Amex Business Platinum Hilton Credit

It is a bit strange when a company rolls out a new “feature”, or credit, or better yet coupon, without any sort of notice. That seems to be exactly what we have here with the Amex Business Platinum Hilton credit though. Maybe they knew it would be a flop at launch and were trying to slide it in under the radar like a Friday 5PM news dump? To be fair, getting something additional of value for nothing is nice. On the other side of that, getting more Hilton credit is the last thing most of us wanted. It gets even worse if this new addition is aiming to replace something too.

Details Of The New Card Perk

Here are the details of the newest coupon we can clip from our $700 Amex Business Platinum card.

• Get up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year (up to $50 per quarter) when you enroll in the $200 Hilton Statement Credit Benefit with your Business Platinum Card through American Express.
• Purchases must be made directly with a property in the Hilton portfolio on your Business Platinum Card.
• Enrollment required

Terms

• Hilton for Business membership is required.
  • If your business does not already have a Hilton for Business account, you will be registered for one at the time you enroll in the benefit.
    • (This happened with my account and it was super easy. Just put in my Hilton Honors number on the benefits page when activating the Hilton credit perk)
• To enroll in the $200 Statement Credit Benefit, the Basic Card Member must enter their existing Hilton Honors number and select “enroll now”.
  • In order to successfully complete your registration, your full name, email address, or phone number must match on both your American Express Card Account and Hilton Honors Account.
• Enrollment is not effective until the customer has received an email or letter from American Express confirming enrollment; any Hilton purchases prior to receipt of that confirmation will not qualify for the benefit.
  • If you believe you’ve enrolled but haven’t received an email or letter, please call the number on the back of your Card.
• Eligible purchases by both the enrolled Basic Card Member and Employee Card Members on the enrolled Card Account are eligible for statement credit.
  • However, each Card Account is only eligible for up to $50 in statement credits per quarter for a total of up to $200 per calendar year across all Cards on the enrolled Card Account.
• Statement credits are typically received within a few days but may take up to 8-12 weeks after a booking has been paid.

Why I Don't Love This New Card Benefit

I am not a fan of this addition because these Hilton credits are a real pain in my butt. The last thing I wanted was more of them! We thought we had a viable workaround with Hilton gift cards, but no. Somehow they are the only company that can send out bricked gift cards right and left without repercussions. I hate having to check out of the hotel with multiple cards to break up the credits because of it. If this is your only credit card with a Hilton credit, then that is less of a worry.

A Consumer Unfriendly Set Up

Breaking this up by quarter is so consumer unfriendly as well. Their goal is simply to cause massive breakage here. They know that it is likely that you go to a Hilton hotel or resort at least once or twice a year. Getting to one Hilton every quarter, that is a whole lot less likely. They know that they can promote this as a $200 perk for their $700 card, all while knowing that you will likely only use $50 or $100 of it each year.

Will This Be Replacing Something Else?

Lastly, this would be fine if it was just a straight new addition, which it is for now. I am not so sure it will be for good for a few reasons though. If this was simply a new addition then why is American Express not trumpeting it right and left right now? Why launch it without any notice? It could be an error I guess, but that seems unlikely.

The other reason I feel this way is because the Dell credit was only extended until June 30th of next year. That is after it was set to end on 12/31/2024. Why extend it for only 6 months when the normal set up is you get a second one July 1st? Is it because you can end it then and only give out $200 in Dell credits next year instead of the normal $400. You could then say the lost value was replaced by this Amex Business Platinum Hilton credit. The cardholder still gets “$400” in combined value that way after all.

It seems to line up pretty well to me. We will have to see what happens as we get closer to June though. That is unless American Express says something when they actually announce this pretty big new part of their card's program. As much as many of us dislike dealing with Dell, there are still some valuable uses for the credits. These Hilton credits are much more difficult to use, and are less valuable overall.

Amex Business Platinum Hilton Credit: ToP Thoughts

While the Amex Business Platinum Hilton credit is a positive improvement for the card overall right now, I am not sure that will always be the case. If it is just a straight addition, then it adds value, even if you can't use all of it. If it ends up replacing something, which is most likely the Dell credit, then it will be a significant loss in value for most. We will have to wait and see how it plays out. Call me a cynic, but I think our coupon books are going to be feeling a bit light come this time next year.

Let me know your thoughts on the Amex Business Platinum Hilton credit over in the ToP Facebook Group.