To qualify, you must complete 30 stays, stay 60 nights or earn 120,000 base points in a calendar year. However, primary cardholders of the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (see rates and fees) enjoy complimentary Diamond status as a perk of their card.
Hilton Honors tier qualification in 2023 returns to the pre-pandemic levels: Silver: 10 nights, 4 stays or 25,000 Base Points. Gold: 40 Nights, 20 stays, or 75,000 Base Points. Diamond: 60 nights, 30 stays, or 120,000 Base Points.
Within Hilton Honors, there are different tiers of status that allow you to enjoy benefits when staying at Hilton properties worldwide — the highest of these is called Diamond. One of the biggest reasons to stick to Hilton Honors is that it's much, much easier than other hotel chains to enjoy top-tier elite status.
That means that five nights would cost you 40,000 points, or an average of 8,000 points per night. That means that 100,000 points would get you 12 free nights at that hotel.
If you have the Hilton Surpass card or the Hilton Business Amex card, you can spend $40,000 in a calendar year to get Diamond status. You can also book 60 nights, 30 stays, or earn 120,000 base points (in 2022, the requirements are either 42 nights, 21 stays, or 84,000 base points).
If you are an Hilton Honors 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 your stay is not booked on or upgraded to the Executive Floor.
On paper, TPG values 1 million Hilton Honors points at $6,000, which is much lower than some other programs we've looked at in this series. However, as you're going to see, there are some tricks you can use to squeeze more value out of these points.
For most people, it probably won't be worth going very far out of your way to chase airline elite status. You can easily replicate many of the perks that a low- or even mid-tier elite traveler would enjoy by holding the right credit cards and buying the occasional upgrade to first class.
How many Points do I need for a free night? Free nights can be redeemed for as few as 5,000 Points per night and no more than 95,000 Points per night for a Standard Room. Select properties with specialty accommodations may require up to 150,000 Points per night for a Standard Room.