Hilton Honors and American Express have a co-brand credit card portfolio, consisting of four cards, with three being personal cards, and one being a business card.
Understandably, people often struggle to decide which card makes the most sense for them. While the temptation is always to go for a card with a low annual fee, in many situations the perks of premium cards can more than offset the annual fee. In this post I want to share my take on which Hilton Honors credit card makes the most sense, and how to decide.
In this post:
Ranking the four Hilton Honors credit cards
Below, I’ll go over the perks of each of the four Hilton Honors Amex cards, and rank them, starting with my favorite. Note that I’m just going to be discussing the long term value proposition of these cards, so I won’t be covering the welcome offers, though that should be considered as well.
The Hilton Aspire Card is best value for maximizers
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (review) has a $550 annual fee, which is the highest annual fee of any card in the portfolio. The Hilton Aspire Card features the following ongoing benefits:
- 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 $199 CLEAR® Plus credit annually — enroll in CLEAR and charge it to your card, and you’ll be reimbursed up to $199 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
Admittedly there’s a big cash outlay upfront, but I think the perks of the Hilton Aspire Card more than justify the annual fee. There’s huge value to the annual free night award, and that can be redeemed at a property costing way more than the annual fee. The $400 Hilton resort credit is also easy to redeem, assuming you stay at a Hilton resort at least once every six months. I also find the $200 flight credit easy to maximize. On top of that, you get Hilton Diamond status, which will add lots of value for your Hilton stays.
This is a card that I’ve had for years, and continue to get so much value out of.
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 Hilton Surpass Card is easiest to justify
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card (review) has a $150 annual fee (Rates & Fees), so it’s the mid-tier card in the portfolio. The Hilton Surpass Card offers the following ongoing perks:
- 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
The Hilton Surpass Card has a more palatable annual fee. While the perks aren’t as strong as the Hilton Aspire Card, there’s still lots of value to be had. If you stay at Hiltons at least once per quarter, the $200 in credits should more than cover the annual fee. Then you receive Hilton Honors Gold status as well. I also think there’s merit to spending $15,000 per year on the card to earn a free night award, given the value of that.
The Hilton Business Card could make sense
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (review) has a $195 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and and it’s the only business card in the portfolio. The Hilton Business Card offers the following ongoing benefits:
- 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
The Hilton Business Card could be compelling if you’re looking specifically for a business, but comparing it to the Hilton Surpass Card, I’d say it’s not quite as good of a value. Ultimately it’s easy enough to cover the annual fee on the card by maximizing the Hilton credits, and Gold status is the icing on the cake.
What I prefer about the Hilton Surpass Card is the ability to earn a free night award after spending $15,000, as that isn’t a possibility on the Hilton Business Card.
The Hilton Amex Card offers basic status
The Hilton Honors American Express Card (review) has no annual fee (Rates & Fees), so it’s the cheapest card in the portfolio. The Hilton Amex Card offers the following ongoing perks:
- 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
The Hilton Amex Card has no annual fee, but that also means the perks are very limited. The main benefit of this card is that you get Silver status, which at least gets you a fifth night free on award redemptions. However, I’d argue that the other cards represent a better value.
Which Hilton Honors credit card should you apply for?
If you’re considering applying for a Hilton Honors credit card, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- You’re actually eligible for the welcome offers on each of these cards once, and you can even hold onto all of these cards, though keep in mind Amex’s general application restrictions
- It’s generally possible to product change between cards once you’ve had them for at least 12 months (only personal to personal or business to business); so there’s merit to giving the premium cards with the biggest welcome offer a try, and then you can always downgrade them later, if you don’t want to pay the annual fee on an ongoing basis
If I didn’t have any Hilton Honors cards and were just getting started, I’d first apply for the Hilton Aspire Card or Hilton Surpass Card, since I think the cards have the best value proposition. The former is great for maximizers, while the latter doesn’t take much effort to come out ahead on.
I think there’s even merit to picking up both cards, and then spending $15K per year on the Hilton Surpass Card, so you earn a free night award (in addition to the one you get just for having the Hilton Aspire Card).
The Hilton Business Card can make sense if you’re specifically wanting a business card, since that’s your only option. Meanwhile I would think of the Hilton Amex Card as being more of a downgrade option than anything else.
Bottom line
Hilton Honors and American Express have some lucrative co-brand credit cards at various price points, with three being personal, and one being business. Personally I think the Hilton Aspire Card and Hilton Surpass Card are the two most lucrative.
Remember that you can ultimately apply for all four cards over time if you’d like, so there’s something to be said for having multiple of these cards.
What’s your take on which Hilton Honors credit card is best?
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).
What are your thoughts on maximizing Hilton points through welcome bonuses? For example, I am planning a trip to the Maldives and want to use Hilton points (600k). Should I start with the basic card and then apply to a superior category after a few months? My main goal is to accumulate points, as I don't frequently stay at Hilton properties.
@ RFC -- Personally, I'd start with the cards with the biggest offers first, so you can rack up as many points as possible. In theory, you can get all the cards, though people do sometimes end up getting pop-ups about not being eligible, if they pick up too many of them. That's all the more reason to start with the bigger offers first.
Understood. So, there's no problem getting the Aspire or Surpass card first and then the basic one? I thought I could only 'grow' within the card categories. If that's the case, I'll follow your advice and go for the biggest offers first. My plan is to get at least four cards, two for me and two for my wife, so we can reach around 600k points together. This way, I can book one of the...
Understood. So, there's no problem getting the Aspire or Surpass card first and then the basic one? I thought I could only 'grow' within the card categories. If that's the case, I'll follow your advice and go for the biggest offers first. My plan is to get at least four cards, two for me and two for my wife, so we can reach around 600k points together. This way, I can book one of the two available hotels for 150k each night (huvafen fushi maldives / Waldorf Astoria) and get the fifth night free (I'm already Gold). The downside is that if I have both the basic card and the Surpass card, for example, I won't be able to downgrade in the future and might have to cancel the Surpass, which isn't ideal.
It's hardly a contest, is it? The Aspire is one of the easiest to financially justify premium cards on the market today, period. Put *zero* spend on it and you still get an annual free night award that you can *easily* redeem for rooms worth several thousand per night.
Am I missing something? They could take away all the other perks and I would still hold on to this card.
"assuming you stay at a Hilton resort at least once every six months"
Not true. As has been discussed multiple times by multiple different commenters (myself included), you have to make a *purchase* every six months to utilize the resort credit but the actual resort stay can be once per year. Very simple to do at properties that charge first night upfront (Crockfords Vegas, etc.)