Hilton and American Express are out with new limited-time welcome offers of up to 175,000 points – or better yet, a big points bonus and a free night reward – on the suite of co-branded Hilton Honors American Express credit cards.
That's right: With these new bonus offers, even the base level *Hilton Honors* comes with a free night reward. That's an incredible deal for a card with no annual fee (see rates & fees).
Here's what you can currently earn with the full portfolio of Hilton Amex cards:
- *Hilton Honors*: bonus_miles_full
- *Hilton Surpass*: bonus_miles_full
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors points after you spend $6,000 on the card within the first six months. This limited-time offer ends July 31, 2024.
- *hilton honors business card*: bonus_miles_full
Whether you're staying in Hiltons just once a year or every other week for work, there's sure to be a Hilton card for you. On top of the bonus points, these cards also come with other perks like automatic elite status, annual resort credits, and the ability to earn valuable free night rewards, potentially making them worth keeping for the long-haul.
Just remember: Credit cards are serious business. All the Hilton points in the world aren't worth digging yourself into debt if you can't afford to pay off every dime you charge to your new card.
Read on for full details on each of these cards and their exciting new welcome offers.
Read next: Big Changes to the Hilton Aspire & Surpass Cards: Higher Fees, New Perks
The Suite of Hilton Honors Credit Cards
Hilton Honors American Express Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- Earn Hilton Honors Silver Status for as long as you have the card.
- Get Hilton Gold Status if you spend $20,000 or more in a calendar year.
- 7x Hilton Honors Points: At participating hotels in the Hilton portfolio.
- 5x Hilton Honors Points: At U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations.
- 3x Hilton Honors Points: on all other eligible purchases.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- No Annual Fee (see rates & fees)
Learn more about the *Hilton Honors*.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- Earn a free night certificate after you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year, valid at almost any Hilton property.
- Get up to $200 back each year for purchases made directly with Hilton. You'll get $50 in statement credits to use at Hilton properties each quarter, up to $200 per calendar year.
- Get Hilton Honors Gold Status for as long as you have the card. This will get you free breakfast at almost any Hilton hotel abroad or a daily food and beverage credit at U.S. properties.
- Work up to Hilton Diamond Status if you spend $40,000 or more in a calendar year.
- Earn 12x Hilton Honors Points at participating hotels in the Hilton portfolio.
- Earn 6x Hilton Honors Points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations.
- Earn 4x Hilton Honors Points on U.S. online retail purchases.
- Earn 3x Hilton Honors Points on all other eligible purchases.
- Get complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status – easily our favorite car rental elite status.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- $150 annual fee (see rates & fees)
Learn more about the *Hilton Surpass*.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- Welcome Offer: Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after spending $6,000 in the first six months of card membership. This limited-time offer ends July 31, 2024.
- Get Hilton Honors Diamond Status: As long as your card account is open, you'll have Hilton's top-tier Diamond status
- Get up to $400 in Hilton Resorts statement credits: Each calendar year, you’ll receive up to $400 in statement credits for incidentals charged to your card at participating Hilton resorts – a category that includes many Hilton properties. Cardholders get one $200 credit from January through June and another credit July through December.
- Free night certificate: After opening your account and again each year on your cardmember anniversary, you will receive a certificate for a free night eligible at any property in Hilton's portfolio.
- Additional free night certificates: Earn an additional free night certificate after making $30,000 in purchases in a calendar year, plus another after spending $60,000 in the same year (for up to three free nights total).
- Get up to $200 in annual airline credit: Get up to $50 in statement credits each quarter on purchases made directly with an airline (including airfare) or through amextravel.com.
- Earn 14x Hilton Honors points per dollar for each eligible purchase on your Card made directly with a participating hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio.
- Earn 7x Hilton Honors points per dollar for eligible purchases on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com; on car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies; & at U.S. restaurants.
- Earn 3x Hilton Honors points bonus points on all other purchases.
- Get complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status – easily our favorite status with a rental car chain.
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Get up to $189 per calendar year in statement credits when you pay for a CLEAR® Plus Membership with the Aspire Card.
- $550 annual fee (see rates & fees)
All information about the Hilton Aspire Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
We consider the Hilton Aspire Card the best hotel credit card, period – read our guide to see why!
Learn more about the Hilton Honors Aspire Card (for full disclosure, this is our personal referral link)
Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- $240 a Year in Hilton Credits: $60 statement credit per quarter after eligible to use at any Hilton property worldwide.
- Get Hilton Honors Gold Status: For as long as you have the card. This will get you free breakfast at almost any Hilton hotel abroad, or a daily food and beverage credit at U.S. properties.
- Instant National Car Emerald Club Executive Status
- Get Hilton Diamond Status: If you spend $40,000 or more in a calendar year, you will earn Hilton's top-tier Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.
- 12x Hilton Honors points: At participating hotels in the Hilton portfolio.
- 5x Hilton Honors points: On every dollar spent up to $100,000 annually, earning 3x thereafter.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- $195 Annual Fee (see rates & fees)
Not sure if you're eligible for a small business credit card? You might be surprised!
Learn more about the *Hilton Honors Business*.
Best Use for a Free Night Reward
Unlike other hotel chains that place caps on which tiers of properties you can book using certificates, there's no points cap on how much a hotel night can cost with Hilton free night rewards. As long as there is standard room award availability at the property, you can use a free night certificate.
So while even mid-tier properties are often out of reach with other hotel chain's certificates, you can book some of the best Hilton properties in the world with the free night rewards from the current welcome offers.
That puts tremendous properties like the Conrad Bora Bora Nui or the brand-new Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique – both of which go for $1,000 or more a night – at your disposal. It really can't be overstated just how valuable these free night rewards are.
If you're looking to stay a little closer to home, a personal favorite of the team here at Thrifty Traveler is the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. After checking it out for ourselves, we can confidently say that you won't walk away disappointed by using your free night at this property.
Given the incredible value that these free night certificates provide, you shouldn't have trouble putting them to good use no matter where you stay.
Read more: The Best Ways to Maximize Your Hilton Free Night Certificates
What You Can Get With Hilton Points
From the no-annual-fee *Hilton Honors* to the top-tier Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, there are a lot of points at stake with the welcome offers on Hilton's suite of Amex cards.
Even though Hilton Honors points may not go as far toward a free night as other hotel chains like Hyatt, this could still be an easy way to add to your stash of points. Plus, you'd be picking up valuable benefits like automatic Hilton status, too.
But what can you really get with 175,000 Hilton Honors points, anyway? Hilton's dynamic pricing system means nightly award rates – how many points you'll need to book a room – are constantly changing from night to night, so it can be hard to pin down. It ranges from 20,000 points per night (or less) for a simple city hotel to 120,000 points per night (or much, much more) for a luxe resort in the Caribbean or the Maldives.
Pair all those points with a free night reward, and you could book some great Hilton stays with these bonuses.
American Express welcome offer bonuses can only be earned once per lifetime. That means you generally can't earn another bonus on a card you've already held … but you can earn a new bonus on other versions you haven't yet opened – at least for now.
Amex has been adding new restrictions to some of its other families of credit cards, making it much harder for travelers to stack welcome bonuses on different Amex cards. For now, though, Hilton's portfolio of cards has been spared.
Plus, there's a quick way to check whether you'll be eligible for one of these welcome bonuses on the Hilton credit cards. Read about Amex's handy Apply with Confidence tool – and make sure to check out our post breaking down all the bank application rules you need to know.
Just for holding the Hilton Honors Surpass Card (or the Hilton Honors Business card), you will get automatic Hilton Gold Status.
That was one of our favorite hotel credit card perks for years, as it offered free breakfast for two guests at every stay. Unfortunately, that's taken a hit as Hilton has replaced it with a less-valuable food and beverage credit at U.S. properties. Still, it can take some expense out of your next hotel stay – especially with free breakfast when traveling abroad.
Bottom Line
There are a lot of points – and more importantly, free nights – available with the current offers on Hilton's suite of co-branded credit cards.
With a recent revamp of the Hilton Surpass and Aspire cards, you get even more money-saving credits and benefits in exchange for slightly higher annual fees. Meanwhile, recent changes to the Hilton Business card don't have quite the same upside. But no matter which route you go, these new welcome offers should enough to consider pulling the trigger.
Adding any of these cards to your wallet before your next trip can be a no-brainer if Hilton fits in your travel plans. Just make sure to take advantage before these elevated welcome offers are gone!