A Hilton Diamond Benefit That Is Very Costly – But Also Convenient

Being a top tier elite in a hotel program can bring a lot of benefits. Many of them are the ones we talk about often on here such as late checkout, room/suite upgrades, free breakfast, etc. But there is one other benefit that is part of the top tier benefits in some programs that can be very convenient, but it comes at a cost.

The Hilton Diamond 48-Hour Room Guarantee Benefit

This other benefit is the “48-Hour Room Guarantee” which is exclusively for Diamond members. This benefit allows you to book a room 48 hours (or more) in advance and be guaranteed a room. If you are a new Hilton Diamond member, this benefit might not be one you are familiar with yet.

How Does This Benefit Work?

If a hotel is sold out (but not more than 10% oversold, or 2% for some properties), you can still get a room and book it. Of course, there are restrictions and they look like this:

• Must book at least 48 hours in advance
• The hotel cannot be more than 10% overbooked (so sold out at 110% capacity)
• Some properties observe a 2% overbooked rule (see the list of properties here)
• Does not apply for “Extraordinary Demand Dates” which include New Year’s Eve and major events (like the Super Bowl) or whatever Hilton and that property determine exhibit extraordinary demand.
• The room must be booked as cash, it does not work to use points or certificates for these stays
• Only one room can be booked per Diamond member
• Conrad Rangali Island Maldives Hotel, Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort and Spa, Ho’olei at Grand Wailea, Kingston Plantation Condos, Royale Palms, Conrad Koh Samui or Hilton Grand Vacation (which is understandable considering that these are locations that other guests plan for far in advance as well and there should not be an oversold situation for properties like this)
• Reservations can be made online or over the phone (must be signed in online to have access to this benefit)

How Costly Is This Benefit?

I have not needed to take advantage of this benefit with Hyatt and have still not needed to Hilton. I can be flexible with the properties I am staying at, if not the dates I am going somewhere. But, I was recently looking at the Hilton Reykjavik for a friend who was thinking about running the Reykjavik Marathon as well and noticed that they are completely sold out on one of the dates.

The regular rate is $230 per night for an advanced purchase rate. The point rate is 40,000 points for the night (which is what I booked at). While anyone can book the regular rate when the rooms are available, only Diamond members can book if the hotel sells out. So, on the sold out night, there is an option to book the room but it does come at a price. The cost for the room on that night is $420 or $190 more than the regular rate! That is quite a price increase! Of course this will vary from hotel to hotel but it gives you an idea of what it will cost to invoke this Hilton Diamond benefit.

It Is A Convenient Benefit

If you are visiting a city and a particular hotel is the only one that will work (no matter the reason), having access to a sold-out hotel can be very convenient and beneficial. It means you get to pick you property regardless of the properties being sold out – which can be a big time saver in some cities.

Another perk of this benefit is that you may have a chance to get a really good upgrade (has happened before). Many hotels have suites that cannot be booked online and if you are a Diamond member that is snagging one of these sold-out dates, you are likely paying much more than anyone else in a basic room. The hotel will typically not just upgrade a guest to one of those suites unless they have some status or have paid a high(er) rate – if you go this route, you will have checked both of those boxes.

Summary

While it is a very costly benefit, the Hilton Diamond 48-Hour Room Guarantee can be quite convenient. Just make sure you check your other options in the area or check dates as it may just be one night of your stay that has the sold-out situation.

Either way, being a top-tier elite with a hotel program certainly does give you many options!

Have you ever used the Hilton Diamond 48-Hour Room Guarantee? How much of a markup was it and were you upgraded to a much better room/suite?