Hotel credit cards are among the most underrated credit cards out there, given the perks that they can offer, including elite status and free nights.
While I’ve historically been primarily loyal to Hyatt and Marriott, Hilton has grown on me a lot in recent years, thanks to the number of new luxury hotels the group has opened, and also thanks to how easy it is to earn points and status with Hilton’s co-branded credit cards.
I’ve reviewed all three personal Hilton credit cards, including the:
- Hilton Honors Card from American Express (review)
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (review)
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (review)
In this post, I wanted to take an in-depth look at the one business credit card issued by Hilton and American Express, which is potentially a great option if you have a small business.
In this post:
Hilton Honors Business Card Basics For May 2022
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card is the one Hilton American Express small business credit card. How does this card compare to the personal versions of the card, and how does it compare to other business credit cards?
In this post, I wanted to take a closer look at the welcome bonus, annual fee, return on spending, perks, and more.
Earn 130,000 Hilton Points & Statement Credits
The Hilton Business Card offers a welcome bonus of 130,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $3,000 within the first three months of cardmembership. Plus, you can earn up to $130 in Statement Credits on eligible purchases made on the Card at any of the Hilton family hotels in the first 12 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 7/6/22.
I value Hilton Honors points at ~0.5 cents each, meaning that the 130,000 points are worth $650 to me. Add the potential of a further $130 in statement credits, and my total value here is $780.
Eligibility For Bonus & Amex Application Restrictions
The welcome bonus on the Hilton Business Card is not available to those who currently have the card, or those who have had the card in the past. You are eligible for the bonus if you have had any of the personal Hilton credit cards, though, as those are all considered to be separate products.
I find that Amex cards are fairly easy to be approved for, for those with excellent credit. Just make sure you know Amex’s general application restrictions, including:
- You can be approved for at most two Amex credit cards in a 90 day period
- You can generally have at most five American Express credit cards at any point
Annual Fee
The Hilton Business Credit Card has a $95 annual fee. The annual fee isn’t waived for the first year, and you can add authorized users to the card at no extra cost. (Rates & Fees)
Earning Honors Points With The Hilton Business Card
The Hilton Business Card has some potentially useful bonus categories, as the card offers anywhere from 3-12x Honors points per dollar spent.
In addition to the points you earn through spending, you can earn Hilton Diamond status and up to two weekend night certificates if you spend enough on the card.
Which types of purchases earn bonus points?
12x Points At Hilton Hotels
The Hilton Business Credit Card offers 12x Hilton Honors points for spending at all Hilton properties globally. I value Hilton points at ~0.5 cents each, so to me, that’s like a 6% return on hotel spending, which is excellent.
6x Points Bonus Categories
The Hilton Business Credit Card offers 6x points per eligible dollar spent in a variety of categories, including:
- U.S. restaurants
- U.S. gas stations
- U.S. shipping purchases
- Wireless phone services with U.S. service providers
- Flights booked directly with airlines or with amextravel.com
- Car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies
That’s the equivalent of a 3% return on spending in those categories, which is pretty good, though in many cases, there are better options.
3x Points On Other Purchases
The Hilton Business Credit Card offers 3x points on all other eligible purchases, which I value at a return of ~1.5%. On the surface, there are better cards for everyday spending, but as I’ll explain below, there are some tricks to do even better.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
The Hilton Business Card has no foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees), so it’s an excellent card for purchases abroad, especially for stays at Hilton properties.
Hilton Business Credit Card Benefits
The Hilton Business Card offers a variety of benefits that potentially more than justify the annual fee. Under what circumstances are these perks worth taking advantage of?
Earn Up To Two Weekend Night Rewards Annually
With the Hilton Business Amex you can earn up to two free weekend night rewards annually:
- Earn a free weekend night reward after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year
- Earn a second weekend night reward after spending a total of $60,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year
This is an ongoing benefit, and could make it worthwhile to put spending on the card. For example, these certificates could be redeemed at properties costing up to 150,000 points per night.
If you put $15,000 of spending on the card in non-bonused categories you’d earn 45,000 Honors points plus a free weekend night, which is an excellent deal if you redeem it for a top property.
How The Weekend Night Reward Works
Here are some things to be aware of with the weekend night rewards:
- It’s issued within 8-12 weeks of when the spending requirement is met
- It’s valid for stays up to a year from when it’s issued
- It can be redeemed for one weekend night in standard accommodation
- There’s a small list of excluded properties
- A weekend night is defined as Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night
- To redeem you have to call 1-800-446-6677 and mention your award code
The good news is that in light of circumstances, these certificates have more flexibility than usual right now. Free night certificates issued through December 31, 2022, can be redeemed any day of the week, rather than just on weekends.
Hilton Honors Gold Status
Just for having the Hilton Business Amex you receive complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status. This is the lowest annual fee card that offers Gold status with Hilton without any spending requirement.
For someone who occasionally stays at Hiltons, Gold status is excellent, as it offers the following benefits:
- Free breakfast and/or executive lounge access (for 2022 you get a food & beverage credit in lieu of this at properties in the United States)
- Late check-out, subject to availability
- Preferred rooms
- 80% points bonus
- Fifth night free on award stays
Hilton Honors Diamond Status With Spending
You can earn Hilton’s top-tier Diamond status for spending on this card. If you spend $40,000 on the card in a calendar year you’ll earn top tier Hilton Honors Diamond status, which comes with the following perks:
- Guaranteed executive lounge access for properties with lounges
- Free breakfast at properties without lounges (for 2022 you get a food & beverage credit in lieu of this at properties in the United States)
- Room upgrades, including up to suites, at the hotel’s discretion
- Late check-out, subject to availability
- 100% points bonus
10 Complimentary Priority Pass Visits
While there are some cards offering full Priority Pass memberships, they typically have $495+ annual fees. The great thing about the Hilton Business Card is that it has a reasonable annual fee and offers 10 Priority Pass visits per year at no cost. That’s a useful perk for someone who travels occasionally.
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.
Is The Hilton Business Amex Worth It?
Given Hilton’s huge global footprint, I think it’s absolutely worth having a Hilton credit card. I also think the Hilton Business Card is one of the all-around best Hilton credit cards, and it’s also the only small business card.
For one, the Hilton Business Amex offers Gold status for as long as you have the card, which comes with perks like breakfast and more. Even if you just stay at Hilton properties occasionally, that should more than make up for the annual fee.
The card could also be worth spending money on, for the ability to earn Hilton Honors Diamond status and up to two weekend night rewards. Add in the welcome bonus, and you could seriously come out ahead with this card.
Below I wanted to share a few more thoughts on the card.
Tip: Spend $15,000 On The Card Per Year
While I think the Hilton Business Card is primarily worth getting for the perks that it offers, I also do think it’s worth spending $15,000 on the card every year to get a weekend night reward.
To me, that’s really the sweet spot when it comes to spending on the card, since with that $15,000 of spending you’d earn at least 45,000 Honors points, plus a weekend night reward that can be redeemed at even Hilton’s top properties, which retail for up to 150,000 points per night.
Card Showdown: Hilton Surpass Vs. Hilton Business
The Hilton Surpass Card is essentially the personal version of the Hilton Business Card. The cards have a lot in common, as both offer 10 Priority Pass visitors per year, have a $95 annual fee (Rates & Fees), offer 12x points on Hilton spending, etc.
What are the key differences between the Hilton Business and Hilton Surpass?
- The cards offer 6x points in different categories
- The business version of the card lets you earn up to two weekend night rewards every year, while the personal version lets you earn just one weekend night reward every year
In some ways, I do think the business version of the card is slightly better than the personal version.
Bottom Line
The Hilton Business Card is the only co-brand business card offered by Amex and Hilton, and it offers some fantastic perks.
Just for having the card you get Gold status, which should more than justify the annual fee after just a couple of stays. On top of that, the card can be worth spending money on, for the weekend night rewards and Diamond status.
Even if you don’t stay at Hiltons that often, this card is well worth it, in my opinion.
If you want to learn more about the Hilton Business Card or apply, follow this link.
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (Rates & Fees), and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees).
Goodie! A virgin page to paint some wisdom on!
Wanna see a really neat trick that is also evidence for my correct assertion that
1.5 cents/WoH point = 0.5cent/HH point
because the conversion rate between the two points currency is
1 WoH point = 3 HH points,
so that to 1.5cents/WoH convert to:
1.5cents/WoH point * (1 WoH point/3 HH points) = 0.5cent/HH points ?
Here it. Please note the consistent factor or ratio...
Goodie! A virgin page to paint some wisdom on!
Wanna see a really neat trick that is also evidence for my correct assertion that
1.5 cents/WoH point = 0.5cent/HH point
because the conversion rate between the two points currency is
1 WoH point = 3 HH points,
so that to 1.5cents/WoH convert to:
1.5cents/WoH point * (1 WoH point/3 HH points) = 0.5cent/HH points ?
Here it. Please note the consistent factor or ratio of 3 in earn rate for the same or equivalent categories between the Chase WoH visa and the AMEX HH Surpass
Sidebar:
A freaking coincidence? No.at.all. The factor of 3 that you just saw is real, which is why you can convert WoH points to HH to come up with
1.5 cents/WoH point = 0.5cent/HH point
A result that confuses everyone!
Reason for the universal confusion about the relative worth of nominal numerical values of hotel points currencies, which are actually pretty good, is due to the fact that without exception, everyone compares, e.g., 1.5cents/”point” vs 0.5cent/”point” to claim that the WoH point is the most valuable hotel points currency. But you cannot do that because there is no such thing as a generic hotel “point”. Each program has its own points currency denomination that is not numerically equal 1:1 to any other, but is worth exactly the same as any other.
Notice that the denominators I used above are not just “point”, but ‘WoH point’ and ‘HH point’. Because 1 Hyatt point is not the same as 1 Hilton point, you cannot simply compare the magnitudes of the numerators (1.5cents vs. 0.5cent), and claim that the Hyatt point is worth more because that is an apples and oranges comparison that is as stupid as claiming, a priori, that
1.5cents/gallon gets you more gasoline that 0.4cent/liter.
Look at the denominators!, they are different.
1/2 + 3/2 = 4/2 = 2. We can just add the numerators because the denominators are the same.
1/2 + 2/3?You can't just add the numerators because the denominators are different!
The answer to (1/2 + 1/3) is (1+2)/6 = 3/6 0.5. We first had to find a common denominator the values in the denominator (2 & 3), which is 6, before adding the numerators (1+2).
The denominators must first be made the same before numbers in the numerators can be added, subtracted or compared.
Now we are ready to proceed. We know that 1 gallon = 3.8 liters. Therefore, we can convert gallons to liters:
1.5cents/gallon * 1gallon/3.8cents = 0.4cent/liter.
See?
1.5cents/gallon = 0.4cent/liter
either gets you exactly the same volume of gasoline per spend, even though 1.5 cent > 0.4 cent, in the same way that
1.5cents/WoH = 0.5cent/HH
means that the two points currencies are worth exactly the same.
The cash value of a Hyatt award costing 40K points is:
40K WoH points * $0.015/WoH point = $600
The cash value of Hilton award costing 120K points is:
120K WoH points * $0.005/WoH point = $600
Thus, a Hyatt award costing 40K/night points is exactly the same as a Hilton award costing 120K/night points (ratio of 3).
If you are still confused, which you are, I will be happy to take you to kindergarten to brush up on your knowledge of math at that level.
Bottom line: If you believe that the Chase WoH visa is valuable, then you must believe that the AMEX HH Surpass is just as valuable because both cards get you pretty much the same things!
G'day.
Oops: error!
for starting mixing number in my head (1/2+1/3) became (1/2+1/3)
The solution is: 1/2 + 2/3 = (3+4)/6 = 7/6!!!
Another correction though the error was clear (it was all HH rather than WoH)
The cash value of Hilton award costing 120K points is:
120K HHH points * $0.005/HH point = $600