writetorich

The industry leader with the most hotels now has five published elite level.
Do Members think will Hilton will add a fourth ?

I do, within 24-36 months. at the longest time frame They just made the deal with Amex for automatic Diamond status. I don't think that they break the "spirit " of the contract right away. So I don't think right away. probably more likely within 15-20 months.
everyone complains or says "well they use to do it anyway with $40,000 annual spend. --- I use to do that ( by paying my Federal income taxes with it-- I'm 1099 with no withholding.) But If someone is a W-2 employee , forty thousand discretionary annual consumer spend is an affluent consumer that Hilton wants to attract and Amex was likely compensating Hilton for the Diamond status.

That was a much higher threshold that automatic just for carrying a high annual fee credit card with no Stay requirement and no minimum threshold annual spend requirement, that essentially rebates you the lion's share of the fee.
but remember Hilton was not alone in this , I think 75K annual spend on Ritz Carlton card got TOP tier.

arlflyer

I personally believe that they need a top tier, pay-to-play, no nonsense level for people who do real nights and pay real money. No workarounds, and back it up with real benefits that the properties can't twist or wriggle out of. If they did that then I'd consider putting business spend with them. Would love to do more U.S. Hilton stays for business since I do think the earn scheme is attractive and the international redemption opportunities have been good to me (plus just a diversification play), but SPG/Marriott treat elites much better (and also have better U.S. properties).

LostInAmerica

I have been wondering the same thing. Currently Gold is 20 stays/40 nights and Diamond is 30 stays/60 nights.
Considering the Marriott stay requirements for top tier I expect Hilton to add a new top level (Kryptonium?) that requires maybe 40 stays/80 nights.
I don't think you should be able to get top-tier benefits for just carrying a co-branded credit card.

writetorich

So I am assuming that you'd want a "Conrad Diamond", or a " Waldorf Astoria Diamond," or" Executive Diamond"
( -- Hey I should be a consultant -- Great names

"and back it up with real benefits that the properties can't twist or wriggle out of."
"What stronger benefits would you want?"

HawkeyeFlyer

Ever since Hilton announced Lifetime Diamond I have felt there would be an additional status coming. They have to do something for those actually spending nights in the beds and with big spend. I look for there to be something above Diamond with some serious benefits in the next year or so

Number one on my list is a TRUE 48 hour Guarantee where "high demand" and all of the other BS they constantly use as excuse would not apply.
Certain number of "Suite upgrades" per year
Cap on points required for standard rooms at any hotel.

Bicoastal Local

I'm more of a Marvel guy than DC so I'd go with "Vibranium".

​​​​​​There was that survey Amex ran two years ago with a mock-up of the "Hilton HHonors Diamond Card" with $395 AF, 14 points for Hilton spend, 7 points for Airfare and Car Rentals, complimentary Diamond Status... Pretty similar to the Aspire Card. That mock-up also mentioned an upgrade to "Diamond+" status after $60k spend.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ameri...iamond-status/

arlflyer

It is not a hard exercise to brainstorm a list. A simple way to begin would be to look to flyertalk threads for inspiration. What benefits are being delivered so consistently and asymmetrically that frequent flyers require a massive thread just to keep on top of how a given property will deliver them? Well, there's breakfast, there's upgrades, there's check-in/check-out, lounge access, lounge quality, plenty more...

If you want a laundry list of what I would give to someone who is legitimately spending 100 nights/year and $25k, it would probably include some of these (I threw in a couple creative ones)...

• Guaranteed hot buffet breakfast (no $10 voucher to the coffee shop)
• Guaranteed check-in/out benefits; no begging at the desk, maybe similar to the SPG Your24
• Guaranteed standard last-room award availability at high/low season pricing - no holding back inventory
• A certain number of guaranteed suite upgrades
• Legitimate space-available upgrades to exec floor or entry-level suite: if the space is available, and I show it to you as for sale, you upgrade me. Period.
• Couple drink vouchers for U.S. lounges that don't have free drinks
• Maybe a couple nights of parking?
• How about some laundry? Having a free load or two on a long vacation would make me loyal for life right there on the spot
• Concierge line with ability to directly connect to properties in real time to make things right
• Luggage storage

chrism20

I spread my stays about these days and tend to stay where suits rather than play the status games so very doubtful I would achieve it personally - BUT yes the serious spenders really should be acknowledged better than they are.

Whether thats through a full new status level or through a grouping of enhanced benefits on the current tier system there should be something.

jbeckett

Hilton has already started to do this -
Elite status gifting after 60 nights
Milestone bonuses starting at 40 nights

diver858

Hilton has too many independent operators, diversity in brands to attempt to manage, enforce such perks, the Honors forum is full of whiny DYKWIA posts from elites not receiving current benefits. Every indication is that Hilton and AMEX hit a home run with the most recent credit card refresh, so they appear to have done their homework, unlikely they will feel pressure to follow Marriott.

eponymous_coward

I have to agree. You can't assume that someone putting major spend on a Hilton AMEX is an unprofitable customer, and the chances that there's significant overlap between high spend Hilton AMEX customers and high-spend Diamonds are pretty good. Someone who is doing 25k in Hilton spend can easily get a million points out of it using their AMEX card and Diamond status.

I find it interesting that SPG devalued the use of their AMEX card outside of SPG (in effect 2 MP instead of 3) while adding elite levels, and Hilton seems to be shoveling points...

Amelorn

Great idea on paper, but corporate enforcement of policy conformance at individual properties would be nightmarish. It is easier and cheaper to throw compensation at Hilto VVIP diamonds (you know that they know who these people are).

TravelinSperry

Agreed. In fact, I am considering swapping my everyday spending card from SPG Amex to Hilton Aspire. The 33% deval on the SPG Amex makes the everyday spend no longer worth it post July 31. Re-analyzing which card works best for me... this Hilton Aspire is darned good. Comp Diamond status and at a .6 cents redemption oppty * 3 per $1 spent gets you $1.80 per... sure there are 2% cashback cards... but 1.8 is close and if one can ever get .67 redemption (which happens sometimes), you can beat 2% cb. Plus Aspire crushes 2% cb on on air, car and restaurant spend.

arlflyer

What I listed above is, with the exception of a few things I threw in just for brainstorming purposes, not much different than what SPG/Marriott are offering at 100 nights.

I am sure that Hilton enforces property behavior on aspects of fees, compliance, etc. so whether it does so on other matters would to me be up to its choosing, not an impossibility.

HawkeyeFlyer

I have hit well over $15k for many year in a row on Hilton spend with the Surpass card. I will hit over $25k this year and I would not say it is 'Easy" to hit 1,000,000. Right now Hilton is running the Double points so I am earning 42 points per dollar for about 4 months. If I did the entire 25k spend in that time frame I would barely clear the million mark.
Certainly can be done and it is a good promo but the comment is a bit of a stretch