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Hilton Honors American Express Card Review

Hilton Honors American Express Card

Hilton Honors American Express Card Review

Welcome Offer
80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
Rewards Rate
Up to 7X Hilton Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases
Rates & Fees
No Foreign Transaction Fees. Enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through a credit card issuer partnership.

Who is the Hilton Honors American Express Card best for?

As a Hilton Honors loyalty program member, you may want a credit card that helps you earn points — but don’t want to pay for that privilege. Your best option is the Hilton Honors American Express Card, which charges a $0 annual fee and offers a robust rewards rate. With the Hilton Honors American Express Card, you’ll earn the most points for hotel-related spending, along with higher points when using the card for U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and  U.S. gas stations.

Hilton offers a worldwide selection of properties, with more than 6,500 hotels under 18 brands — from the Waldorf Astoria to Hampton Inn — located in 119 countries.

However, despite all this card has to offer, you may prefer to the flexibility to use your credit card rewards with hotel brands outside of the Hilton Honors program. Or you may want a card where you earn a simple flat rate for rewards, without worrying about different points categories. Finally, you may be traveling internationally to a country where American Express credit cards aren’t widely accepted. In these situations, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is an alternative worth considering.

To see rates & fees for the Hilton Honors American Express Card please click here.

Hilton Honors American Express Card overview

    • Earn 80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
    • Earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio.
    • Earn 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations.
    • Earn 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
    • No Foreign Transaction Fees. Enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad.
    • Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Silver status with your Card. Plus, spend $20,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year and you can earn an upgrade to Hilton Honors Gold status through the end of the next calendar year.
    • No Annual Fee.
    • Terms Apply.
  • Credit needed:
    720 850
    Excellent/Good
  • Global Assist® hotline when more than 100 miles from home
  • Exclusive access to events and ticket presales
  • Terms apply

Intro Purchase APR

N/A

Regular Purchase APR

17.99%-26.99% Variable

Intro BT APR

N/A

Regular BT APR

N/A

Annual Fee

$0

Cash Advance Fee

Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.

Foreign Transaction Fee

None

Balance Transfer Fee

N/A

Pros and cons of the Hilton Honors American Express Card

Pros

  • Solid welcome offer
  • Good rewards
  • Multiple transfer partners
  • Automatic silver status
  • $0 annual fee
  • Foreign transaction fee: None

Cons

  • Spend requirement for gold status
  • Poor transfer rate for points
  • Lack of premium travel benefits

What we like about the Hilton Honors American Express Card

  • Solid welcome offer

    Earn 80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership. For an example of what’s that worth, a recent search showed that 80,000 points would cover a night for two guests at the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas.

  • Good rewards

    Earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations AND 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card. The points you earn for spending on dining, supermarkets, gas stations, along with everything else, are more than you’d earn with most travel-branded credit cards.

    The Hilton Honors points you earn can be redeemed for hotel rooms, car rentals, cruises, shopping, dining, gift cards, donations and experiences, such as a family getaway in Antwerp, Belgium.

  • Multiple transfer partners

    Transfer your Hilton Honors points and use them at more than 30 airline and rail partners.

  • Automatic silver status

    Get silver Hilton Honors status with the Hilton Honors American Express Card (enrollment required). That gets you a 20% tier bonus points per hotel stay, a guaranteed member discount, no resort fees on reward stays, late checkout, fifth standard reward night free, two bottles of water daily and free breakfast.

  • $0 annual fee

    If you like to travel but aren’t sure a luxury travel card with a hefty annual fee is right for you, you’ll like the Hilton Honors American Express Card and its $0 annual fee.

  • Foreign exchange fee: None

    If you use this card while abroad, you won’t have to worry about being charged an extra fee on each transaction.

To see rates & fees for the Hilton Honors American Express Card please click here.

What to look out for with the Hilton Honors American Express Card

  • Spend requirement for gold status

    If you want to go from Hilton Honors silver to gold status (enrollment required), you’ll need to spend $20,000 a year on the card to get it. So make sure the extra benefits that come with gold status are worth that amount of spending.

  • Poor transfer rate for points

    While it’s nice to transfer your Hilton Honors points to more than 30 airline and rail partners, it may not be worth it since the exchange rates to do it are so poor. For example, you’ll only get a measly 1,500 AAdvantage® miles on American Airlines for 10,000 Honors points. In order to get 15,000 miles on American, you would need to transfer 150,000 Honors points. That’s enough miles to get you a one-way, limited availability MileSAAver coach seat to the Caribbean, Mexico or Central America.

  • Lack of travel benefits

    If you’re looking for travel benefits such as lost luggage insurance or trip cancellation and delay insurance, you won’t find it on this card. However, with a $0 annual fee, that’s not surprising. Cards with more premium travel benefits typically charge an annual fee.

    To see rates & fees for the Hilton Honors American Express Card please click here.

Alternative travel card to the Hilton Honors American Express Card

Compare it to the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

| Disclosures
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
on Capital One's secure site
N/A
17.49% - 25.49% (Variable)
$95
2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles on
  • Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
  • Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
  • Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
  • Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
  • Enjoy two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounges or to 100+ Plaza Premium Lounges through our Partner Lounge Network
  • Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options
  • Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
  • Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
680 850

How Does LendingTree Get Paid?

LendingTree is compensated by companies on this site and this compensation may impact how and where offers appears on this site (such as the order). LendingTree does not include all lenders, savings products, or loan options available in the marketplace.

 

This $95 annual fee card should be considered as an alternative to the Hilton Honors American Express Card if you’re looking for a straightforward and flexible travel card. New cardmembers enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel. Those miles can be used as a statement credit or be applied toward travel purchases.

For ongoing rewards, cardmembers earn 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 5 Miles per dollar when you book on Turo, the world’s largest car sharing marketplace, through May 16, 2023. You can redeem those rewards for travel booked at capitalone.com or book directly through any airline, hotel, rental cars and more. You can also redeem your miles for a check, an account credit or gift cards. Miles don’t expire as long as your account remains open, and there’s no cap on how many miles you can earn.

It’s true that the amount of miles earned per dollar spent with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card are lower than the points you’ll earn when using the Hilton Honors American Express Card for dining and grocery purchases. However, if your spending habits don’t line up with the latter card’s categories, you may prefer a card that offers an elevated rewards rate on general purchases.

Compare the Hilton Honors American Express Card to similar cards

Comparison of four different credit cards
Hilton Honors American Express Card Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
Hilton Honors American Express Card Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
Apply Now
on American Express's secure site
Terms Apply
Apply Now
on Capital One's secure site
Review Coming Soon Apply Now
Welcome Offer
80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership. Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership. N/A
Rewards Rate
Earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations AND 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card. 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day; 5 Miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 5 Miles per dollar when you book on Turo, the world’s largest car sharing marketplace, through May 16, 2023 Earn 14X per $1 of eligible purchases on your card directly with a participating Hilton hotel or resort, 7X 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, and 3X for other purchases on your card N/A
Annual Fee
$0 $95 $450 N/A
Regular APR
17.99%-26.99% Variable 17.49% - 25.49% (Variable) 17.24% to 26.24% variable N/A
Recommended Credit
Excellent/Good Excellent/Good Excellent/Good N/A
Card Details
Hilton Honors American Express Card Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Additional card details unavailable

Is the Hilton Honors American Express Card right for you?

When it’s time to decide between these two cards, much of the decision comes down to whether you want to boost your loyalty points with the Hilton Honors program with the Hilton Honors American Express Card or get more flexibility with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. The two cards also have different rewards structures —  the Hilton Honors American Express Card offers elevated earning rates a U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations, while the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers a solid rate on general purchases. Finally, whether you want a $0 annual fee card or are willing to pay $95 a year will also influence your decision.

To see rates & fees for the Hilton Honors American Express Card please click here.

Apply Now
on American Express's secure site
Terms Apply