Let's face it. Most lower-level status with hotels and airlines isn't worth much. And unless you are a corporate traveler with somebody else footing the bill for your travels, being loyal and having status can be expensive and often isn't worth the effort.
Hilton flips that notion on its head with their mid-tier Gold Elite status and their top-tier Diamond Elite status for two reasons. The status is incredibly easy to earn by holding certain credit cards. And just for having it, you will get free breakfast for two at almost any Hilton hotel worldwide (or a daily food and beverage credit for stays within the U.S.). No other hotel loyalty program offers free breakfast for two with mid-tier status like Hilton does, and it can save you hundreds of dollars during your travels.
We'll break down how you can earn Hilton Gold and Diamond status, all the benefits it provides, and why the free breakfast benefit is so powerful.
Read next: A Complete Guide to Hilton Honors: Free Nights, Credit Cards, & More
How to Earn Hilton Status
Hilton has three different levels of elite status: Silver, Gold, and Diamond.
Every Hilton Honors member starts at the same basic member level, working their way up the status ladder by accumulating elite nights at Hilton properties. That's the hard way to earn status.
Read more: A Complete Guide to Hilton Honors: Free Nights, Credit Cards & More
And then there's the easy way. You can earn Hilton Honors Gold status just by holding *amex platinum*, the *Hilton Surpass*, or *hilton honors business card*.
To earn Hiltons's top-tier Diamond elite status, you'll need to stay with Hilton for 60 nights during the status year. But why would you? You get instant, complimentary Diamond status as a card benefit by holding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (all information about the Hilton Aspire Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler).
At the lower status levels, there really isn't much to get excited about. Save for free bottled water, free Wi-Fi and discounted Hilton Honors room rates, being a member or having Silver status doesn't feel particularly elite.
But at the Gold and Diamond level, things change – in a big way. With Gold and Diamond status, you get perks like a daily food and beverage credit in the U.S. or free continental breakfast internationally, and space-available room upgrades. Diamond elites also get access to the executive lounge at properties where it's available – a separate lounge with complimentary food and drinks. Regardless, it's a great way to save on food costs while traveling!
Better yet, that food and beverage credit or free breakfast perk covers not only you, but another person, too, so long as they're listed as a registered guest on your reservation.
Here's a quick look at the credit that you get within the U.S.
Read more: How to Get Instant Hotel Status From a Single Credit Card
Why the Free Breakfast Benefit is So Powerful
While the free breakfast benefit offered to Hilton Gold and Diamond members is technically for continental breakfast, many hotels, especially those outside the U.S., offer elite members a full breakfast or credits to be used at on-property restaurants.
Take my recent stay at the Conrad Tokyo for example. With my Hilton Diamond status from my Hilton Aspire, I got to select a specialty breakfast beverage as well as a made-to-order egg dish off the menu at Cerise, one of the restaurants in the hotel, in addition to having access to the full breakfast buffet.
I opted for the lobster omelette and an Americano, although you could also choose from dishes like eggs benedict or a crème brûlée mango pancake. The buffet had a wide range of pastries, smoothies on tap, Japanese appetizers and delicious seafood. It was easy to make impressive plates of food that were both tasty and filling.
Each day, had I been paying for my breakfast it would have been $45 out of pocket just for the buffet per person. Since I was traveling with my dad, my Hilton status came with free breakfast for him, too!
Even if I had just had the Hilton Surpass card, I could have recouped nearly all of the card's $150 annual fee (see rates & fees) in one trip with the breakfast savings from having Gold status. Reasons like these are why we always encourage readers to do the math before ruling out cards with big annual fees.
Of course, this is just one example of literally thousands of Hilton hotels around the world in which you can get a free breakfast with your Hilton status. And the savings can be even larger when you are traveling to areas where the U.S. dollar isn't a 1:1 valuation against the local currency (think Europe).
Of course, if you're staying at a U.S. property, you will likely just get a small discount off your meal or manage to pick one item off the menu. Having Hilton status while traveling internationally is just such a nice travel perk when you're able to score a free breakfast.
Bottom Line
Hilton Honors elite status is one of the easiest deals in travel. You don't even have to stay in a Hilton hotel to earn it, and it can provide you with free breakfast for you and a guest during your travels. This benefit alone can save you hundreds of dollars during your next trip.
Good info, thank you! Few questions…this isnt the first place Ive seen the language of free breakfast with Gold Status “at almost any Hilton hotel worldwide.” So there are some(?) that dont offer it? Do you have any insight into what “almost any” means? Is it the big-time resorts like the Conrads (Tahiti, Maldives)? Has anyone ran across one? Thanks again,
To my knowledge, there are not any brand exclusions at properties in certain locations like the Maldives. And last year (2018) Hilton added Waldorf Astoria to the list of brands offering free breakfast.
The only place you generally won’t get it is at any of the Hilton Grand Vacations properties. Most of these don’t have the proper facilities to offer it.