Hilton AmEx cards

[letsgobobby]

Hopefully your going to the concert, and did not just pick the hotel at random...

Just saw a story on the new that economists estimate the average fan is spending about $1300, and the tour will add 1.3 Billion to the economy this year..

Fortunately I'm not going.

Daughter and her BFF are going. Wife is driving and staying in the hotel with. it's a 2 min walk from hotel to venue so really ideal - all other options involved mass transit late night for the girls, or driving into the madness and doing drop offs/pick ups, etc. ES wasn't there last week. They opened up some standard awards and we snagged one.

Tickets were ~ $650 each but are floor level and include all kinds of merch. We preferred to spend much less but concert sold out and we had to buy resale from a friend - fortunately for face value. It was our daughter's sweet 16 gift. Her friend had to pay her parents for half of her ticket.

 

[letsgobobby]

We went to the Taylor Swift concert here in ATL....it was really good but, boy, those girls can really scream....

you are a brave man

 

[HuskerATL]

you are a brave man

Walked out to the bathroom and the men's restroom was a line of girls coming out of it. I had to walk a ways to find a men's room that was available and when I did, there were like 2 guys in there. For all you single guys.....go to a Taylor Swift concert...

 

[PigsDad]

We went to the Taylor Swift concert here in ATL....it was really good but, boy, those girls can really scream....

I see that part hasn't changed! I took my daughter to a Taylor Swift concert in Denver about 12 years ago. Taylor was great and put on a fantastic show, but all I could hear a good portion of the time was 10 yo girls screaming at the top of their lungs.

Kurt

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I like her music and would go, but was too lazy to fight to get tickets... I actually had nosebleed seats at her last visit to Levi stadium.. My son, DIL and group of their friends are going again this time..

 

[HuskerATL]

It is worth going. Went to Ed Sheeran a couple weeks later and such a different vibe... Both were really good though.

 

[brp]

Walked out to the bathroom and the men's restroom was a line of girls coming out of it. I had to walk a ways to find a men's room that was available and when I did, there were like 2 guys in there. For all you single guys.....go to a Taylor Swift concert...

I had the same experience some years back at a Melissa Etheridge concert. They had converted all but one of the men's rooms for women. The lone men's room still did not have lines.

Both Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran where playing at a venue we like (Levi's Stadium, where the 49ers play). But not much of a fan of either, although I hear that Swift puts on a great show. We had seen RHCP there, though.

We love staying close the venue. Went to see Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe in SF last night. Rather than driving the 50 minutes home, we stayed in a lovely Hyatt half a mile walk away.

Cheers.

 

[HuskerATL]

I had the same experience some years back at a Melissa Etheridge concert. They had converted all but one of the men's rooms for women. The lone men's room still did not have lines.

Both Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran where playing at a venue we like (Levi's Stadium, where the 49ers play). But not much of a fan of either, although I hear that Swift puts on a great show. We had seen RHCP there, though.

We love staying close the venue. Went to see Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe in SF last night. Rather than driving the 50 minutes home, we stayed in a lovely Hyatt half a mile walk away.

Cheers.

We cashed in our Aspire night for the Waldorf and then took the train to the stadium for the Ed Sheeran concert... Worked great. Then used the Amex platinum FHR credit for the second night.

 

[simpsontruckdriver]

FYI, if you prefer streaming services vs over-the-air or cable, Hilton Aspire's "Offers" have three:

• Paramount+ is $9 off plans $9+ for a max 3 months.
• Disney+ Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and optional ESPN+) is $9.99 off any plans $9.99 or above for 6 months.
• HistoryVault is $4.99 off plans $4.99+ for 3 months.

Just filter by clicking "Entertainment". This is what it looks like. It may also be offered on other AmEx cards. The Cinemark MovieClub is a one-time $8 credit.

 

[HuskerATL]

FYI, if you prefer streaming services vs over-the-air or cable, Hilton Aspire's "Offers" have three:

• Paramount+ is $9 off plans $9+ for a max 3 months.
• Disney+ Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and optional ESPN+) is $9.99 off any plans $9.99 or above for 6 months.
• HistoryVault is $4.99 off plans $4.99+ for 3 months.

Just filter by clicking "Entertainment". This is what it looks like. It may also be offered on other AmEx cards. The Cinemark MovieClub is a one-time $8 credit.
View attachment 78070

The Amex Platinum gives you a $240 annual subscription credit so we have the hulu/Disney/ESPN bundle and the paramount+ subscription for free.... The ad versions though.

 

[simpsontruckdriver]

The Amex Platinum gives you a $240 annual subscription credit so we have the hulu/Disney/ESPN bundle and the paramount+ subscription for free.... The ad versions though.

With the AmEx Plat, it has a $640 Annual Fee, but you could make that up with regular purchases, their $200 hotel credit, and $240 streaming credits. I think I have too many AmEx cards right now (Aspire and Delta SkyMiles Platinum), so I'll just continue to "milk" the $ out of those.

For instance, my late wife's dad died a few weeks ago (Peabody MA) from enduring 11 years of Pancreatic Cancer. Yeah, less than 1% live that long! Anyway, I flew round-trip from MCO - BOS for $0, luggage was $0, and WiFi was $0, on the Delta SkyMiles Platinum. I stayed at the Peabody Hampton Inn for $0. I only had to pay for meals, rental car (Enterprise special for Aspire cardholders), and gasoline, all on the Aspire.

TS

 

[brp]

The Amex Platinum gives you a $240 annual subscription credit so we have the hulu/Disney/ESPN bundle and the paramount+ subscription for free.... The ad versions though.

We do NY Times for the digital subscription.

For Paramount+, the route is to get the free Walmart+ through the Amex Platinum (which can be useful in itself) and this gives access to the Paramount+.

Cheers.

 

[HuskerATL]

We do NY Times for the digital subscription.

For Paramount+, the route is to get the free Walmart+ through the Amex Platinum (which can be useful in itself) and this gives access to the Paramount+.

Cheers.

Wait. I didn't mean paramount+. We get that with the free Walmart +. Peacock is what we get with the Disney bundle.

 

[HuskerATL]

With the AmEx Plat, it has a $640 Annual Fee, but you could make that up with regular purchases, their $200 hotel credit, and $240 streaming credits. I think I have too many AmEx cards right now (Aspire and Delta SkyMiles Platinum), so I'll just continue to "milk" the $ out of those.

For instance, my late wife's dad died a few weeks ago (Peabody MA) from enduring 11 years of Pancreatic Cancer. Yeah, less than 1% live that long! Anyway, I flew round-trip from MCO - BOS for $0, luggage was $0, and WiFi was $0, on the Delta SkyMiles Platinum. I stayed at the Peabody Hampton Inn for $0. I only had to pay for meals, rental car (Enterprise special for Aspire cardholders), and gasoline, all on the Aspire.

TS

We have 4 different Amexs but almost never use the Delta platinum. We only keep it for the free companion ticket. Use the Aspire for Hilton/flight related stuff, use the Platinum for travel related stuff, subscription credits, and it misc offers they have, and use the Amex Blue for everyday purchases.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Tickets were ~ $650 each but are floor level and include all kinds of merch. We preferred to spend much less but concert sold out and we had to buy resale from a friend - fortunately for face value. It was our daughter's sweet 16 gift. Her friend had to pay her parents for half of her ticket.

And I think a car rental for two weeks at $650 is expensive.

 

[letsgobobby]

thinking about getting a couple more Aspire for my LLC.

In terms of timing, are the free night awards always tied to a CY? I'm wondering about an event for July 2026 (World Cup) and whether there would be any way to reserve a room using the free night before January of 2026. By then all the rooms may be reserved.

We picked up our current Aspires right around December so we got them in January of this year.

 

[HuskerATL]

thinking about getting a couple more Aspire for my LLC.

In terms of timing, are the free night awards always tied to a CY? I'm wondering about an event for July 2026 (World Cup) and whether there would be any way to reserve a room using the free night before January of 2026. By then all the rooms may be reserved.

We picked up our current Aspires right around December so we got them in January of this year.

I think they are tied to your specific annual renewal date.... So a year from when you get the card.

 

[letsgobobby]

got it so maybe sign up July 2025? or now, I guess, if I want 2 years' worth!

 

[HuskerATL]

got it so maybe sign up July 2025? or now, I guess, if I want 2 years' worth!

I guess it depends on what you need.

 

[ernststarhemberg]

Between the resort credit and the annual night reward alone the Aspire card pays for itself. Everything else is gravy.

 

[ernststarhemberg]

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.

 

[Zenichiro]

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.

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 then we switch to Hyatt

 

[ernststarhemberg]

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 then we switch to Hyatt

You're right, if you have the option to have more than two cards, the Surpass is better for groceries and gas, which are the only additional advantages Surpass offers over Aspire as far as I can tell - each person will need to do their points math to make sure the $95 annual fee for the card is worth the HHonors point difference between groceries and gas spend (6x on Surpass vs 3x on Aspire).

I sat down at some point and ran the numbers, and it was roughly a breakeven proposition for for me, ymmv!

 

[HuskerATL]

You're right, if you have the option to have more than two cards, the Surpass is better for groceries and gas, which are the only additional advantages Surpass offers over Aspire as far as I can tell - each person will need to do their points math to make sure the $95 annual fee for the card is worth the HHonors point difference between groceries and gas spend (6x on Surpass vs 3x on Aspire).

I sat down at some point and ran the numbers, and it was roughly a breakeven proposition for for me, ymmv!

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

 

[Zenichiro]

You're right, if you have the option to have more than two cards, the Surpass is better for groceries and gas, which are the only additional advantages Surpass offers over Aspire as far as I can tell - each person will need to do their points math to make sure the $95 annual fee for the card is worth the HHonors point difference between groceries and gas spend (6x on Surpass vs 3x on Aspire).

I sat down at some point and ran the numbers, and it was roughly a breakeven proposition for for me, ymmv!

And the free night which we value