Hilton Introduces New ELITE Status For the 1% - Diamond Reserve

Hilton is bringing in a new elite status for the 1% above their previous highest diamond status. This status will get you into their most premium hotel lounges, guaranteed upgrades even to suites, and guaranteed late checkout. Say hello to Diamond Reserve. In this video, we are going to talk about why they have done this, how to get the new status, and how this actually makes getting gold and diamond status easier. Hey, credit warriors, welcome to the show. My name is Ben Hedges aka the credit shifu and on this channel I cover US credit cards, personal finance, and travel hacking. If you like the sound of that, please subscribe. But let's get into it. So a few days ago, we reported on Hilton confirming rumors spread by multiple credit card and travel blogs that they were going to bring in a new loyalty tier above Diamond. And they're like, "Yep, you caught us. Hilton Honors is up to something." And they then show headlines from several online blogs, US Credit Guide, etc. talking about this new rumored diamond reserve tier. At the time of that post, they still hadn't revealed any details. They just said they're up to something, but now they have. Hilton has just announced diamond reserve and all its benefits. They have also announced changes to gold and diamond that make those tiers easier to get while keeping the same benefits as they currently have. Well, that's not entirely true. I'll tell you why the current tiers have been downgraded slightly in a little bit. But first, why did this have to be done? Well, this is the Hilton Honors Aspire American Express card. For the past few years, this card has given out Hilton's top status, Diamond, to anyone who coughs up the $550 annual fee to hold the card. Although many people don't truly end up paying the 550 out of pocket because the card has a load of benefits like credits that refund much of that fee back if the card holder is able to use them like this $400 resort credit or this annual free night that could be worth up to $1,000 depending on which hotel you use it at. In addition, the Hilton Honors Surpass card, which has a $150 annual fee, but gives out $200 in Hilton credits, $50 per quarter, gives you Hilton gold status just for having the card. So, anyone who is willing to open one of these credit cards can get Hilton's top status, diamond, or gold status, which also gives a load of useful benefits like free breakfast and room upgrades. So, it seems that this has created some friction between people who just take a fast track to high status with a credit card and those people who are genuinely on the road all the time staying at Hilton hotels and feel that they deserve special treatment. And you can kind of tell that by how Hilton have worded this. Here is a quote from Mark Weinstein, chief marketing officer and head of luxury brands in their press release. Loyalty is not something we take lightly. We have spent years listening to our members. Diamond Reserve was created to recognize and reward those who entrust their travel to Hilton. So to translate that into plain English, what he actually means is that frequent travelers are annoyed that there are now too many people with diamond and gold status because of the Hilton credit cards, and they want an elite tier that you can only get by doing lots of stays at Hilton, being a genuine Hilton loyalist. So let's now have a look at what the new diamond reserve tier offers and how you can get it. So, Diamond Reserve is coming on January 1st, 2026. And here are the benefits. You get their best upgrades. This means that you are guaranteed an upgrade at the time of booking. And that may even include a sweet upgrade. You get guaranteed 400 p.m. late checkout. We'll talk a little bit more about the significance of that in a moment. 120% more points earned on stays. This means you earn 22 Hilton points per dollar when you stay. We already saw a leaked graphic for that a few days ago. We then have premium club access as well as an exclusive customer service line and all of the benefits of every tier below. So, the breakfast credit, free bottled water, etc. Now, how do you get this status? Well, you can't get it from a credit card. Instead, you will need 80 nights at Hilton Hotels per year or 40 stays, which could be one night stays or more, and at least $18,000 in annual spend. Now, there is some slight good news for gold and diamond members, and that is that those tiers just got easier to earn, which is sort of meaningless anyway because you can just fasttrack yourself to either one of those tiers by getting one of those Hilton credit cards. But whatever. Here is what it now takes to get gold or diamond if you actually do it by staying at Hilton hotels. You can earn gold status in one of three ways. Staying 25 nights, and this is apparently 38% fewer nights than it used to be, or you can complete 15 stays. Now, those stays could actually just be one night, okay? So, it could be like five stays of five nights each or 15 stays of one night. Or if you just spend $6,000 in annual eligible spend with Hilton, you can get gold status as well. So, you could stay like three nights at $2,000 each at some really ultra high-end Hilton hotel. Then, to earn diamond status, you can do it in one of three ways. 50 nights. You can stay 25 stays, which could just be 25 nights if they were all at different hotels on different stays, or reach $11,500 in annual spend. And Hilton is saying that for those tiers, you get the same benefits that you used to. But they have pulled a sneaky little trick here, relying on people having short memories. >> I I suffer from short-term memory loss. >> Short-term memory loss. You see, honors members used to all get late checkout based on availability with obviously diamond members getting the highest priority for that, followed by gold. But this year, just 5 months ago in June, they removed late checkout from member benefits. They then came out saying that they will now sell you late checkout for between $40 to $60 depending on the brand starting in 2026, which coincides with the release of the new Diamond Reserve tier. And so I'm guessing that this was all to make way for Diamond Reserve with guaranteed 400 p.m. late checkout, which is super generous and matches what you get if you book a Hilton Hotel through the MX Fine Hotels and Resorts collection. Obviously, only high-end Hilton hotels are in that collection, like the Conrad DC, for example, which I stayed at a couple of years ago. And so, yeah, when they say that gold and diamond benefits are not changed, that is not true. They just went ahead and quietly downgraded the benefits in advance and hoped that after 5 months had passed, you wouldn't remember. >> It's true. I forget things almost instantly. It runs in my family. Well, I mean, at least I think it does. >> But anyway, what are my thoughts on this? Well, I'm going to tell you what I think. But first, since it's almost Black Friday, I do recommend you sign up for Racketin, the number one cashback portal where you can earn extra cash back or MX points on some of your favorite stores on top of what you would earn on your credit card. And on top of any Black Friday discounts, you'll find stores like Macy's, Sachs, Best Buy on there. And on Black Friday weekend, they offer rates of up to 15 or even 20% cash back or 20x MX points per dollar. Best thing is if you sign up now through my link below, you'll actually get $50 in bonus cash back after you make your first purchase at any of the stores listed on their site. Link is down below. So, what do I think? Well, I kind of do agree that there needs to be a top tier that you can only get through stays, no fast track with a credit card. So, I think that this change, it is justified. Even though I'm not happy about it, all right, I kind of think from the point of view of running a meaningful loyalty program, it is justified. I am glad to see that Golden Diamond still keep most of their benefits. Uh the food and beverage credit especially is one that I am happy to see stay. I really like taking advantage of that for free breakfast. And there is still a way to get late checkout at Hilton's high-end brands, even if you're not Diamond Reserve, and that is to book through the fine hotels and resorts collection from American Express. Like look, let's search Las Vegas. Where do we have a Hilton property? Let's see. Ah, Waldorf Historia. That's a Hilton property. 400 p.m. late checkout guaranteed. You can get access to that program by having the MX Platinum, which is $8.95 a year. So, you're you're basically buying access through having a credit card, but that card has a load of benefits like credits that offset that annual fee. So, even if you do get that card, you're not truly paying $8.95 a year out of pocket. Obviously, your mileage may vary with that. depends on the lifestyle, but most people can offset most of that annual fee. But anyway, the new diamond reserve tier comes out on January 1st, 2026, and also the lower requirements to get golden diamond come out on that date as well. Now, Black Friday is coming up, so like we said, don't forget to sign up for Rakitin in the links below. You can get $50 in free money after you make your first purchase at any of their stores. It's great for Black Friday and holiday shopping. And if you have the AMX Platinum, it's great to use with the SAX credit since even though you get refunded by AMX for that credit, you still get the cash back or points that you earn from Racketin. And that can be up to 15 cents or 15 points per dollar. So the link for that is down below. Don't forget to check it out. The $50 bonus is only going to run probably until Black Friday weekend. Thanks for watching our channel. Please subscribe if you're new. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.