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The Hilton Honors representative over at Flyertalk has announced an actual enhancement to status benefits at Waldorf Astoria hotels:

“Starting January 1, all Waldorf Astoria properties will offer complimentary continental breakfast or an equivalent Food & Beverage credit for all Gold and Diamond members (and one guest) as part of the MyWay benefit option. We heard a lot of feedback from our elite members and know this is an important benefit, so we’re excited to roll this out in response to that feedback.”

The move eliminates a caveat to the free breakfast benefit for Hilton Honors elites. Breakfast on the house has long been a status benefit for Hilton Gold and Diamonds, including at Hilton’s high-end Conrad brand, but Waldorf Astoria hotels have been excluded until now.

For the mid-tier Gold status, the MyWay elite benefits at Waldorf Astoria hotels have thus far been ‘Space-available upgrade to Preferred Room’ and a choice of either ‘1,000 Hilton Honors points stay’ on top or ‘One complimentary in-room movie (where locally available)’.

For Diamond members, the MyWay benefits at Waldorf Astoria have thus far been ‘Space-available upgrade to Preferred Room’ in addition to two of the following: 1,000 bonus points per stay, one in-room movie, or ‘a spa, golf or restaurant discount, as designated by the property’.

You can learn more about Hilton Honors elite benefits on this page.

Bottom Line

Extending the free breakfast benefits for Hilton elites to Waldorf Astoria properties is a welcome enhancement – and one that has arguably been overdue. It simply doesn’t make sense, in my opinion, for Conrad branded properties, one of the two high-end Hilton brands, to offer this benefit but then refuse it at Waldorf Astoria branded hotels.

What makes this change a genuine improvement is that this will be a guaranteed benefit. I hope we will see more initiatives like these – anyone else wanting to see Hilton introduce guaranteed suite upgrades for Diamonds?