Hilton AmEx cards

[ljmiii]

The Surpass is actually better for everyday spend than the Aspire. We only use the Aspire for hotel charges and airline. Surpass gets most of the spend, at least until $15k...

On a slightly different topic...does anyone with Surpass remember the last time AMEX offered a SUB for upgrading to the Aspire? I just hit 15K and with the increase in the annual spend requirement to get Diamond (from $30K to $40K) I'm thinking of getting an Aspire card. Particularly if they keep the ability to count buying United Travelbank Cash as an airline purchase.

I have a vague memory of it being the end of 2022...but it could well have been 2021. And when I applied for a new Aspire, AMEX said I already had too many AMEX cards...

 

[ernststarhemberg]

On a slightly different topic...does anyone with Surpass remember the last time AMEX offered a SUB for upgrading to the Aspire? I just hit 15K and with the increase in the annual spend requirement to get Diamond (from $30K to $40K) I'm thinking of getting an Aspire card. Particularly if they keep the ability to count buying United Travelbank Cash as an airline purchase.

I have a vague memory of it being the end of 2022...but it could well have been 2021. And when I applied for a new Aspire, AMEX said I already had too many AMEX cards...

Over the past several years I've upgraded and downgraded between Amex Gold and Platinum, and Amex Hilton Surpass and Aspire depending on spending habits, and it they always give me the bonuses.

For instance I downgraded from Platinum to Gold when COVID hit, then upgraded back to Platinum in 2022. Received the 80,000 Amex points Platinum SUB a few months later.

And ditto when I bumped my Surpass back up to Aspire it gave me the 150,000 HHonors SUB again once I hit the required spend.

Not sure if there is a time limit that has to pass - maybe six months or a year - but can confirm that if you downgrade then upgrade again some time later you can get the SUBs.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

I came to buy a TS and they sold me a credit card! I'm reading that once I have HGVC MFs to pay, Hilton's Aspire card is a must, pays for itself and more. Right?
I just let a Surpass promo offer expire but I am sure I will get another one. Sounds like Surpass doesn't have the MF kickback, so for an HGVC owner the Aspire is the way to go?
Also, I will start paying TWO HGVC MFs for 2 weeks I am buying. Do I get the $250 back for both of them? Kalia & Boulevard they are. As long as both qualify, there is no limit on $250 resort credits for a single Aspire, right?
I guess last question, does Hilton have these "bonus promos" for the Aspire, like the one I have seen for the Surpass?

 

[ernststarhemberg]

I came to buy a TS and they sold me a credit card! I'm reading that once I have HGVC MFs to pay, Hilton's Aspire card is a must, pays for itself and more. Right?
I just let a Surpass promo offer expire but I am sure I will get another one. Sounds like Surpass doesn't have the MF kickback, so for an HGVC owner the Aspire is the way to go?
Also, I will start paying TWO HGVC MFs for 2 weeks I am buying. Do I get the $250 back for both of them? Kalia & Boulevard they are. As long as both qualify, there is no limit on $250 resort credits for a single Aspire, right?
I guess last question, does Hilton have these "bonus promos" for the Aspire, like the one I have seen for the Surpass?

Re: bonus promos on Aspire - Yes they come often.

As an owner the Aspire card is very handy. The $250 resort credit does work with MFs, and also works for room charges and bar tabs charged to the room if the Aspire card is used to pay for room charges. Only one $250 credit per annum per primary account holder, though. So no double dipping, you get $250 per card year, use it however you'd like.

The Diamond status (if you don't already have it) is also handy and the free night reward is useful, too. I value the free night reward at a very conservative $250, but it can be redeemed at locations with a much higher value, as well.

Between the $250 resort credit which ALL owners will use, if at least for MFs, and the $250 free night reward, the Aspire has already more than covered its $450 annual fee.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Re: bonus promos on Aspire - Yes they come often.

As an owner the Aspire card is very handy. The $250 resort credit does work with MFs, and also works for room charges and bar tabs charged to the room if the Aspire card is used to pay for room charges. Only one $250 credit per annum per primary account holder, though. So no double dipping, you get $250 per card year, use it however you'd like.

The Diamond status (if you don't already have it) is also handy and the free night reward is useful, too. I value the free night reward at a very conservative $250, but it can be redeemed at locations with a much higher value, as well.

Between the $250 resort credit which ALL owners will use, if at least for MFs, and the $250 free night reward, the Aspire has already more than covered its $450 annual fee.

thanks much. May I make sure, when you and others say "The $250 resort credit does work with MFs", do you mean I can pay the MFs in Yr(N+1) with the $250 credit from Yr(N)? Or you're just confirming that "yes, pay MFs with Aspire, get a $250 credit to be used AT THE RESORT in some way".
which raises the 2nd question; I don't expect to go to Boulevard. If we get 2 Aspires, is the Blvd $250 credit usable anywhere in HI or Macalpin or Italy or etc?

I just remembered the Gr Wailea is officially a Hilton. I guess I could use 2 nights there if forced to. As long as the people from that TV show (The Orchid?) don't show up

 

[rickandcindy23]

I came to buy a TS and they sold me a credit card! I'm reading that once I have HGVC MFs to pay, Hilton's Aspire card is a must, pays for itself and more. Right?
I just let a Surpass promo offer expire but I am sure I will get another one. Sounds like Surpass doesn't have the MF kickback, so for an HGVC owner the Aspire is the way to go?
Also, I will start paying TWO HGVC MFs for 2 weeks I am buying. Do I get the $250 back for both of them? Kalia & Boulevard they are. As long as both qualify, there is no limit on $250 resort credits for a single Aspire, right?
I guess last question, does Hilton have these "bonus promos" for the Aspire, like the one I have seen for the Surpass?

You bought developer? Why? You should rescind and buy resale.

We have the Aspire CC and it mostly pays for itself. It's got the free hotel night and the airline fees that are reimbursed ($5.60 on SW X ##).

I have also sometimes gotten the $25.00 X 10 nights credit back at the Kings'land Hilton because we trade in. It's an RCI fee. We will see if that comes off here in a few weeks. It worked two years ago.

If the price of the card goes up, I will drop it. I do think I should try to get a better hotel room than a Hampton Inn with the free night, but that is another story, and a boring one at that.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

You bought developer? Why? You should rescind and buy resale.

We have the Aspire CC and it mostly pays for itself. It's got the free hotel night and the airline fees that are reimbursed ($5.60 on SW X ##).

I have also sometimes gotten the $25.00 X 10 nights credit back at the Kings'land Hilton because we trade in. It's an RCI fee. We will see if that comes off here in a few weeks. It worked two years ago.

If the price of the card goes up, I will drop it. I do think I should try to get a better hotel room than a Hampton Inn with the free night, but that is another story, and a boring one at that.

no no. I bought resale. I was saying I came here while firming up plans to buy resale and now I may get a credit card even before my weeks close ... which ... long process.
Today, I posted my TS presentation joke in a thread in the buying/selling section.
There are Hilton's (Waldorf's maybe) in Los Cabos & Cabo San that beat the heck out of a Hampton. Though, there are Hamptons in great spots that are a great deal due to lack of resort fees.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

And the free night which we value

Yes, but the 5th night free comes with using Hilton Honors points, you don't need the credit card for that, other than the card may help you earn points..

thanks much. May I make sure, when you and others say "The $250 resort credit does work with MFs", do you mean I can pay the MFs in Yr(N+1) with the $250 credit from Yr(N)? Or you're just confirming that "yes, pay MFs with Aspire, get a $250 credit to be used AT THE RESORT in some way".
which raises the 2nd question; I don't expect to go to Boulevard. If we get 2 Aspires, is the Blvd $250 credit usable anywhere in HI or Macalpin or Italy or etc?

I just remembered the Gr Wailea is officially a Hilton. I guess I could use 2 nights there if forced to. As long as the people from that TV show (The Orchid?) don't show up

The resort credit works for the MF at some, but not all HGV MF. It depends if the resort you own is considered a "resort" by Hilton Hotels, Not everything with Resort in the name is classified as a resort. Don't want things to be too easy..

 

[ernststarhemberg]

thanks much. May I make sure, when you and others say "The $250 resort credit does work with MFs", do you mean I can pay the MFs in Yr(N+1) with the $250 credit from Yr(N)? Or you're just confirming that "yes, pay MFs with Aspire, get a $250 credit to be used AT THE RESORT in some way".

Both. Sort of.

You can use the resort credit to pay MFs, I don't think the year matters, as long as the charge goes through as a HGV MF payment. You can check to see which HGV locations qualify as "resorts" for purposes of activating the MF credit here: https://www.hilton.com/en/resorts/

Make sure the location selected has the "Resorts" icon in the amenities list. Most HGV locations qualify as resorts, but some don't.

In lieu of the MFs, the resort credit can be used to cover resort charges to the room the Aspire card was used to secure (e.g. restaurant and bar tabs at the resort)

which raises the 2nd question; I don't expect to go to Boulevard. If we get 2 Aspires, is the Blvd $250 credit usable anywhere in HI or Macalpin or Italy or etc?

I just remembered the Gr Wailea is officially a Hilton. I guess I could use 2 nights there if forced to. As long as the people from that TV show (The Orchid?) don't show up

If any of those locations are "resorts" per Hilton, yes, the $250 credit for additional resort amenity charges should trigger the $250 credit.

 

[brp]

I dual wield the Amex Platinum and the Hilton Aspire.

Aspire is the daily spend card. Restaurants, groceries, hotels, etc.

Amex Platinum is for digital subscriptions like XM and Audible ($240 annual credit), annual CLEAR membership ($189 - free with card), full reimbursement for Global Entry/Precheck renewals, Walmart+ ($155 annually, free with card), National rental car Executive Aisle (upgraded cars for the base Emerald Aisle price), and primarily AIRPLANE TICKETS - 5x Amex points on airlines, which for Delta convert 1:1 into Skymiles, so Amex Platinum beats Delta's own cobranded Amexes in that regard. The $15/mo Uber/Uber Eats credit is used intermittently, but always used when we travel. So for the perks that I use the Amex Platinum pays for itself and then some.

I dual wield both of these as well. Plus I have a Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. mrs. brp has an Aspire as well.

Our every day spend, though, is on cards that get us Hyatt points (either directly or via Chase UR) as this is a better hotel experience for us that Hilton, in general.

We did just have a nice Embassy Suites two-nighter in Napa, though.

Cheers.

 

[Nowaker]

The Blue Preferred is what we use for everyday stuff. We only use the Platinum and Aspire for travel related and the perks.

Consider replacing BCP with Surpass for a better cashback rate. Effective cashback on Surpass pre-$15K goal is 7% on general spending assuming $.009 value of HH and $600 value of FNC. And 10% if you put gas & supermarket spend on it. I used to have 2 BCPs but now rocking 2 Surpasses.

In general, I think one should have one Aspire for Diamond and other stuff, and then as many Surpasses as you can make multiples of $15K a year. Can make $45K? Get 3 Surpasses. Afterwards, fill with Aspires again for free MFs.

Amex has a limit of 5 credit cards per holder. Plus, unlimited charge cards (like Plat, Gold, etc).

I currently have Aspire, Surpass, Hilton Business (which is a variation of Surpass, basically), free Hilton card, Delta Plat - Which is max 5 cards. Plus Amex Plat which isn't a CC. I'm planning to either drop regular Hilton to get Amex Marriott card (If I'm not in a signup bonus popup jail), or product change it to either Surpass or Aspire if no SUB on Marriott for me. I'm at $35/$60K on my Hilton Business for the second FNC, and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do $25K on H Biz and $15K on a PCed new Surpass, so will probably get Aspire. Unsure yet.

 

[Nowaker]

On a slightly different topic...does anyone with Surpass remember the last time AMEX offered a SUB for upgrading to the Aspire? I just hit 15K and with the increase in the annual spend requirement to get Diamond (from $30K to $40K) I'm thinking of getting an Aspire card.

Upgrade SUBs are tiny. Just get a new card for a full SUB.*

And don't you ever thing about downgrading your Surpass to the free no-AF Hilton card. It's because that free card also has a nice SUB that you shouldn't walk past indifferently.

I got all SUBs. Aspire, Surpass, Business, and regular. Multiplied by two for my wife (minus Business)

*Upgrade SUBs are useful when you already drained a SUB on a higher tier card that you subsequently downgraded. When you're in need of a higher tier card while holding a lower tier, E.g. you have the free Amex Delta card, and you have an upcoming trip with Delta and bumping to Gold would get you free checked bags, doing that and getting a small 10,000 Delta miles bonus is a good move. Done it once.

 

[frank808]

On a slightly different topic...does anyone with Surpass remember the last time AMEX offered a SUB for upgrading to the Aspire? I just hit 15K and with the increase in the annual spend requirement to get Diamond (from $30K to $40K) I'm thinking of getting an Aspire card. Particularly if they keep the ability to count buying United Travelbank Cash as an airline purchase.

I have a vague memory of it being the end of 2022...but it could well have been 2021. And when I applied for a new Aspire, AMEX said I already had too many AMEX cards...

Last time I got an offer from Surpass to Aspire, my Surpass fee was $75 and grandfathered in at that rate. They send me an upgrade to Aspire for 120K HH points and I did that.

Amex is usually no more than 5 credit cards and 10 charge cards per Social Security number (AMEX Business credit cards are counted as part of the 5). Credit cards allow you to carry a balance. Charge cards are due at end of month like Amex green, Gold and Platinum(but now AMEX has pay over time). Wife and I did get a 6th AMEX credit card about 7 months ago, so that rule seems to have softened a bit in my experience.

 

[frank808]

Consider replacing BCP with Surpass for a better cashback rate. Effective cashback on Surpass pre-$15K goal is 7% on general spending assuming $.009 value of HH and $600 value of FNC. And 10% if you put gas & supermarket spend on it. I used to have 2 BCPs but now rocking 2 Surpasses.

In general, I think one should have one Aspire for Diamond and other stuff, and then as many Surpasses as you can make multiples of $15K a year. Can make $45K? Get 3 Surpasses. Afterwards, fill with Aspires again for free MFs.

Amex has a limit of 5 credit cards per holder. Plus, unlimited charge cards (like Plat, Gold, etc).

I currently have Aspire, Surpass, Hilton Business (which is a variation of Surpass, basically), free Hilton card, Delta Plat - Which is max 5 cards. Plus Amex Plat which isn't a CC. I'm planning to either drop regular Hilton to get Amex Marriott card (If I'm not in a signup bonus popup jail), or product change it to either Surpass or Aspire if no SUB on Marriott for me. I'm at $35/$60K on my Hilton Business for the second FNC, and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do $25K on H Biz and $15K on a PCed new Surpass, so will probably get Aspire. Unsure yet.

It used to be 5 credit cards per social security number but recently, AMEX might be softening that stance of max 5 credit card rule.

 

[Zenichiro]

Upgrade SUBs are tiny. Just get a new card for a full SUB.*

And don't you ever thing about downgrading your Surpass to the free no-AF Hilton card. It's because that free card also has a nice SUB that you shouldn't walk past indifferently.

I got all SUBs. Aspire, Surpass, Business, and regular. Multiplied by two for my wife (minus Business)

*Upgrade SUBs are useful when you already drained a SUB on a higher tier card that you subsequently downgraded. When you're in need of a higher tier card while holding a lower tier, E.g. you have the free Amex Delta card, and you have an upcoming trip with Delta and bumping to Gold would get you free checked bags, doing that and getting a small 10,000 Delta miles bonus is a good move. Done it once.

Yea I just grabbed the free no-AF Hilton for the free night promo and 80k pts for $1k spend. Sweet deal

 

[ljmiii]

It used to be 5 credit cards per social security number but recently, AMEX might be softening that stance of max 5 credit card rule.

Sadly, I did apply for the Aspire...and was given the 5 card max rule as the reason.

 

[frank808]

Sadly, I did apply for the Aspire...and was given the 5 card max rule as the reason.

Wife and I applied about 7 months ago and were approved for our 6th Amex credit card. Did you do this recently or was this over 6 months ago?

 

[Nowaker]

Sadly, I did apply for the Aspire...and was given the 5 card max rule as the reason.

If you did it just now, and you're declined, you can quickly close an account you don't want, and then call the Amex reconsideration line, and tell them you no longer have 5 cards, and you'll get it. Source: I did the same half a year ago.

 

[Nowaker]

Wife and I applied about 7 months ago and were approved for our 6th Amex credit card. Did you do this recently or was this over 6 months ago?

6th Amex CC... Did you include Amex Plat, Gold, Green in the count or not? Because these don't count (or didn't count) towards the 5 CC maximum. Just double checking.

 

[letsgobobby]

i'm rethinking the value of the FNCs, specifically if we move spome spending from CSR to Surpass we could easily get two more FNCs per year. But not going to do right now, will wait til CY24.

question: if i sign up in Dec to start my CY spend in Jan, and hit $15k say in April, what would be the dates of validity of the FNC? and when would I receive it?

 

[Nowaker]

question: if i sign up in Dec to start my CY spend in Jan, and hit $15k say in April, what would be the dates of validity of the FNC? and when would I receive it?

12 months from the issuance of the FNC. That is the moment you receive an email from Hilton (not from Amex).

 

[WaikikiFirst]

I went to hh website to look at Aspire. It says "$250 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline to receive up to $250 per calendar year in statement credits for incidental fees charged by the airline to your Card". INCIDENTAL fees. Did I misunderstand & this $250 is not good for actual flights? Or did they recently downgrade this? Or am I just missing something?

ps: can anyone confirm that the $250 "Hilton Resorts" credit is definitely good for Kalia HHV MFs. I went to the hilton /resorts page and I never see Kalia mentioned in the search results, though I am not sure if every tower/building in HHV gets its own listing. I have uneasy feeling that LV Blvd and Kalia may both be N/A for the $250 "Hilton Resorts" credit, after searching thru those pages

 

[ljmiii]

Wife and I applied about 7 months ago and were approved for our 6th Amex credit card. Did you do this recently or was this over 6 months ago?

Within the past month

 

[Nowaker]

INCIDENTAL fees. Did I misunderstand & this $250 is not good for actual flights? Or did they recently downgrade this? Or am I just missing something?

Correct. Bag fees, seats, and in-flight charges. Only when paid separately from the ticket.

First class upgrade, or main cabin extra upgrade on AA don't qualify.

There's a hack for United: adding funds to United's Travel Bank counts as incidentals. Then you can spend it on tickets. Had I known this beforehand, I would have elected United on my 2x Aspire and 1x Plat and have $700 to spend on United tickets. I'll definitely do that for 2024.

 

[brp]

There's a hack for United: adding funds to United's Travel Bank counts as incidentals. Then you can spend it on tickets. Had I known this beforehand, I would have elected United on my 2x Aspire and 1x Plat and have $700 to spend on United tickets. I'll definitely do that for 2024.

It also works for Southwest tickets, but may involve some gift certificates as well, depending upon price. Not an airline we fly much, but it doesn't make many $107 fares to use this up. Also works for lounge membership.

Cheers.