In the gladiatorial games that are the premium credit card market, the Hilton Honors Aspire card by American Express is, in my opinion, the strongest overall competitor. That’s right, this purple, plastic card from the brand that operates Hampton Inns is my favorite overall card, and the one I recommend more than any other. It’s also the first truly travel-focused credit card I ever opened. Why, you ask? Well strap in and get ready to hear of the astounding annual benefits you get in exchange for a $450 fee, plus how easy they are to actually fit into your life without jumping through hoops or keeping a giant credit card spreadsheet like I do.
forbes.com
Quick Summary
$450 annual fee
$250 annual Hilton Resorts credit
$250 annual airline fee credit
$100 Global Entry / TSA PreCheck credit
$100 Premium property credit
Hilton Honors Diamond status
Annual free weekend night certificate
3x HH point base earning, 7x on select dining and travel, 14x on Hilton (that’s up to 34x total points per dollar on Hilton, explained below)
The first thing to look at with this card are the credits. The Global Entry credit is pretty common (Global Entry is a US Customs program that allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to receive expedited clearance upon arrival into the United States.). Global Entry includes TSA Precheck. The airline incidental credit is also similar to other American Express cards, which is to say it might not be as good as cash, but it’s pretty useful for an airline where you check bags, upgrade seats, or pay for award ticket taxes and fees. The only unique credit is the Hilton resort credit, which is annual (based on anniversary date of receiving the card, not calendar year), and offsets any charges from specific Hilton resorts, including room charges. The full list of qualifying resorts can be found here. Basically, that means that to take full advantage of it, you need to stay at one such resort each year, or strategically book a prepaid rate during one anniversary year, and then stay there several months later during your next anniversary year, in which case a trip every other year could make full use of the credit. If you can actually use all of these credits, you’re already coming out ahead of the annual fee by $50! (plus Global entry every few years). There is also a $100 property credit at certain high-end properties, but I honestly don't really value that. You have to book at least two nights at cash rate to use it, which is quite a lot. Maybe you'll value that if you are already paying cash for a weekend at a Waldorf Astoria every year.
But there are two more benefits that, even by themselves, could also EACH be worth more than the $450 annual fee. That’s the Hilton Honors Diamond status, and the annual free weekend night. Diamond status is the top status available from Hilton, and it’s still the only hotel program I’m aware of that offers its highest status simply for holding a credit card. Diamond membership gets you premium (faster) wifi, a food and beverage credit, hotel lounge access where applicable, 100% points bonus earning, a 48-hour room guarantee, and the best room upgrades, plus a host of other standard lower-tier benefits. The best use case I ever had for this status was booking a late business trip, where I got the last room in a hotel using the 48 hour room guarantee, then arrived and parked in the reserved Diamond member space in front of the hotel, got free breakfast, free bottled water, and snacks from the hotel’s executive lounge. I would estimate all of that to be worth around $100 for this 2-night stay, which is pretty solid and can add up to several hundred dollars per year for frequent travelers.
https://www.hiltonhawaiianvillage.com/
Finally, the weekend free-night award is given once every year on your cardmember anniversary. This is a certificate that can be used for any “standard” room type available at any Hilton property on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night. The only limitations on the credit are that it has to be used on a weekend, which is no big deal, and on an available standard room. Some hotels don’t offer standard rooms at all, and they can also definitely sell out, particularly if some sort of event is going on. But other than that, I’ve never used one of these certificates for a hotel room that was retailing for anything less than $400 per night, with the highest value being about $950! That top end value was from a night in July at the famous Hotel Del Coronado, in Hilton’s Curio collection. We stayed one night there, and one night at a different nearby hotel to take advantage of a different card’s free night. Additionally, because of the expiration dates on the Hilton weekend nights, you can also stack two of them together by booking something shortly after your second anniversary, but before that first certificate expires. This is probably the most feasible option to avoid staying only one night, or having to pony up the high cash rate for a second night at a property offering good redemption value.
Another area that the Aspire card surpasses other hotel cards is in its point earning. The card earns a base rate of 3 points per dollar, earns a total of 7 points per dollar on dining and airfare, and 14 points per dollar on Hilton spending. I benchmark HH points at 0.5 cents. That makes the earning rates for each category a fairly competitive 1.5%, 3.5%, and 7% on the general, travel+dining, and Hilton categories, respectively. 1.5% on base earning isn’t bad, especially if you can actually get more than 0.5 cents per point, and the Hilton earning is just nuts. That’s 7% (14x points) from just the card - but you also earn a base of 10 points per dollar by being enrolled in Hilton Honors, and an additional 100% or 10 more points for being a Diamond member. That’s a whopping 34 points per dollar on Hilton spending! At 0.5 cents per point, you’re looking at 17% back, but there are some redemption options that present more value per point, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to effectively get 20-25% back from Hilton spending on this card.
The fantastic earning on this card has actually been one of my biggest arguments against using vacation rentals (Airbnb or VRBO) over hotels. Without a loyalty program like this, with this kind of earning and benefits on a card, a nice vacation rental on Airbnb or VBO for Kristyn and I needs to be at least 20% cheaper than a room at a Hilton after adding taxes and fees to be a better deal than using a Hilton. It also makes me facepalm to see people spending hours to find a certain site that might have the same hotel room for 5-10% cheaper. These sites don't allow you to earn loyalty points, though, typically. So just like with Airbnb, in my opinion, unless you find a comparable room/apartment for at least 20% cheaper, it's better in the long run to commit to a loyalty program, use a fantastic card like the Aspire, and get a free night every 4-5 nights!
To recap all of this, holding the Hilton Honors Aspire card gives you Diamond status with Hilton Honors, $500 in annual credits for airline fees and at Hilton resorts, one free weekend night a year in any standard room, and competitive point earning rates, especially on Hilton spending.
So who is this card for? Anyone. I seriously recommend this to anyone who asks about credit cards. At least, anyone who travels once a year to a Hilton hotel. That’s really all it takes for me to think this card would be a good idea. Let’s look at an example:
Let’s say you go for an annual 6 night spring break trip to a Hilton resort property that retails for about $350 per night (with taxes and fees) during your stay, or 60,000 points. Typical hotel cost: $2,100. First, you can use the annual weekend night for one night per year, and pay for the other 5. Now you are down to $1,750 in cost due to the reduction of one night's rate ($350).
https://disneyspringshotels.com/hotels/hilton-orlando-buena-vista-palace/
With the Hilton resort credit, you’ll be refunded $250 of the $1,750 total room charge. Your cost of the stay is now down to $1,500.
By spending nothing else on this card, you’ll earn about 60,000 points each year on this annual trip (it depends slightly on how much of the hotel’s rate is base and how much is taxes and fees). If you put a couple airline charges per year on the card to take advantage of the incidental fee credit, you’ll definitely reach 60,000 points per year.
Using the 5th night free feature of the Hilton Honors program, that means every four years, you can use the 240,000 points you’ve accumulated to book 4 nights, get the 5th night free for an award booking, and use the annual free night to get the hotel room completely free! Then you can use the $250 resort credit on food or spa services at the resort. That’s on top of Diamond benefits like free breakfast and possible room upgrades. Paying $450 per year to get $250 off an annual vacation, a free night stay per year (in this case valued at $350 per night), plus some other benefits, and make the hotel room free once every four years, is a no-brainer to me. This isn't even counting that you might save $100 or more per trip on checked bag fees.
Anyone who travels more often and can stay at Hiltons for some or all of their trips can compound the value. I'm not one to easily say "this card is for anyone," but this is the real deal. Frankly, the only drawback I can find with this card is that it isn’t made of metal…
Apply for it here: Apply for an American Express Card with this link and earn up to 150,000 Hilton Honors points. We can both get rewarded if you're approved! Terms Apply. https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/MARCHOlYY?xl=cp15
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