Hilton Diamond Status: Upgrades, Executive Lounges and More

Diamond status is the highest level of Hilton status, with exclusive benefits to match.
Josh Garber
By Josh Garber 
Updated
Edited by Kevin Berry

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Hilton’s loyalty program, Hilton Honors, has four tiers — Member, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. The highest tier, Hilton Diamond status, comes with the most benefits, including space-available room upgrades, a daily food and beverage credit, and elite gifting status. Here are some tips and tricks on making the most of Diamond status with Hilton.

How to get Hilton Diamond status

The two main ways to obtain Hilton Diamond status are by staying at least 42 nights at a Hilton property in a year or by getting the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card which comes with Diamond status.

Suppose you’re wondering how to earn lifetime Diamond status with Hilton. In that case, you can do so by earning Diamond status for at least 10 non-consecutive years and by completing a total of 1,000 paid and reward stays or earning two million base points.

Hilton Diamond status benefits

As the top-tier status, Hilton Diamond status comes with several benefits, including:

  • No resort fees on reward stays.

  • Space-available room upgrades.

  • Executive lounge access.

  • Premium Wi-Fi.

  • 100% points earnings bonus on stays.

  • Free bottled water.

  • Daily food and beverage credit (U.S. hotels) or complimentary continental breakfast (non-U.S. hotels).

  • And more.

Tips for making the most of Hilton Diamond status

Whether you’ve obtained Hilton Diamond status through Hilton hotel stays or your credit card, we want to help you make the most of your Diamond status.

1. Stay at hotels with an Executive Lounge

Although your Hilton Diamond status comes with Executive Lounge access, not all Hilton hotels have Executive Lounges. So before you book your stay, you should check with the hotel to see if it has an Executive Lounge and confirm you’ll be able to access it with your Diamond status.

Hilton Executive Lounges are dedicated spaces open only to certain guests (usually with status or those staying in rooms with Executive Lounge access). These lounges come with different amenities depending on the specific hotel but generally offer snacks throughout the day, free drinks, and sometimes even more substantive meals like breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Staying at a hotel with an Executive Lounge is a great way to get more value from your Hilton Diamond status through complimentary food and drinks.

2. Earn and use your Hilton points while you have Hilton Diamond status

To make sure you get the most out of your Hilton Diamond status, you should try to earn and use your Hilton points while you’re a Diamond member.

For earning points, this means staying at a Hilton whenever possible to take advantage of the 100% bonus points you’ll earn for your Hilton stays. However, to make the most out of your Hilton Diamond status, you’ll not only want to maximize the number of points you earn, but you’ll also want to use them since you’ll be eligible for space-available upgrades and the fifth-night free benefit. In addition, you can maximize the value of your Hilton Honors points by using them for award stays while you have Diamond status.

3. Stay at hotels outside of the U.S. to get free continental breakfast

Although Hilton offered Diamond members complimentary breakfast at all of its hotels, Hilton replaced this benefit in 2021 in U.S. hotels with daily food and beverage credit, ranging from $10-$25 per guest, depending on the hotel, for up to two guests.

Because the free continental breakfast benefit remains intact at non-U.S. hotels, you can get more value from your Hilton Diamond status by staying at Hilton hotels outside of the U.S. Also, check with the hotel on what the “continental breakfast” includes. For instance, at the Conrad Bora Bora and Hilton Moorea, the complimentary continental breakfast consists of a full breakfast buffet and nonalcoholic drinks. At the Conrad Punta de Mita, it includes a breakfast dish off their menu and nonalcoholic beverages.

These international locations often give you better value for your breakfast than the standard U.S. credit.

If you’re considering Hilton Diamond status…

Hilton Diamond status offers several valuable benefits, including space-available room upgrades, premium Wi-Fi, executive lounge access and bonus points for hotel stays.

To make the most of your Hilton Diamond status, you should try to earn and use as many points as you can while you have Diamond status, stay at non-U.S. properties whenever possible to take advantage of the free breakfast benefits and also try to stay at Hilton hotels that have Executive Lounges you can access.

Photo courtesy of Hilton.


How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024, including those best for:

Cards for Hilton from our Partners
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-5x

5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

60,000

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Points
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

on Capital One's website

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
4.7
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

2x-5x

Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

Miles

Intro offer

75,000

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Miles
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

on Capital One's website

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
4.9
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

2x-10x

Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel, Earn unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.

Miles

Intro offer

75,000

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Miles
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