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Hilton is in the midst of rolling out major updates to its Honors loyalty program. Many of these changes have already been publicly detailed, but a new ultra-elite, secret tier appears to be quietly emerging in internal property systems. This tier, called The Honors Society, would sit above Hilton’s new Diamond Reserve and represents Hilton’s entry into the realm of invitation-only status levels that are already offered by several other major hotel groups.
As I wrote about last month, Hilton recently introduced Diamond Reserve, a status level positioned above Diamond and expected to include approximately 50,000 to 55,000 of its Hilton Honors members. Internal documentation shared with hotels suggests an even more exclusive category known as The Honors Society is on the way.
Loyalty Lobby shares that Diamond Reserve represents the top 0.02% of Hilton’s reported 235 million Honors members, The Honors Society could be designed for perhaps the top 1% of those elite guests. Such numbers would align it with other invitation-only tiers across the industry, including Accor’s Limitless, Hyatt’s Courtesy Card, GHA’s Red, and Marriott’s Cobalt status, all of which typically have only a few hundred to a few thousand members worldwide.
The introduction of multiple new elite categories reflects Hilton’s evolving strategy. In recent years, access to Diamond status has become more common, particularly as a premium cobranded credit card offered it automatically. That has diluted the exclusivity once associated with Diamond and made it increasingly necessary for Hilton to differentiate its most valuable guests.
The creation of Diamond Reserve already signals Hilton’s intent to reward top spenders and frequent travelers with more consistent, guaranteed benefits. The Honors Society, positioned even higher, would extend that philosophy to a small group of exceptionally loyal guests whose annual spending or long-term value far exceeds typical elite benchmarks.
Although Hilton has not formally announced The Honors Society and is not expected to do so until the first quarter of next year, early system references hint at benefits that surpass those of Diamond and Diamond Reserve. More details should emerge in early 2026.
Anthony’s Take: The Honors Society is expected to be a very small, invitation-only tier, similar in scale to the exclusive categories at competing luxury-focused hotel groups. The exact qualification metrics remain unknown, but significant annual spending (potentially six figures) appears likely based on industry benchmarks.
(Elite Check-In and Benefits Image Credits: Hilton.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
