Hilton Honors Aspire Card From American Express Review 2024

The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* is the high-end option for those looking to earn Hilton Honors points—and an industry leader by offering top-tier hotel status just for holding the card. The card offers a sizable welcome bonus: 150,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of card membership. It also awards a free night with each card anniversary and two others with $30,000 and $60,000 spent in a calendar year, respectively.

The downside? A $550 annual fee that isn’t waived the first year. On paper, the fee is easily offset by the $200 airline credit and the $400 in Hilton resort credits. However, it’s not so simple.

The $200 airline credit is doled out as up to $50 in statement credits quarterly, so you need to book a flight at least four times a year to maximize it. The $400 resort credit can only be redeemed at certain properties, representing a fraction of the Hilton Portfolio, and is also given in increments of $200 twice a year.

The card offers the ability to share earnings with authorized cardholders for no additional fee. Authorized users can be as young as 13, so this could be a good card for family use. Authorized users will not be eligible for Diamond elite status or the annual credits though.

• One free weekend night annually
• $200 annual airline credits ($50 per quarter)
• $400 annual Hilton resort credits ($200 semi-annually)
• Complimentary Hilton Diamond elite status with card membership
• CLEAR® Plus membership credit with enrollment
• Delayed baggage, trip delay and cancellation insurance
• Secondary car rental damage and loss insurance
• Purchase protection, return protection and extended warranty

Earning Rewards

The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* offers a welcome bonus: 150,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of card membership. The card also earns 14 Hilton Honors bonus points at participating hotels or resorts within the Hilton Portfolio, 7 points per dollar on eligible purchases for flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel, car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies and U.S. restaurants and 3 points per dollar on other eligible purchases.

In addition to traditional rewards, the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* offers a $400 Hilton resort credit (issued as a $200 credit twice per year), Hilton Diamond elite status and a free night award each card anniversary. Cardholders also get a $200 annual airline credit, given as up to $50 per quarter and have the ability to earn additional free night awards after meeting certain spending requirements. Keep in mind that the credits have no real value unless you use them.

Redeeming Rewards

Hilton Honors points are valuable because they do not have blackout dates and because Hilton has a huge hotel portfolio of over 7,600 properties across 23 brands. Rates vary depending on the property and date. The value averages 0.5 cents per Hilton Honors point, based on our research. However, you can find wide variations between hotels and even between dates at the same hotel.

Hilton has a range of award prices between 5,000 and 150,000 points for a standard room. Preferred rooms and even suites can be booked with points, but the point value tends to be much lower than what you will get with a standard room. You can also pay with points and cash, although points and cash reservations are not subject to waived resort fees or the fifth night free.

Hilton Honors has another unique benefit: points pooling, where up to ten friends and family members can combine and share points. This is another way to earn points quickly because multiple cardholders can earn a welcome bonus and combine the points into the same account.

Rewards Potential

Using data from various government agencies, Forbes Advisor has developed estimates for how much a family in the 70th percentile of income spends annually in various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households brings in $118,438 annually and has $39,337 in expenses that can be reasonably charged to credit cards. These figures are used to estimate the potential rewards from this credit card.

Hilton Aspire Rewards Potential
Category	Earning Rate	Estimated Annual Spend	Estimated Annual Earnings
Hilton Purchases	14X	$5,716	80,024
Airlines, Car Rental and U.S. Restaurants	7X	$6,953	48,671
All Other Purchases	3x	$26,668	80,004
			Total: 208,699 Hilton Honors Points

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If we add in the welcome bonus, this family will earn more than enough Hilton Honors points for a five-night stay that costs up to 60,000 points a night using the fifth-night-free perk. Check out the Hilton Honors Points Explore tool to find out how far the Hilton Aspire’s points could take your family.

On top of the Hilton Honors points earned, the family would receive a free night award, $200 in airline credits and $400 in Hilton resort credits annually. That said, if the credits aren’t used, they don’t have any real value. 

• Premium Global Assist® hotline. 24/7 Global Assist hotline to help with emergency assistance coordination while traveling.
• $100 property credit. Book a hotel through Hilton Aspire’s portal and receive a $100 credit for dining, spa and resort activities when you stay at least two consecutive nights at Conrad or Waldorf Astoria properties.
• American Express event benefits. Benefits include preferred seating and presales for select events.
• American Express concierge. American Express Concierge can perform services including purchasing tickets, making dining reservations, assisting with travel inquiries and completing shopping requests.
• Return protection. Return protection can refund you for eligible purchases when the merchant refuses to return an item within 90 days of purchase.
• Baggage insurance. Covers up to $3,000 for eligible lost, damaged or stolen baggage when you purchase the entire fare for a common carrier ticket on your eligible card.
• Trip cancellation, delay and interruption insurance. Provides protection against certain covered trip cancellations, delays and interruptions when an eligible trip is charged entirely to your card.
• Cellphone protection. When you charge your cellular wireless service to your card, your phone is insured against theft, damaged screens and cracked screens.

Interest Rates

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

Fees

• Annual fee: $550
• Balance transfer fee: N/A
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: None

Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* vs. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card

The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (terms apply, see rates & fees) is the mid-tier offering among the American Express Hilton Honors credit cards. It offers Hilton Honors™ Gold status, which gets you a food credit at participating hotels and the possibility of a room upgrade. With a lower annual fee of $150, the Hilton Surpass Card could be a better fit if you want some Hilton benefits without the steep annual fee.

The Hilton Surpass Card currently offers a welcome bonus of 130,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in purchases in the first 6 months of card membership.

Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* vs. The Platinum Card® from American Express

The The Platinum Card® from American Express is another premium American Express card. It has an annual fee of $695 (Terms apply, see rates and fees) and a lower earnings rate of 1 point per dollar on most purchases.

However, the Amex Platinum Card earns Membership Rewards, which are transferable to many travel partners and useful for booking airlines and hotels, including Hilton. It also allows access to Delta and Centurion airport lounges (terms apply), which the Hilton Aspire card does not. The American Express Platinum, like the Surpass, offers Hilton Gold elite status with enrollment, which receives that all-important breakfast credit at eligible Hilton hotels.

Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* vs. Citi Premier® Card

If you travel often and want a card that offers rewards for travel, including hotel stays, but aren’t loyal to one hotel chain, take a look at the Citi Premier® Card. It’s a mid-tier rewards card with an annual fee of $95.

The Citi Premier earns ThankYou Points, a transferable points currency redeemable for various rewards, including travel booked through ThankYou.com or mileage transfers to one of Citi’s many airline or hotel partners. The card earns 3 ThankYou points per dollar at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels, 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases and a total of 10 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024.

What you give up in earnings and benefits on stays at Hilton properties may be outweighed by the additional earnings you get using the Citi Premier® Card for bonus categories. Additionally, the flexibility of a transferable points currency may open up more useful travel opportunities, depending on your travel patterns.

If you’re a Hilton loyalist, the Aspire card deserves a look. The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express*’s 14 points per dollar earnings rate on Hilton stays plus Diamond elite status, which earns 20 additional points per dollar at most brands, means the Aspire card is an unparalleled tool for earning Hilton Honors points quickly.

Add in the annual free night award, resort and airline credits, CLEAR® Plus membership and airport lounge access, and this card is a winner with or without the welcome bonus. You will need to jump through more than a few hoops to offset the annual fee with the credits. But if you can, you can have your Hilton cake while you stay there, too.

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
• Benefits, such as status with a particular chain
• 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.

To learn more about our rating and review methodology and editorial process, check out our guide on how Forbes Advisor rates credit cards.

To view rates and fees for Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.