Hilton hotels provide lots of extra benefits to guests holding Silver, Gold or Diamond elite status with Hilton Honors. This is the loyalty program of Hilton hotels and other affiliated brands, including Conrad, Hampton Inn, DoubleTree and Waldorf Astoria.
It’s relatively easy to earn Hilton Honors status, and the benefits really pack a punch once you get to the Gold and Diamond tiers. For example, Gold members receive free breakfast and room upgrades. And Diamond members get executive lounge access.
This guide explains how to earn Hilton Honors status, and the benefits you get in return…
Contents
Hotels that participate in Hilton Honors
The first thing to know is which hotels are part of the Hilton Honors loyalty program.
Hilton owns a range of different hotel and resort brands that cater to different market segments:
Stays at any of these hotels count towards status, and you can also use your status benefits at any of these brands, as long as you book direct with Hilton. Third-party bookings made through online travel agents do not receive Hilton Honors program benefits!
How to earn Hilton Honors status
There are three main ways to earn Hilton Honors status: based on nights, stays or base points. To earn or renew your status, you would need to earn at least enough of one of these metrics in a single calendar year.
Here are the thresholds to earn Hilton Silver, Gold and Diamond status:
| Status tier | Stays | Nights | Base points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 4 | 10 | 25,000 |
| Gold | 20 | 40 | 75,000 |
| Diamond | 30 | 60 | 120,000 |
Interestingly, Hilton lets you earn status based on either nights or stays. So, rather than staying 40 nights to earn Gold status, you could simply complete 20 stays of one night each and get Gold with half the number of nights. Note that if you check out and back into the same hotel on the same day, this won’t count as separate stays.
With Hilton Honors, award nights count towards elite status attainment.
Alternatively, you could earn status through base points. You would generally earn 10 Hilton Honors points per US Dollar (USD) spent at hotels, so this would mean (for example) spending USD7,500 to earn Gold or USD12,000 to reach Diamond status. This method is best suited to guests who stay fewer nights, but in more expensive rooms or properties.
Once earned, you’ll keep your Hilton status until March of the following year. Any surplus nights earned during the current calendar year that don’t contribute to a higher status tier this year will roll over to the next year.
Other ways to get Hilton status
If you have Velocity Gold or Platinum status with Virgin Australia, you can get a one-off instant status match with Hilton Honors!
You can also get complimentary Hilton Gold status as an American Express Platinum cardholder, or Hilton Silver status with an American Express Explorer card. If you have one of these cards, you simply need to register to claim your free status.
Get complimentary Hilton Honors status
- Card Name
- American Express Explorer Credit Card
- Earn
- 2
- Signup Bonus
-
100,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points
Apply by 03rd Oct 2024
- Annual Fee
- $395 p.a.
- Read more
- Read the guide
American Express Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases
- Card Name
- American Express Platinum Card
- Earn
- 2.25
- Signup Bonus
-
200,000 bonus Membership Rewards points
Apply by 01st Oct 2024
- Annual Fee
- $1,450 p.a.
- Read more
- Read the guide
American Express Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases
Another shortcut is with the Hilton Honors status match challenge. If you already hold elite status with a different hotel chain, you can enjoy the benefits of Hilton status for 90 days – and complete a challenge to keep them for up to two years.
Hilton Honors tier benefits
When joining Hilton Honors, all members start out at the “Blue” level. This is the base tier, which already comes with free internet, digital check-in on the Hilton Honors App and the option to choose your own room.
Silver benefits
After upgrading to Silver status, Hilton Honors members also enjoy:
- Free bottled water
- 15% spa discount
- 20% bonus points
- Get every fifth night free on standard room awards
Gold benefits
Gold members additionally receive:
- 80% bonus points
- Complimentary upgrades up to executive floor room types (subject to availability)
- Free breakfast (or a food & beverage credit in the USA) – note: varies by brand and barista coffee may not be included
Diamond benefits
On top of the Gold benefits, Hilton Diamond members get:
- 100% bonus points
- Complimentary upgrades up to one-bedroom suites (subject to availability)
- Executive lounge access
- Premium Wi-Fi
- 48-hour room guarantee
- Gift Gold status if you stay 60 nights in a calendar year (or gift Diamond status at 100 nights)
See the Hilton website for full details.
MyWay benefits
Gold and Diamond members also receive a range of selected benefits that are specific to each of Hilton’s hotel brands, known as MyWay benefits. You can select your preferred MyWay benefits by logging into your account on the Hilton website and updating your profile.
For example, a Gold member could choose between points or their preferred snack and drink at Embassy Suites by Hilton:
Milestone Bonuses
Hilton’s loyalty program also gives bonus points if you stay more than 40 eligible nights in a calendar year:
- Get 10,000 bonus Honors points when you stay 40 nights in a year
- Get another 30,000 bonus Honors points when you stay 60 nights in a year
Unpublished benefits
Two notable omissions from the list of Hilton status benefits are early check-in and late check-out. Although these are not guaranteed benefits, hotels will generally try to accommodate these kinds of requests if you have Hilton status, subject to availability. The same goes for other reasonable requests.
How does Hilton treat you as an elite member?
AFF members regularly share their experiences at Hilton hotels on our long-running AFF forum thread. You can read about other members’ recent stays, and share your own thoughts, on our forum:
