Hilton Diamond Status: Upgrades, Executive Lounges and More

Hilton’s loyalty program, Hilton Honors, has four tiers — Member, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. The highest tier, Hilton Diamond status, comes with the most benefits, including space-available room upgrades, a daily food and beverage credit, and elite gifting status. Here are some tips and tricks on making the most of Diamond status with Hilton.

The two main ways to obtain Hilton Diamond status are by staying at least 42 nights at a Hilton property in a year or by getting the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card which comes with Diamond status (see rates and fees).

Suppose you’re wondering how to earn lifetime Diamond status with Hilton. In that case, you can do so by earning Diamond status for at least 10 non-consecutive years and by completing a total of 1,000 paid and reward stays or earning two million base points.

» Learn more: Things to know before joining Hilton Honors

As the top-tier status, Hilton Diamond status comes with several benefits, including:

• No resort fees on reward stays.

• Space-available room upgrades.

• Executive lounge access.

• Premium Wi-Fi.

• 100% points earnings bonus on stays.

• Free bottled water.

• Daily food and beverage credit (U.S. hotels) or complimentary continental breakfast (non-U.S. hotels).

• And more.

» Learn more: How to maximize your Hilton free night certificates

Whether you’ve obtained Hilton Diamond status through Hilton hotel stays or your credit card, we want to help you make the most of your Diamond status.

1. Stay at hotels with an Executive Lounge

Although your Hilton Diamond status comes with Executive Lounge access, not all Hilton hotels have Executive Lounges. So before you book your stay, you should check with the hotel to see if it has an Executive Lounge and confirm you’ll be able to access it with your Diamond status.

Hilton Executive Lounges are dedicated spaces open only to certain guests (usually with status or those staying in rooms with Executive Lounge access). These lounges come with different amenities depending on the specific hotel but generally offer snacks throughout the day, free drinks, and sometimes even more substantive meals like breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Staying at a hotel with an Executive Lounge is a great way to get more value from your Hilton Diamond status through complimentary food and drinks.

» Learn more: The guide to Hilton executive lounges

2. Earn and use your Hilton points while you have Hilton Diamond status

To make sure you get the most out of your Hilton Diamond status, you should try to earn and use your Hilton points while you’re a Diamond member.

For earning points, this means staying at a Hilton whenever possible to take advantage of the 100% bonus points you’ll earn for your Hilton stays. However, to make the most out of your Hilton Diamond status, you’ll not only want to maximize the number of points you earn, but you’ll also want to use them since you’ll be eligible for space-available upgrades and the fifth-night free benefit. In addition, you can maximize the value of your Hilton Honors points by using them for award stays while you have Diamond status.

» Learn more: Benefits of the Hilton Honors loyalty program

3. Stay at hotels outside of the U.S. to get free continental breakfast

Although Hilton offered Diamond members complimentary breakfast at all of its hotels, Hilton replaced this benefit in 2021 in U.S. hotels with daily food and beverage credit, ranging from $10-$25 per guest, depending on the hotel, for up to two guests.

Because the free continental breakfast benefit remains intact at non-U.S. hotels, you can get more value from your Hilton Diamond status by staying at Hilton hotels outside of the U.S. Also, check with the hotel on what the “continental breakfast” includes. For instance, at the Conrad Bora Bora and Hilton Moorea, the complimentary continental breakfast consists of a full breakfast buffet and nonalcoholic drinks. At the Conrad Punta de Mita, it includes a breakfast dish off their menu and nonalcoholic beverages.

These international locations often give you better value for your breakfast than the standard U.S. credit.

» Learn more: Your complete guide to the Hilton Honors program

Hilton Diamond status offers several valuable benefits, including space-available room upgrades, premium Wi-Fi, executive lounge access and bonus points for hotel stays.

To make the most of your Hilton Diamond status, you should try to earn and use as many points as you can while you have Diamond status, stay at non-U.S. properties whenever possible to take advantage of the free breakfast benefits and also try to stay at Hilton hotels that have Executive Lounges you can access.

Photo courtesy of Hilton.