Dec 16, 2014, 2:26 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Lifetime Diamond Status with HHonors is now reality. ^
More recent information posted by Lauren (Hilton Honors Representative) reflects changes in the Honors Lifetime Diamond qualifying criteria:
Previous:
Details for the first inductees were announced on the 11th Feb. 2015. Erin (HHonors Rep here on FT) posted the announcement shortly before the emails were sent out to members on the same day.
[B]Initially, Lifetime Diamond Status will go to a select group of members who met all of the following criteria as of December 31, 2014:
All paid stays count — not just the paid stays during the years a member is a Hilton HHonors diamond.
As more information becomes available it will be added here. Should you have any updates please post them in the thread or in this wiki to keep the most pertinent info quickly available to those interested.
For those interested, the development unfolded as follows:
Erin, the HHonors rep on FT posted the following on 16/12/2014: (after some eagle eyed attention by adambrock from an email sent out by Hilton and which he thankfully posted here on FT: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...tus-email.html Kudos to adambrock for noticing and sharing it with the community. ^)
HHonorsRepresentative (Erin) wrote in that thread:
In 2015, HHonors will begin introducing Lifetime Diamond Status! As you may know, we’re always looking for new ways to reward you and we take into consideration your feedback on ways to recognize our most loyal members. Over the past several years, we’ve heard from you that Lifetime Diamond Status is important to you and I’m thrilled to announce that we will be inviting some of our most tenured Diamond members into this status.
I’ll have more details for you in early 2015 and I understand our first Lifetime Diamond members will receive their invitations in the early part of 2015. At this time, this is all the information I have on Lifetime Diamond Status, but I will do my best to keep you all updated as I hear more!
levman wrote in a post on Jan 24:
The best source of info I've found is the email address [email protected]. It seems to be staffed with people dedicated to the Lifetime Diamond program.
More recent information posted by Lauren (Hilton Honors Representative) reflects changes in the Honors Lifetime Diamond qualifying criteria:
Hi all,
A few months ago, we received some great feedback in the Q&A thread with our VP of Hilton HHonors, Aaron Glick. While the team explores a number of initiatives, one area that we could change quickly was our Lifetime Diamond qualifications. As of January 2017, we will grant Lifetime Diamond to all members who have met the following criteria:
• Members who have maintained Diamond status for at least 10 years (years do not need to be consecutive)
AND
• Have stayed at least 1,000 nights - either paid or reward (as you may know, only paid nights were eligible before)
OR
• Have accumulated 2 million Base Points since joining the Hilton HHonors program (this is a new feature to enable more members to enjoy Lifetime Diamond status; also as a reminder, only Base Points are eligible...Bonus Points earned via promotions, co-brand credit cards, or other means do not count towards status)
So now, there will be essentially two ways you can qualify for Lifetime Diamond:
1. 10 years at Diamond with Hilton HHonors + 1,000 nights (including paid and reward)
2. 10 years at Diamond + 2 million cumulative Base Points
An email notification will go out in February to members who have qualified for Lifetime Diamond as of December 31, 2016. If you want a sneak peek to find out if you will qualify, you can contact the Diamond Desk and the team will be happy to help.
Please reach out with any questions or comments, and I’ll be sure to share them directly with Aaron and team.
Thank you!
Lauren
A few months ago, we received some great feedback in the Q&A thread with our VP of Hilton HHonors, Aaron Glick. While the team explores a number of initiatives, one area that we could change quickly was our Lifetime Diamond qualifications. As of January 2017, we will grant Lifetime Diamond to all members who have met the following criteria:
• Members who have maintained Diamond status for at least 10 years (years do not need to be consecutive)
AND
• Have stayed at least 1,000 nights - either paid or reward (as you may know, only paid nights were eligible before)
OR
• Have accumulated 2 million Base Points since joining the Hilton HHonors program (this is a new feature to enable more members to enjoy Lifetime Diamond status; also as a reminder, only Base Points are eligible...Bonus Points earned via promotions, co-brand credit cards, or other means do not count towards status)
So now, there will be essentially two ways you can qualify for Lifetime Diamond:
1. 10 years at Diamond with Hilton HHonors + 1,000 nights (including paid and reward)
2. 10 years at Diamond + 2 million cumulative Base Points
An email notification will go out in February to members who have qualified for Lifetime Diamond as of December 31, 2016. If you want a sneak peek to find out if you will qualify, you can contact the Diamond Desk and the team will be happy to help.
Please reach out with any questions or comments, and I’ll be sure to share them directly with Aaron and team.
Thank you!
Lauren
Details for the first inductees were announced on the 11th Feb. 2015. Erin (HHonors Rep here on FT) posted the announcement shortly before the emails were sent out to members on the same day.
Hi all,
Thanks for your patience as I gathered more details on our Lifetime Diamond rollout. As we’re in the New Year, I have some additional details to share with you.
Initially, Lifetime Diamond Status will go to a select group of members who met all of the following criteria as of December 31, 2014: Members that met this criteria as of December 31, 2014 will be notified via email and receive their Lifetime Diamond Status in the mail at the physical address on their account at the end of February. Members that meet Lifetime Diamond Status criteria in the middle of the year will receive Lifetime Diamond Status at the beginning of the following year.
Please note that we are in early stages of this benefit, which means that elements of this offering may evolve and may change over time. As I hear of any updates, I will be sure to share those here.
As always, your input is truly valued and we welcome your thoughts and feedback during this launch period. We’re here and listening!
Thanks,
Erin
Thanks for your patience as I gathered more details on our Lifetime Diamond rollout. As we’re in the New Year, I have some additional details to share with you.
Initially, Lifetime Diamond Status will go to a select group of members who met all of the following criteria as of December 31, 2014:
- Have maintained Diamond Status for at least 10 years (consecutive or concurrent) and
- Completed paid stays totaling at least 1,000 nights
Please note that we are in early stages of this benefit, which means that elements of this offering may evolve and may change over time. As I hear of any updates, I will be sure to share those here.
As always, your input is truly valued and we welcome your thoughts and feedback during this launch period. We’re here and listening!
Thanks,
Erin
All paid stays count — not just the paid stays during the years a member is a Hilton HHonors diamond.
As more information becomes available it will be added here. Should you have any updates please post them in the thread or in this wiki to keep the most pertinent info quickly available to those interested.
For those interested, the development unfolded as follows:
Erin, the HHonors rep on FT posted the following on 16/12/2014: (after some eagle eyed attention by adambrock from an email sent out by Hilton and which he thankfully posted here on FT: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...tus-email.html Kudos to adambrock for noticing and sharing it with the community. ^)
HHonorsRepresentative (Erin) wrote in that thread:
In 2015, HHonors will begin introducing Lifetime Diamond Status! As you may know, we’re always looking for new ways to reward you and we take into consideration your feedback on ways to recognize our most loyal members. Over the past several years, we’ve heard from you that Lifetime Diamond Status is important to you and I’m thrilled to announce that we will be inviting some of our most tenured Diamond members into this status.
I’ll have more details for you in early 2015 and I understand our first Lifetime Diamond members will receive their invitations in the early part of 2015. At this time, this is all the information I have on Lifetime Diamond Status, but I will do my best to keep you all updated as I hear more!
levman wrote in a post on Jan 24:
The best source of info I've found is the email address [email protected]. It seems to be staffed with people dedicated to the Lifetime Diamond program.
Consolidated "Lifetime Diamond - Experiences, Questions, Is It Worth It?" thread
Aug 2, 2017, 10:34 am
#1082
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Manila, Philippines (MNL)
Programs: BAEC Gold [>20k Lifetime TPs] | Hilton Honors Lifetime Diamond [as is Mrs PtF] | Various Others
Posts: 6,156
Maybe I should have complained that my own gift wasn't sufficient recognition for my 2,500+ paid Hilton nights (better gifts for more nights).
For me Lifetime Diamond is a reward in itself. At some properties (most recently last month at Conrad Manila) the recognition and treatment I have received as Lifetime Diamond, as opposed to regular Diamond, has been exceptional.
Having qualified in her own right we are looking forward to receipt of Mrs PtF's own Lifetime package.
Aug 2, 2017, 11:27 am
#1083
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Ohio
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, American Platinum, Southwest A-list
Posts: 98
When the vast majority of us started staying at Hilton, there was no lifetime diamond program. That meant that as soon as we retired or had a slowdown in work travel...POOF! all of our diamond benefits evaporated the next year. Hilton was under no obligation to create a new lifetime diamond tier, and frankly, we are quite fortunate that they did! Now we can finally get off the status requalification treadmill at some point.
As for the grumblings of some who demand or desire additional entitlements/benefits from the program, I will give the same advice I give to anyone in the loyalty game: You are only entitled to what your loyalty program terms provide...nothing more, nothing less. Hilton added a lifetime diamond tier, guaranteeing lifetime diamond benefits (comp. breakfasts, room upgrades, bonus points, etc.) In my opinion, this is more than I ever expected when I first started staying with Hilton, as there was no lifetime diamond program. On top of this, they're offering 75,000 points or a $100 gift card...again, going above and beyond what their own terms and conditions require. Personally, I am quite pleased and pleasantly surprised. The program works for me. If, however, you are unsatisfied, you can take your business elsewhere. You can become a lifetime Platinum with Marriott with 750 stays...and then I'm sure Marriott will give you 75,000 points and a $100 gift card to welcome you to your newly acquired lifetime Platinum status
This is an often under reported benefit of all the points we acquire with Hilton, frequently with OPM. In the last few years, I haven't paid for over 19 nights at really nice Hilton properties (e.g. WA Rome Cavalieri), and have gotten upgraded on every one of my reward stays. Thanks, Hilton
Aug 2, 2017, 12:44 pm
#1084
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,784
But seriously the way that company works now is all about profit. It is not about doing the right thing or reward loyalty. If you are staying with them all these time.. a little gift or a big gift are not going to make any difference. I am actually surprise that there are actual gifts. I thought they will just send you a thank you note and that's about it.
Aug 2, 2017, 3:10 pm
#1085
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: WN A+/CP, DL Gold, AA Platinum, HH Lifetime Diamond, Marr Lifetime Gold, National EE, AVIS President
Posts: 71
Sure the 100,000 points, the headphones (never use), $100 gift card (gave away) were some nice extra tokens, but that's all they were.
Welcome to Lifetime Diamond.
Aug 2, 2017, 3:21 pm
#1086
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: WN A+/CP, DL Gold, AA Platinum, HH Lifetime Diamond, Marr Lifetime Gold, National EE, AVIS President
Posts: 71
As for the 100,000 points, I think that some of the "charter" (first) Lifetime Diamond members received that gift because they were the first. The charter members also received both the $100 gift card and the headphones.
Aug 2, 2017, 3:34 pm
#1087
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: ATL - DL DM/3MM - HH Lifetime Diamond - Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 3,117
For those wondering about the delay and the "duplicate" Lifetime Diamond metal card... they dropped one of the "H's" in HHonors. Mine is materially different in that the word "Lifetime" on my original Lifetime Diamond card was stamped all the way through the card, removing the metal which comprises the letters.
As for the 100,000 points, I think that some of the "charter" (first) Lifetime Diamond members received that gift because they were the first. The charter members also received both the $100 gift card and the headphones.
As for the 100,000 points, I think that some of the "charter" (first) Lifetime Diamond members received that gift because they were the first. The charter members also received both the $100 gift card and the headphones.
So 2 years ago, Hilton gave 100,000 points AND Headphones AND $100.
Now it's 75,000 points OR $100.
Shame on you newcomers to feel miffed at the devaluation in your recognition - you should feel Lucky that after decades and over 1,000 nights that they gave you any thought at all.
Last edited by Tomphot; Aug 2, 2017 at 3:46 pm
Aug 2, 2017, 4:48 pm
#1088
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: DCA/RIC
Programs: HH LTD, AA LTG
Posts: 1,015
I thought the main difference for those of us in US being HH swapped out the headphones with a HH LTD luggage tag. The HH LTD card and choice of other gift card and bag options remain the same, unless I was not paying close enough attention.
I understand some Diamond folks got an offer for 100K points to re-qualify but do not recall LTD getting this offer?
Like many posting in this thread, I too have spent a few nights in HH hotels and did not receive the offer for 100K points.
I equated this to Dish and Directv both giving better offers to switch than to remain loyal to them.
Last edited by isle-hawg; Aug 2, 2017 at 4:55 pm
Aug 2, 2017, 4:55 pm
#1089
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,189
So found out in December that I qualified for Lifetime Diamond. Said it would be May before cards and reward arrived.
May comes along and they say it will be delayed until end of July.
Reward finally arrives today is this big box, with elaborate wrapping inside. I open it to find a metal card for myself and a metal card for Mrs Hawkeyeflyer (we were lucky enough to get a joint account when that was still an option).....oh and a leather bag tag.
Then it has a letter telling me to go to a website for the reward or gift. 3 options, a $100 Bloomingdale's gift card, 75,000 points or a Tumi Alpha 2 Travel kit (worth $95)
I am sorry but I have been a Diamond for 15 straight years, I have over 1,000 nights stayed and over 2,300,000 BASE points.
Does Hilton really think a metal card, with no additional benefits, a bag tag and a gift of $100 is a "Reward" for this type of loyalty and spend?
Sorry very disappointed in this offering.
May comes along and they say it will be delayed until end of July.
Reward finally arrives today is this big box, with elaborate wrapping inside. I open it to find a metal card for myself and a metal card for Mrs Hawkeyeflyer (we were lucky enough to get a joint account when that was still an option).....oh and a leather bag tag.
Then it has a letter telling me to go to a website for the reward or gift. 3 options, a $100 Bloomingdale's gift card, 75,000 points or a Tumi Alpha 2 Travel kit (worth $95)
I am sorry but I have been a Diamond for 15 straight years, I have over 1,000 nights stayed and over 2,300,000 BASE points.
Does Hilton really think a metal card, with no additional benefits, a bag tag and a gift of $100 is a "Reward" for this type of loyalty and spend?
Sorry very disappointed in this offering.
If you were involved in a cold war mentality with hotel chains like I choose to be, you would measure everything very careful to come out as far ahead as possible. From this perspective, they can't really hurt you with disappointment.
If you are disappointed, it is because you got suckered by the BS concept that they give a care.
Aug 2, 2017, 4:58 pm
#1090
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,189
I find your response to be condescending and sarcastic. Just my belief but as you mentioned I am entitled to it.
It appears you have not met the qualifications for this status and maybe if you had spent the time and money you would have a better understanding of why those of us who have are disappointed.
What this status tells me is exactly what you mentioned.....TAKE MY TIME AND MONEY elsewhere. Already have this status, nothing needed to maintain it so may as well spend my personal and business money on a program that is still interested in my business and fall back on Hilton when needed.
It appears you have not met the qualifications for this status and maybe if you had spent the time and money you would have a better understanding of why those of us who have are disappointed.
What this status tells me is exactly what you mentioned.....TAKE MY TIME AND MONEY elsewhere. Already have this status, nothing needed to maintain it so may as well spend my personal and business money on a program that is still interested in my business and fall back on Hilton when needed.
Aug 2, 2017, 5:26 pm
#1091
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: ATL - DL DM/3MM - HH Lifetime Diamond - Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 3,117
I thought the only folks who got the 100K points were outside North America?
I thought the main difference for those of us in US being HH swapped out the headphones with a HH LTD luggage tag. The HH LTD card and choice of other gift card and bag options remain the same, unless I was not paying close enough attention.
I thought the main difference for those of us in US being HH swapped out the headphones with a HH LTD luggage tag. The HH LTD card and choice of other gift card and bag options remain the same, unless I was not paying close enough attention.
Aug 2, 2017, 5:32 pm
#1092
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,345
100k was NOT something that US original members got. It was only headphones and the $100 Gift Card.
As for the rest of the whining: The average lifetime Diamond that is minted today, stayed a minimum of 7 years, if not 10 or 20 with no expectation whatsoever of getting any Lifetime status. All thsi talk of "I expect", "I earned", etc are literally worthless as you never expected anything before nor had you earned anything before.
As for the rest of the whining: The average lifetime Diamond that is minted today, stayed a minimum of 7 years, if not 10 or 20 with no expectation whatsoever of getting any Lifetime status. All thsi talk of "I expect", "I earned", etc are literally worthless as you never expected anything before nor had you earned anything before.
Aug 2, 2017, 5:56 pm
#1093
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: ATL - DL DM/3MM - HH Lifetime Diamond - Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 3,117
100k was NOT something that US original members got. It was only headphones and the $100 Gift Card.
As for the rest of the whining: The average lifetime Diamond that is minted today, stayed a minimum of 7 years, if not 10 or 20 with no expectation whatsoever of getting any Lifetime status. All thsi talk of "I expect", "I earned", etc are literally worthless as you never expected anything before nor had you earned anything before.
As for the rest of the whining: The average lifetime Diamond that is minted today, stayed a minimum of 7 years, if not 10 or 20 with no expectation whatsoever of getting any Lifetime status. All thsi talk of "I expect", "I earned", etc are literally worthless as you never expected anything before nor had you earned anything before.
Aug 2, 2017, 10:57 pm
#1095
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Posts: 10,907