Amex Hilton Aspire

[brp]

IMO Perhaps it could trigger an AMEX review but it would be difficult to prove an honest to goodness flight cancellation from a fake one. Because there are no change fees I sometimes book multiple flights in the same timeframe and decide on the final schedule, cancelling others when the plans are known.

The other allegations are a stretch because you only end up with a flight credit and travel funds expire.

Agree. But, in the end, Amex doesn't need to prove anything to cancel the card. And the things I've read say that too much of this can be viewed in this way. But, yeah, we all do it for valid reasons as well.

Cheers.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

True. They can do what they want. But an Amex shut down it is not the end of the world. We would use cards from other banks. A Chase shutdown would have a lot more impact.

I am still going to use against flights we plan and only use this as backup for left over credits anyway.

 

[hurnik]

Assume 1 personal and 1 business.

There is no Business version of Aspire, unfortunately. There's one Hilton Business card but it doesn't come with really anything "good" other than a Sign Up Bonus, and 12 points/Hilton (vs. I think 14 for Aspire). I wanna say $95 AF.

Had an ascend and applied for the aspire. Got the aspire and about 14 months later, got an email to upgrade the ascend to aspire for 150k hh points with $4k spend in 90 days. No brainer for me to upgrade and got the 150k points a few days after spending the $4k.

Now I move most of my spend to the 2 business amex for the free night cert after $15k spend. I spend up till $14.5k each account and then in Dec I spend the $500 each to get 2 free night certificates valid until Dec of following year. That way I have 3 certs that expire in middle of the year(when my aspire AF hits) and 2 more certs for use 6 months later.

Forgot to mention, you can only have 6 active credit cards at one time from Amex directly. Other issuing Amex banks don't count like Wells Fargo, etc.

Sent from my SM-T377P using Tapatalk

Correction:
You can only have FIVE (5) Amex CREDIT cards. However, Amex has a line of cards that are CHARGE cards, that can put you over the 5 limit. The Amex Green is a CHARGE card, for example. I'm not sure if you can get over 5 CREDIT cards via the upgrade route, but DoC has a nice write up:

25 Things Everybody Should Know About American Express - Doctor Of Credit

Each & every card issuer is slightly different in what they offer and how they handle different things. I thought it would be a good idea to have a

www.doctorofcredit.com

For Southwest, the reading is here:

Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (Southwest) only (2020-21) - FlyerTalk Forums

American Express | Membership Rewards - Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (Southwest) only (2020-21) - Uh Oh

www.flyertalk.com

Unless you have Alaska Airlines status, the only other option is United with the "Pet" trick, but there's always some risk when maneuvering this way to get the full credit.

Amex really needs to make it more useful like a "travel" credit like Chase, but it is what it is.

 

[hurnik]

True. They can do what they want. But an Amex shut down it is not the end of the world. We would use cards from other banks. A Chase shutdown would have a lot more impact.

I am still going to use against flights we plan and only use this as backup for left over credits anyway.

Well for some folks an Amex shutdown would be truly bad as the MR program is fairly valuable (as is Chase UR). In fact, I'd say even more valuable due to Amex "lifetime" limits vs. Chase every 24 months (or 48 on the case of Sapphire).

 

[frank808]

There is no Business version of Aspire, unfortunately. There's one Hilton Business card but it doesn't come with really anything "good" other than a Sign Up Bonus, and 12 points/Hilton (vs. I think 14 for Aspire). I wanna say $95 AF.



Correction:
You can only have FIVE (5) Amex CREDIT cards. However, Amex has a line of cards that are CHARGE cards, that can put you over the 5 limit. The Amex Green is a CHARGE card, for example. I'm not sure if you can get over 5 CREDIT cards via the upgrade route, but DoC has a nice write up:

25 Things Everybody Should Know About American Express - Doctor Of Credit

Each & every card issuer is slightly different in what they offer and how they handle different things. I thought it would be a good idea to have a

www.doctorofcredit.com

For Southwest, the reading is here:

Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (Southwest) only (2020-21) - FlyerTalk Forums

American Express | Membership Rewards - Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (Southwest) only (2020-21) - Uh Oh

www.flyertalk.com

Unless you have Alaska Airlines status, the only other option is United with the "Pet" trick, but there's always some risk when maneuvering this way to get the full credit.

Amex really needs to make it more useful like a "travel" credit like Chase, but it is what it is.

You are correct it is 5. I have an amex issued from another bank that I counted. But yes you can have 5 credit cards and I believe 5 charge cards is the limit.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Well for some folks an Amex shutdown would be truly bad as the MR program is fairly valuable (as is Chase UR). In fact, I'd say even more valuable due to Amex "lifetime" limits vs. Chase every 24 months (or 48 on the case of Sapphire).

I was speaking from the perspective of the HHonors card which doesn't earn MR points. Of course they could shut down MR earning cards too which would have a similarly negative effect as a Chase shutdown. We pared back AMEX to the SPG/Marriott cards for the free hotel night and Amex offers so AMEX really doesn't figure much with our wallet these days other than the Aspire card.

It would be very hard for AMEX to police this and a lot of innocent people would be reviewed causing customer disatisfaction. I would be very upset if they accused me of playing games if it was part of normal planning process when I book multiple options, and receive travel credits when my plans change or the prices drop. It also would require AMEX to audit the WN system for travel credits which would be a hairball and not sure WN would give them access due to privacy concerns.

Amex would likely try to would work with WN to close the loophole via IT but WN IT is so slow that would take a lot to make happen. For example, the Max rescheduling loophole which costs WN real $ would be a higher priority fix. (We saved about $150 and 5k points to Hawaii using this).

Spring Break deals on Southwest

So lately, Southwest has been having a beast of a time keeping their schedules accurate, thanks to the MAX grounding. That has meant that every time they cancel all the MAX flights for a period of time, they've opened up free changes on all flights in that time period. We don't know why, it...

tugbbs.com

 

[1Kflyerguy]

For Southwest, the reading is here:

Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (Southwest) only (2020-21) - FlyerTalk Forums

American Express | Membership Rewards - Airline fee $250/$200/$100 reimbursement reports: WN (Southwest) only (2020-21) - Uh Oh

www.flyertalk.com

Unless you have Alaska Airlines status, the only other option is United with the "Pet" trick, but there's always some risk when maneuvering this way to get the full credit.

Amex really needs to make it more useful like a "travel" credit like Chase, but it is what it is.

I really like the Aspire Amex, but getting the maximum value takes a fair bit of effort. Seems like they intentionally made some of the "benefits" hard to use.

Originally I was getting Southwest gift-cards, when they closed that loophole i shifted over to United and was using the credit to pay for onboard food and drink... but that was not using it fast enough. At the end of 2019 i spent the balance of my Amex credit to buy day passes for the United Club. Not sure what i do for 2020, will have to study more about the current situation with southwest.

 

[brp]

I really like the Aspire Amex, but getting the maximum value takes a fair bit of effort. Seems like they intentionally made some of the "benefits" hard to use.

Originally I was getting Southwest gift-cards, when they closed that loophole i shifted over to United and was using the credit to pay for onboard food and drink... but that was not using it fast enough. At the end of 2019 i spent the balance of my Amex credit to buy day passes for the United Club. Not sure what i do for 2020, will have to study more about the current situation with southwest.

I think the reality is that this benefit can work for a lot of people. Anyone without status has a bunch of stuff to pay for. Those of us with status (and ways to get in the lounges for free) and fewer places to spend this, and becoming even fewer. For example, could get AS lounge membership, but we tend to fly F with then for status and F gets lounge access. And I get AA access domestically with BA status. Becoming too good at playing some of the games costs in other areas

I like the Chase Sapphire and Marriott Brilliant rebates as they are straightforward,

Cheers.

 

[brp]

I knew W57 did not trigger the resort credit. Just tested again with a small payment. Paradise LV works though.

Are you saying W57 does not trigger the Hilton cc bonus points as well? If so I will pay via chase Sapphire reserve and get 3x.

Nope. I am now saying that I clearly misremembered I did pay most of W. 57th with Aspire and it posted 14X. Since my Resort Credit doesn't reset until March, I did not expect (and did not get) resort credit even for Flamingo. Mrs. brp paid our new Boulevard, so she'll check if she got the credit (she resets in min January.

Cheers.

 

[tah]

I don't have the Aspire, but I do have a Gold card (w/ $100 airline incidental reimbursement). United is my chosen airline. I made an award reservation and paid the $11.20 taxes/fees using the Gold card (1/30). It was reimbursed (2/1).

The longer version is: I also made an award reservation on AA the same evening with the intent of keeping one and canceling the other within 24 hours. The UA reservation was cancelled on 1/31; I received both the $11.20 credit and the $11.20 reimbursement on 2/1.

While I didn't do this to circumvent any AMEX policy, I purposefully used the Gold card on the UA reservation to target the reimbursement if I actually took those flights. I find the AMEX CS reps to be pretty accommodating when manually reimbursing "incidentals". But it was a win-win-win: AA was less miles; UA fee reimbursed (a proxy for the AA fee); and AA has Dr Pepper.

 

[brp]

I don't have the Aspire, but I do have a Gold card (w/ $100 airline incidental reimbursement). United is my chosen airline. I made an award reservation and paid the $11.20 taxes/fees using the Gold card (1/30). It was reimbursed (2/1).

Goodonya! But I certainly wouldn't count on this happening going forward as this is part of the ticketing fee normally. Maybe when paying it separately on an award ticket it posts differently, but it is certainly not a covered expense. Loopholes, though, are good while they last

Cheers.

 

[brp]

In November after my card anniversary, I paid the MF for my HGVC Boulevard and received the $250 Hilton resort credit a few days later. Also, I switched my airline choice to Southwest on Jan 1, and used the Amex Aspire to pay for SW early birds for my whole family on Jan 2. Today, I received all $250 airline credits.

I am already ahead this year.

Interesting, thanks for this DP. mrs. brp paid Boulevard more than a week ago. The charge is there, but not credit thus far. The listing does have "HOA" in the charge. Do you recall if yours did? Also, she paid both the MFs and the transfer fee for the recent purchase at the same time. I wonder if that had an impact?

Cheers.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@brp We made a payment for Paradise about 10 days ago to test and no resort credit has posted yet. Ours is coded as "lodging" and we are getting the 14x (or whaterver bonus you get for Hilton stays). I am giving it a few more days and will make an inquiry if no progress. I seem to recall that their standard answer is 4 - 6 weeks to post when I inquired about a delay last year.

 

[brp]

@brp We made a payment for Paradise about 10 days ago to test and no resort credit has posted yet. Ours is coded as "lodging" and we are getting the 14x (or whaterver bonus you get for Hilton stays). I am giving it a few more days and will make an inquiry if no progress. I seem to recall that their standard answer is 4 - 6 weeks to post when I inquired about a delay last year.

Yup. Definitely the standard answer, but I've not yet seen it take more than a few days. Probably too early to panic

Cheers.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Interesting, thanks for this DP. mrs. brp paid Boulevard more than a week ago. The charge is there, but not credit thus far. The listing does have "HOA" in the charge. Do you recall if yours did? Also, she paid both the MFs and the transfer fee for the recent purchase at the same time. I wonder if that had an impact?

Cheers.

I paid our Kingsland MF on Jan 15th,, It posted as "HGV WBKL HOA" and i received the 250 resort credit on Jan 17th. So i don't think having HOA in the name impacts the credit, or least it didnt for me.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Getting ready to pay MF before 15th now that statements are closed to get more float.

What's the verdict? Which is worth more? Am I better off paying MF with Hilton Aspire 14x (beyond resort credit)? or paying with Chase Sapphire Reserve 3x (beyond travel credit)?

FWIW We have about 700k of Hilton credits so more than we need for the foreseeable future. Sapphire can be converted to almost any travel/activity and can even get cash 1:1 to offset travel item costs that aren't covered by the portal. We use CSR points regularly. HHonors doesn't have this capability.

 

[brp]

Getting ready to pay MF before 15th now that statements are closed to get more float.

What's the verdict? Which is worth more? Am I better off paying MF with Hilton Aspire 14x (beyond resort credit)? or paying with Chase Sapphire 3x (beyond travel credit)?

FWIW We have about 700k of Hilton credits so more than we need for the foreseable future. Sapphire can be converted to almost any travel/activity and can even get cash 1:1 to offset travel item costs that aren't covered by the portal. We use CSR points regularly. HHonors doesn't have this capability.

We will went with Hilton (we only use Hilton cards for 14X purchases) even though we have over 2M HHonors points. Retirement is not too far away and they will likely come in handy despite the likely devaluations

My primary is CSR for the reasons you say. mrs. brp does Hyatt both for the quality of their program and for status. I haven;t really done the full analysis on the tradeoffs, however.

Cheers.

 

[hurnik]

Getting ready to pay MF before 15th now that statements are closed to get more float.

What's the verdict? Which is worth more? Am I better off paying MF with Hilton Aspire 14x (beyond resort credit)? or paying with Chase Sapphire Reserve 3x (beyond travel credit)?

FWIW We have about 700k of Hilton credits so more than we need for the foreseeable future. Sapphire can be converted to almost any travel/activity and can even get cash 1:1 to offset travel item costs that aren't covered by the portal. We use CSR points regularly. HHonors doesn't have this capability.

Strictly speaking of the points (not the $250 resort credit fee that can be triggered by certain MF payments):

I personally value HHonors at $0.005/point (Unless you have a SPECIFIC redemption you're trying to target like Bora-Bora or the Maldives).

UR is much harder, IMO, to value unless you're got a CSP or CSR and are using to purchase travel via Expedia at the 1.25 or 1.5% rates. Otherwise the value lies in which program your transferring the points into (again SPECIFIC REDEMPTION in mind).

Let's assume "strictly" HH = $0.005/point.
Let's assume you have the CSR (another $450 AF card prior to the $550 new AF), thus $0.015/point (I think my math is right, LOL)
Let's assume an even $1,000 MF you're paying.

$1,000 = 14,000 HHonors = $70
$1,000 = 3,000 UR points = $45

In that case, Hhonors wins out, IMO.

However, if your 3,000 UR points are for say, Singapore Airlines or something and you're trying to get enough for an F/First class Suites ticket, then that's a diff. story.

 

[Conan]

This thread's last post is from Feb 2020 which makes good sense since we're now in the world of covid-19.

I've been too lazy to cancel my Amex Platinum although it's not doing me any good since we've given up on travel for the foreseeable future. Nor have I cancelled credit cards tied to Southwest, AA, Delta and probably some others I'm forgetting.

Next step for me will be to cancel all the above.

We own and will continue to pay maintenance at Hilton West 57 and Marriott Boston Pulse (Custom House). I have Hilton Gold and Marriott Bonvoy cards for those. I was thinking of Hilton Aspire (I think the maintenance costs will help get me over the hump for the 4-month spend requirement) but why pay for Hilton points I don't need?

It appears now we won't be doing any traveling or Lyft-riding in 2021 apart from maybe risking West 57 where we have accumulated 2020 and 2021 points. [Marriott gave us no waiver or roll-forward on our Custom House fixed week so its been moved to Interval International.]

Thoughts?

 

[ljmiii]

I've been too lazy to cancel my Amex Platinum although it's not doing me any good since we've given up on travel for the foreseeable future....We own and will continue to pay maintenance at Hilton West 57 and Marriott Boston Pulse (Custom House). I have Hilton Gold and Marriott Bonvoy cards for those. I was thinking of Hilton Aspire (I think the maintenance costs will help get me over the hump for the 4-month spend requirement) but why pay for Hilton points I don't need?...

For us the Hilton Surpass is the sweet spot in AMEX's lineup. $95/yr gets us a free weekend night and 6x points on Gas and Groceries. MFs + Gas & Groceries + our (infrequent) paid Hilton Hotel stays gets us to the $40,000 Diamond Status...or at least close enough that a few extra purchases on the card push us over the line. And the AMEX Offers & Benefits give me quite a bit of cash back.

If you don't have a CSR card then you could put restaurants on the Surpass as well. If Aspire gave 6x bonus on Gas, Groceries, & Restaurants it would be more of a decision for us...but it doesn't so there we are. That said, when I just looked at the AMEX 'compare Hilton' cards page it looks like the free weekend night is no longer a Surpass benefit...maybe I'm just grandfathered.

 

[presley]

I have the Aspire card and my husband has a Surpass. I am not sure what I am going to do with either or both. I am not getting my $450./year out of my card and I don't know that I will next year, either. My husband uses his card about twice per year. I guess I should figure out when the renewals are coming up and if I still have a free night credit that I need to use from my card before I figure out which I will cancel or if I will end up cancelling both.

Is there an easy to check online about renewal date or the free night credit? NVM on free night - I was able to find my email showing that I received one and I am sure that haven't stayed in a Hilton since then.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

An additional way to measure whether the card is covering the fee is to also add Amex offers applied into your calculation. Go to to offers Savings page on portal and add up for the prior year. Although we dont get much out of using some cards, the Amex offers more than cover the cost. This year we have gotten offer discounts on Marriott to apply to our MF. Hoping the same for Hilton offers

 

[brp]

Between $250 in airline credits (already spend), $250 in Resort credits (some used for food this year) and a free night that was worth about $400, we each got about $900 in value for each $450 card. We'll keep it

Cheers.

 

[Wgk101]

Don’t forget the Unlimited free access to the airport lounge. 4 trips/year with two people is an additional $250 benefit

 

[brp]

Don’t forget the Unlimited free access to the airport lounge. 4 trips/year with two people is an additional $250 benefit

You mean Priority Pass? True. I'd forgotten since I use the Priority Pass through my Chase Sapphire Reserve since Amex removed restaurants. But lounges still work...when they're open

Cheers.