I just got my lifetime Diamond status email as well! While the threshold is high, it's something that is clearly earned by building loyalty, which is the intention of the program. I have had Diamond for 14 years with at least 100 plus paid nights a year. I too hope there will be some type of tier bonus in the future, i.e. Suite upgrade or some type of perk. I often think if you stay double the Diamond stays of 120 per year, or even a 100 a year, there should be an upgrade priority for you, ie suite perk. I never ask for it, but it would be nice.:). Anyway thanks Hilton for doing this, as it will be a nice perk for when I retire, and I'll stay with Hilton as a result.

There's an asterisk after "criteria". Was there no footnote corresponding to that?

I called the Diamond desk and asked how many lifetime paid nights I had. I was told she could only see the total nights, which included both paid and award nights. So I`m curious about this mysterious paid nights number that the agent could not see.

*See full terms & conditions here. (http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/promot...ond/terms.html)

Lifetime Diamond Status will be awarded to select HHonors members, who as of December 31st, 2014 have earned Diamond Status for at least 10 years (non-consecutive) and who have completed stays totaling at least 1,000 paid nights pursuant to the standard HHonors Terms & Conditions. Once earned, standard HHonors Terms & Conditions apply. Lifetime Diamond Status is granted at the discretion of HHonors Worldwide, LLC and may be ended, or amended with or without notice or compensation, at HHonors’ sole discretion

My conversation with a Hilton Executive yesterday indicated that it is only paid (and not award) nights that count. You can see more details in my post at http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/hilt...-elite-status/.

Glad to see this addition, though I am still a ways off on both counts.

So... for those who have received the email; is there anything indicated that you need to do? My account is showing I have qualified, but i have received no emails from Hilton - I know they have the right email for me since I updated my account to remove an old FF number and received the confirmation that my account had been updated.
Just making sure there isn't anything I need to do on my end.

This is all you are asked to do:

You will be receiving your Lifetime Diamond membership card in the mail in the coming months. Please visit your member profile by February 15th to ensure your mailing address is up to date.

Was just posting that as I saw the above reply : just check profile by Feb 15 for correct mailing address.

I made a few calculations after a call to the Diamond Desk, he confirmed that I have been Diamond continuously since 2001. In order to qualify for Lifetime Diamond I would have had to have about 72 paid nights- award nights don't qualify- each year, every year. That translates to having a little more than twice the minimum nights required to qualify for Diamond. I dare say that many people who hit the minimum (used to be 28,now 30 nights) start considering how they might qualify for the highest elite level at other chains. So unless the formula changes I've given up on that idea.

To add a little salt to the wound I didn't get the 100K offer either.

Thanks to Erin for posting this as soon as allowed and on the same day as the first members were being told. It is great to hear it from the source first rather than from a poster (just to stop any speculation about accuracy). ^

Thanks to Hilton for introducing a lifetime status ^ (long asked for and you have listened).

Thank you for NOT keeping the requirements opaque ^ and being open about what the requirements are.

I certainly don't qualify on these criteria but am very happy for those that do, you definitely deserve it. ^^

I do hope that members account pages will be updated to reflect where a member is regarding lifetime status so they can track progress. Consider it a carrot Hilton that member could and should follow...

I do hope that Hilton will consider some additional criteria in future to allow a slightly wider group to become LTD. Whatever those metrics are that keep the percentages to the number needed but widen it from just these two AND conditions. (but it is a great start, again, thanks! ^ ) Stays, brand evangelists, influential public members (think famous people), social media leaders (Raffles for example) etc...could be considered and would benefit the brand and spread the word.

I wonder if Hilton would consider a second tier (LTG for example) with half that number? 5 years and 500 nights (revenue) which would still be quite hard to achieve but provide loyalty and still be a powerful carrot. Given that Gold is granted with Hilton Vacations and some cards, this shouldn't be too much to ask for and would certainly make those of us with limited potential to reach 1000 nights have something to strive for. Consider the BAEC program with lifetime Gold and lifetime tier above that...this LTD tier seems a high bar (and I'm happy enough with that to keep it exclusive enough) but it would be good to have a slightly lower bar for mere mortals to obtain with significant effort. (Please @:-) )

Thanks again, look forward to seeing how this develops going forward, again congrats to all those new members of this tier, no one can say you don't deserve it. ^

I am curious about the 10 year thing. If you spend a thousand nights in 3 years shouldn't you still get it? I am OK with the thousand nights....I am about 100 short (or more after they deduct the reward nights). But I will have to wait until next year even though I might get it this year. Not that it really matters, as I am still diamond. But if I win the Powerball tonight, I might not hit as many in my future.

I think it stops people from only doing it for a few years and then switching hotel brands. It forces people to invest a lot of time and if they are half way in or so, they most likely will at least stay diamond to make it.

Will it really matter??

Negative.

I guess I get that but still not sure I wrap my head around that. My thought is it is might push them harder faster. It sure would have me...I would have already had it had the rules already in place.