Hotel credit cards are among the most underrated credit cards out there, in my opinion, given the perks they can offer, from free night certificates to elite status. While I’ve historically been primarily loyal to Hyatt and Marriott, Hilton has grown on me a lot in recent years, thanks to the number of new luxury hotels the group has opened, and how easy it is to earn points and status through Hilton’s credit cards.
Hilton has four co-branded American Express cards: three personal cards and one business card. In this post I want to walk through all of them, explain what each one is good for, and give you my honest take on which cards are worth having and for whom. I’ll also address the question of whether it makes more sense to use a Hilton card or a transferable points card for your Hilton spending, because that’s a question I get a lot, and the answer might surprise you.
Compare credit cards for Hilton
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
Limited Time: 150,000 Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward. Offer ends 1/13/2027.
- Earn 12x points on eligible Hilton purchases
- Hilton Honors™ Gold Status
- Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status With Spending
Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on eligible purchases made directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio.
Earn 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other purchases made using the Hilton Honors Business Card on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3X Points thereafter.
Learn more from these OMAAT posts:
- Limited Time Offer: Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card in the first six months of Card Membership. Offer ends 1/13/2027.
- Earn up to $60 in statement credits each quarter for purchases made directly with a property in the Hilton portfolio on your Hilton Honors American Express Business Card.
- Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold Status with your Hilton Honors Business Card. With Hilton Honors™ Gold Status, you can enjoy benefits at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Portfolio. As a Gold member, earn 80% Points earning Bonus on Stays with Hilton Honors™ Gold Status.
- Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on eligible purchases made directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio.
- Earn 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other eligible purchases made using the Hilton Honors Business Card on the first $100,000 in eligible purchases each calendar year, 3X Points on eligible purchases thereafter.
- You may receive an upgrade to Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status through the end of the next calendar year if the total eligible purchases that you spend on your Card during a calendar year reach $40,000 or more.
- Terms apply.
Limited Time Offer: Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card in the first six months of Card Membership. Offer ends 1/13/2027.
Bilt Palladium Card
50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status offer
- 2X points on everyday purchases
- Earn up to 1.25X points on rent and mortgage payments
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit
Earn up to 1.25X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, and 2X points on everyday spend.
Learn more from these OMAAT posts:
- Earn up to 1.25X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee.
- 2X points on everyday spend
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash.
- Priority Pass ($469/year value). See Guide to Benefits.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.
- Earn additional points through Bilt Neighborhood Benefits™ when you use your card at Bilt's network of 50,000+ merchant partners.
Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash. Up to $100 of Bilt Cash earned rolls over to the next year.
The co-branded Hilton cards
Hilton has three personal American Express cards, at three very different price points, plus one business credit card. Here’s what you need to know about each one.
1. Hilton Honors American Express Card
Annual fee: $0 (Rates & Fees)
Elite status: Hilton Honors™ Silver Status
Best earning rate on Hilton spending: 7x points on eligible Hilton spending (equivalent to ~3.5% return based on my points valuation)
For a no annual fee card, the Hilton Honors American Express Card is pretty awesome. The card comes with a welcome offer of 80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 on eligible purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership. I value Hilton points at 0.5 cents each, so that’s worth $400 in points.
Link: Learn more about the Hilton Honors American Express Card
2. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
Annual fee: $150 (Rates & Fees)
Elite status: Hilton Honors™ Gold Status (Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status available with $40,000 in spending)
Best earning rate on Hilton spending: Earn 12x points on eligible Hilton purchases (equivalent to ~6% return based on my valuation)
The Hilton Surpass Card is an excellent mid-range card. The headline benefit is complimentary Hilton Gold status just for being a cardmember, and this is one of the lowest annual fee cards that offers Gold status without any spending requirement. Gold status at Hilton is excellent: you get free breakfast and/or executive lounge access, late check-out, preferred rooms, and an 80% points bonus. For someone who occasionally stays at Hiltons, Gold status alone can pay for itself after just one or two stays.
The card currently has a welcome offer of 130,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first six months. At my valuation of 0.5 cents per point, that’s $650 worth of points.
Link: Learn more about the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
3. Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Annual fee: $550 (Rates & Fees)
Elite status: Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status
Best earning rate on Hilton spending: 14x points on purchases direct with Hilton (equivalent to ~7% return based on my valuation)
The Hilton Aspire Card is one of the most rewarding hotel credit cards out there. The annual fee looks steep at first glance, but the ongoing perks are so strong that I think this card is a no-brainer if you stay at Hilton resorts at least once every six months. Let me explain why.
Just for having the card you receive complimentary Hilton Diamond status. That’s Hilton’s top tier, and getting it just for holding a credit card is pretty incredible. Diamond comes with free breakfast and/or executive lounge access, room upgrades up to suites at the hotel’s discretion, late check-out, a 100% points bonus, and a fifth night free on award stays. In my experience Diamond recognition is especially good in Asia, though it can be hit or miss in the United States.
Every year on your account anniversary you receive a free night award, and you even receive one when you first open the card.
The welcome offer provides 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership. I value this at $750.
Link: Learn more about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
4. The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
Annual fee: $195 (Rates & Fees)
Elite status: Hilton Honors™ Gold Status (Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status available with $40,000 in spending)
Best earning rate on Hilton spending: Earn 12x points on eligible Hilton purchases (equivalent to ~6% return based on my valuation)
The Hilton Business Card is the only co-branded business card in the Hilton-Amex lineup, so if you’re looking for a Hilton card for your business spending, this is your only option. The good news is that it’s a genuinely strong card in its own right.
The limited-time welcome offer earns 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card in the first six months of Card Membership. Offer ends 1/13/2027. At 0.5 cents per point, the points are worth $750; assuming you can get another 100,000 points in value out of the free night reward, add $500, so you’re at a total of $1,250!
The Business Card offers complimentary Gold status just for having it, and Diamond status if you spend $40,000 in a calendar year.
Link: Learn more about the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
Should you use a Hilton card or a transferable points card for Hilton spending?
This is one of the most common questions I get, and the answer runs counter to the conventional wisdom in the miles and points space. The conventional wisdom is that transferable points cards are almost always better than co-branded hotel cards for hotel spending. For most hotel programs that’s true. Hilton is a genuine exception.
Let me put the numbers on the table. The Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which is broadly the best transferable points card for hotel spending, earns 4x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on direct hotel purchases. I value Ultimate Rewards at 1.7 cents each, which works out to a return of 6.8%.
The Hilton Aspire Card earns 14x Hilton Honors points on eligible Hilton purchases. I value Hilton points at 0.5 cents each, which works out to a return of 7%. That is the only co-branded hotel card I’m aware of that beats the Chase Sapphire Reserve on a pure return basis, and it’s the card I use for all of my Hilton hotel spending.
The Surpass Card’s 12x on Hilton spending lands at about 6%, which is just behind the Sapphire Reserve but still ahead of plenty of other transferable points cards. For Hilton spending specifically, even the mid-tier co-branded cards are competitive.
But here’s what the raw return comparison misses: the Hilton co-branded cards come with benefits that no transferable points card can replicate.
That said, I want to be honest about something. Transferring Membership Rewards points or Bilt points into Hilton Honors is generally a bad idea, and I’d actively avoid it. Hilton points are worth 0.5 cents each by my valuation, and you can almost always get more value transferring to an airline partner or to a program like World of Hyatt instead. The Hilton co-branded cards are the right way to accumulate Hilton points. Transferring in from other programs is not.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
If you’d rather use a transferable points card for Hilton spending than a co-branded card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is the one I’d recommend. At 4x Ultimate Rewards points on hotel spending, valued at 6.8%, it’s the best transferable points card for hotel purchases generally.
The $795 annual fee is significant, but the card offers $300 in annual travel credits that offset much of it, plus a Priority Pass membership, strong travel protections, and access to Chase Travel℠ where you can redeem points at up to 2 cents each with Points Boost. If you already have the Sapphire Reserve and aren’t ready to commit to a Hilton co-branded card, this is a reasonable fallback for Hilton stays. Just remember that transferring Ultimate Rewards into Hilton for a hotel redemption is not going to be an option.
Link: Learn more about the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
Bilt Palladium Card
Bilt is one of the more interesting transferable points programs to come along in recent years, primarily because it’s the only card that lets you earn rewards on rent and mortgage payments. Bilt transfers to Hilton Honors at a 1:1 ratio, but more interestingly, Bilt has transfer partners that no other major points currency has, including Alaska Atmos Rewards. On the hotel front, I think World of Hyatt is the most exciting Bilt transfer partner by far.
For Hilton spending specifically, Bilt isn’t your best option. The Bilt Palladium Card earns 2x points on all eligible purchases, which at my valuation of 1.5 cents per Bilt point works out to about a 3% return on hotel spending. That doesn’t come close to the Hilton Aspire.
Where the Bilt Palladium Card fits into a Hilton strategy is as a general spending card for people who are paying rent or a mortgage. If you’re putting significant housing payments on a Bilt card and accumulating points, those points can ultimately be transferred to Hilton if that’s where you need them.
What to consider before getting a card for Hilton
How often you stay at Hilton properties
The more frequently you stay at Hilton, the more value you’ll extract from these cards. If you stay at Hilton resorts at least twice a year, the Aspire Card’s resort credits alone make it a no-brainer. If you stay at Hiltons with any regularity but not exclusively at resorts, the Surpass is likely the sweet spot. If you travel occasionally and just want a baseline of Hilton benefits with no annual fee, the no-fee card is the obvious call.
How much you value elite status
Gold status at Hilton is genuinely excellent, and it’s one of the most valuable mid-tier hotel statuses across any major program in my view. The free breakfast or food and beverage credit is especially notable, since many programs only offer breakfast at the top tier. At a lot of Hilton properties, daily breakfast for two guests can be worth $50 to $80 or more, which means a single stay delivers meaningful value just from Gold. The Surpass Card gives you Gold for $150 per year, and that alone can pay for itself quickly.
Diamond status from the Aspire Card is another tier up. I’ve found Diamond recognition to be excellent at Hilton’s luxury brands, and suite upgrades happen with real regularity at the right properties. If you want top-tier status at Hilton without staying 30 nights or 60 nights to earn it the traditional way, the Aspire Card is the shortcut.
Whether you can use the credits
The Surpass Card’s quarterly $50 Hilton credit and the Aspire Card’s semi-annual $200 resort credit are only valuable if you actually use them. The Surpass credits are easy to use for anyone staying at a Hilton even once a quarter, since incidentals charged to your folio during an award stay count. The Aspire resort credits require staying at a participating Hilton resort, which narrows things down somewhat. If you don’t stay at Hilton resorts at least twice a year, you’ll struggle to use the full $400 in resort credits, and that changes the value calculation materially.
Amex application rules
All of the Hilton personal cards are issued by American Express. You can be approved for at most two Amex credit cards in a 90-day period, and you can have at most five American Express credit cards at any point. Business cards are separate from personal cards for this limit, so the Business Card doesn’t count against your five-card cap.
Amex also has a once-in-a-lifetime rule on welcome bonuses. If you’ve had the Surpass Card before, you’re not eligible for its welcome bonus again. However, each Hilton card is treated as a separate product, so having had the no-fee card doesn’t disqualify you from the Surpass bonus, and having had the Surpass doesn’t disqualify you from the Aspire bonus. If you’re going to pick up multiple Hilton cards, it’s worth timing your applications to take advantage of the best available welcome offers.
Holding multiple Hilton cards
There’s no rule against holding more than one Hilton card at the same time. If you’re going to hold just one, pick the one that matches your travel frequency. But the no-fee card is a reasonable long-term hold alongside a premium card, since it costs nothing and contributes to your account history. Just note that since both the Surpass and Aspire offer Gold or Diamond status respectively, holding both is largely redundant from a status perspective. Most people will be fine with one premium Hilton card, not two.
Bottom line
Hotel credit cards are underrated in general, and Hilton’s personal card lineup is one of the better ones out there. Here’s how I’d summarize where each card fits.
The no annual fee card is a solid pick if you want Hilton benefits at zero cost. It’s also worth holding long-term as a keeper card for credit score purposes. The welcome offer is surprisingly good for a no-fee card right now.
The Surpass Card is, in my opinion, the sweet spot of the lineup. For $150 a year you get Gold status (which can pay for itself in one stay with free breakfast), up to $200 in annual Hilton credits that more than cover the fee, a strong 12x earning rate, and a free night certificate if you spend $15,000. If you stay at Hiltons at least once a quarter, picking this card up is a no-brainer.
The Aspire Card is the card I’d recommend to frequent Hilton guests, and especially those who stay at Hilton resort properties. Diamond status, a free night certificate that I’ve used at properties costing over $1,400 per night, and up to $400 in resort credits are collectively well worth $550 per year if you use the card’s perks actively. It’s a benefits card first, not a spending card.
The Business Card is a strong option if you have a small business and want a Hilton card for business spending. The up to $240 in annual credits more than cover the $195 annual fee, and the 5x flat rate on all purchases up to $100K is genuinely competitive.
On the transferable points question: Hilton is one of the rare cases where I actually recommend using a co-branded card over a transferable points card for hotel spending. The Aspire Card’s 14x on Hilton spending beats even the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s 4x Ultimate Rewards by my math. And the benefits you get from the co-branded cards, from free nights to elite status, simply don’t exist with transferable points cards.
Hilton card FAQs
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), Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees), and Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (Rates & Fees).
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.
There are currently no responses to this story.
Be the first to respond.