Link: Apply now for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Hotel credit cards are among the most underrated credit cards out there, in my opinion, given the perks that they potentially offer, from elite status to free night certificates.
While I’m primarily loyal to Hyatt and Marriott, Hilton has grown on me a lot in the past few years. Many new luxury hotels have joined the Hilton portfolio, and it’s also easy to earn top tier status with the Honors program, thanks to the credit card that I’m about to talk about in more detail.
Hilton has several co-branded Amex cards, and in this post I wanted to share a detailed review of the most premium card, which is quite rewarding. This card underwent a full refresh in late 2023, and currently has a limited time welcome offer, so I wanted to take an in-depth look at the current value proposition.
In this post:
Amex Hilton Aspire Card Basics For November 2024
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is one of the highest annual fee hotel credit cards, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. If you stay at Hilton properties with any frequency, then this card should be in your wallet, in my opinion. Let’s talk about why the card is worth it, and what specifically you should be using it for.
Hilton Aspire 175,000 Bonus Hilton Honors Points
For applications through Wednesday, January 8, 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. This is an elevated bonus, as previously the card was offering up to 150,000 points.
For context, I value Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cents each, meaning that I value the 175,000 points at $875.
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.
Eligibility For Welcome Bonus & Amex Application Restrictions
The welcome offer on the Hilton Aspire Card is not available to those who currently have or who have had the Hilton Aspire Card. However, you are eligible for the bonus if you’ve had any of the other Hilton Amex cards, including the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card and the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card. I find that Amex cards are fairly easy to be approved for, for those with excellent credit.
Just keep in mind Amex’s general card application rules:
- You can be approved for at most two Amex credit cards in a 90 day period
- You can have at most five Amex credit cards at any point
Both of those limitations are specific to credit cards, and don’t include Amex charge or hybrid cards.
Hilton Aspire $550 Annual Fee
The Hilton Aspire Card has a $550 annual fee (Rates & Fees). The annual fee isn’t waived for the first year, and you can add authorized users to the card at no extra cost (though authorized users don’t get most of the great perks offered by the card, other than the primary cardmember being able to earn points for their spending).
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.
Earning Points With The Hilton Aspire Card
The Hilton Aspire Card offers bonuses on spending in some useful categories. The card offers 3-14x points per dollar spent, depending on what categories you’re spending money in.
That sounds like a lot of points, though not all points currencies are created equal. So in which of those categories should you be spending money on the card?
14x Points At Hilton Hotels
The Hilton Aspire offers 14x Hilton Honors points for spending at Hilton properties globally. This includes all Hilton brands, from Hampton Inn to Waldorf Astoria.
I value Hilton points at ~0.5 cents each, so to me, that’s like a 7% return on hotel spending, which is excellent. The Hilton Aspire Card is the best credit card for Hilton hotel spending.
7x Points Bonus Categories
The Hilton Aspire offers 7x Hilton Honors per eligible dollar spent in the following categories, with no caps:
- Flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com
- Car rentals booked directly with select car rental companies
- US restaurants
I value 7x Hilton Honors points at the equivalent of a ~3.5% return. Those are some pretty good bonuses, though keep in mind there are other good cards for airfare and restaurant spending.
3x Points On Other Purchases
The Hilton Aspire offers 3x points on all other eligible purchases, which I value at a return of ~1.5%. I’d argue there are better cards for everyday spending.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
The Hilton Aspire Card has no foreign transaction fees, so it’s an excellent card for purchases abroad, especially for stays at Hilton properties abroad.
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 Aspire Card Benefits
The real reason to get the Hilton Aspire Card is because of the incredible long-term perks it offers, which should more than offset the annual fee year after year. Why is the Hilton Aspire Card worth it? Let’s take a closer look at the benefits…
Hilton Honors Diamond Status
Just for having the Aspire Card, you receive complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status. This is Hilton’s top tier status, so it’s pretty incredible to get that just for having a credit card. Hilton Honors Diamond comes with the following perks, among other things:
- Free breakfast and/or executive lounge access (in the United States you receive a food & beverage credit)
- Room upgrades subject to availability (this may include standard suites, at the hotel’s discretion)
- Late check-out, subject to availability
- 100% points bonus
- Fifth night free on award stays
As is the case with all hotel programs, the treatment you’ll receive will vary depending on where in the world you are. I’ve found Diamond recognition to be excellent in Asia, for example, while it’s generally hit or miss in the United States.
Annual Free Night Reward Certificate
Just for having the Hilton Aspire Card you receive a free night reward every year that correlates to your account anniversary. You even receive this in the year that you get your card.
This could get you a stay at a property costing up to 150,000 points per night. Personally I value this certificate alone at right around the annual fee, and I’ve used my last several certificates at Katara Hills Doha, Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and Conrad Bora Bora Nui.
Here are some basic things to know about the free night reward offered by the Hilton Aspire Card:
- It’s issued within 8-12 weeks of when you open the card and the account anniversary
- It’s valid for stays up to a year from when it’s issued
- It can be redeemed for one night in standard accommodation
- There’s a small list of excluded properties
- While you can view your free night certificate online, you have to call 1-800-446-6677 to actually make your booking
Up To Two Additional Free Night Reward Certificate
While the Hilton Aspire Card offers a free night reward certificate on your account anniversary every year, you can earn up to two more free night reward certificates with spending:
- Earn a second free night reward certificate if you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year
- Earn a third free night reward certificate if you spend $60,000 on the card in a calendar year
If you’re a big credit card spender, I think a good argument could be made for spending $60,000 on the card each year. You’d earn a minimum of 175,000 Hilton Honors points (since you earn at least 3x points per dollar spent), plus two free night certificates, each worth up to 150,000 points.
Up To $400 Annual Hilton Resort Credit
For having the Hilton Aspire Card you receive up to $400 in statement credits annually for eligible purchases made directly with Hilton resorts using your card. You receive up to a $200 statement credit to be used between January and June, and up to a $200 statement credit credit to be used between July and December.
This is valid specifically for purchases at Hilton resort properties worldwide, and you can find all participating resorts here. You can apply this credit toward room rate, or even toward incidentals, as long as the incidentals are charged to your folio. In other words, you could redeem points for a stay, and then get a $200 credit toward dining, spa treatments, etc. There’s no registration required to use this perk.
If you stay at Hilton resort properties at least twice per year, this should be worth face value.
Up To $200 Annual Flight Credit
For having the Hilton Aspire Card you receive up to $200 in statement credits annually for eligible flight purchases using your card. The way this works, you receive up to a $50 statement credit to be used each quarter.
Eligible flights include those either booked directly with any passenger airline, or through amextravel.com. Honestly, this should be pretty easy to maximize. Most US airlines don’t have change fees nowadays on most kinds of fares, so you can always book a fairly cheap ticket and then use the travel credit toward a future itinerary, in case you don’t have a specific flight in mind.
Up To $199 Annual CLEAR Plus Credit
For having the Hilton Aspire Card you receive up to $199 per year in CLEAR Plus credits. Just use your card to pay for a CLEAR Plus membership, and you’ll receive a statement credit of up to $199 per year. This is enough to cover an annual CLEAR membership.
For those not familiar with CLEAR, this company can save you time at security, by allowing you to use your biometric data to skip the ID check.
National Emerald Club Executive Status
For having the Hilton Aspire Card you receive National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive status for as long as you have the card, as long as you enroll. National is my favorite major rental car company, and this status gets you Executive Area Access in the United States and Canada, letting you pick your car from the lot. You can register for this through your online account using the card.
$100 Hilton On-Property Credit
The Hilton Aspire Card also offers a $100 on-property credit at Waldorf Astoria and Conrad when you book stays of at least two nights with an eligible rate through this page.
Personally, I don’t consider that to be so valuable. Why?
- You have to book a specific rate, so points stays, discounted member rates, etc., don’t qualify
- Most of these hotels also belong through Hilton Impresario or Virtuoso, which offers a similar credit and more
ShopRunner Membership
For having the Hilton Aspire Card you get a ShopRunner membership, which gets you free two-day shipping on eligible items at a network of 100+ online stores. You just have to enroll in your complimentary membership and can then start taking advantage of it.
Amex Offers
One of my favorite features of Amex cards is access to Amex Offers, which offers savings on purchases with all kinds of retailers. There’s huge value to be had in getting as many Amex cards as possible, so that you can get these offers on multiple cards.
Amex Offers could save you hundreds of dollars per year. You can access these offers by logging into your account and scrolling down to the bottom of your account summary page.
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.
Is The Hilton Aspire Card Worth It?
Hilton is one of the largest hotel groups in the world, and the Hilton Aspire Card is a card that comes in handy for those instances where I want to stay at a Hilton property.
For example, I’ve consistently redeemed the free night certificate at properties retailing for well over $550 per night, so in and of itself that covers the annual fee. For example, I’ve used my certificate at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, which would have retailed for over $1,400 per night when I stayed. Add in all the other perks, and it should be quite easy to justify the card.
That being said, personally this is a card that I would get for the perks, rather than a card I would necessarily spend a lot of money on, as there are better cards for that.
Card Showdown: Hilton Aspire Vs. Hilton Surpass
I know some people try to decide between the $550 annual fee Aspire card and the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card with a $150 annual fee (Rates & Fees) . How do the two cards compare?
Personally, I think the $550 annual fee card is worthwhile, though for many people only occasionally staying at Hiltons, the $150 annual fee Surpass Card might be worthwhile as well.
The Hilton Surpass Card offers:
- 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
- A free night reward when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year
- Up to $200 in Hilton credits annually — get a $50 statement credit each quarter you can use toward Hilton stays
Many people are put off by a $550 annual fee card, so for those people, this is perhaps a more manageable option. The card also pays for itself, given that you can get $200 in Hilton credits annually with the card, which is more than the annual fee.
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 Aspire Card is one of the most rewarding hotel credit cards out there. While the card has a $550 annual fee, it offers some valuable incredible perks, including top tier Hilton Honors Diamond status, a free night reward annually, up to $400 in Hilton resort credits, up to $200 in flight credits, and much more.
If you stay at Hiltons with any frequency — and especially if you stay at Hilton resorts at least once every six months — then having this card is a no-brainer.
If you want to learn more about the Hilton Aspire Card or apply, follow this link.
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 following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees), and Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (Rates & Fees).
I love the Aspire Card! The Diamond status, depending on where I am going, can be very valuable. For example, just couple weeks ago, I stayed at Susona, a LXR Hotel & Resort in Bodrum using the annual free night certificate. When I checked in online the day before, I saw they upgraded me to a partial sea view room, typical one level up. Then when I showed up at the hotel, I found out...
I love the Aspire Card! The Diamond status, depending on where I am going, can be very valuable. For example, just couple weeks ago, I stayed at Susona, a LXR Hotel & Resort in Bodrum using the annual free night certificate. When I checked in online the day before, I saw they upgraded me to a partial sea view room, typical one level up. Then when I showed up at the hotel, I found out that they upgraded me again to a King Junior Suite with a private pool. In my experience, I get the best chance of a good upgrade in Europe & Asia where they are not popular with American tourists/visitors. During this stay, I also used up the resort credit. Another use of resort credit is if you have Hilton Grand Vacation (HGV) (Timeshare) - all charges including maintenance fee are deducted from the resort credit. I know many HGV members have this credit card. For Airline credit, I just book some random flight on Southwest at around $50 and cancel later as credit. Overall, I got well over $550 value out of the card every year.
As an long-term expat in the Gulf, it's pretty easy fir me to use this resort credit (e.g. Doha, Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Morocco etc.) If I get busy to use up this resort credit, usually just take a quick flight/driving to Waldorf Lusail Doha for the weekend beach trip. Diamond member treatment is quite superb here in this region and reasonabley good in my home country, East Asia. Love the Aspire Card. :)
DoC posted about Hilton having a new list of resorts for which the resort credit is eligible for which seems to shrink down the list of actual eligible hotels. Kind of feels like Hilton should have put out a blast on this rather than just post it on a random page.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-hilton-tighten-aspire-resort-credit/
You mean "blasting it" on a "random page" like the terms and conditions that govern the benefit for anyone with a computer to find:
You mean "blasting it" on a "random page" like the terms and conditions that govern the benefit for anyone with a computer to find:
They made the card more expensive and the resort credit is hard to get. It's really hard to see how this is a value. You're better off paying the airline 200 directly and buying a room for 350 bc it is way more flexible. The only reason to get the card is if you you're spending a few nights on one of those tropical remote islands where standard redemption is like 1k per night.
Not all properties whose name includes "resort" are resorts (according to Hilton). Not all properties that actually are resorts (according to Hilton) are eligible for the credit. Pretty (messed) up.
I appreciate most comments to educate myself. Ben is a wealth of knowledge and value this site for transparency.. Im not a frequent flyer but like knowing the creative ways users build up their loyalty points.
Is there a card for someone like me who may not travel alot but do value loyalty points?. I use citi /costco card rewards card and receive $500 py credit for shopping there and it’s yearly executive membership...
I appreciate most comments to educate myself. Ben is a wealth of knowledge and value this site for transparency.. Im not a frequent flyer but like knowing the creative ways users build up their loyalty points.
Is there a card for someone like me who may not travel alot but do value loyalty points?. I use citi /costco card rewards card and receive $500 py credit for shopping there and it’s yearly executive membership is $100 py(?)
I’ve been very close to sign on to one. Of the cards, recommended, because I like the idea of using the lounges, although I had seen a closed sign on the Houston Int’l. Airport and appear to be growing in popularity.
Take a look at the no-annual-fee Wells Fargo Autograph for travel and dining and the no-annual-fee Wells Fargo Active Cash for all other spending. Points from your Active Cash points bucket can be transferred to your Autograph points bucket. From there, to an airline. Currently, Wells Fargo has a limited set of transfer partners but that's likely to expand. If you don't travel much, consider buying lounge day passes instead of having a card for access. Best of luck.
If I get the card, meet the spend threshold, and then cancel the card before paying the second annual fee, are any of the sign-up bonuses clawed back?
(I ask because, about 3 or 4 years ago, when I upgraded my AMEX Everyday to an Everyday Preferred and canceled before paying the second annual fee, AMEX took back the MR points that I got from the upgrade.)
If you cancel prior to day 366 after account approval, claw back. If you cancel prior to day 366 after account upgrade, claw back Mark your calendar.
Has anyone ever approached Amex to ask for rentention bonuses?
And how likely are you going to be offered:
- Something incremental
- Something decent
- Outstanding
I also own a UK Amex Platinum and pretty much every year I've asked, they've given me about 60k-80k points just for staying (I am guessing I'm very lucky here.
Hmmm... 60k-80k yearly in retention bonuses for a UK AMEX Plat? The claim is so outlandish it requires objective supporting evidence to be believed...
Frankly, I'm as surprised as you are...but it has happened, I do put like 400k+ of expenses through the card every year because i aggregate my parents, grandparents, in-laws etc expenses in one one card...I have to admit that I've also been incredibly lucky in having the Platinum card for about 20+ years now since I started working (althougn from some comments, tenor means nothing.
I do hit up their call centers and chats...
Frankly, I'm as surprised as you are...but it has happened, I do put like 400k+ of expenses through the card every year because i aggregate my parents, grandparents, in-laws etc expenses in one one card...I have to admit that I've also been incredibly lucky in having the Platinum card for about 20+ years now since I started working (althougn from some comments, tenor means nothing.
I do hit up their call centers and chats constantly and reject their retention offers that don't look great about 4 months ahead of renewal though until i get something that is reasonable...if that helps
What I want to know is what people have received in the US card - I ask this because I've had it for about 3 years now due to traveling for work and have never asked for a retention offer because I don't use the card enough.
I have had my platinum card for more than 20 years, as well, first as the business version, and then I traded it for the personal version. The only retention offers I ever got was as a one-time cancellation of annual fee. After that, they have offered me nothing and I stopped asking. That is why to receive a retention bonus of 60k-80k yearly seems outlandish. However, if you've been lucking out, which is what...
I have had my platinum card for more than 20 years, as well, first as the business version, and then I traded it for the personal version. The only retention offers I ever got was as a one-time cancellation of annual fee. After that, they have offered me nothing and I stopped asking. That is why to receive a retention bonus of 60k-80k yearly seems outlandish. However, if you've been lucking out, which is what would explain it, then you might want to stop publicizing it on travel message boards. It is the surest way to draw scrutiny and termination of the largesse.
Typically, few credit card issuers will offer retention bonuses or perks more than once or twice...
The list of resorts eligible for the $200 credit is shorter now and as an example Waldorf Beverly Hills is no longer eligible
I have a stay booked at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills for November and was planning to utilize the resort credits of two Aspire cards. The annoying thing is that resorts get removed after you made your booking and travel plans for the year. Now it will be a scramble to find a stay for which the resort credit can be used.
It's a pain and counter intuitive. There are Conrad hotels out there that have far more resort feel than the likes of garbage conrads like Las Vegas but that's the one this year that gets the resort credit.
I love this Aspire Card. So much value, I have earned back over $2000 in benefits. I have stayed at some great Hilton Properties (and even upgraded, at a rare few)