American Express and Hilton have four co-branded credit cards. These cards offer valuable benefits for those who stay at Hiltons with any frequency, so if you travel often, it’s worth having one of these cards in your wallet.
At the moment, all three consumer cards are offering limited time welcome offers. I wanted to recap the details of these cards, as it has been a few weeks since the offers have been launched.
In this post:
Limited time Hilton Amex Card welcome offers
At the moment, all three personal Hilton Honors Amex cards are offering limited time welcome offers. Below I’ll cover the details, starting with the most basic card, all the way up to the most premium card.
Let me note that for the offers that include Free Night Awards, these are the standard Hilton Honors Free Night Awards, valid for 12 months, and which can be used at properties costing up to 150,000 Hilton Honors points. I consider these to be the most valuable hotel free night awards issued by any hotel group.
Hilton Honors Amex Card: 70,000 points + Free Night Award
The Hilton Honors American Express Card has no annual fee (Rates & Fees), and for applications through July 31, 2024, the card has a limited time welcome offer of 70,000 Hilton Honors points plus a Free Night Award after spending $2,000 within the first six months. As a point of comparison, previously the card offered 80,000 points, but without the Free Night Award.
Beyond the welcome offer, the Hilton Honors Amex Card features the following perks in the long run:
- 7x points for eligible spending at Hilton hotels
- Hilton Honors Silver status for as long as you have the card
- Hilton Honors Gold status when you spend $20,000 on the card in a calendar year
Read a full review of the Hilton Honors Amex Card.
Hilton Honors Surpass Card: 130,000 points + Free Night Award
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card has a $150 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and for applications through July 31, 2024, has a limited time welcome offer of 130,000 Hilton Honors points plus a Free Night Award after spending $3,000 within the first six months. As a point of comparison, previously the card offered the same number of points, but without the Free Night Award.
Beyond the welcome offer, the Hilton Honors Surpass Card features the following perks in the long run (the card was recently refreshed):
- 12x points for spending at Hilton hotels
- Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as you have the card
- Hilton Honors Diamond status when you spend $40,000 on the card in a calendar year
- Up to $200 in Hilton credits per year — up to a $50 statement credit for Hilton stays per quarter
- A Hilton free night reward when you spend $15,000 on the card in a year
- National Emerald Club Executive status
Read a full review of the Hilton Honors Surpass Card.
Hilton Honors Aspire Card: 175,000 points
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has a $550 annual fee, and for applications through July 31, 2024, the card has a welcome offer of 175,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $6,000 within the first six months. As a point of comparison, previously the card offered up to 150,000 points.
Beyond the welcome offer, the Hilton Aspire Card features the following perks in the long run (the card was recently refreshed):
- 14x points for spending at Hilton hotels
- Hilton Honors Diamond status for as long as you have the card
- Up to $400 in Hilton resort credits annually — up to a $200 statement credit for Hilton resort stays semi-annually
- Up to a $200 flight credit annually — up to a $50 statement credit for flights booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel once per quarter
- Up to a $189 CLEAR Plus credit annually — enroll in CLEAR and charge it to your card, and you’ll be reimbursed up to $189 per year
- A Hilton free night reward every year, a second one when you spend $30,000 on the card in a year, and a third one if you spend $60,000 on the card in a year
- National Emerald Club Executive status
Read a full review of the Hilton Aspire Card.
The information and associated card details on this page for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Hilton Honors Business Card: 130,000 points
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card has a $195 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and a welcome offer of 130,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $6,000 within the first six months. Note that this is the business card, and this welcome offer isn’t limited time.
Beyond the welcome offer, the Hilton Honors Business Card features the following perks in the long run (the card was recently refreshed):
- 12x points for spending on eligible Hilton purchases
- 5x points on other purchases made on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year (3x points thereafter)
- Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as you have the card
- Hilton Honors Diamond status when you spend $40,000 on the card in a calendar year
- Up to $240 in Hilton credits per year — up to a $60 statement credit for Hilton stays per quarter
Read a full review of the Hilton Honors Business Card.
Are you eligible for Hilton Honors Amex cards?
Anecdotally Hilton Honors Amex cards are pretty easy to be approved for:
- Each of these cards is considered a separate product, so you’re eligible for the welcome offer on each card, within the typical “once in a lifetime” rule
- The standard American Express card application rules apply, including that you’re generally limited to having five Amex credit cards at a given point (this doesn’t include charge cards and hybrid cards)
- For those with excellent credit, I find Amex credit cards to be among the easiest to be approved for
- If you are worried about Chase’s 5/24 rule, applying for the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card won’t count as a further card toward that limit
Which Hilton Honors Amex offer is best?
If you’re trying to decide which of these offers makes the most sense, here are a few considerations:
- If you’ve already had a Hilton Honors Amex card, pick up a card that you haven’t had before, so you’re eligible for the welcome offer
- If you’re looking for a personal card, you really can’t go wrong with the Hilton Honors American Express Card or Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card; I’d say the latter is worth the annual fee, given the better bonus and incremental perks
- Personally I think the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is worth the fee, especially if you stay at Hilton resorts at least once every six months
- If you’re looking for a business card, the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card is your best bet, and fortunately, it’s a great card with a solid bonus
Bottom line
At the moment we’re seeing limited time welcome offers on all of the personal Hilton Honors co-branded credit cards. These are excellent offers, in particular those that include a Free Night Award, given the amount of value you can get from that (up to 150,000 points).
If you’re looking for a no annual fee card, then the Hilton Honors American Express Card is for you. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a card with stronger perks and an even better bonus, I recommend the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card or Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.
Do you plan on picking up a Hilton Honors Amex with these bonuses?
The information and associated card details on this page for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Hilton Honors American Express Card (Rates & Fees), The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (Rates & Fees), and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees).
Every post promoting a Hilton card shows a beautiful pic of the Conrad Bora Bora. But that's mostly promoting a mirage. I've been monitoring their availability for a couple months, standard room availability is limited to 1-2 nights per month and never back-to-back nights. So the only way to use a FNC or get reasonable value redeeming points for the Conrad is to travel all the way to Bora Bora timed for their highly limited...
Every post promoting a Hilton card shows a beautiful pic of the Conrad Bora Bora. But that's mostly promoting a mirage. I've been monitoring their availability for a couple months, standard room availability is limited to 1-2 nights per month and never back-to-back nights. So the only way to use a FNC or get reasonable value redeeming points for the Conrad is to travel all the way to Bora Bora timed for their highly limited availability to stay for a single night. And the other ~350 nights a year, the lowest rooms are typically 1.2 million points for a $1500 (Hilton striving for 0.1 cents/point value, no doubt they'll get there).
I'd rather spend the night in Delta One©.
Do you know of anyone getting approved for both the no AF hilton honors and hilton surpass cards on the same day?
I have been in AMEX pop up jail for over a year now. I currently only have 1 card (Personal Plat) with them but no matter if i apply for a personal or bus card i always get that i am not eligible for the bonus before the application is processed. Even on cards i have never had. Any idea how to make that go away?
Are the free night award signup bonus also given after the 1st year or is it just a sign up thing?
@ Mark -- Only the Aspire Card offers an anniversary free night award with no spending requirement. For the ones that have it part of the welcome offer, that's only for the first year/upon getting the card.