Amex Hilton Aspire

[presley]

I'm glad that they are changing the name back. I have the more expensive one and my husband has the other. I never have any idea which is which when going by name. I'll remember that I have a Surpass when it goes back to that.

 

[brp]

I'm glad that they are changing the name back. I have the more expensive one and my husband has the other. I never have any idea which is which when going by name. I'll remember that I have a Surpass when it goes back to that.

FYI, it is the cheaper Ascend card that is being re-branded as the Surpass, not the more expensive Aspire. AFAIK, that is retaining its name.

Cheers.

 

[4Sunsets]

Do you have a reference for this? I just looked in the relevant Flyertalk thread and, with a quick search, did not find anything about this.

Edit: Just found a reference with a different search:

https://travelingformiles.com/small-devaluation-coming-to-the-amex-hilton-honors-aspire-credit-card/

Cheers.

I thought the resort credit was based on spending at the resort when you were there? How could it be tied to an advance purchase rate?

 

[4Sunsets]

FYI, it is the cheaper Ascend card that is being re-branded as the Surpass, not the more expensive Aspire. AFAIK, that is retaining its name.

Cheers.

That makes more sense, considering the easier to confuse names, both begging with As(cend) As(pire).

 

[brp]

I thought the resort credit was based on spending at the resort when you were there? How could it be tied to an advance purchase rate?

Because it also includes room rate charges, there had been cases where advance purchase rates did trigger as an eligible room rate. This typically worked for Advance Purchase Rates abroad, which were processed by Hilton as regular charges. Domestic AP rates apparently processed via some third party, so typically did not trigger. My understanding is that they are just formalizing the idea that AP rates are not supposed to count. Of course, some may always slip through, but never a good bet to count on it.

Cheers.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I hope this doesn't exclude MF at the resorts.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

That makes more sense, considering the easier to confuse names, both begging with As(cend) As(pire).

Too bad they changed the name. The next card in the family could have been the AssUme card! LoL

 

[natarajanv]

It appears that American Express’ incidental airline fee credit of up to $200 per year can again be used to buy American Airlines gift cards, according to Doctor of Credit.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

FYI...Just found a great benefit of the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) that the hotel cards don't have. We booked our family of 4 on two tours: 1) a snorkel cruise and 2) sunrise bike ride down Haleakala. This would have cost $1000+ but we were able to use the "Things to do" tab on the Chase portal and book the snorkel cruise at 1.5 cents per point. The bike ride we booked direct and got 1 cent per point back on the credit card. No cash outlay. Can also apply points plus cash if desired.

Here's the kicker if you have both Aspire/Lux and CSR: 1) Book ANY activity or cabanas at the hotel paying with the Hilton Card (or SPG Lux card if at Westin) for cash plus earn extra CC points; 2) then apply the cash back option on the CSR to offset cost (you don't need to match against a specific travel item like the Barclays card) i.e. you don't have to use the CSR to pay. The extra points gain from Hotel CC makes the return higher than 1 cent cash rebate on the CSR (but haven't calculated exactly how much).

Nice to have these tours for free. These tours can add up especially if you have a family.

Last year we booked via the chase portal a free guided bicycle tour of DC while visiting the HGVC District for our family which I highly recommend.

 

[hurnik]

Stayed at Kohala shortly after I got the card. Used it there and got the credit within 2 days.

AA is our primary, but AA no longer works for Gift Cards (as of a couple years back). AS tickes < $100 work, though...even if refunded

Actually, the AA gift card only recently stopped working a few months ago (has worked previously to that), with certain restrictions (just like the Delta ones and the United "workaround", etc.)

However, *technically* gift cards from any airline shouldn't work, so I wouldn't count on that as the main reason for the card as it could end at any time. Personally I wish Amex was more like Chase in the "travel credit", but whatever. I just count myself lucky that the gift cards do work with the various airlines/workarounds at this time.

Also, Amex is going to rename the card again to Surpass to avoid the confusion (ha!).[/QUOTE]

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We tend to use SWA for early bird and DD pays $95 each way for bringing her cat back and forth to college during school breaks so the gift cards are a good back-up if there is money left over.

 

[brp]

Actually, the AA gift card only recently stopped working a few months ago (has worked previously to that), with certain restrictions (just like the Delta ones and the United "workaround", etc.)

However, *technically* gift cards from any airline shouldn't work, so I wouldn't count on that as the main reason for the card as it could end at any time. Personally I wish Amex was more like Chase in the "travel credit", but whatever. I just count myself lucky that the gift cards do work with the various airlines/workarounds at this time.

Just recently read that they recoded them and they are (at least for the moment) working again.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/amex-travel-credit-trigger-for-american-airlines-gift-cards-returns/

But, yes, any GCs that work are an exception that should never be relied upon.

CSR tarvel credit is so easy. I typiically mex out my $300 in December of the prior year as it shows up in the January statement and counts toward the new year's allotment. No point waiting

Cheers.

 

[Remy]

Actually, the AA gift card only recently stopped working a few months ago (has worked previously to that), with certain restrictions (just like the Delta ones and the United "workaround", etc.)

However, *technically* gift cards from any airline shouldn't work, so I wouldn't count on that as the main reason for the card as it could end at any time. Personally I wish Amex was more like Chase in the "travel credit", but whatever. I just count myself lucky that the gift cards do work with the various airlines/workarounds at this time.

Also, Amex is going to rename the card again to Surpass to avoid the confusion (ha!).

[/QUOTE]

It's interesting what triggers the credit for different airlines. I don't do gift cards since Southwest triggers the credit for anything under $50, including flights that can be refunded within 24 hours. I had always selected Southwest anyway since AmEx Biz Platinum had that 50% rebate and they'd rebate direct purchases on Southwest.com instead of forcing an AmEx booking, which didn't count toward status. The rebate changed to 35%, so not as great, but forced some small purchases on Southwest that unintentionally gave away a method for cashing out the credit.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Just applied. I have a few HGVC and Hilton Hotel stays coming up and thought I would give it a whirl.

Can someone here confirm that MF paid to HGVC properties receive the 14X Hilton points. If not, I would stick with my 3X and the 1.5 bump when booking travel with CSR card instead. I know CSR codes it as travel.

Need to get Tradewinds to correct their coding.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Just recently read that they recoded them and they are (at least for the moment) working again.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/amex-travel-credit-trigger-for-american-airlines-gift-cards-returns/

But, yes, any GCs that work are an exception that should never be relied upon.

CSR tarvel credit is so easy. I typiically mex out my $300 in December of the prior year as it shows up in the January statement and counts toward the new year's allotment. No point waiting

Cheers.

Looks like they have corrected it and it is no longer working for gift cards.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Just applied. I have a few HGVC and Hilton Hotel stays coming up and thought I would give it a whirl.

Can someone here confirm that MF paid to HGVC properties receive the 14X Hilton points. If not, I would stick with my 3X and the 1.5 bump when booking travel with CSR card instead. I know CSR codes it as travel.

Need to get Tradewinds to correct their coding.

14x should work however I upgraded after MF was paid. Will know for sure later this year.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Just applied. I have a few HGVC and Hilton Hotel stays coming up and thought I would give it a whirl.

Can someone here confirm that MF paid to HGVC properties receive the 14X Hilton points. If not, I would stick with my 3X and the 1.5 bump when booking travel with CSR card instead. I know CSR codes it as travel.

Need to get Tradewinds to correct their coding.

We received 14X points for paying our maintenance fees this past winter. We are going to keep the Aspire Card and drop the Ascend(Surpass) card before the next annual fee is due.

 

[terces]

Can anyone tell me how to get to the list of Airlines that accept the airline credit? I am trying to find out if Westjet is on the list and if not the next most useful US based carrier for us is Delta.

 

[terces]

In order for a Canadian to qualify for the Aspire we are required to have a US based phone number. Does anyone have up-to-date information on which phone carrier in the US would be best for us?

 

[Sandy VDH]

Can anyone tell me how to get to the list of Airlines that accept the airline credit? I am trying to find out if Westjet is on the list and if not the next most useful US based carrier for us is Delta.

Delta is for sure on the list, but since this is a US targeted card I doubt Westjet or AC is an option.

 

[frank808]

Just applied. I have a few HGVC and Hilton Hotel stays coming up and thought I would give it a whirl.

Can someone here confirm that MF paid to HGVC properties receive the 14X Hilton points. If not, I would stick with my 3X and the 1.5 bump when booking travel with CSR card instead. I know CSR codes it as travel.

Need to get Tradewinds to correct their coding.

Most definitely will get 14x points. Even the booking fees and guest cert fees will get you 14x. Have used the aspire for paying mf for 2 years and the ascend before that and ha e gotten the 12x on mf.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[brp]

Looks like they have corrected it and it is no longer working for gift cards.

That was quick

Cheers.

 

[brp]

Can someone here confirm that MF paid to HGVC properties receive the 14X Hilton points. .

14x should work however I upgraded after MF was paid. Will know for sure later this year.

My past experience is that W. 57th does not as it didn't code as Hilton. Maybe that has changed, but that was the last experience from a year or so ago.

Flamingo did.

Cheers.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

My past experience is that W. 57th does not as it didn't code as Hilton. Maybe that has changed, but that was the last experience from a year or so ago.

Flamingo did.

Cheers.

I know the resort credit only works for certain resort properties e.g. Vegas, Hawaii. But did not know the 14x didn't work in NYC. Will test with a small payment this fall. Otherwise will use Aspire on Vegas MF and apply CSR to NYC.

 

[Sandy VDH]

My MFs are Bay Club and Seaworld, they both code correctly for CSR for the travel credit, and it does says Hilton in the title.

I assume incidentals at charged directly at W57th do qualify for 14X on card. I am not referring to MFs.