It is the time of the year when many of us have been pondering over the question: shall I go the extra mile to maintain my hotel status? I received the following email from our reader Michael:
I am a Hilton Honors Diamond member for 2024. I am expecting to be at 55 nights for the year, leaving me 5 nights short of re-qualifying for Diamond. I have a couple of thoughts about how I can ensure I will keep Diamond past March 2025 (when my 2024 Diamond status will expire), one of which is guaranteed but will cost me points or money, and one of which is not guaranteed.
Two options/strategies:
1) Pay for 5 nights at a Hilton Garden Inn near my home. I live in Shanghai and I can book a 5 night stay for only Rmb1,400 (US$200). Since the hotel is near me, I am happy to check-in and check-out in person. I could also do this for a total of 75,000 points (15,000 points per night) or a combination of points and cash. I guess the question though is if this is worth it to maintain Diamond. I have gotten some great value from my Diamond membership in 2024 with some very good suite upgrades, which I would like to have access to past March 2025 if possible.
2) Email Hilton in early January 2025 and ask if they will offer me a fast track offer to retain Diamond past March 2025. I have read that people have had success with this in the past but it’s not guaranteed. I have a few Hilton stays coming up in the first few months of 2025 so am confident I would be able to meet the requirements of the fast track offer. I think it’s worth pointing out that I originally qualified for Diamond through a status match with IHG and that some of my qualifying nights for 2024 were double nights as a result of my business being part of the Hilton Honors Business program (which offered double nights for stays for the second half of this year). I am not sure if either of these two points mean Hilton won’t offer me fast track offer to retain Diamond, but it’s certainly true that I have shifted quite a bit of my travel from IHG to Hilton in 2024 whereas previously all my business travel was with IHG, so the status match has certainly worked out for Hilton I would say.
There’s never a short answer to such questions. Specific to Hilton Diamond, there are usually few accelerated routes:
- Getting a cobranded credit card in the United States
- Getting a nomination from someone who’s stayed 100 nights
- Complete the public status challenge
- Complete a corporate challenge
The most realistic approach for most is probably the public status challenge program. However, as Michael has already done it in the past, I doubt Hilton will approve a second application next year.
Hilton doesn’t have an official soft landing policy (unlike Marriott). In the beginning of 2024 they granted status extension to members in a very random manner – I got to keep my Diamond despite of staying <10 nights in 2023, and I know people who stayed 50+ nights were downgraded to Gold.
Personally I’d suggest Michael do that 5-night mattress run given how close he is already and the cheap cost. The main difference between Hilton Gold & Diamond is guaranteed lounge access for the latter, which does matter for someone who stays over 50 nights a year.
Recent Comments