would be your best choice, because it is easy to earn and the breakfast and executive benefits are relatively well guaranteed.
And in my personal experience, Hilton has been the most generous hotel group I have stayed with so far!! (That is a bit of personal bias there :razz:, so feel free to ignore that last sentence.)
In the next post, I will explain how to earn and use Hilton points, along with a few strategies.