If you stay sometimes at Hilton hotels, but the $150 fee on the Hilton Honors Surpass or the $550 on the Hilton Aspire Card, Amex has got you covered with their Hilton Honors Amex card. This card is Hilton’s entry-level card with no annual fee. Now the question here is, is this card worth getting over a straight 2% cashback card?
This blog is for entertainment purposes only and is not financial advice. I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card. The information on this page has been collected independently, and all information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.
Welcome Offer
The Hilton Honors credit card has a welcome offer of 70 000 Hilton points after you spend a very reasonable $2 000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Hilton points are not a particularly valuable currency, however, and have a value of around 0.5 ¢/pt, which is lower than another other rewards currency we’ve discussed on this blog. 70 000 Hilton points have a value of around $350.
Earnings
The Hilton Honors card has two bonus categories that are relatively standard for a co-branded travel card. The first bonus category is on Hilton purchases; the card offers 7x points/$ at Hilton hotels, which is a return of around 3.5%, and these points are on top of the standard points earned at a Hilton hotel. The second bonus category covers dining, groceries, and gas (but only in the US); the card offers 5x points/$ in this category, for a return of around 2.5%. All other purchases earn 3x points/$, for a return of around 1.5%. Given that this is a no-annual co-branded fee card, these multipliers are pretty good and are way better than the Bonvoy Bold.
Like with most co-branded cards, for all these categories, there are better cards, however.
Benefits
Most hotel credit cards offer both free nights and status perks, but since this card has no annual fee, it only offers complimentary status. The card provides complimentary entry-level silver status with Hilton just for holding the card (which can be upgraded to Gold after spending $20 000 on the card in a calendar year).
Hilton silver status, like most entry-level statuses, offers somewhat limited perks, such as 20% bonus points and the fifth night free on award stays.
How to use the points
The main use for Hilton points is to redeem them for stays at Hilton hotels. Hilton has a substantial global footprint and some great aspirational properties. Hilton, like Marriott, uses dynamic pricing for award stays, so availability is great, but the nights often require 100k+ points. Recently, however, I’ve been struggling to find good deals on points redemptions through Hilton, and I’m mildly concerned the point valuation is going to drop to 0.4 ¢/pt.
Examples of using the card
These examples assume you spend all your hotel budget at Hilton.
Spend per month
| Example A | Example B | Example C | Example D | |||||
| Groceries (5x) | $300 | 1 500 | $200 | 1 000 | $600 | 3 000 | $400 | 2 000 |
| Gas (5x) | $0 | 0 | $100 | 500 | $200 | 1 000 | $100 | 500 |
| Airfare (3x) | $700 | 2 100 | $200 | 600 | $0 | 0 | $400 | 1 200 |
| Hotels (7x) | $1 000 | 7 000 | $200 | 1 400 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 2 100 |
| Gen Travel (3x) | $400 | 1 200 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 900 | $100 | 300 |
| Dining (5x) | $600 | 3 000 | $300 | 1 500 | $300 | 1 500 | $0 | 0 |
| General (3x) | $1 000 | 3 000 | $500 | 1 500 | $500 | 1 500 | $400 | 1 200 |
| Total | $4 000 | 17 800 | $1 500 | 6 500 | $1 700 | 7 900 | $1 700 | 6 800 |
| Average points/$ | 4.45 | 4.33 | 4.64 | 4.00 |
The Hilton Honors card’s bonus categories means that the average points earned is 4.00 – 4.64 points/$, which is worth 2 – 2.32 ¢/$, with the valuation of 0.5 ¢/point. The low value of Hilton points means that although this card offers a high number of points/$, the overall return is largely in-line with other (good) no annual fee cards.
Specific examples
These examples include the bonus points earned from getting Hilton silver status from the card.
Specific examples
These examples include the bonus points earned from getting Hilton Diamond status from the card.
| Card | American Airlines Economy Class ($750) (% return) | Hilton Hotel night ($230/night) | Points values (AA/Hotel) |
| No rewards card | 3 500 AA miles (7%) | 2 000 HP (4.3%) | $52.50 / $10.00 |
| General 2% cashback card | 3 500 AA miles + $15 (9%) | 2 000 HP + $4.60 (5.3%) | $67.50 / $14.60 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 3 500 AA miles + 1 500 UR points (10%) | 2 000 HP + 460 UR points (9.1%) | $75.00 / $16.90 |
| Hilton Amex Card | 3 500 AA miles + 2 250 Hilton points (8.5%) | 4 010 Hilton points (%) | $63.75 / $20.05 |
| Hilton Aspire Card | 3 500 AA miles + 5 250 Hilton points (10.5%) | 7 220 Hilton points (10.9%) | $78.75 / $36.10 |
Is this credit card right for you?
Like a lot of hotel credit cards, if you stay at Hiltons frequently, this card could make sense. If you never stay at Hilton hotels, then this card has little use for you. However, I do not personally recommend this card over other travel cards. Hilton status is easy to come by (especially silver status). The lack of free night certificate on this card really limits the long-term value of it for me, since there are better ways to earn points on hotel stays and get free nights at Hilton hotels. I’d say this card is best viewed as a product change card if you want to avoid paying higher annual fees, rather than a new card to pick up.
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