# Maintenance fees and HHonors Card from AMEX



## ljmiii (Nov 19, 2015)

Does anyone know if Hilton Grand Vacation Club Maintenance fees count as "eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a participating hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio" and thus for a 7X bonus with the no annual fee Hilton HHonors Card from American Express?

Thanks in advance...I couldn't find the answer in a FAQ or thread.


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## Jason245 (Nov 19, 2015)

ljmiii said:


> Does anyone know if Hilton Grand Vacation Club Maintenance fees count as "eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a participating hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio" and thus for a 7X bonus with the no annual fee Hilton HHonors Card from American Express?
> 
> Thanks in advance...I couldn't find the answer in a FAQ or thread.



It was treated as a hilton expense when I used my AMEX surpass..

At 12 points/dollar I feel like I am almost getting a 5-6% discount on my MF (given value of those points).... That more or less covers the cost of the annual fee on the card. All my other spending in the high rewards catagories (hilton and grocery) becomes extra gravy to subsidize non TS vacations.


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## PigsDad (Nov 19, 2015)

I have the HHonors Amex Surpass card which gets 9 bonus points for Hilton brand purchases, and I received a total of 12 HHonors points per dollar when I charge my MFs to the card (9 bonus plus 3 regular).  

I would imagine you would get the bonus for the no-fee card as well.

My statement cutoff date is the 8th of the month, so I usually pay my MFs around Jan 10th (you get a 30-day grace period from Dec 31) so it gets on the Feb Amex statement.  Then I don't actually pay the bill until around March 1st!

Kurt


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## Jason245 (Nov 19, 2015)

PigsDad said:


> I have the HHonors Amex Surpass card which gets 9 bonus points for Hilton brand purchases, and I received a total of 12 HHonors points per dollar when I charge my MFs to the card (9 bonus plus 3 regular).
> 
> I would imagine you would get the bonus for the no-fee card as well.
> 
> ...



The other big plus is that if you wait until next year to pay it, you get some extra spend towards Diamond status (nice perk to have when staying at hotels).


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## ljmiii (Nov 19, 2015)

Jason245 said:


> It was treated as a hilton expense when I used my AMEX surpass...At 12 points/dollar I feel like I am almost getting a 5-6% discount on my MF....


Thank you (actually all of you) for your quick response. I just upgraded to the surpass card as the extra HHonors points on my MFs pretty much covers the annual fee. Everything else (e.g. the gold status and the extra points on my 'normal' Hilton stays) is just gravy.


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## JSparling (Nov 19, 2015)

For the Citi HHonors card (so I'd assume it's the same for Amex) - Yes, paying your MF's will count as a "Hilton purchase". So do your reservation fees, guest certificate fees, ect. We bought direct from HGVC a few years back and still have a few $'s on the loan. So we pay our loan with our Hilton card and they count those as a "Hilton purchase" as well so we get all the extra points.


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## brettskyg (Nov 19, 2015)

Does the same hold true on the CITI hhnonors cards?


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## JSparling (Nov 19, 2015)

brettskyg said:


> Does the same hold true on the CITI hhnonors cards?



That's actually the one I was talking about - I'll edit my post now.


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## flexonguy (Nov 19, 2015)

How many points do you get back on MF's with the CITI HH card?  That's the Visa correct???


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## JSparling (Nov 19, 2015)

Yes, the Visa. All Hilton purchases are 10x points. That really adds up with the Diamond bonus when you actually stay at a hotel. We have the Reserve Card. 

https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/credit-card-details/citi.action?ID=hilton-hhonors-reserve-card


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## brettskyg (Nov 19, 2015)

JSparling said:


> Yes, the Visa. All Hilton purchases are 10x points. That really adds up with the Diamond bonus when you actually stay at a hotel. We have the Reserve Card.
> 
> https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/credit-card-details/citi.action?ID=hilton-hhonors-reserve-card



It def adds up, but the values suck.  Good locations are 80,000 a night!


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## JSparling (Nov 19, 2015)

I don't worry about "good locations". If I want to stay at an Embassy Suites and can pay 30,000 points instead of $219 that's fine with me. Maybe I'm a peasant since I'm not staying at 80,000 point properties; most, if not all, of my stays are in the 30K or 40K categories which generally have rates in the $175 - $225 range per night. And I'll take 10x points for paying for things I had to pay for anyway.


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## 1Kflyerguy (Nov 19, 2015)

In my experience, everything you pay with your Hilton Amex counts as a "hotel" charge.  Reservation fees, MF, even buying unit from the developer will count... Not that i recommending a direct purchase just to get the points.. But if you were otherwise going to buy retail, try to pay with the Surpass Amex to get the points...


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## JSparling (Nov 19, 2015)

Just found this. Sounds like HHonors points are one of the worst as far as their cash value.

http://thepointsguy.com/2015/11/november-2015-monthly-valuations/


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## Jason245 (Nov 19, 2015)

JSparling said:


> Just found this. Sounds like HHonors points are one of the worst as far as their cash value.
> 
> http://thepointsguy.com/2015/11/november-2015-monthly-valuations/



half a penny a point. 

So for every $1 you spend on MF you get 12 points (valued at around  6 cents  by the points guy or 6% off your MF.

On groceries you get 6 points per dollar (~3% in value)

Just because the value of points is low, does mean that you can't earn a decent return on them.  I can't find another source that will give me 6% on my HGVC expenses, but if you have one, I am willing to try.


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## JSparling (Nov 19, 2015)

Jason245 said:


> half a penny a point.
> 
> So for every $1 you spend on MF you get 12 points (valued at around  6 cents  by the points guy or 6% off your MF.
> 
> ...



You're absolutely right. And getting 10x points to pay my MF's is great since I have to pay them anyway. If HGVC ever offers the option for lower MF's if you pay cash I may have to reconsider. But for now I'll take the 10x return and enjoy a free night here and there. You also get an annual free night at any level hotel just for having the card. So that's the time to stay at a level 10 hotel in Figi.


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## PigsDad (Nov 19, 2015)

I just took a look at my Feb Amex bill -- I received a little over 30K HHonors points for paying my MFs w/ Amex.  I'll take a free night anytime!  

I'm w/ JSparling -- most of our hotel stays are 30-40K.  They tend to be Homewood Suites or Embassy Suites.  Is there another CC out there that will get you a free night's lodging for a $2,500 spend?

Kurt


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## Jason245 (Nov 19, 2015)

PigsDad said:


> I just took a look at my Feb Amex bill -- I received a little over 30K HHonors points for paying my MFs w/ Amex.  I'll take a free night anytime!
> 
> I'm w/ JSparling -- most of our hotel stays are 30-40K.  They tend to be Homewood Suites or Embassy Suites.  Is there another CC out there that will get you a free night's lodging for a $2,500 spend?
> 
> Kurt



Not many, but if you need to meet a sign up bonus that spend can get you those bonus points.......


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## PigsDad (Nov 19, 2015)

Jason245 said:


> Not many, but if you need to meet a sign up bonus that spend can get you those bonus points.......


The intention of my question was outside of one-time or sign-up bonuses.  Although the HHonors affinity cards may not be the best, when paying MFs they are hard to beat.

Kurt


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## 1Kflyerguy (Nov 19, 2015)

JSparling said:


> Just found this. Sounds like HHonors points are one of the worst as far as their cash value.
> 
> http://thepointsguy.com/2015/11/november-2015-monthly-valuations/




I read this guys stuff regularly.  One thing to keep in mind with these valuation reports is your ability to earn and redeem the awards.  I travel a bunch for business and both United and Hilton serve my needs very well.  

Hyatt points are "worth" more but there are not many Hyatts near where i need to be.. 

I like to concentrate my points into a few program rather spread them out..Its easier to splurge on vacations that way.


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## vacationbear (Nov 19, 2015)

Great discussion!
So much info!

Looking at the various offers from CITI

http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/earn-use-points/credit-cards/index.html

which one is would be better: AMEX or VISA?  
The Surpass AMEX card certainly looks enticing...


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## Wgk101 (Nov 19, 2015)

PigsDad said:


> I have the HHonors Amex Surpass card which gets 9 bonus points for Hilton brand purchases, and I received a total of 12 HHonors points per dollar when I charge my MFs to the card (9 bonus plus 3 regular).
> 
> I would imagine you would get the bonus for the no-fee card as well.
> 
> ...



My cutoff date is January 9. Like you I usually wait until after the cutoff to gain the extra month to actually pay the bill.   However, last year after the first I tried to book a room for sanibel that was available in June.  They would not let me book because my mf was overdue.  So if you are trying to book a room right away in the new year your mf must be current


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## JSparling (Nov 20, 2015)

1Kflyerguy said:


> I read this guys stuff regularly.  One thing to keep in mind with these valuation reports is your ability to earn and redeem the awards.



Great point. Hyatt points can be worth much more to some people but if I can't earn them or use them they are worthless to me. On Hilton purchases I'm only earning 0.5 cents per point but that adds up if you have enough points via 10x Hilton purchases and double-Diamond bonuses and such. 

It's like a penny stock. If I own 100 shares it's worthless. But if I own a million shares I've got a little something going on.....


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## MikeinSoCal (Nov 24, 2015)

1Kflyerguy said:


> I read this guys stuff regularly.  One thing to keep in mind with these valuation reports is your ability to earn and redeem the awards.  I travel a bunch for business and both United and Hilton serve my needs very well.
> 
> Hyatt points are "worth" more but there are not many Hyatts near where i need to be..
> 
> I like to concentrate my points into a few program rather spread them out..Its easier to splurge on vacations that way.



Agreed.  I also read the folks over at Flyertalk too.  There's an art to earning, redeeming and churning points.


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## mjack47 (Nov 30, 2015)

How would you compare the benefit of paying MF with a Hilton Amex for hotel points vs paying with an airline card for miles , so I can fly to this vacation.


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## Jason245 (Nov 30, 2015)

mjack47 said:


> How would you compare the benefit of paying MF with a Hilton Amex for hotel points vs paying with an airline card for miles , so I can fly to this vacation.



How many miles would you get for paying with airline card?
How many more would you need to get free flight?
How many hotel points would you get?
How many would you need for a free night?

How much do you value those Hotel Points?
How much do you value those Miles?

Each person has to make decisions that make the most sense for them.


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