Guide to Hilton Honors Status Benefits

Hilton hotels provide lots of extra benefits to guests holding Silver, Gold, Diamond and the new (as of January 2026) Diamond Reserve 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…

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 spend. To earn or renew your status, you would need to earn at least enough of one of these metrics in a single calendar year.

One caveat is for the new Diamond Reserve status, where the spend criteria is in addition to the stays or nights. This means you would have to complete 40 stays or 80 nights, AND spend the minimum USD$18,000 (~AU$27,000) to qualify for Diamond Reserve status.

Here are the thresholds to earn Hilton Silver, Gold, Diamond and Diamond Reserve status as of January 2026:

Status tier	Stays	Nights	Spend (USD)
Silver	4	10	$2,500
Gold	15	25	$6,000
Diamond	25	50	$11,500
Diamond Reserve	40	80	$18,000

Interestingly, Hilton lets you earn status based on either nights or stays. So, rather than staying 25 nights to earn Gold status, you could simply complete 15 stays of one night each. 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 dollar spend. 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.

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.

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)

Diamond Reserve benefits

In addition to the Diamond benefits, Hilton Diamond Reserve members receive:

• 120% bonus points
• Guaranteed 4pm late check-out
• A confirmable upgrade reward, valid for bookings up to 7 nights
• Exclusive access to a dedicated 24/7 customer service line
• Premium Club access (at properties that have them)

See the Hilton website for full details.

MyWay benefits

Gold, Diamond and Diamond Reserve 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
• Choose between a confirmable upgrade reward or 30,000 bonus Honors points at 120 nights

Unpublished benefits

Two notable omissions from the list of Hilton status benefits are early check-in and late check-out (except for the new Diamond Reserve tier). 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: