# HHonors Credit Card?



## PDXGolfer (Apr 5, 2015)

Aside from earning HHonors points, is there any real benefit for an HGVC member to get an HHonors Credit Card (Citi or Amex)?  We don't use Hilton Hotels much, but certainly enjoy spending time at HGVC resorts.  Thus, we don't anticipate wanting to convert HGVC points to HHonors points.  And, as I understand, you can't convert HHonors to HGVC points.  Am I missing something?


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## brp (Apr 5, 2015)

Nope. You've pretty much got it. If you're not going to use Hilton Hotels (and HHonors points) much, then there is no real benefit to HHonors cards. We stay at Hiltons a lot, so I have a HHonors Visa and mrs. brp has a HHoniors Surpass Amex so that we get HHonors Diamond every year based on spend. Comes in handy when staying at Hiltons.

Cheers.


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## PDXGolfer (Apr 5, 2015)

Thanks, brp!


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## x3 skier (Apr 5, 2015)

Another benefit is no foreign exchange fees if you get the top level card and if you travel outside the USA. Other cards also have this feature and still others don't. 

Cheers


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## Talent312 (Apr 5, 2015)

We have both a HH Am-Ex and a Cap-One Venture (Visa) card.
Ever since HH raised point-rates, we use Cap-One for nearly everything.
We only use the AmEx for stays at Hilton (bonus pts) and as a back-up.
.


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## brp (Apr 5, 2015)

x3 skier said:


> Another benefit is no foreign exchange fees if you get the top level card and if you travel outside the USA. Other cards also have this feature and still others don't.
> 
> Cheers



That's interesting. I hadn't realized that. The Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card is a Visa with a $95/year fee and no Forex fee. The Hilton HHonors™ Surpass® Card from American Express is $75/year and does not have this Forex fee advantage.

mrs. brp has the Amex, and we use it for Diamond status. Both cards give this benefit at $40K spend. Right now CostCo only takes Amex, and we do a good bit of spend there. They will change in 2016 to Visa, so it may be time to reconsider.

As for the Forex fee (2.7% on the Surpass card), it would require $740.74 in annual foreign spend to compensate for the $20 additional charge. We probably do spend that, but I have an Amex Platinum that also get waived Forex fees, and I pay part of it. It might be close for mrs. brp.

Cheers.


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## Duanerice (Apr 6, 2015)

I have a HH Visa and the reason I got it was it came with 2 free nights basically anywhere except for the timeshares and a few other properties.

So, I am getting 2 nights at the Waldorf for free.  Not a bad deal for a credit card with no fee.  I only use it otherwise when I stay at a Hilton.
enjoy


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## RichardL (May 5, 2015)

As a HGVC maintaince fee payor I appreciate the extra points at HH.  Just returned from Rome and appreciated 2 free nights at the Waldorf, and HH allows cash and points so my stay in Florence was at a discounted rate.  Plus as a visa card holder I have Gold Status which means free breakfast which can be expensive in Europe.

So I am very Happy with my citi bank Hilton card.


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## PDXGolfer (Jun 11, 2015)

Different twist to my original post:  What if access to airport lounges is worth a modest annual fee to us and, in the process, we wouldn't mind earning HHonors points?  Would the Amex Surpass card be worth considering?  I see it's a $75 annual fee, and a $29 fee per person to access the airport lounges.  For those who have the Surpass card, have you been happy with it?  Are the lounges easy to use when traveling with family (not just by myself)?

We're looking to get some rewards out of paying our annual MF and booking fees (on more than one HGVC VOI), but are not sure if an HHonors-related credit card is the way to go.  I've also seen the other HHonors cards without annual fees, but those don't include the airport lounge access perk.  Any non-HHonors cards with lounge access that are worth considering?  We're not inclined to pay the $400+ annual fee for an Amex Platinum just for lounge access (might as well just pay the $75 annual fee for the Surpass).

Thoughts?


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## tante (Jun 11, 2015)

PDXGolfer said:


> Different twist to my original post:  What if access to airport lounges is worth a modest annual fee to us and, in the process, we wouldn't mind earning HHonors points?  Would the Amex Surpass card be worth considering?  I see it's a $75 annual fee, and a $29 fee per person to access the airport lounges.  For those who have the Surpass card, have you been happy with it?  Are the lounges easy to use when traveling with family (not just by myself)?
> 
> We're looking to get some rewards out of paying our annual MF and booking fees (on more than one HGVC VOI), but are not sure if an HHonors-related credit card is the way to go.  I've also seen the other HHonors cards without annual fees, but those don't include the airport lounge access perk.  Any non-HHonors cards with lounge access that are worth considering?  We're not inclined to pay the $400+ annual fee for an Amex Platinum just for lounge access (might as well just pay the $75 annual fee for the Surpass).
> 
> Thoughts?



What airline do you fly the most and how often would you use a lounge pass.


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## PDXGolfer (Jun 12, 2015)

We usually just fly the airlines with the best prices for our dates of travel, but those tend to be Delta, Alaska and/or United.  We already have the Delta Skymiles Amex (which offers lounge access but only to the primary cardholder and only at Delta lounges), and the Alaska Visa (which does not offer any lounge access).  When available, we would definitely use the lounge access.


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## Jason245 (Jun 12, 2015)

PDXGolfer said:


> Different twist to my original post:  What if access to airport lounges is worth a modest annual fee to us and, in the process, we wouldn't mind earning HHonors points?  Would the Amex Surpass card be worth considering?  I see it's a $75 annual fee, and a $29 fee per person to access the airport lounges.  For those who have the Surpass card, have you been happy with it?  Are the lounges easy to use when traveling with family (not just by myself)?
> 
> We're looking to get some rewards out of paying our annual MF and booking fees (on more than one HGVC VOI), but are not sure if an HHonors-related credit card is the way to go.  I've also seen the other HHonors cards without annual fees, but those don't include the airport lounge access perk.  Any non-HHonors cards with lounge access that are worth considering?  We're not inclined to pay the $400+ annual fee for an Amex Platinum just for lounge access (might as well just pay the $75 annual fee for the Surpass).
> 
> Thoughts?




I think the question you should ask is how much do you value HH points, and will  you use them?

For example:

I value each HH point at $0.005 per point (half a cent). MF and membership and reservation fees for my TS run me ~$1500/year to hilton. $1500 *12pts = 18,000 points which I value at ~ $90. Factor in the automatic Gold HH status at it has more than paid for its self. I am also using the card at grocery stores (~6PTs/Dollar ).  Amex offers occasionally gives me some value as well (like the sams club deal where I spend $25 and get $25 back, or the cell phone bill pay deals).  Since I spend enough on the card every year, I get the Diamond status (which has resulted in some nice upgrades and other benefits when we stay at hotels).  

If your goal is lounge access, I would NOT get this card, IMHO that is a BS perk that I have never used (even when I used to fly 80k miles a year).  If I fly international I usually go business and get the perk automatically and generally don't have any interest in arriving at an airport extra early or having an extended layover with the intent of sitting in a generally overcrowed lounge with mediocare food/drinks.  Domestic travel is usually non stop when possible and or short layovers if necessary.


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## MichaelColey (Jun 12, 2015)

PDXGolfer said:


> Different twist to my original post:  What if access to airport lounges is worth a modest annual fee to us and, in the process, we wouldn't mind earning HHonors points?  Would the Amex Surpass card be worth considering?  I see it's a $75 annual fee, and a $29 fee per person to access the airport lounges.  For those who have the Surpass card, have you been happy with it?  Are the lounges easy to use when traveling with family (not just by myself)?


The Priority Pass included with the Hilton Surpass card is fairly worthless, IMHO.  It cost exactly what it says: $29 *per person*.  If you're a family of 5, that's $145 for a day.  It's hard to justify that, especially for what is often only an hour or less.

I love my Hilton Surpass card, but this is one benefit that I don't use.


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## brp (Jun 12, 2015)

MichaelColey said:


> The Priority Pass included with the Hilton Surpass card is fairly worthless, IMHO.  It cost exactly what it says: $29 *per person*.  If you're a family of 5, that's $145 for a day.  It's hard to justify that, especially for what is often only an hour or less.
> 
> I love my Hilton Surpass card, but this is one benefit that I don't use.



Agreed. I have an Amex Platinum that gets me a Priority Pass with free access. mrs. brp has the Surpass with the $29 fee. So, even though it would be $29 for both of us, we don't find it worth it and don't use this feature. Definitely not one of the Surpass perks we use.

To be fair, we primarily fly AA, and I do have an Admiral's Club membership, plus we get Centurion Lounge access via the Amex. But our home airport (SJC) has a Priority Pass lounge, and we don't use it.

Cheers.


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## tante (Jun 12, 2015)

What about the citi prestige? You get access to American lounges plus they give you a $250 that can be used for anything airline related, including lounge access.

The fee is pretty high but might be worth having for one year.


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## 1Kflyerguy (Jun 12, 2015)

The other issue with Priority Pass or any other non-airline specific lounge program is the location of the lounges.

Yes, they have lounges at many airports but usually only one or two specific lounges.  If i am flying United connecting in Chicago,  having access to the AirFrance lounge in the international terminal is not very useful.. 

With many airports you could spend 30 mins or more walking between terminals...


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## solonas (Jun 12, 2015)

If it is lounge access you want, the Citi Prestige is a good contender and the signup bonus is very attractive.  The $250 airline credit is good for anything including tickets or for other lounges if that is what you want to use it towards.

I'm with Jason on skipping the lounge, it is a nice perk if you have a long layover but I try to minimize layovers as much as possible when traveling. If you don't travel as part of your job, you probably won't get a great deal of utility from the lounge access considering the annual fees on the cards that offer it. Flight delays are really the only time I see where the lounge perk would shine for me.


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## brp (Jun 12, 2015)

solonas said:


> I'm with Jason on skipping the lounge, it is a nice perk if you have a long layover but I try to minimize layovers as much as possible when traveling. If you don't travel as part of your job, you probably won't get a great deal of utility from the lounge access considering the annual fees on the cards that offer it.



For most, probably true. We travel 100K+ miles each year, all personal, but we're certainly an exception. For us, lounge access makes sense, and even the $450 for Amex Plat makes sense considering how much comes back in credits and perks.

Layovers too short have fair risk of misconnect. If I really need to get there, I'll book the longer layover as a precaution.

Cheers.


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## solonas (Jun 12, 2015)

brp said:


> we're certainly an exception.



Indeed, you are.  If I flew that much I'd value lounge access too! As it is, I only fly once or twice a year. It would be tough for me to extract enough value to justify keeping either the Amex Platinum or the Citi Prestige.


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## PDXGolfer (Jun 12, 2015)

Thanks for all the valuable feedback.  For those of you with the Citi Prestige, do you know if payment of HGVC fees (maintenance, booking, etc) counts as "hotel" spending that would fall within the 3x ThankYou Points category?  Or does it count as "other" spending that would fall within the 1x category?

The terms and conditions on the Citi website define the "hotel" category as follows:  "Hotels are classified as merchants that provide sleeping or meeting room accommodations, and may include goods and services that are on a bill for these accommodations by a hotel, motel or inn."


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## tante (Jun 12, 2015)

PDXGolfer said:


> Thanks for all the valuable feedback.  For those of you with the Citi Prestige, do you know if payment of HGVC fees (maintenance, booking, etc) counts as "hotel" spending that would fall within the 3x ThankYou Points category?  Or does it count as "other" spending that would fall within the 1x category?
> 
> The terms and conditions on the Citi website define the "hotel" category as follows:  "Hotels are classified as merchants that provide sleeping or meeting room accommodations, and may include goods and services that are on a bill for these accommodations by a hotel, motel or inn."



Why don't you keep a no annual fee hilton card for that. Would easily get you gold status.


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## solonas (Jun 12, 2015)

tante said:


> Why don't you keep a no annual fee hilton card for that. Would easily get you gold status.



Uh, how?  You need 20k in spending to get gold on the no-fee Hilton cards. That's a lot of maintenance fees and booking fees in one year (what OP asked about)!  You'd be better off putting that amount of spending on a premium card than the no-fee version, you'll get more points (and/or status) that way IMO.

Regarding the Prestige and the maintenance fees, it should be the same as how the Hilton branded cards from Citi treats the charges.  I'm fairly certain several people have confirmed that it gets coded as a Hilton Hotel. It is very rare for it to be treated differently by the same bank for different products, the codes only change based on if it is Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or Amex.


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## tante (Jun 12, 2015)

solonas said:


> Uh, how?  You need 20k in spending to get gold on the no-fee Hilton cards. That's a lot of maintenance fees and booking fees in one year (what OP asked about)!  You'd be better off putting that amount of spending on a premium card than the no-fee version, you'll get more points (and/or status) that way IMO.
> 
> Regarding the Prestige and the maintenance fees, it should be the same as how the Hilton branded cards from Citi treats the charges.  I'm fairly certain several people have confirmed that it gets coded as a Hilton Hotel. It is very rare for it to be treated differently by the same bank for different products, the codes only change based on if it is Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or Amex.



Sorry thought it was only 10k


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## PDXGolfer (Aug 6, 2015)

All, thanks again for the responses and feedback.  Using all that valuable information, I ended up with another credit card that made more sense for airport lounge access.  But the question still remains, is it worth getting one of the HHonors credit cards?  

The question came up again with DW and me because of (1) the desire to maximize the number of points earned from the HGVC maintenance fees we are (and will be) paying; and (2) both basic HHonors credit cards are now offering substantial points for applying and spending the minimum within 3 months -- Citi is offering 75,000 HHonors points, Amex is offering 60,000, both of which I understand are significantly more than typically offered by either of these cards.

For those of you who have either the basic Citi or Amex HHonors card (the ones with no annual fee) or both, have you been happy with the card?

Thanks.


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## mtm65 (Aug 7, 2015)

PDXGolfer said:


> For those of you who have either the basic Citi or Amex HHonors card (the ones with no annual fee) or both, have you been happy with the card?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Talent312 (Aug 7, 2015)

PDXGolfer said:


> For those of you who have either the basic Citi or Amex HHonors card (the ones with no annual fee) or both, have you been happy with the card?



Besides the slightly higher point-earnings, the HH - AmEx offers useful time-limited specials like two I have pending -- $10 off at Carrabba's and $50 off airline tickets.

They have to offer more HH points becuz HHonors now requires a lot more for hotel stays... The sign-up bonuses will get you one night at a Hilton Hotel or maybe two at a Hampton Inn.


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## solonas (Aug 7, 2015)

*Citi for the bonus but Amex for actual use*



PDXGolfer said:


> The question came up again with DW and me because of (1) the desire to maximize the number of points earned from the HGVC maintenance fees we are (and will be) paying; and (2) both basic HHonors credit cards are now offering substantial points for applying and spending the minimum within 3 months -- Citi is offering 75,000 HHonors points, Amex is offering 60,000, both of which I understand are significantly more than typically offered by either of these cards.
> 
> For those of you who have either the basic Citi or Amex HHonors card (the ones with no annual fee) or both, have you been happy with the card?



The Citi offer is the highest it has ever been based on what I have seen and read from others that chase points.  It is good for the sign up and paying maintenance.  I'm planning on applying for it for the signup bonus and then probably will just put it in a drawer.  

I've had the free version of the Amex (with signup bonus) and was later able to upgrade it and also got bonus points for the upgrade.  I found the bonus categories are higher for the Amex so if you actually plan to put spending on the card, Amex will earn you more points.  As was mentioned, the Amex Offers are actually pretty valuable, plus the current promo for the Amex checkout increases that value.  Even if you have an Amex card already, the offers are per card, not per person so you can really maximize their value. For instance, I had one for $50 off of a $300 Hilton stay and had the $200 certificate from my owner update so the stay only cost me $50 and I earned double points on the booking plus the points from my card.


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