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3 stackable promos to easily earn Hilton Diamond elite status! Here’s why they totally stink

  • Joseph Hostetler

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    Hilton Diamond elite status is the most prestigious status you can earn with Hilton. To achieve it, you’d normally have to complete 30 stays or 60 nights with Hilton — but you’d be rewarded with perks such as:

    And lots more. If you’re interested in Hilton elite status, Hilton’s got a handful of generous promotions that you can stack to earn two years of Diamond status in just 15 nights instead of 60! I’ll explain how to do it, and why it’s still not a good deal.

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    Hilton Diamond comes in extra handy at high-end resorts where breakfast is pricey and suites are plenteous. (Photo courtesy of Hilton)

    Stack these Hilton promos for elite status through March 2023

    Largely due to COVID-19, Hilton has been churning out the promotions. Currently, three of them join forces to give you an easy path to Diamond elite status:

    Let’s simplify this. By staying 15 nights in 2020, you’ll earn 30 elite night credits, thanks to Hilton’s double elite night promo. When we enter January 2021, you will immediately receive 30 elite night credits from Hilton’s elite night rollover promotion. You will automatically earn Diamond elite status because of Hilton’s much lower 30-night Diamond requirement promotion.

    In other words, stay 15 nights in 2020, get 100% bonus points, potential suite upgrades, free breakfast, and more for well over two years! Your status will be valid for all of 2021, all of 2022, and a couple months into 2023. Sounds pretty amazing, right?

    So why is this still not a worthwhile deal?

    Ignore the promos and go after the truly good deal

    Hilton is the only hotel chain that offers its highest elite status tier just for having a credit card. The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card will give you automatic elite status for as long as you’ve got it. If you stay at Hilton even a few times per year, this is the deal you should be going after — not scrambling to spend 15 nights at Hilton before the end of the year.

    The card does come with a $450 annual fee (see rates & fees). But in my opinion, this is the best travel credit card on the market. You’ll also get:

    Those are just the best features — there’s much more, as well. Read our post on the Hilton Aspire benefits for all the details. If you’re not saving well over $1,000 (after paying the annual fee), you’re not trying. The information for the Hilton Aspire card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    At a minimum, paying for those nights out of pocket will likely cost you $975 (at $65/night). Divide that by 2 for the amount of years you’ll receive Diamond status, and that’s ~$487. Wouldn’t you rather pay $450 up front to skip the hassle of mattress running and get a ton of extra benefits?

    How to (possibly) earn top-tier status with Hilton and Marriott

    There’s another (super fun) way to get Hilton Diamond status, but it still involves opening a hotel credit card.

    Both the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card come with automatic Marriott Platinum elite status during the 2021 status year — as well as gigantic welcome bonuses and a bunch of great perks (offer ends Jan. 13, 2021). Once you have Marriott Platinum, you can contact Hilton and request that they match you to Diamond status for free. They will almost certainly do it, though you may need to show proof that you’ve completed a stay with Marriott in the past couple months.

    Having top tier elite status with two of the biggest hotel chains in the world is hard to beat — you should strongly consider it if you plan on traveling anytime in 2021.

    Bottom line

    Hilton Diamond elite status is worth going after. It’s easy to achieve via multiple routes, particularly in 2020. If you complete 15 nights this year, you’ll have Diamond status through March 2023. But you can also just open one hotel credit card to get it automatically!

    Let me know which route you think is the better deal. And subscribe to our newsletter for more travel tips and tricks delivered to your inbox once per day.

    For rates and fees of the Amex Hilton Aspire, click here.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)