Originally Posted by
EuropeanPete
It sounds like you don't feel there's a difference between Gold and Diamond, yet now you're a Gold instead of a Diamond you're going to change your purchasing behaviour? I'm being somewhat over-analytical I appreciate, but it still doesn't make sense to me!
My rationale for trying to hang on to Diamond is that the 3-5 times a year I am out-of-country, booking at a Hilton always brought me great bennies. Fow example, I typically stay over one night at the airport when staying at CPH and the Hilton there is great. For a base-rate I have always been upgraded to the executive floor or one of the 4 executive rooms on each floors with access to the lounge with an unbelieavble offering of afternoon-evening snacks and drinks and a full hot breakfast in the morning. The difference between what I spend (typically under $300/n) and what I got (typically over $5-600/n) is something you can take to the bank.
I am not saying that I will not stay at Hilton anymore as I do like to stay at the Hilton Garden Inns in cities like Boise, ID, Idaho Falls, ID and St. George, UT where the pickings of good business hotels are slim, I am just saying I am no longer going to go out of my way to do so as I did in the past as even that is unlikely to get me above the "free-bee" Gold status. However, if Hilton let me stay Diamond for my 20-24 stays/y that I could put in on top of my free Gold status I would have gone out of my way mostly to keep my out-of-country bennies.