Amex Hilton Personal Cards Review & Comparison
Amex offers 3 co-branded Hilton personal credit cards. Each of these cards can help award travelers make the most of Hilton's massive global footprint and offer something different. In our Amex Hilton Personal cards review & comparison we will look at the welcome offer, earning structure, card benefits and our overall thoughts on the following cards:
- Hilton Honors American Express Card
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
UPDATE 9/10/26: There are new offers on these cards.
All information about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by Travel on Point(s).
Current Welcome Offers For Hilton Personal Cards
Here are the current offers for each of the Hilton personal cards. Remember, you may want to plan your applications in case there is ever a Hilton Family Rule.
Hilton Honors American Express Card
- Earn 70,000 bonus points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first 6 months of card membership. Offer ends 01/13/2027.
- The Hilton Honors card does not have an annual fee. See Rates and Fees.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
- Earn 130,000 bonus points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in the first 6 months of card membership. Offer ends 01/13/2027.
- The Hilton Honors Surpass card has an annual fee of $150. See Rates and Fees.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- All-time high points offer: Earn 200,000 Hilton Honors bonus points with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the card within your first 6 months of card membership. Offer ends 01/13/2027.
- The Hilton Aspire card has an annual fee of $550. See Rates and Fees.
Amex Application Rules
If you choose to apply, remember that Amex typically will not approve you for more than two Amex credit cards during a 90-day period. They also have a limit of 5 credit cards per person, of which this is one. There is also a 10 card limit on the colored Membership Rewards earning cards (of which this is not one of).
Amex also has a once per lifetime welcome offer rule on each card. This is more like every 5 – 7 years in reality though, and not actually your lifetime. The timeline is based off of when you last held a card, not when you last earned a welcome offer on the product though. If you are ineligible for the welcome offer for any reason, American Express will usually let you know that with a pop-up before the application is processed. You can cancel the application at this time with no hard pull.
Amex Hilton Personal Cards Review & Comparison: Earning Structure
Here is the earning structure for each Hilton Honors earning American Express personal credit card.
Hilton Honors American Express Card
- 7x Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your card directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio.
- 5x Hilton Honors points in the following areas on eligible purchases
- U.S. restaurants
- U.S. supermarkets
- U.S. gas stations
- 3x Hilton Honors points on all other eligible purchases
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
- 12x Hilton Honors bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your card directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio.
- 6x Hilton Honors points in the following areas on eligible purchases
- U.S. restaurants
- U.S. supermarkets
- U.S. gas stations
- 4x Hilton Honors points on eligible U.S. online retail purchases
- 3x Hilton Honors points on all other eligible purchases
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- 14x Hilton Honors bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your card directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio.
- 7x Hilton Honors bonus points in the following areas on eligible purchases:
- Flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel
- Car rentals booked directly with select car rental companies
- U.S. restaurants
- 3x Hilton Honors bonus points on all other eligible purchases
Hilton Personal Card Benefits
Benefits and perks vary among each of the 3 Hilton cards. As expected, benefits differ depending on each card's annual fee.
Hilton Honors American Express Card
- Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Silver status
- Benefits include a 20% bonus on base Points earned on stays, fifth night free on standard room reward stays with 100% points and more.
- Spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year, and you can earn Hilton Honors Gold status through the end of the next calendar year.
- With Gold status, you can enjoy: An 80% bonus on base points you earn on every stay, space-available room upgrades at select properties, a daily food & beverage credit at select brands in the U.S. and complimentary continental breakfast at select brands outside of the U.S., and fifth night free when you book a standard room stay with 100% points.
- No foreign transaction fees. See Rates and Fees.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
- Earn a Free Night Reward after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with your card in a calendar year.
- Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold status
- Benefits include an 80% points earning bonus on stays, daily food & beverage credit or continental breakfast (varies by brand & region), space-available room upgrades at select properties and more.
- Spend $40,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year, and you can earn an upgrade to Hilton Honors Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.
- Enjoy Hilton Honors Diamond status benefits like a 100% bonus on all base points you earn on every stay, premium Wi-Fi at select properties, daily food & beverage credit at select brands in the U.S. and complimentary continental breakfast at select brands outside of the U.S., space-available room upgrades at select properties, and executive lounge access at select properties.
- Get up to $50 in statement credits quarterly for eligible purchases made directly with a property in the Hilton portfolio on your Hilton Surpass Card.
- That's up to $200 back annually.
- National Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® status. Terms apply. (Enrollment required.)
- No foreign transaction fees. See Rates and Fees.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Diamond status
- Diamond status gives you a 100% bonus on base Points you earn on every stay, premium Wi-Fi and space-available room upgrades at select properties, executive lounge access at select properties, and more.
- Earn up to 3 Free Night Rewards with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card:
- Receive one complimentary Free Night Reward each membership year.
- Earn a second Free Night Reward from Hilton after you spend $30,000 or more on purchases on your card in a calendar year.
- Earn a third Free Night Reward from Hilton after you spend an additional $30,000 in purchases on your card in the same calendar year.
- Get up to $200 in statement credits semi-annually for eligible purchases made directly with participating Hilton Resorts on your Hilton Aspire Card.
- That's up to $400 back annually.
- Get up to $50 in statement credits each quarter in flight credits. That is a total of up to $200 back each year. This is a true flight credit, you just need to book directly with an airline or through the Amex Travel App™ using your Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.
- Up to $100 property credit for qualifying charges at Waldorf Astoria® Hotels & Resorts and Conrad® Hotels & Resorts properties when you book a 2-night minimum stay with your card at HiltonHonorsAspireCard.com and select the Aspire Card Benefit rate option on the booking page, or call Hilton Honors at 855-292-5757 with the proper booking reference.
- National Emerald Club Executive® status, including perks like Executive Area Access (for full-size reservations and above) in the USA and (enrollment required)
- CLEAR+: Receive up to $219 per calendar year in statement credits when you pay for your membership (subject to auto-renewal) with the Hilton Honors Aspire Card.
- Points don’t expire while your Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is active and in good standing.
- No foreign transaction fees See Rates and Fees; Terms Apply.
ToP Analysis
Each of these cards offer value to Hilton loyalists, and we will look at each one in more detail below.
Hilton Honors American Express Card
For those put off by an annual fee, the Hilton Honors card provides good value. It's nice to see complimentary Silver status without an annual fee, but this is Hilton's lowest elite tier. Silver status includes benefits like a 20% bonus on base points earned on stays, plus fifth night free on standard room reward stays with 100% points. This alone can save you a lot of points and make it worth holding onto the Hilton Honors American Express Card.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
The mid-tier Hilton Honors American Express Surpass card offers more robust perks in exchange for a $150 annual fee. Complimentary Gold status is the next elite tier above Silver, and unlocks benefits like an 80% points-earning bonus on Stays, daily food & beverage credit or continental breakfast (varies by brand & region), space-available room upgrades at select properties and more. Hilton does not have the best track record with room upgrades for elites (regardless of level), but it can happen. The Free Night Reward after spending $15,000 is the card's biggest draw. A free night can save you a lot of cash or points on a stay at Hilton's many high-end properties around the world.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
The premium Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card offers a slew of benefits that more than make up for the card's $550 annual fee. The annual statement credits alone already add up to over $600. That is before you consider the free night certificate each year. The flight credit and the annual resort credits are especially easy to use and don't require you to jump through any hoops. The Hilton Aspire card is also the only credit card among the major hotel chains that grants complimentary top tier status.
Comparing All 3
All three of the Hilton cards has a compelling earning structure. As expected, they all reward Hilton purchases very well, with 7x, 12x or 14x points per dollar. But each card also earns a lot of points at U.S. restaurants. And the Hilton Honors and Hilton Surpass cards also earn 5x and 6x at U.S. gas stations and U.S. supermarkets, respectively. It's odd to not see U.S. gas stations as a bonus category for the Hilton Aspire card. Frequent ToP readers know that not all points currencies are created equal, and one Hilton Honors point is not the same as one Membership Rewards point etc. But these Hilton cards are still solid earners.
Amex Hilton Personal Cards Review & Comparison: ToP Thoughts
Amex's co-branded Hilton cards offer good earning rates and some excellent benefits. Having at least one of these cards is a must for anyone looking to explore Hilton's massive global footprint. We at ToP are big fans of Hyatt, but Hilton's larger portfolio is too big to be ignored. Considering the cards' earning structure and card benefits, Amex's Hilton cards are quite impressive. What do you think of Amex's co-branded Hilton personal cards? Come share your thoughts in our Facebook group.
