Currently Hilton Honors members can still earn double elite nights for nights consumed until December 31, 2020 and these bonus nights (2 nights for every 1 consumed) will roll over to 2021.
With Hilton’s announcement to cut requirements for Elite status re-/qualification by 50% in 2021 I decided in early November that it makes sense to take care of this early on so my Diamond is secure for yet another year.
Over the years I’ve gotten good value out of my Hilton Diamond status which I first obtained by status match several years back and while it’s not my number one loyalty status (that prize would go to Hyatt) I still put an effort in it to re-qualify for Hilton Honors Diamond when possible.
In the summer Hilton already announced they would roll all nights from this year over to 2021.
When Hilton first announced their Double Rewards double elite night promotion in August I decided that I would take advantage of this at some point in order to refresh my Hilton status for 2021/2022.
You can register for this offer on Hilton’s website here or here.
My decision became even clearer when Hilton announced that they are extending all status levels until 03/2022 and they will slash subsequent elite qualification requirements by 50%.
This meant in order to re-qualify for Diamond until 03/2023 I need just 30 nights throughout 2021 which is a real bargain.
Coincidentally I had a lot of hotel nights until the first week of December and after Marriott’s promotion ended without a replacement I decided to switch to Hilton.
So far I had zero Hilton nights this year but I decided to add 17 nights in three stays in order to take care of the status for the coming years due to the rollover years.
It made good sense to shift my nights in Phuket and Bangkok to Hilton during that time as there was no other viable promotion for hotels at the same price point available.
Conclusion
Hilton will only require 50% of their usual status requirements in 2021 which makes it possible to obtain Diamond status with only 30 nights. While many might also be able to take advantage of Diamond via credit card membership this reduced elite night requirement in combination with the rollover nights from 2020 might be a cleaner and more cost effective option.
I actually have a few more nights than required at the moment but that is only because I was too comfortable to change hotels just for the sake of stopping once reaching 30 nights. I’m done now as far as qualification is concerned during the next year and can move on to other programs, only staying at Hilton when it makes sense price wise or due to convenience.
