Hilton reduces elite status requirements, adds new Diamond Reserve tier

A few weeks ago, a leak on the Hilton website suggested that the chain was planning some major changes to its loyalty programme. Hilton has now made these official by publishing the full details, and there’s a lot to dig into here.

Details

From 2026, we will see a reduction in the stay and night thresholds for Gold and Diamond qualification, but also the elimination of rollover nights. 

A new pinnacle tier called Diamond Reserve will be added, which grants confirmable upgrades at the time of booking, guaranteed 4 p.m check-out and “premium club” access, among other benefits.

There will also be some minor adjustments to earn rates at select service brands (namely Homewood Suites and Spark by Hilton), though it’s unlikely to affect most Singapore-based members.

Hilton Honors reducing elite status requirements

From 2026, Hilton Honors will reduce the qualification requirements for Gold and Diamond status, while replacing qualification by points with qualification by spend (if you want to compare points to spend, most Hilton brands earn 10 points per US$1).

Tier	Stays	Nights	Points Spend
Silver	4	10	25K US$2.5K
Gold	20 15	40 25	75K US$6K
Diamond	30 25	60 50	120K US$11.5K

To be clear, this applies to status earned in 2026. Any stay activity in 2025 will be evaluated according to the current rubric.

For example, if you stayed 50 nights in 2025, you will qualify for Gold status in 2026. However, if you stayed 50 nights in 2026, you will qualify for Diamond status in 2027. 

There will also be a small change to qualification for Lifetime Diamond. This will still require 10 years of Diamond status, plus one of the following:

• 1,000 nights (paid or award)
• 2 million base points (till 31 December 2025) or US$200,000 (from 1 January 2026)

New Diamond Reserve tier

Hilton Honors will introduce a new Diamond Reserve tier, which requires:

• 40 stays or 80 nights, and
• US$18,000 in spend

As you can see, this is a very high qualification threshold, though not as high as Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador (100 nights and US$23,000 spend).

Diamond Reserve members will enjoy:

• Highest priority for space-available room upgrades
• 1x confirmable upgrade reward for a stay of up to seven nights
• Guaranteed 4 p.m late check-out
• Premium club access
• 120% bonus points
• Exclusive customer service via a 24/7 hotline

Unfortunately, there will be no “retroactive upgrade” for existing Lifetime Diamond members. It would have been a nice gesture if Hilton had extended this to a select group, e.g. you need 10 years to qualify for Lifetime Diamond, so maybe US$180,000 in spend.

Upgrades

Diamond Reserves will be pushed to the top of the queue for space-available room upgrades, even ahead of Hilton Honors Lifetime Diamonds. This effectively means that Diamonds will now be third in line for room upgrades. 

In addition to this, Diamond Reserves will receive up to two Confirmable Upgrade Rewards in a calendar year:

• 1x upon achieving Diamond Reserve status
• 1x upon achieving 120 nights (can be substituted with 30,000 bonus points)

Each certificate is valid for 12 months from the date of issuance, and can be used to confirm an upgrade at the time of booking for a stay of up to seven nights.

The upgrade will be limited to a one-bedroom suite, and you will be able to see which rooms are available for upgrading before you finish the booking. 

Guaranteed 4 p.m late check-out

Hilton has never offered guaranteed late check-out for its elites, instead providing some vague wording about “late check-out when available”.

This will now change, at least for Diamond Reserves. They will receive guaranteed 4 p.m check-out automatically, “without having to ask”. This applies at all properties, including resorts and conference hotels.

Premium club access

Diamond Reserves will be able to access so-called “Premium Clubs”. The term is a bit of a head scratcher at first, but my understanding is that it refers to special executive lounges that Diamond members cannot currently access anyway. Some examples include:

• Sakura Club at the Conrad Washington DC
• Enclave at Hilton Tulum
• Imperial Club at the Waldorf Astoria Rome
• Pearl Club at Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah
• Citrus Club at Waldorf Astoria Arizona Biltmore

120% bonus points

Diamond Reserve members will earn 120% bonus points, which is 20% more than the 100% bonus currently earned by Diamond members. 

Rollover nights will be eliminated

Hilton Honors Silver, Gold and Diamond members can currently rollover any qualifying nights earned in excess of the qualification requirement. These will count towards requalification for the following calendar year.

For example, a Hilton Gold member who stays 50 nights will be able to roll over 10 nights towards the following year’s qualification (50-40).

This will be eliminated from 2026. Any rollover nights earned in 2025 will still count towards 2026 elite status, but nothing beyond that.

Reduced points earning at Homewood Suites and Spark by Hilton

From 2026, Hilton will reduce the number of points earned at its Homewood Suites and Spark by Hilton brands to 5 points per US$1, a 50% reduction from the current 10 points per US$1. 

This means that Hilton will have five brands which diverge from the default 10 points per US$1 earn rate. 

These brands are predominantly located within North America however (except for Spark by Hilton), so unless you travel there you won’t even notice it.

What do I make of these changes?

It’s no secret that Hilton has a glut of Diamond members, since it’s possible to get Diamond status in the USA by just paying the US$550 annual fee for the Hilton Aspire Card.

This means a congested upgrade list, fierce competition for late check-out, and why many properties — especially within the Americas — don’t find it worthwhile investing in their lounges, or create a special category of “premium club” which Diamond members are barred from. 

So it’s probably little surprise Hilton felt the need to create a tier beyond Diamond. The question is whether Diamond Reserve offers enough incremental benefits to be worth the additional nights and US$18,000 spend.

It’s great to see Hilton finally providing the ability to confirm an upgrade at the time of booking, and in some ways it’s superior to what Marriott offers with its Nightly Upgrade Awards, which are only valid for one night and cannot be confirmed until a few days prior to arrival.

However, it doesn’t measure up to the competition in terms of the effort involved to earn it. Diamond Reserve requires 80 nights, which would be enough to earn you:

• 7x Suite Upgrade Awards (each valid for up to seven nights) with World of Hyatt
• 4x confirmable suite upgrades with IHG (each valid for up to five nights)

Guaranteed 4 p.m check-out is another big win, especially since it’s (theoretically at least) applied automatically, without the need to request for it. There is no exclusion for resorts or conference hotels, unlike Marriott Bonvoy’s equivalent benefit (though to be fair, Marriott Bonvoy offers 4 p.m check-out to Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador members, which is a much wider scope).

Premium Club access is a nice gesture, though I have no earthly idea how many such clubs exist throughout the Hilton family, and whether there will be any exclusions at all. But from what I read, these clubs can range from outstanding to underwhelming, and their chief benefit is that they’re a lot less crowded than the average Hilton lounge filled with credit card Diamonds.

It remains to be seen how useful the dedicated Diamond Reserve customer support team will be, and how it will compare to Hyatt and Marriott’s equivalents. Can these guys move heaven and earth to make things happen, or is it going to be a whole load of nothing?

We’ll just have to wait and see how all this plays out, and how consistently Hilton can get its properties to deliver these benefits. Given the 40 stay/80 night requirement, the earliest we could realistically see people start to qualify for Diamond Reserve would be towards the start of Q2 2026.

Otherwise, I am quite disappointed that Hilton has demurred to use this opportunity to increase the F&B credit that is offered in lieu of breakfast within the USA. This ranges from US$10 to US$25 per guest, and is woefully insufficient to cover the cost of breakfast at many places. In reality, it’s more like a breakfast discount than actual breakfast, and no doubt intended to drive ancillary spending by guests. 

On the other hand, I’m relieved that they haven’t removed breakfast as a Hilton Gold perk, which was always the risk when relegating Hilton Gold a further tier. This gives it a meaningful competitive advantage over its equivalent tier at other chains. 

Conclusion

Hilton has announced a major shake-up of its loyalty programme for 2026, with reduced qualification thresholds for Gold and Diamond, and a new Diamond Reserve tier that adds confirmed upgrades and guaranteed 4 p.m check-out. 

There’s both good and bad here. If you qualify for Hilton Gold or Diamond through stay activity, you’ll be pleased that the threshold is lower. If you qualify through a credit card, you’ll be upset that there’s more competition for benefits. Lifetime Diamonds may feel aggrieved that they’re no longer at the top of the totem pole for upgrades, though those whose travel patterns or corporate contracts favour Hilton will be pleased that they can now enjoy an even higher tier of privileges.

We’ll need to see how the Diamond Reserve benefits play out in reality, and what it means for those lower down the pecking order (in terms of upgrades or late check-out).

Anyone here gunning for Diamond Reserve status?