Hilton Honors Diamond member upgrades and advance requests

[johnb667]

As an eight-year Hilton Honors Diamond member with approximately 1.3 million earned points and around 35 nights stayed, I’m curious about the upgrade process at Hilton properties. Specifically:
• Information Access: What details can front desk staff see about my membership and stay history during check-in?
• Advance Upgrades: Is it possible to secure room upgrades before arrival, especially when traveling with a disabled family member? Does the content of a pre-arrival email influence the likelihood of receiving an upgrade?

I’d love to hear about your experiences and any advice on effectively communicating with hotel management to enhance the chances of an upgrade.

Thanks in advance for your insights!

Best regards,
John

[NorthernLass]

Hi @john667. You’ve complicated things a bit by creating 3 different threads! What is your past experience with upgrades as diamond? As gold I’ve had plenty of them, either notified in advance or at check in.

By all means contact the property in question and ask, e.g. “if I book room type A, would you consider upgrading me as diamond to room type b”, and mention that this would be appreciated as you’re travelling with a disabled companion.

If I’ve made a points booking I sometimes email and ask if I can pay to be upgraded to a better room – quite often they will do it free of charge.

I think as diamond you’re entitled to lounge access, if applicable as well?

[johnb667]

Thank you northernlass

[John]

Information about your stay history is definitely visible to the hotel, but staff don’t routinely try to access that information when doing your check in.

Every hotel has different upgrade policies. Often hotels will upgrade you in the morning of your arrival and specific information relating to your stay history may be used then, for example better upgrades may be reserved for those who stay at that particular hotel a lot and/or spend a lot at that hotel.

Hilton also does that auto-upgrade thing 3 days in advance. This also varies by property as they can have some input into the algorithm as applied to themselves, however I think that the algorithm treats all diamonds equally (lifetime diamonds might be prioritised).

If you want to be upgraded to an accessible room type, you should contact the hotel.

Being polite and concise in pre-stay communication with the hotel probably has a better chance of securing a desirable outcome than being demanding and verbose. Hinting that you will spend money at the hotel (e.g. at their restaurants or spa) may also help.

[AndyUK101]

As above, generally speaking about 60% of my upgrades are processed 3 days out, the rest at check in and i’ve always found the higher end Hilton brands amenable to a discussion on additional upgrades over and above the standard offering in advance for an additional fee, usually less than the advertised cost but when booking a base room on points, close to the advertised cost difference

Most of my stays are at a cheap Hampton where an upgrade isn’t guaranteed but they usually find me a bigger room or one with a view and a good run of upgrades at various Conrads, usually 2-3 levels inc some very nice suites but hotel policy does vary