HawkeyeFlyer

Am I reading this right, you can now get Diamond Status just by paying the $450 annual fee on this card. My Lifetime Diamond doesn't feel so great

jamesteroh

I'm hoping with the Ascend that Hyatt and SPG will follow and offer a higher fee credit card with their top status. I would be willing to pay a $450 a year AF for plat status with SPG and it would get them a lot more stays from me with the Delta crossover program.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hilton offers a new tier for people that stay all of nights in their hotels a lot giving them more benefits and priority for upgrades like SPG does for their guests that stay 50 or 75 nights a year. And as someone that used to qualify for diamonds on nights/stays and and spend in the past and is now relying on the credit card spend to maintain diamond (I got tired of the devaluations by Hilton and try to give my stays to Hyatt now but unfortunately Hilton is in some places I go to Hyatt isn't) I totally think that is fair. Hilton should be awarding their guests that spend 60+ nights a year over someone with a credit card.

HawkeyeFlyer

Could not agree more. What a joke. Makes the Lifetime Diamond card worth nothing more than a paper weight. Hilton really messed up here

jamesteroh

I just received an email from Hilton and Am Ex is officialy buying the citi portfolio on 1/18.

I was surprised. I wonder if Am Ex will close the accounts of previous Am Ex deadbeats who have a citi hilton card and defaulted in the past and are on their blacklist. I also wonder how they will treat people like me who have an existing Hilton Am Ex. I have a free Hilton am ex and citi reserve. Are they going to keep the Hilton free card open and give me a Surpass with the same credit line or will they convert the free card to a surpass and not increase the credit line.

HawkeyeFlyer

I have thought about that as well and actually brought it up when Lifetime Diamond was announced. The status is not worth much at this point. There will be so many Diamond members it won't even be funny

fozziedoggie

From what I'm reading in Lauren's post, the Ascend card has no annual fee and comes with no Foreign Transaction Fees, the Surpass card charges FTE and $75. You should be able to contact AmEx and request they convert your existing Surpass account to a no annual fee Ascend card.

HawkeyeFlyer

Is Hilton going to be coming out with a higher level than Diamond?

This new Hilton Aspire Card devalues Diamond status a great deal. After you get the credits on the card they are essentially paying you to be a Diamond member.

Not sure what Hilton was thinking here unless they have plans for an even higher status

Lifetime Diamond feels like a joke at this point

BearX220

That is not true.

If you don't mind giving up a credit facility and the associated possible FICO hit, makes sense. I expect I will do the same, as I don't really want to trade a Visa product for an Amex product and I feel slammed in this situation.

Amex logic / reason is pretty black-boxy. You never know what they're going to do to you unilaterally. My trust level is very low.

matrixwalker2012

Yup. I've been waiting for a card like this. Now I suppose having this for 10 years will get me my 10 years required for Lifetime Diamond. After that, just need to hit 1000 nights

HawkeyeFlyer

Who cares about Lifetime Diamond now? Pay the $450 annual fee and get the $500 in credits and they are paying you to be a Diamond!!! What value is there in Lifetime now

HawkeyeFlyer

The Aspire Card is $450 annual, BUT, you get Diamond Status and $500 in credit so essentially they are paying you to become a Diamond member

diver858

Hilton continues to devalue Diamond status, allows individual properties to water them down further, so this is just another step in the downward spiral.

From a customer service perspective, having a dedicated Diamond phone line is nice, but the more competent, service-oriented agents are slowly going away, management has removed some of their authority.

MrHilton

Believe me hotels can see if you are a cc diamond or a head in bed diamond member.

Chatted about this with several hotel staff and they confirmed they look at stay history and spendings to assign the best upgrades.

The most negative part is that the executive lounges are going to become even more crowded...

woodford02A

Can someone help me understand, in general, what the benefits of Diamond are over Gold? What are folks actually seeing on a day to day basis in practice vs. what Hilton is advertising?

I am US-based but often travel to Europe, Asia and S. America.

HawkeyeFlyer

I am literally just sitting here trying to figure out what the heck they are thinking.

There almost has to be a higher status than Diamond coming.