Hilton Honors American Express Card Review 2024

If you’re looking to earn Hilton Honors points without paying an annual fee, look no further than the Hilton Honors American Express Card. You receive automatic Hilton Honors™ Silver status just for holding the card and have the ability to spend your way to Gold status with $20,000 in spending in a calendar year. The card offers a solid welcome bonus: 80,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after spending $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first six months of card membership.

Although Hilton Honors points don’t carry as much value as other hotel points, the welcome bonus will still cover a night or two at many Hilton hotels. You also earn 7 Hilton Honors points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels or resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 5 points for each dollar of eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations and 3 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases. Hilton Honors points typically are worth about 0.5 cents per point, so when spending on U.S. supermarkets, gas stations and restaurants you effectively earn 2.5% in points, which is a solid earnings rate for a card with no annual fee.

There’s also no limit on how many points you can earn, which means your rewards can add up quickly. Many cards that offer bonuses on groceries and gas have a spending cap, so the fact that this one doesn’t is appealing if you’re a heavy spender at grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants. The card doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees, which makes it even more attractive for those who travel internationally, although you won’t get the earning bonus on groceries, gas and dining while abroad.

On the other hand, you don’t get a lot of the premium travel perks that other credit cards with an ownership cost offer. The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (terms apply, see rates & fees), for example, offers Gold status with the ability to spend up to Diamond status (Hilton’s highest level of status) and the ability to earn a free night reward with $15,000 of spending on the card. Still, if you just want a simple no-annual-fee card to help you earn Hilton Honors points, the Hilton Honors American Express Card fits the bill.

• $0 annual fee
• Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Silver status
• Upgrade to Hilton Honors™ Gold status by spending $20,000 in a calendar year
• No foreign transaction fees

Earning Rewards

• You can earn points spending on different categories: 7 Hilton Honors points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels or resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 5 points for each dollar of eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations and 3 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

The Hilton Honors American Express Card comes with Hilton Honors™ Silver status which gets you a 20% base points earning bonus on stays, but if you spend $20,000 on the card in a calendar year you receive an upgrade to Hilton Honors™ Gold status good through the end of the next calendar year. Hilton Honors Gold comes with a better chance of upgrades, higher points earning on stays and a food and beverage credit for stays in the U.S. or complimentary breakfast for international stays. If you earn Gold status and get upgraded to an Executive Floor room on a stay, you’ll even get access to the Executive Lounge.

Redeeming Rewards

Hilton boasts a large portfolio of over 7,000 properties across more than 20 brands and they do not have blackout dates for award redemptions. However, rates can vary quite a bit. Your best bet is to search for a standard room in order to find the lowest rates. Upgraded rooms often cost twice as many Hilton Honors points.

Because there is so much variation, it’s important to shop around when looking to redeem your Hilton Honors points. In a big city, you’ll likely find multiple options ranging from suburban hotels for 30,000 to 40,000 points per night to city-center hotels for 50,000 to 80,000 points to luxury properties up to 95,000 points per night for a standard room and upwards of 100,000 points per night for a premium room. Be sure to do some searching to find the option that best suits your needs.

Paying with Hilton Honors points offers two unique benefits. First, if the hotel charges a resort fee, you will not need to pay it if paying for your hotel stay entirely with points or with free night certificates. Note that if you pay with cash and points, an option that generally only is useful in very specific situations, you will have to pay for the resort fee.

Secondly, when you book five consecutive award nights, the fifth night is free as a Silver member, which is a benefit of holding the card. This little known benefit can stretch your Hilton Honors points 20% further on longer stays.

One final notable feature of Hilton Honors is points pooling—the ability to share points among up to 11 family members and friends (yourself and up to 10 additional people). That means, for example, that two spouses in the same family could earn the welcome bonus from this or any of the Hilton Honors credit card offerings to help pay for that dream vacation.

Rewards Potential

Forbes Advisor uses government spending data to determine average household spending in various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households, which we use to determine this card’s rewards potential, brings in $116.000 per year and can put $36,177 on a credit card annually.

This typical family spends $2,015 on hotels per year. At 7 Hilton Honors points per dollar spent the cardholder would earn 14,105 points assuming that all hotel stays are at Hilton properties. That’s in addition to the 2 bonus Hilton Honors points per dollar you’d receive with your Hilton Silver status, adding another 4,030 points to the account.

The typical family in the 70th-percentile of wage-earners spends $6,692 on groceries, $3,856 on restaurants and $2,479 on gas per year. Those three categories all earn 5 Hilton Honors points per dollar which would net our example family 65,135 Hilton Honors points.

This card is probably not a family’s best for assorted other purchases (you’re better off with a 2% cash-back card like the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card, which earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases), but if someone is stocking up on Hilton Honors points they might place additional spending of $21,135 on the card in order to earn 63,405 Hilton Honors points.

Assuming this annual spending, the family will earn 146,675 Hilton Honors points each year. If we add in the welcome bonus, this family will earn more than enough Hilton Honors points in the first year for a five-night stay at a hotel costing up to 50,000 points a night using the fifth night free.

• Car rental loss and damage insurance: When you use your card to pay for a rental vehicle and decline the collision damage waiver at the rental counter, you may receive secondary auto coverage in an eligible territory. Terms apply.¹
• Global Assist Hotline: Travel with the peace of mind that you can contact the Global Assist Hotline 24/7 if you run into any issues when traveling over 100 miles from home.²
• Additional cards: Add additional cards for anyone 13 or older to increase your potential Hilton Honors points earned.
• American Express Offers: Get targeted discounts or extra point offers.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 20.99%-29.99% Variable
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: N/A

Fees

• Annual fee: $0
• Balance transfer fee: N/A
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: None

Hilton Honors American Express Card vs. Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card*

Marriott Bonvoy, like Hilton Honors, has a large hotel footprint in the U.S. and around the world. Most people will already know whether they want to earn Bonvoy or Hilton Honors points, but if you still haven’t chosen a program to focus on, you may want to look at Marriott Bonvoy before you commit to Hilton Honors.

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card*, like the Hilton Honors American Express Card, comes with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. However, the welcome bonus is less generous, even when accounting for differences in point values: 30,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.

Where the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card* really falls short is in everyday earning power. You can earn 3 points per dollar at over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy program, 2 points per dollar on other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains) and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. Most Americans spend so much at grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants that in terms of pure earning power the Hilton Honors American Express Card comes out ahead.

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card* offers 15 nights towards earning status, which effectively gives you Silver Elite status with Bonvoy with a 10% points earning bonus on stays. The nights may be more effective than the status that the Hilton Amex offers because you then get a jump start toward earning Bonvoy Gold Elite. However, Hilton Gold, which you can earn via spending on the Hilton Amex, is more valuable than Bonvoy Gold Elite because it offers a food and beverage credit, which Bonvoy does not offer until the Platinum status level.

Ultimately, choosing between the Hilton Honors American Express Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card* becomes a function of choosing between the two hotel chains.

Hilton Honors American Express Card vs. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card

If you’re a Hilton loyalist, you should consider the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. This Hilton card, also issued by American Express, comes with a $150 annual fee. While initially the annual fee might seem like a negative, if you look closely you’ll actually find you can get a lot of value for that annual fee.

First, you receive automatic Hilton Gold status, which will improve your upgrade chances. You can sometimes get upgraded to an Executive Floor with an Executive Lounge, especially when overseas. You also receive a food and beverage credit at all Hilton brand hotels in the U.S. or free breakfast overseas. While at some brands this may only be a continental breakfast, the option still can prove very valuable.

On top of all these benefits, you also receive a free night reward when spending $15,000 on the card per calendar year. This is another great way to extract extra value from the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. With this card, you’ll earn 12 Hilton Honors bonus points per dollar on eligible purchases at participating hotels or resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 6 points on eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations, 4 points on eligible U.S. online retail purchases and 3 points for other eligible purchases.

Hilton Honors American Express Card vs. Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

If you want travel rewards with more flexibility than hotel stays with one chain, consider the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card. The card earns 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.25 miles per dollar on every other purchase and the rewards can be redeemed for eligible travel purchases you’ve made with your card. This means you can book directly with Hilton to use any status benefits, but also redeem miles for your purchase.

You can also transfer your miles to 15+ travel partners, including Choice Hotels and airlines like British Airways and Emirates. It also has no annual fee (rates & fees), no foreign transaction fee and is a solid contender because of the versatility of Capital One miles and the ease of not having to track bonus categories.

If you’re searching for a hotel card without an annual fee, the Hilton Honors American Express Card matches up favorably against its peers. However, those who frequently stay at Hiltons should take a close look at the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. In spite of the $150 annual fee, the Surpass card can be a more rewarding choice.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors, including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points or miles
• Included travel or merchant credits
• Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards

To view rates and fees for Hilton Honors American Express Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card please visit this page.
¹Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

²You can rely on Global Assist Hotline 24 hours a day / 7 days a week for medical, legal, financial or other select emergency coordination and assistance services while traveling more than 100 miles away from your home. Third-party service costs may be your responsibility. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Card Members are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.