Major Hilton tier changes coming - new Diamond Reserve tier, others downgraded

[justinbrett]

From FT:
Two new tiers: Diamond Reserve and The Honors Society (invite-only)
New benefit: confirmable upgrade reward
Diamond Reserve requires 80 nights and $18,000 spend
All existing tiers' requirements to drop by 30%, e.g. Diamond will only require 42 nights or 21 stays

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hilton-honors/2206774-incoming-changes-new-tiers-lower-qualification-criteria.html

Loyalty Lobby:

https://loyaltylobby.com/2025/11/07/hilton-program-refresh-coming-new-diamond-reserve-tier-additional-milestone-rewards/

Most expect benefits to drop along with the requirements - so effectively Diamond is the new Gold. If Diamond lose lounges access, I think I’m done with this chain.

 

[oz_mark]

Diamond Reserve requires 80 nights and $18,000 spend

I wouldn't be so negative:

If that 'and' is correct, I would expect the numbers at this level to be relatively low
I'll take a stab and suggest the lower requirements may just be for one year (42 and 21 are strange numbers to go forward with, but a promotional 30% drop, well, maybe)
'Diamond Reserve' is a name that probably only offer small benefits over and above 'Diamond'.

Anyhoo, nothing confirmed, so we wait an see

 

[justinbrett]

I wouldn't be so negative:

If that 'and' is correct, I would expect the numbers at this level to be relatively low
I'll take a stab and suggest the lower requirements may just be for one year (42 and 21 are strange numbers to go forward with, but a promotional 30% drop, well, maybe)
'Diamond Reserve' is a name that probably only offer small benefits over and above 'Diamond'.

Anyhoo, nothing confirmed, so we wait an see

Just as good as confirmed - if you follow the links above it's already coded in their website

Yes the numbers of Diamond Reserve will be low, but the numbers of Gold and Diamonds will increase - and you can see in the US Diamond is already devalued from the numbers of people there via credit cards. Some are tipping the breakfast will start at Diamond but will go back to being a full breakfast rather than a F&B credit. Either way, I can't see Hilton maintaining benefits for a 30% discount, and even if they do, it's already at breaking point. If everybody is special, nobody is special.

 

[oz_mark]

Hilton playing along

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[ozstamps]

Bummer. A year of Diamond ahead that doe not look as great.

 

[justinbrett]

Bummer. A year of Diamond ahead that doe not look as great.

I think next year will be OK - I don't think there will be any changes for tiers this year, reflecting next year's status; rather I'd expect 2026 to be the year with the new thresholds, earning status for 2027.

For any negative changes, I think they won't start until 2027, but any positive ones will probably start next year. There would be a lot of negative PR if they downgraded benefits for 2026 after everyone requalified the old (harder) way. They're going to sell this as a positive change for sure.

At the end of the day, currently you need 40 nights for Gold, next year it will be 42 nights for Diamond. Won't change much in the US as status is pretty much useless there, but I think that will just spread to the rest of the world.