DCBob

AS HH Gold, I get the SAME great value that you do. Diamond rarely gets you more benefits than Gold does.

MoreMilesPlease

Diamond gets access to the executive lounge even if they are not upgraded to an executive room. Golds only get lounge access if they are upgraded to the executive floor. Many hotels are now enforcing this. So Diamond can be a real money saver if you value executive lounge access especially in very expensive European cities.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newre...ply&p=19666218


‡ Executive Floor Lounge Access Policy: The following policy applies at all Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and DoubleTree by Hilton™ hotels with Executive Floor Lounges. Executive Floor Lounges are available only at select properties.

• If you are an HHonors guest with Gold status, you and up to one additional registered guest in the same room will be granted complimentary access to the Executive Floor Lounge only if you receive a room upgrade to the Executive Floor or an upgrade to a room type that confers Executive Floor Lounge access benefits.

• If you are an HHonors guest with Diamond status, you and up to one additional registered guest in the same room will always enjoy complimentary access to the Executive Floor Lounge, even if you do not receive a room upgrade to the Executive Floor.

travelinfoo

That's not quite true. As the ER and ELs fill up with Diamonds and ppl who pay to be in an ER, Golds will essentially never have access to the EL. I've heard the FDC deny EL access to several non-ER Golds who asked for access over the past few months. The reason - no ER, no EL for Gold.
In the US, that isn't a big deal. The US EL are pretty paltry. But overseas, the ELs are usually pretty nice.

The FDCs sound like they are sticking more to the letter of the benefits. As Diamond and as someone who has experienced many an overcrowded EL, I am glad.

Also, the Gold upgrade is only to an enhanced room. That may be an ER but more often than not, it'll be some extra feature, e.g., higher floor, bathrobe, corner room, etc. These room types DO fulfill the Gold upgrade.
Though I have to say that as Diamond, I haven;t gotten many upgrades in the past 18 months. As a typical example, I recently booked a Deluxe room. At check-in, the FDC cheerfully told me I was upgraded . . . to a Deluxe. Not sure what the upgrade was since that was what I had booked. I had asked about ER and suite but was told all were occupied.

After 6 yrs as Diamond, I will be dropping back down to Gold in 2013. I guess I'll see what the difference is between the two levels.

tinkerbell78

After 5 years of making diamond easily - i have had to do a little mattress running the last couple of months to make it!
I agree that there may not be too many extra perks between gold & diamond domestically, but i try not to give it up as the international perks are more than worth it!! As others have stated this can be a big money saver & always guarantees EL access...

ILovetheReds

I am going to get in a few more stays this year to maintain diamond for next year. Next year I am cutting down on my stays with Hilton and going to try to maintain my diamond status with HY and get PM status with Marriott and put $40,000 on my Hilton card to requal for diamond.

Problem with Hyatt is there aren't nearly as many properties. Marriott doesn't give you free breakfast at Courtyard.

Diamond does help at some properties. It appears lately that a lot more properties are enforcing only allowing diamonds in the exec lounge. if not on the exec floor. Some properties give a better breakfast. I stay at the Hilton SF Union Square a lot and golds only get a voucher for starbucks where diamonds get the continental buffet option in addition to vouchers to use at starbucks later. The Trafalgar in London only gave my wife (gold) the cont. buffet where when we stay there with my diamond status, we can order anything off the menu. The Hilton Atlanta only gives my wife a breakfast bag unless she is upgraded to the exec level and then she gets breakfast there. As a diamond I always get lounge access at that property and the last time received two full breakfast buffet vouchers in the restaurant.

My wife and I received the vouchers from the citi promo. She was not able to use her vouchers for a weekend because no "standard" rooms were avialable but the diamond desk allowed me to.

I agree there needs to be a LOT more difference between gold and diamond benefits than there are currently, but there are some

ILovetheReds

My wife is a gold and has been getting denied access a lot more recently if not on the exec level, and exec level rooms are harder for her to get. A lot of properties seem to be cracking down on that. It may be due to all the people now getting gold with a credit card.

My wife doesn't like the hotels being strict about lounge access, but as a diamond that has to put up with lounge overcrowding I am glad to see the rules being enforced. I am also a HY Diamond and they enforce the lounge rules strictly and I don't have nearly the problems with lounge overcrowding there. US lounges aren't great but are great for a quick bite to eat for appetizers before a late dinner and nice to go for free soda and bottled water, especially at properties like the Hilton Atlanta that have soda and water available 24/7.

Biggest advantage for me this year had been diamond desk allowing me to use points and certs when only premium rooms were available. My wife has been declined use of certs and was quoted a lot more points at a couple properties due to no standard rooms and I was able to use certs and AXON stays by just calling the diamond desk.

ILovetheReds

While there needs to be a LOT more difference in benefits between gold and diamond than there currently are it does get you a lot more, especially in europe.

Wife is gold and I see some diffferences. We both have two weekend night vouchers and she isn't able to use hers in Europe due to only premium rooms available. I was able to call the diamond desk and use my certs those nights and the rate is 400 pounds. There have also been a couple reward stays where she would have dished out a lot more points as a gold due to only premium rooms being available. There is a stay we have coming up where it would have cost her around 175K for one night and thanks to the diamond desk we are staying for four nights at an axon rate of 145k points. Thanks to being diamond we are getting four nights total for 30K points less than she would one night.

Properties are finally now cracking down on enforcing lounge access as well, which as a diamond I am glad to see (my wife who is gold disagrees with me there LOL).

A lot of properties are now giving a lot better breakfast benefits to Diamonds than golds as well. Both US and in Europe.

Seeing how easy it is to achieve gold, I hope hilton will continue to expand their benefits to diamonds.

ILovetheReds

If you are a US resident just get a credit card and charge $40K a year so you will be diamond for the stays you do with Hilton.

Due to all the golds from the Citi credit card, don't be surprised if you see gold benefits decline. My wife is already seeing the lounge policy being enforced at a lot more properties, as well as the upgrade policies. In the past she received lounge access at most Hiltons and lately that hasn't been the case. They also seem to be enforcing upgrades to one level a lot more strictly lately. I would recomend trying to maintain diamond for next year, I think you are going to see a lot of properties extending better benefits to diamonds next year with all the additional golds in the HH program

ElmhurstNick

I gave up a couple of years ago and dropped to Gold. I wasn't staying in enough full-service properties to get real benefits on revenue stays, and gutting the Diamond force killed me on award stays. Too many times the Hyatt or even sometimes the Crowne Plaza was much nicer than the Hilton at a similar rate.

This fall I decided to give up trying to make even Gold on stays, and am paying the $95 for the Citi card to maintain Gold. My definition of "Hilton" for me now is HGI/HS, since I doubt I'll ever be able to find AXON 4-night stays any more.

TallestHotelInJapan

No difference between Diamond and Gold also for this long-time Diamond member and soon credit card Gold - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/19668591-post41.html

ILovetheReds

We just completed a weekend stay at the Bentley in Miami Beach with another couple who is gold.

We stayed at the Palmer house with them last weekend in Chicago and I had some complaints in a thread I started about how they got a better room than we did until I called in to complain and we got a better upgrade. We stayed with them this weekend at the Bentley in Miami and at this property the difference between how I was treated as a diamond and they were as golds, was almost the same as between night and day.

We both had the same rate, and my wife and I received a better view room. We received a bottle of red wine and two bottles of expensive water in our room along with a welcome letter. They didn't. They only received a cont. breakfast while we were given the full buffet. At the beach they were told they could have free bottled water if they rented a chair and they had to pay for their chair and umbrella. Wife and I received a chair each and one umbrella gratis.

If all Hiltons would treat their diamonds this way, there would be more incentive for us to maintain diamond status.

tkelvin69

In the last 30 days:

1. Upgrade to top floor corner suite with a large wrap around balcony and water views at the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik. Great lounge. 110 euros/nt.

2. Upgrade to a top floor ocean view suite with a private plunge pool at the Conrad Bali. Great lounge. Award stay at 29,000 points/nt.

At both they mentioned my diamond status. I'll keep diamond status.

RobbyBobby

Diamond is so much worth iit that I am spending extra 1500.00 (matters run) just to keep it (have Gold for free with a credit card).

However I for once brutally request enforcing the rules and kicking out all the freeloaders (that includes Gold) out if they do not deserve particular benefit. This "enforcing" BTW get me extra perks from the hotels administration.

On the other hand I am reconsidering my Hyatt diamond, probably will let it pass this year

pinniped

Well, the good news is that you don't have to break your neck over it to begin with.

We use our HH Amexes for a couple months a year. Opportunity cost ends up being a couple hundred bucks max in terms of the relative value of the HH points earned vs. the Starpoints we would have otherwise earned. But there's some intangible bonus in that having a stable of HH points gives us better award opportunities in places that don't have great Starwoods. The diversification is worth something in and of itself.

Then we do maybe 5-6 HH stays a year. Usually a couple of paid stays at midrange properties in North America or Europe and a couple award stays at high end properties in Asia or Europe. If just one or two of those stays yields a good lounge that doesn't let Golds in or a particularly good upgrade, then it's worth it.

My thought for years was do MR mainly for stays, using SPG and HH Amexes to keep balances there. But in my recent years as SPG Plat, I've enjoyed it enough to drop a lot of my Marriott activity. Now Marriott is my brand mainly when I need a very cheap weekend stay or I'm taking the family somewhere and want the Residence Inn 2-bedroom suite.

We haven't decided yet whether to switch to the newest HH Visa. Annual fee is up in January on the Amex...

exerda

I just made Diamond after many years as Gold--should I expect anything from Hilton (welcome packet, etc.) this late in the year, or do I need to do anything with existing reservations to make sure the status reflects when I check-in? (Forgive that being a silly question given I've had to do just that with airlines before.)

I'm looking forward to seeing if I get any additional benefits (yes, I have read through what they are); so far, as a Gold, I've always gotten an Executive Floor upgrade when staying at the appropriate properties, so I'm ready to be underwhelmed, I guess.