5 Benefits That Make Hilton Aspire Card Worth It

5 Benefits That Make Hilton Aspire Card Worth It

6
In the interest of full disclosure, OMAAT earns a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the below links. 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. These are the best publicly available offers (terms apply) that we have found for each product or service. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the bank, credit card issuer, airline, hotel chain, or product manufacturer/service provider, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Please check out our advertiser policy for further details about our partners, and thanks for your support!

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.

The Hilton Aspire Card is offering a welcome bonus of 150,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $6,000 within the first six months, though 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.

Hilton Honors Diamond status

Just for having the Hilton Aspire Card you receive Hilton Honors Diamond 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.

Receive complimentary breakfast with Hilton Honors Diamond status

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.

Hilton properties retail for up to 150,000 points per night, 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:

While you do get a certificate the first year, you don’t get it right away. In my experience, the first certificate arrives a bit 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.

I’ve used my free night certificate at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos

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 Hilton resorts, you should be able to make full use of this benefit. 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, last year 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.

Use your resort credit toward a dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives

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.

Your airline flight credit can save you money with major US airlines

Up to $189 annual CLEAR Plus credit

The Hilton Aspire Card offers up to $189 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.

You can receive an annual CLEAR Plus credit with the card

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 $189 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.

Conversations (6)
The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.
Type your response here.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, please adhere to our commenting guidelines. Anyone can comment, and your email address will not be published. Register to save your unique username and earn special OMAAT reputation perks!

  1. AD Diamond

    As a lifetime diamond, I've been finding it harder and harder to justify the card.

    I used to use my resort credit at the WA Bonnet Creek during a conference every year. But I got tired of them trying to scam me every year by "accidentally" not honoring the negotiated conference rate. Once is a mistake... four years in a row is a strategy. So I switched my stay for that conference to the...

    As a lifetime diamond, I've been finding it harder and harder to justify the card.

    I used to use my resort credit at the WA Bonnet Creek during a conference every year. But I got tired of them trying to scam me every year by "accidentally" not honoring the negotiated conference rate. Once is a mistake... four years in a row is a strategy. So I switched my stay for that conference to the JW Marriott down the road. During the pandemic once I started dining out again, I loved the dining credit they were giving in lieu of the resort credit. It was super flexible. Since the resort credit came back, I tried to use it at the Conrad Bora Bora and it never credited and then the next one expired unused. I travel 100+ nights per year, but I don't travel to many places with Hilton resorts (or resorts period). If I could use it at any Hilton, that would be one thing. But I agree, having to figure out how to use it twice a year at resorts...

    And the annual night is great... but often I find myself manufacturing a stay to use it because when I go on vacation there aren't qualifying rooms available.

  2. Paul B Guest

    I believe the Aspire cc no longer comes with any type of Priority Pass access.

  3. Yoe Guest

    Also acces to priority pass restaurant is another valuable perk.

    1. Azamaraal Guest

      Don't think AMEX cards had the restaurant credit but it doesn't matter. PP is gone depending on your anniv date.

  4. Lee Guest

    I have been a long term card holder as well. The one benefit I struggle with using is the resort credit. It was hard enough when I had 12 months to spend $250, but trying to spend $200 every 6 months is very difficult. I would rather have a reduced amount, like $125-150, to use at any Hilton….

    1. tda1986 Diamond

      Agreed. I've actually never used the resort credit, even though I've had this card since it first came out. With the changes to the airline credit and the increased fee this year, I'll be cancelling unless I get an unexpectedly great retention offer.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Azamaraal Guest

Don't think AMEX cards had the restaurant credit but it doesn't matter. PP is gone depending on your anniv date.

0
AD Diamond

As a lifetime diamond, I've been finding it harder and harder to justify the card. I used to use my resort credit at the WA Bonnet Creek during a conference every year. But I got tired of them trying to scam me every year by "accidentally" not honoring the negotiated conference rate. Once is a mistake... four years in a row is a strategy. So I switched my stay for that conference to the JW Marriott down the road. During the pandemic once I started dining out again, I loved the dining credit they were giving in lieu of the resort credit. It was super flexible. Since the resort credit came back, I tried to use it at the Conrad Bora Bora and it never credited and then the next one expired unused. I travel 100+ nights per year, but I don't travel to many places with Hilton resorts (or resorts period). If I could use it at any Hilton, that would be one thing. But I agree, having to figure out how to use it twice a year at resorts... And the annual night is great... but often I find myself manufacturing a stay to use it because when I go on vacation there aren't qualifying rooms available.

0
Paul B Guest

I believe the Aspire cc no longer comes with any type of Priority Pass access.

0
Meet Ben Schlappig, OMAAT Founder
5,163,247 Miles Traveled

32,614,600 Words Written

35,045 Posts Published