Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card - Deep Dive Review 2020
The Hilton Honors American Express Card got us a free night at the Boca Raton Resort and Club, a Waldorf Astoria Resort.
Key Benefits
150,000 Hilton Honors Points Sign Up Bonus valued at $1,200!
14x Hilton Honors Points on Hilton purchases
7x Hilton Honors Points on flights, car rentals, and U.S. restaurants
3x Hilton Honors Points on all other purchases
Complimentary Hilton Diamond Status Diamond Status - the highest elite status level at Hilton
Annual Free Weekend Night, and ability to earn a second free weekend night after $60k spend
$250 Hilton Statement Credit
$250 Airline Fee Credit
$100 Credit at Waldorf Astoria or Conrad properties
Priority Pass airport lounge membership which offers access to 1,200+ airport lounges
17.99% to 26.99% variable APR depending on creditworthiness and 3% on balance transfers and cash advances
To the Point
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card can easily be one of the most valuable co-branded hotel cards currently available. Our goal at the Points Passport is show you all the ways you can optimize your spending and earn as much value as possible out of every dollar you’re already spending, and the Hilton Aspire makes this extremely easy.
Thanks to the wide selection of category spending, high multipliers such as 34x Hilton Honors points per $1 spent at Hilton properties, complimentary Hilton Diamond status, a $250 Hilton credit, a $250 airline credit, a free-annual night and Priority Pass membership, the Hilton Aspire is basically paying you to use it. The Hilton Aspire comes with a massive 150,000 Hilton Honors point (HH) sign up bonus after $4,000 in spend during your first three months of card membership. After completing your minimum spend you should be sitting over 162,000 HH (150,000 HH from the sign up bonus + 12,000 HH assuming you meet the $4,000 minimum spend in the 3x HH non-bonus category) which could reward you with several free nights depending on the hotel property tier.
All of these points, perks, credits and free nights could equate to thousands of dollars in value if you play this card right. For example, Hilton offers a wide range of property point values ranging from 5,000 HH per night at the Hilton Garden Inn Bali Rgnurah Rai, to higher end properties such as the Conrad Bali for 48,000 HH, Boca Beach Club Waldorf Astoria Resort for 80,000 HH, the Conrad Bora Bora Nui for 89,000 HH, the Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria in Hawaii or Conrad Maldives for 95,000 HH a night. Some of these properties can cost on average around $1,000 a night, but by utilizing points and your annual free weekend certificates, a several thousand dollar stay could be totally free! Hilton also sweetens the deal on 5 night award stays by giving you the 5th night free!
Whether you stay at Hilton properties exclusively, want a free stay, or two annually, and have aspirations of taking a trip of a lifetime to somewhere like Bora Bora or the Maldives for FREE, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is most certainly a keeper card. Don't let the $450 annual fee scare you, because the $250 Hilton and $250 airline credit already puts you $50 ahead, just by being a card member. We don’t often see a card that offers the card member a sustainable net value annually with $0 spend, but this is a great way the Hilton Aspire breaks from the norm. The Hilton Aspire will continue to bring you value with all of the below benefits. Let me warn you, there are a TON, so prepare of the perks!
Interested in applying? Apply below for the American Express Hilton Aspire Card and get a 150,000 Hilton Honors points sign up bonus which is valued at $1,200.
Deep Dive into the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card's Benefits
14x Hilton Honors Points per $1 spent at Hilton properties. Additionally, you will also receive 20x extra Hilton Honors Points per $1 spent at Hilton properties thanks to your complimentary Diamond Status bonus! This totals 34x Hilton Honors points for every $1 spent at Hilton properties.
7x Hilton Honors Points on flights booked directly with airlines or with amextravel.com.
7x Hilton Honors Points on car rentals booked directly with car rental companies.
7x Hilton Honors Points on U.S. restaurants.
3x Hilton Honors Points on all other purchases.
$250 Hilton Statement Credit - Free food, drinks or a spa day when you're staying at a Hilton property.
$250 Airline Fee Credit - Select an airline and receive $250 in statement credits annually for incidental fees, in-flight purchases, charges or checked baggage.
$100 Hilton Waldorf Astoria and Conrad Hotels and Resorts On-Property Credit - To get this credit you must book a 2 night minimum stay at these specific property brands. Use this link to book here.
Free Annual Weekend Night Rewards - Every year receive one free weekend night stay at almost any Hilton property. A "weekend night" is defined as a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night. Plus, if you spend $60,000 on your card, you will earn another free weekend night! See Hilton's full list of weekend night reward exclusions here.
Hilton Honors Diamond Status - By simply being an Aspire card member you get instant Hilton Honor Diamond Status. We will cover all the valuable benefits and perks of Hilton's top tier hotel rewards status in the "Diamond Status" section below.
Priority Pass Membership - Unlimited access to over 1,200 airport lounges around the worldwide, and ability to bring up to two guests free of charge.
No Foreign Transaction Fees - No FTFs are now normal for premium cards, which can save you up to 3% or more when compared to using a debit card or a credit card that carries FTFs.
Premium Roadside Assistance - 24/7 service to arrange for a tow, up to 10 miles, flat tire changes, lock out service, jumpstarts and even free fuel delivery. You can use this service up to 4 times a year without a charge. Unlike Chase's roadside assistance, you can even call if your vehicle is parked in your own driveway.
American Express Concierge - Complimentary service available 24/7 ranging from advice on gift arrangements and dinner reservations to booking show tickets or hotels stays.
Shoprunner Membership - Free 2-days shipping on over 100+ online stores. Simply enroll with your card here.
Authorized User Cards - Authorized users get the same category multipliers but do not gain any of the other benefits such as Diamond status or a free night. There is no fee for additional Authorized Users.
Extended Warranty - Amex will match the original warranty for up to two additional years. This only applies to warranties of 5 years or less. Amex coverage is limited to the actual amount charged on your card for the item up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 per year.
Purchase Protection - Amex will protect eligible purchases made on your card when they are accidentally damaged, stolen or lost up to 120 days after purchase. $10,000 per occurrence, and $50,000 per calendar year. (90 days for residents of NY, IN, Guam, PR, and Northern Mariana Islands)
Amex Offers - American Express has a constant stream of offers that can deliver you even more value. A few examples of offers that I have seen are: Spend $1,000 at a Hilton brand hotel in Hawaii and get $200 back, spend $50 at wine.com and get $10 back, and spend $500 at Bulgari and get $100 back. These offers work out to being 20% off the full retail price, and are given to you as a statement credit for the month. Amex offers can save you a ton of money on something you are already planning on purchasing and they are abundant and ever changing. Each month, AMEX will email you about the new offers, so you never have to worry about forgetting about them. Simply log into your account, review the offers you find interesting, and enjoy saving money!
Rental Vehicles Bonus Points - Earn 500 Hilton Honors points per rental, then an additional 500 HH points per rental day up to 4,500 bonus points per qualifying rental with Alamo, Enterprise, and National worldwide.
Hilton Honors Points Pooling - Combine your Hilton Honors points with up to 10 friends or family members for free.
Pay with Points + Money - Super flexible way to pay for your Hilton stay by paying with points and money. Perfect if you are just shy of that free night point balance but still want to vacation!
Hilton Honors Dining - Join the Hilton Honors dining program to earn even more points when using your Hilton Aspire. Earn dining status and up to 8x Hilton Honors points per $1 spent. It should be noted that you can sign up for Hilton Honors dining even if you don't have a Hilton Honors Card! You can even add multiple cards. For instance, I have my Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Gold Card both added so I can earn Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards and Hilton Honors points at the same time while buying food I would be purchasing anyway.
Downgrade Path to No Annual Fee Card - Long term it is always good to look at the downgrade path on a credit card. If you no longer find value in a card it is ideal to know you can downgrade it to a free, no annual fee, card without closing the line of credit and affecting your credit score. Luckily, the Hilton Aspire has two downgrade options. The Hilton Ascend by American Express, which is going through a name change to the Hilton Surpass, is the middle of the road $95 annual fee card, and the Hilton Honors by American Express is a free no annual fee Hilton card. Also, don’t worry about losing your points if you downgrade. Your HH will stay in your Hilton Honors account as long as you remain actively earning or redeeming HH within a 12 month period. One annual $1 purchase on your card will keep you active. Easy as that.
Hilton Honor Diamond Status
Diamond status is Hilton's top tier status and comes with a plethora of perks. The fact that you can essentially buy into the top tier status with the Hilton Aspire card is astounding. For example without the Hilton Aspire, to earn Hilton Diamond Status you would need to complete either 30 Hilton stays, 60 nights, or earn 120,000 Hilton Honors points, all within a single calendar year. As mentioned above, with Diamond status, you will be earning 20x extra bonus points per $1 spent with Hilton. When you add your 14x Hilton Aspire card Hilton reward category to this, you will earn a whopping 34 Hilton Honors points per dollar spent with Hilton. Who doesn't want to roll out of bed to a complimentary breakfast waiting? Diamond members get a complimentary breakfast at the hotel restaurant, or depending on the property you can order it to your room.
Upgrades! When space is available you will receive a complimentary room upgrade which can include suites! Since you got upgraded, don't you want to enjoy the room longer? Luckily, Diamond members get late check-out upon availability. At the Points Passport we love ourselves a good lounge. With Diamond status you get access to the Executive Lounge which generally has complimentary drinks and snacks. You don’t even need to stay on the Executive Floor to access it!
Since you can earned all these points, you want to spend them right? Get your 5th night free when you book a 5 night reward stay. Doing this increases the value of your points significantly! Hilton Honors also offers a unique "My Way Diamond Membership" benefit which lets you pick some of the benefits depending on what Hilton hotel brand you are staying at. For instance, you can generally pick a few snacks or drinks or just take around 1,000 extra Hilton Honors points. Another unique thing Hilton does, is if they cannot get you a room upgrade they will compensate you with extra Hilton Honors points.
Lastly, take advantage of the free Wi-Fi and hotel water bottles! All of these little things add up fast when you consider what it would cost if you were to pay for them. An upgraded suite room or executive floor room could cost an extra $300 dollars or more a night, breakfast for two could be around $50 a day depending on the property, Wi-Fi, lounge snacks, drinks and water bottles could rack up another $100, and that 5th night free could be an extra $1,000 in points alone! This isn't even all of the Diamond benefits. To see the full list of all Hilton Honors Status visit the Hilton website here.
Value Proposition
All this Hilton Honors Diamond status talk leads us directly into the value proposition. At the Points Passport, we like to make the value proposition for the cards we review easy to understand. In order to do that, we break down the value into two parts: The initial sign up and sustaining costs, or in the Hilton Aspires case, net value that occurs every year after. Placing an exact value on the Hilton Aspire proved difficult due to the abundance of valuable perks. Different properties provide different benefits which obviously affects the value on the status depending on the cardholders taste. Value is subjective, especially depending on the amount of stays a card holder completes annually. Also, everyone's experience will vary depending on the properties, locations, and personal travel preferences. The bottom line is that if you don't take advantage of the wealth of benefits, you won't see the value in them. Just like if you pay with debit you wont get points!
The Sign Up Offer
The current sign up offers for the Hilton Aspire is 150,000 Hilton Honors Points (HH). Based on a HH's value of $0.008/point, the value is as follows:
150,000 HH Sign Up Offer x $0.008/HH = $1,200
Annual Benefits
Statement Credits Only
$250 Hilton Statement Credit
$250 Airline Fee Credit
$100 Hilton Waldorf Astoria and Conrad Hotel and Resort Credit
$600 Total Annual Statement Credits
Sign Up Bonus + Statement Credits - Annual Fee = Net Cost
Year One: $1,280 Sign Up Bonus + $600 in Statement Credits - $450 annual fee = $1,350 Net Value.
Year Two and Beyond: $600 in Statement Credits - $450 Annual Fee = $150 Net Value.
*If you do not see yourself staying at the Waldorf Astoria or Conrad property simply deduct the $100 credit from each of the net values. After year one, you will still have a net value of $50 year after year.*
Additional Annual Benefits Value
Free Annual Weekend Night - The value of your free night completely depends on your property selection. You could get a $1,111/night King Suite at the Conrad Bora Bora, a $714/night Water Villa at the Conrad Maldives, a $675/night Superior Two Queen Terrace room at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, or a $499/night King Terrace View room at the Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria. Obviously, the more expensive the hotel you stay in is, the more value you will be extracting from that free night. The Hilton Aspire also provides the spending ability to get a second free night after $60,000 in spend, which we do not find is worth it. Based on the data collected from the above prices, we put an average value of $500 on the Free Annual Weekend Night.
Diamond Status - Earlier in our review, we discussed the Diamond Status in depth, and you may have discovered that it offers a range of value depending on how you use it. The best way to maximize value from this card benefit is by utilizing the perks and by staying at Hilton properties. Because all cardholder's mileage may vary, we will assign a value range to Diamond Status from $1,000 - $3,000. If you stay at least one free-annual night, get an upgrade, eat breakfast for two, enjoy premium Wi-Fi, drinks and snacks at the Executive Lounge, as well as earn 34x Hilton Honors points, the status would put you well over $1,000 in annual value.
Priority Pass Membership - If you were to purchase unlimited access Priority Pass membership straight from Priority Pass it would cost you $429 annually. This is another benefit that you need to use to really extract value from. Free alcoholic drinks and food at an airport will cost you, but not if you have this membership.
Free Annual Weekend Night + Diamond Status + Priority Pass = Net Value of additional annual benefits
$500 Free Night + $1000 Status + $429 Priority Pass = $1929 Net Value
* You can assign an extra night free weekend night if you plan on spending $60k*
*You can assign a different variable status value*
*You can subtract Priority Pass membership if you already have it*
Total Hilton Aspire Net Values
Year One
Sign Up Bonus + Statement Credits + Free Annual Night + Diamond Status + Priority Pass - Annual Fee = Net Value
$1,200 Sign Up Bonus + $600 in Statement Credits + $500 Free Annual Night + $1000 Status + $429 Priority Pass - $450 Annual Fee = $3,279 Net Value.
Year Two and Beyond
Statement Credits + Free Annual Night + Diamond Status + Priority Pass - Annual Fee = Net Value.
$600 in Statement Credits + $500 Free Annual Night + $1000 Status + $429 Priority Pass - $450 Annual Fee = $2,079 Net Value.
Now let's assume you plan to actually use this card for purchasing stays at Hilton properties each year. If you spend just $1,000/year with Hilton you will earn:
· $1,000 x 34x HH points = 34,000 HH points
· Those 34,000 HH points are worth approximately $272
· This is an approximately 27.2% return per dollar on Hilton spend! ($1,000 x 34 = 34,000 HH x 0.008 = $272. $272/$1000 = 27.2%)
Depending on an individual and their category spend you could be harvesting Hilton Honors points toward a free night or entire weekend stay with fairly low spending. The Hilton Aspire undoubtedly brings a whole lot of value to the table if you're willing to take advantage of it!
The Final Point
Overall, the Points Passport recommends this premium hotel card for anyone who stays, or wants to stay at Hilton properties. The myriad of benefits including the $600 in statement credits, the free annual weekend night, and the Hilton Diamond Status alone far outweigh the $450 annual fee price tag. In our opinion the Hilton Aspire is undoubtedly a keeper card, but we highly recommend having other travel rewards card that earn a more flexible point currency. For example, the Hilton Aspire might earn 3x points on generally non-category spend and 7x at U.S. restaurants, but then you are locked into only Hilton Honors points. We find it advantageous to be in multiple rewards ecosystems in case of a sudden points devaluation, which tends to happen from time to time. That being said, we don't see ourselves getting rid of the Aspire card anytime in the near future. We have even considered getting a second one for a spouse because the annual free weekend night is so valuable if you plan your stay at a high end resort! For a detailed example of how we extracted $1,755.96 in value using this card from a single free night stay at a Waldorf Astoria Hilton property, check out this travel hacking strategy.
Interested in applying? We appreciate you supporting the Points Passport by using our referral link below. We'll both get rewarded once you're approved. With our referral link for the Hilton Aspire card, you will receive a sign up bonus of 150,000 Hilton Honors points, valued at $1,200..