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Continue reading: Why The Hilton Honors Aspire Is My Favorite Hotel Credit Card, Offers Outsized Value
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Yes, Ben, a true no brainer here.
- The free night alone is generally worth the annual fee
- Bonus, Hilton Diamond benefits
- Then, Stack the free nights with the resort benefit
- Flight Credits quarterly - bank them
- Clear - well why not it's free.
Not sure how they make money with this card.
Steve K (and Ben) get it.
(I, too, am worried that they'll soon nerf the card, because it's too good.)
This card makes me loyal to Hilton. I’ve been very happy with Hilton properties for the most part. Have no real reason to go with another brand. Yes, other major brands have unique properties, but none that compels me to choose them over Hilton. I’d only consider if there’s a good deal (example: I saw the Alila Uluwatu available for 35k/night) which I might combine with a stay at the Conrad Bali to enjoy two different areas of the island.
The $200 resort credit works well, especially if you can pre-pay a stay during a time when you otherwise are not going to one of the approved properties. I recently did this with an upcoming stay at the Hilton Whistler. Going in the fall, but prepaid in June.
Yes, the perks are great, but Hilton has shot themselves in the foot on the spend part of the card. Hilton points are now of such low value (0.35), that you shouldn't even use it for the 14x on Hilton stays anymore. You are better off using your CSR for 4x UR points. I suspect we will soon see another fee increase to $650-$750 with some crap coupons added.
Completely agree Ben. Plus 7x on Dining. This card is my go to card. Hard the beat the perks. As soon as they devalue, I'm gone though. It provides the last remaining value in the Hilton program.
I did not stay at a lot of Hiltons until I got this card. Marriott's are my favorite but you can't beat the perks of the Aspire card. I have gotten so much value out of the card and I haven't even had it a year already. We have stays coming up at the Conrad Bora Bora and the Hilton Mo'orea (total of 9 nights) and the breakfast alone will save us so much money ($40-$50 per person per day!). And I used a FNC to book one of the nights at the Conrad which costs over $1000/night. I fund my United travel bank with $50 per quarter, This is a keeper card for me! At least for now.
I agree. This card has made me a Hilton loyalist. Whether it’s at a Hampton for an overnight layover or a Conrad, I mostly look for Hiltons for my stays.
Valuing hilton at 0.35 is lo tho justifiable. I'm at 0.4 but check out redemptions at all-inclusives or in the UK for far better cpp than even the sale price of 0.5. Rumor is one can pc to an additional aspire from another Hilton cc. Can anyone confirm?
Valuing hilton at 0.35 is lo tho justifiable. I'm at 0.4 but check out redemptions at all-inclusives or in the UK for far better cpp than even the sale price of 0.5. Rumor is one can pc to an additional aspire from another Hilton cc. Can anyone confirm?
Yes - I had 2 Aspires and a Surpass at the start of the year. Product changed my Surpass to a 3rd Aspire about 2 months before renewal, then (this week) downgraded my oldest Aspire to a Surpass, putting me right back at 2 Aspire, 1 Surpass.
Why?
- I hit $15k on Surpass (FNC)
- 2nd FNC when I paid pro rated annual fee after upgrade
- 3rd FNC when I hit $30k spend after upgrade
- 4th FNC when I paid full annual fee on that card
- 5th FNC from Aspire (technically my 2nd Aspire) annual fee
- 6th FNC from oldest Aspire annual fee shortly before downgrade
- 7th FNC when I hit $15k on the downgraded Aspire/now Surpass
I'm almost struggling to find uses for all of them! LOL
The only thing that bit me on this card was using it to by a one way ticket. The trip delay coverage requires a r/t purchase.
Does the free night award expire?
@ Aaflyer -- Free night awards are always valid for 12 months from when they're issued.
Amex Hilton Aspire is still the G.O.A.T. among hotel premium credit cards. Diamond plus FNC. Until they nerf that FNC, I’m keepin’ it.
The only real competition is Amex Bonvoy Brilliant, but it’s Platinum status and 85K capped free night gets weaker, year by year.
At least IHG is trying to enhance its cards, but ultimately, I think they’re missing the mark; increasing fees, adding nominal points to free nights (from 40K to 50K). Fine, new SUB for premium card is cool.
Hyatt’s card line-up is just sad. Other than a random Hyatt House/Place, etc. off I-95, not too many Cat 1-4 worthwhile anymore. They and Chase need to do a refresh, and actually launch a true premium card, finally. C’mon!
Now is the point where someone needs to mention Accor, and GHA Discovery, so that I can have my Saturday morning coffee spit-take. I’ll wait…
What a world we live in where Hilton may now be the most lucrative big chain hotel rewards program, especially when combined with the Aspire card. After Hyatt's devaluation, I've shifted the last of my spending away from the Chase sphere and will just sock drawer the Hyatt card for the FNA and otherwise leave it be. Canceled/downgraded my Marriott cards last year as well after taking advantage of the 5 FNA sign up bonus.
I've had the Aspire for years and completely agree with this post! We just got one for my wife and I have a couple of questions as to how to combine the benefits:
1) Will the $200 resort credit kick in if we just use her card at a resort restaurant, spa, etc.? Or does it need to be charged back to the room? My understanding is the latter.
2) Can the FNCs be combined and still stay in the same room? My understanding is they can, but you may need to visit the front desk for some formalities during your stay.
Thanks!
@ df0958 -- I'm happy to hear you've had a good experience with the card!
Regarding the $200 credit, what matters is that the transaction is processed by the hotel. The issue is that in some cases individual food & beverage outlets or spas might process purchases differently, and therefore it might not trigger. My strategy is to just charge everything to the folio, and then at check-out, you can always split payments. Ask them to charge $200 to one card, $200 to another card, etc.
Regarding combining free night awards, just let the hotel know of your intention, and they should be able to keep you in the same room. Sometimes you might need to go to the front desk to get the keys activated again, but sometimes that can be avoided. Unfortunately there's no way to officially combine them, though.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
This is one of the last of the great cards still out there. Just yesterday, IHG totally screwed up the value of their best cards, even the legacy card. My greatest fear at this point is that they will nerf this card one day also, mainly the certificates. Uncapped certificates seem to be going the way of the Dodo bird and are becoming extinct. First Hyatt changed their uncapped free night certificates to a measly category 4 certificate. Next was IHG changing theirs to 40,000 point certificates. Hilton is our one last hope. Couple it with the card benefits and Diamond status which really kicks in on Asia trips, it is by far my favorite card. Because if it, they benefit by getting most of my business when I travel. I have a big trip to Japan next year and the majority of my hotels are Hilton. So, they also reap the rewards of offering such a great card. I hope it lasts.
Hilton are not that dumb . Instead of limiting the FNC, they will increase the annual fee at some point !
What? IHG charges $150 now for a card that gets you a free night easily worth $150. Hilton charges you $550 for a card that might give you a hotel room they'd charge $550 or more for. A $550 Hilton hotel is never on my radar. Hilton is crazy overpiced. But, each to their own.
$550? Try more like $1,500 a day for 2 days at the the Roku Kyoto, or just over $1,200 a day for 2 days at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, or over $1,000 a night at Sowaka Kyoto for 2 nights. Those are just a couple of the hotels we used those certificates at in the past few years (wife has the card also). This year I plan to use several more certificates at the Waldorf Astoria in Osaka which has a 2 day total rate of ¥329,888.00, or $1,016 per day. If you're struggling to even get $550 out of them, then you aren't using them very well.
I used my first free night certificate at the Conrad Bora in August. The standard room was priced well over $1000 a night plus my husband and I each got free breakfast that I found to be about $50-60 per person per day. We were there for 6 days. I am using this year's FNC and one I earned by getting the Surpass card (SUB came with a FNC) for 2 nights at the Conrad Athens Ilisian- 2 night stay in a standard room with a balcony comes to over $2700. We will be there in June.
Wish I could get more use out of the resort credit, but I don't stay at Hilton resorts often enough. That being said, the FNC and airline credit justifies keeping the card (Diamond status is a nice bonus that has been useful at times).
@Samar -- If you're based in Phoenix/Scottsdale, couldn't you go to any of the several Hilton 'resort' properties to use for dining (or spa) semi-annually? I think there are like 5 options nearby (Arizona Biltmore, LXR Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Phoenix Resort at the Peak, Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Boulders Resort & Spa, and the Arizona Grand). Shouldn't even need to officially stay there for it to work. Has anyone tried that method of burning those resort credits?
I thought you'd have to charge to the room for the credit to take (unlike the Surpass credit), so I dunno if it'd work? Would be easy enough for me to spend at the Biltmore if it were.
Samar’s correct: it needs to be charged to a room to apply.
I’ve had success pre-paying a room and getting the credit that way. I booked a stay at the Hilton Whistler Resort earlier this year, called, and they gladly did the pre-payment and I got the credit.
Heading there soon and will use the second-half $200 credit to cover parking fees and maybe a partial spa treatment. Yay.
Definitely does not work at the Conrad Orlando or Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace - Disney Springs Area - have dined at both not as a guest and the credits didn't apply.
Diamond is the new silver.
Once the top level, now its beneath Diamond Reserve, Honors Society and Black Diamond
It took years to get the card but when it arrived they immediately removed the best perk of all - the free airport lounge access (Priority Pass). I wish that they would restore it and perhaps trade it for something else.
I actually prefer the cheaper Surpass card. Its credits are easier to use (I don't stay at resorts) and I get the free night and free breakfast anyway. So the only thing I miss out on is use of an Executive Lounge, if the property has one.