I am posting this as an FYI, it might come in handy to others. One of the main benefits of the new Hilton Surpass card from Amex is the ability to reach top tier status "Hilto HHonors Diamond" by spending $40,000 on the card in a year. Keep in mind overall IMO the Hilton card is not really that great and is probably not worth the annual fee except if you want to become Diamond without completing all the stays.
I recently called amex to switch my Delta Skymiles card to a Hilton Surpass card to try to achieve Diamond and I discovered a very useful "perk"- by switching the card as opposed to applying for a new card the year to date spending on the card continued where i left off so that if i spent i.e. $35K on the Delta YTD and then switched over, all i needed to spend was another $5K and they made me Hilton Diamond.
I can see this being usefull for anyone who has an Amex CC (not charge card) i.e. the Delta, SPG etc... that they already spent close to $40K, they can call up to switch to the Surpass card achieve Diamond by spending the difference to $40K (my Diamond status is valid through 03/2011) and then change the CC back to whatever affiliate you want.
Remember that Hilton is the only major hotel program that you can earn top tier status by CC spending. Also I assume you can probably get a status match to SPG Platinum for a year once you are Diamond so it might be a roundabout way to spending your way to SPG Platinum (status match is once per lifetime).
