Among the four most popular hotel loyalty programs with TPG readers (World of Hyatt, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors and IHG One Rewards), the elite perks within the Hilton Honors program are the weakest. Part of this is surely because you can maintain top-tier Hilton Diamond status just by holding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.
However, U.S. Credit Card Guide users caught that Hilton Honors appears to be adding two new tiers to its loyalty program and reducing qualification requirements for its current tiers.
This reporting is based on changes Hilton Honors has made in the source code of its website. I confirmed the reported changes by logging into my own Hilton Honors account and checking the website’s source code. However, although Hilton is likely to announce these changes in the near future, it’s also possible that they may not materialize. So, here’s what we know so far.
New Hilton Honors status tiers
Users of U.S. Credit Card Guide found references to two new tiers in the source code on the Hilton Honors website: Diamond Reserve and The Honors Society.
Based on the source code, Diamond Reserve will become the new top-tier Hilton Honors elite status and will offer “a confirmable upgrade reward for an even better room.” However, this status will require $18,000 in eligible spend and either 40 stays or staying 80 nights each calendar year.
Meanwhile, “The Honors Society” also appeared as a new status level in the source code. No other details, nor qualification requirements, appear related to this status. Therefore, it could be an invitation-only status, a status reserved for Hilton owners or perhaps a paid membership status similar to InterContinental Ambassador or Wyndham’s new subscription.
DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Fiji. KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY
Without concrete information from Hilton Honors — the brand has not yet responded to TPG’s request for comment or further information — we can only speculate about these new status tiers. But the eligible spend requirement for Diamond Reserve makes it comparable to Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite status (which requires 100 nights and $23,000 in eligible spending each year).
Plus, although a confirmable upgrade reward for Diamond Reserve members sounds appealing, the fact that it’s “a” confirmable upgrade is a bit worrying. After all, I’d expect more than just one confirmable upgrade reward if I spend $18,000 in eligible spending with Hilton Honors in a year and meet the stay requirements for Diamond Reserve. After all, Hyatt Globalist members (who only need to accrue 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 qualifying base points each year with Hyatt) can earn up to five suite upgrade awards each year by the time they meet the 60-night requirement for Globalist.
Based on what I could find in the source code, confirmable upgrade rewards might become options you can select at certain Hilton milestone bonuses.
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Related: The 21 best Hilton hotels in the world
Lower Hilton Honors qualification requirements
Even if you don’t plan to earn Diamond Reserve or The Honors Society status, you’ll be happy to learn that the qualification requirements for other Hilton Honors status tiers also appear to be decreasing soon. In particular, the source code on the Hilton Honors website indicates that the following changes may occur:
StatusCurrent requirementsPotentially new requirementsHilton Silver10 nights, 4 stays or 25,000 base points7 nights, 3 stays or 17,500 base pointsHilton Gold40 nights, 20 stays or 75,000 base points28 nights, 14 stays or 52,500 base pointsHilton Diamond60 nights, 30 stays or 120,000 base points42 nights, 21 stays or 84,000 base points
Interestingly, Choice Privileges recently announced plans to decrease its elite requirements and introduce a new top-tier status. Therefore, it wouldn’t be unheard of for Hilton Honors to also reduce its elite status requirements in an effort to foster greater loyalty among its members.
However, keep in mind that you can earn elite status, including Hilton Diamond status, as a benefit of Hilton Honors cards. So, for Hilton Honors cardmembers, these reductions won’t matter unless the status offered as a perk of Hilton Honors cards changes (or you decide to strive for Diamond Reserve status).
Related: How to maximize the statement credits on Hilton’s cobranded credit cards
Bottom line
For now, this news is interesting. It likely indicates changes Hilton Honors will make soon, but I suggest not acting upon this information until Hilton confirms the changes. After all, at this point we don’t know when (or if) Hilton Honors plans to roll out these changes.
