Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card review
This card offers impressive rewards on stays within the Hilton portfolio, certain flights, car rentals, and U.S. restaurants. It even offers bonus rewards on all "other" purchases, meaning you'll benefit no matter the purchase. All information about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by Cardratings.
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Key Features
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- This card offers a very generous welcome bonus to new cardholders.
- Earning 14X points when you make eligible purchases on your card at participating hotels or resorts within the Hilton Portfolio is great, but the rewards don't stop there. You'll also earn bonus rewards on other travel purchases as well as on everyday purchases.
- Enjoy up to $250 in Hilton Resort credits on your card each anniversary year when you stay at participating resorts within the Hilton portfolio.
- It offers a lot of benefits to help offset the cost, but the annual fee is a bit steep. If you're considering this card you'll want to be sure you will use it enough to justify this.
Hilton Honors Aspire Card benefits
Most hotels try to get customers to visit– and hopefully convince them to stay awhile or keep coming back– so it’s no wonder that the CardName would try to give its cardholders plenty of reasons to hang onto the card and to keep using it longterm. American Express is a CardRatings advertiser.
The annual fee isn’t for everyone, but for frequent travelers, and especially those loyal to the Hilton brand, this card offers a number of valuable benefits to offset it, including:
- Generous rewards rate on purchases. Earn 14X points on purchases made directly with a participating Hilton hotel or resort; 7X points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, on car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies, and at U.S. restaurants; and 3X points on all other purchases.
- An enticing welcome bonus. You can earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases on your card in the first three months of membership.
- Up to $250 in Hilton resort statement credits each year. You can use these credits for dining, activities, spa treatments and more when these purchases are made directly at participating Hilton resorts.
- Up to $100 Hilton on-property credit. If you book at least two nights at Waldorf Astoria or Conrad properties by going to HiltonHonors.com/aspirecard, you’ll receive a credit of up to $100 for qualifying incidentals during your stay.
- Annual airline credit. Not only is this a good card for hotel stays, it’s beneficial for frequent flyers as well. You can earn a $250 airline fee credit for incidental charges that are charged by the airline of your choice to your card account. Just select one qualifying airline at www.americanexpress.com/airlinecreditchoice and then receive up to $250 per calendar year in statement credits for incidental fees such as checked baggage, in-flight refreshments, and flight change fees charged with this airline.
- Hilton Honors Diamond status. This status gets you a number of valuable perks such as a 100% bonus on all base points you earn, room upgrades at participating hotels when available, and more.
- Priority Pass™ Select membership. This gives you unlimited Priority Pass™ lounge access for you and two guests per visit at over 1,000 airport lounges around the world.
- Up to two weekend reward nights. Enjoy one weekend night reward with your new card and every year after renewal.
Enrollment required for select benefits.
Hilton Honors Aspire Card credit score
If you’re planning on applying for the CardName, you should have good to excellent credit. American Express doesn’t specifically express the exact score you’ll need to qualify, and additional factors from your application and credit history could also affect your approval chances; however, the credit bureau Experian says those with good credit usually have FICO scores of at least 670, with excellent scores starting at 800. Please note, though, that these numbers can vary between different bureaus.
Hilton Honors Aspire Card annual fee
Though the CardName offers a number of valuable perks to help offset it, one downside of this card is its sizable AnnualFees annual fee. Despite the valuable rewards-earning potential this card offers, if you’re not traveling often, it’ll likely be difficult to justify the cost of the card. However, if you travel regularly, incentives such as free night rewards, airport lounge access, and airline and hotel credits will offset this cost with ease. Plus, this card has no foreign transaction fees, so it’s great for international travel. Many cards charge a fee of up to 3% on purchases made in a foreign currency. So say you travel abroad a few times a year, spending on average $10,000 annually with a card that charges a 3% fee on foreign transactions, you’d be looking at $300 in fees. If you use the Aspire card though, that’s money in your pocket. See Rates and Fees
How the Hilton Honors Aspire Card compares to other credit cards
Hilton Honors Aspire vs. card_name
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We might as well get this out of the way first: Like the Hilton Aspire card, the CardName has a hefty annual fee (AnnualFees), but also like the Aspire card, it offers a lot of great perks to help offset this cost.
For starters, you’ll earn 100,000 bonus points + $500 Chase Travel℠ promo credit after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Cardholders can also receive a reimbursement of up to $300 in statement credits each account anniversary to cover select travel expenses including airfare and hotel charges. This card also comes with access over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide with a complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership, plus access to every Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club with two guests. Plus, up to $120 towards Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck® every 4 years
Both cards are marketed as travel cards, but they each earn rewards a bit differently. Whereas the Aspire card earns bonus rewards in select travel categories (among others), the card_name earns a flat rate of 8X points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠, including The Edit℠; 4X points on flights and hotels booked direct; 3X points on dining worldwide; and 1X points on all other purchases.
Neither card charges foreign transaction fees.
Hilton Honors Aspire vs. card_name
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This is another card with a sizable annual fee (AnnualFees), but again, it’s also another option with plenty of perks to help offset this. (See Rates and Fees)
Some of the travel benefits offered with CardName include access to the Global Lounge Collection® (for eligible card members), up to $200 a year in statement credits to cover incidental airline charges with a pre-selected airline, and a $120 or $85 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee reimbursement (enrollment required).
As far as bonuses and rewards go, new cardholders may be eligible for as high as signup_reward Membership Rewards® Points after you spend signup_bonus_spend_amount in eligible purchases in your first six months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the card, your score may be impacted. On an ongoing basis, earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (on up to $500,000 spent on these purchases per calendar year), as well as on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com, and 1X point on all other eligible purchases.
The Platinum Card® offers a bit more flexibility with how you earn rewards, but if you’re looking for a luxury travel card and frequently stay at Hilton properties, the Aspire card is likely the better fit.
Another important distinction between these cards: Unlike typical credit cards, the Platinum Card® allows you to carry a balance for certain charges, but not all, and is therefore not meant to carry revolving credit. (See Rates and Fees) The Aspire card is a traditional credit card (though it’s best to not carry revolving credit on this or any card). So you’ll want to bear that in mind.
Again, neither card charges foreign transaction fees. (See Rates and Fees)
Is the Hilton Honors Aspire Card worth it?
For some cardholders, yes, absolutely. For you? Only you can decide that.
If you aren’t much of a traveler, or you are but rarely stay at Hilton properties, then this is likely not your credit card. On the other hand, if you travel often and prefer Hilton hotels, then all you need to think about is whether the annual fee is worth it to you. And it probably will be thanks to the numerous perks that come with the card. Just make sure to use the card, and these perks, often enough to offset the cost of the card.
Frequently asked questions
How many Hilton points do you get with Aspire?
How much is the Hilton Aspire Card annual fee?
Disclaimer:The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
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To see the rates and fees for the American Express cards in this post, please visit the following links: CardName (See Rates and Fees); CardName (See Rates and Fees)
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