Link: Apply now for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
As I often say, I find hotel credit cards to be quite underrated. These cards can be worth holding onto even if you don’t intend to spend a lot of money on them.
For example, I’ve written about how the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) is great — the card has a $95 annual fee, and I think the Category 1-4 free night certificate offered by the card more than justifies the annual fee in and of itself.
But there’s one even more premium hotel credit card that I find to be at least as valuable. I’ve had this card for several years now, and have consistently gotten outsized value from it. Specifically, I’m talking about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (you’re potentially eligible for this card even if you have another card in the Hilton Honors portfolio).
The card has a $550 annual fee, which is on the high side for a hotel credit card, though this is a card that’s also extremely rewarding, even with the recent refresh of the product.
For applications through August 13, 2025, the Hilton Aspire Card has a limited time welcome offer of 175,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $6,000 within the first six months. However, what makes this card so worthwhile is the long term benefits it offers. In no particular order, I’d say the below five benefits more than justify the annual fee on the 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.
In this post:
Hilton Diamond elite status
Just for having the Hilton Aspire Card you receive Hilton Diamond elite status. That’s valid for as long as you keep the card, and this is Hilton’s top tier hotel status. That’s right, you get top tier status just for having a credit card.
This gets you bonus points, breakfast or club lounge access (or a food & beverage credit within the US), room upgrades subject to availability, premium Wi-Fi, and more.
While I don’t consider Hilton Diamond to be the most valuable top tier status, getting it just for having the card is a phenomenal deal, especially as Hilton has a huge global footprint. I’ve been especially impressed by how Hilton has been growing its luxury footprint, with more Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, and LXR properties opening around the globe.
There’s nothing you need to do to activate this — it’s automatic. This benefit only applies for the primary cardmember, and not for any authorized users. Typically once you’re approved for the card you should see your Honors account updated within a day or so to reflect your new status. It’s amazing how fast that happens.
One thing I learned the hard way is that any existing reservations won’t update with your new status without manual intervention. If you’ve made any reservations before your status is upgraded, make sure you call Hilton Honors and have an agent remove your loyalty number and then put it back in your reservation, so the Diamond status shows correctly.
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.
Annual free night reward
With the Hilton Aspire Card you receive an annual free night reward your first year and every subsequent year. This can be redeemed at virtually any Hilton Honors property in the world where there’s a standard room available (here’s the small list of excluded properties), for stays any day of the week. You can even use them at Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) properties, which opens up some great opportunities.
Hilton properties retail for up to 200,000 points per night for a standard room, so cardmembers can get a lot of value out of this. Just to give some examples of the last few places that I’ve redeemed these free night certificates:
- The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, where the nightly rate would have been over $700
- The Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, where the nightly rate would have been over $1,800
- Katara Hills Doha, an LXR property, where the nightly rate would have been over $1,800
- Zemi Beach House Anguilla, an LXR property, where the nightly rate would have been over $1,000
While you get a certificate the first year, you don’t get it immediately. In my experience, the first certificate arrives over two months after you open the card. Certificates are valid for a year, and you’re given a code to redeem it over the phone (you can’t redeem it online). To see if you’ve received it, check your email for the subject line “Your Free Reward has arrived!”
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.
Up to $400 annual Hilton resort credit
The Hilton Aspire Card offers up to $400 in statement credits annually for purchases made directly with participating Hilton resorts using your card. See this link to find all participating resorts. The way this works, you receive a $200 credit in January through June, and then another $200 credit in July through December.
What’s great is that virtually any spending at these resorts qualifies, regardless of whether we’re talking about the room rate, dining, spa treatments, activities, etc. So, as long as you spend just $200 every six months at an eligible Hilton resort, you should be able to use this benefit fully. Just keep in mind this amount has to be charged to a folio, so you can’t just visit a hotel’s restaurant without staying there and use the credit.
You could even redeem your anniversary free night certificate at a top Conrad or Waldorf Astoria resort and then use the up to $200 in statement credits to get massages, a nice dinner, etc. For example, a couple of years ago I redeemed points for a stay at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, and was able to use my credit toward incidentals. It can take 8-12 weeks for credits to be posted, but in practice the credit generally posts much faster than that.
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.
Up to $200 annual flight credit
The Hilton Aspire Card offers up to $200 in statement credits annually for purchases made directly with airlines or through amextravel.com. This comes in the form of a $50 quarterly statement credit, so as long as you spend at least $50 on an eligible flight, you’ll receive a statement credit for that amount. There’s no need to register to use this perk.
I know that this is a pretty small amount, but nowadays many US airlines don’t have change fees, so you can always buy a fairly inexpensive ticket, and then bank that ticket credit amount toward a future ticket purchase, so that you maximize value.
While the terms state that it can take 8-12 weeks for the statement credit to post, in practice, it should post much faster than that.
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.
Up to $199 annual CLEAR® Plus credit
The Hilton Aspire Card offers up to $199 in annual CLEAR® Plus credits. Just charge an eligible CLEAR® Plus purchase to your card, and this will automatically be reimbursed. This is a great way to save time with security at dozens of airports. While the terms state that it can take 6-8 weeks for a credit to post, in practice it should post much faster than that.
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.
Bottom line
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is a lucrative card that I’ve gotten a lot of value from. For a $550 annual fee you’re getting an annual free night reward, an up to $400 annual Hilton resort credit, an up to $200 airline flight credit, an up to $199 CLEAR® Plus credit, and top tier Hilton Diamond status.
Personally I get more than $550 of value out of the free night certificate alone, so as far as I’m concerned the rest of the benefits are just the icing on the cake.
And I’m not even talking about all of the benefits of the card, as the Hilton Aspire also offers access to Amex Offers, National Emerald Club Executive status, and more. See this post for a detailed review of the Hilton Aspire Card.
Anyone else love the Hilton Aspire Card as much as I do?
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.
Annual free night award card. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
Ideally every adult in the household should have their own card.