American Express Hilton Honors Aspire credit card review

The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card is a credit card that offers a lot of benefits to frequent travelers who stay at Hilton properties often.

American Express has four flavors of the Hilton Honors credit card:

• Hilton Honors (No annual fee)
• Hilton Honors Surpass
• Hilton Honors Aspire
• Hilton Honors Business

If you are looking for a hotel rewards card, the American Express Hilton Honors Hilton Aspire card is one of the best available. With it, you can earn 14x points on Hilton purchases, 7x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel, 7x points for dining out and car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies, and 3x points on other eligible purchases. You’ll also get the highest Diamond status with Hilton, which comes with perks such as free breakfast (or a breakfast credit), late checkout, and complimentary room upgrades.

There’s a $550 annual fee, which is offset by a $400 annual ($200 semi-annually) Hilton resort statement credit and a $200 yearly airline fee credit. Moreover, you get a Free Night Reward annually that can be redeemed at one of the numerous Hilton hotels and resorts.

Sign-up bonus

The card offers a sign-up bonus of 150,000 Hilton Honors points upon meeting the minimum spending requirement (after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Card within your first six months of Card Membership), which can be worth $750-$1,500 when redeemed for hotel stays at Hilton.

In reality, you’ll get more than 150,000 Hilton Honors points after meeting the minimum spend, taking into account the minimum spend itself, which will earn you at least 18,000 more points if you spend the $6,000 on non-category purchases (such as groceries or gas).

You can read more about how we spent 300,000 Hilton Honors points for 6 nights at the amazing Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach resort.

Annual fee

The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card has a $550 annual fee. The annual fee is not waived in the first year.

Earning rate

American Express Hilton Honors Aspire at a glance

🏨 – 14x points per $1 on Hilton hotel stays
✈️ – 7x points for flights (purchased directly from the airline or amextravel.com)
🍔 – 7x points for dining out (U.S. restaurants)
🚗 – 7x for car rentals
🛒 – 3x for everything else

The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card is a credit card that gives you up to 14x points on purchases at Hilton properties. In addition, it offers an annual $400 statement credit for purchases at participating Hilton properties and 7x points for every dollar spent on eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, flights purchased directly from the airline, and car rentals.

The points are usually deposited into your Hilton Honors account within 1-2 days after your statement closing date.

Benefits

• You will receive one Free Night Reward to redeem for a stay at any hotel or resort in the Hilton portfolio, including Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Canopy by Hilton, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, Doubletree by Hilton, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton, Tru by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations.
• You can get another Free Night Reward after you spend $30,000 on purchases on the card in a calendar year and another after spending $60,000.
• Complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status and perks, including free breakfast, late checkout, and space-available room upgrades.
• The Hilton Honors Aspire offers complimentary National Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® Status.
• With the Hilton Honors Aspire card, you can get a $200 airline fee credit ($50 each quarter) per calendar year to offset incidental charges such as checked baggage fees, inflight entertainment, and more.
• You will receive a $400 Hilton resort statement credit in a year ($200 semi-annually), which you can use to cover hotel charges such as room rate, dining, spa, and more at Hilton hotels and resorts.
• $189 CLEAR Plus Credit. CLEAR® verifies identity through unique attributes like eyes or fingerprints to help members move quickly through security at select airports nationwide.

While there are other cards with better earning potential on the market, the Hilton Honors Aspire card is one of the most rewarding cards for everyday spending. This card is considered a “keeper card” for anyone who often stays at Hilton hotels since the combined airline fee and Hilton resort statement credit can easily offset the $550 annual fee. The Hilton Honors points could only be worth around 0.5 cents each, but the Free Night Reward could be worth around $200 or more.

The $400 Hilton Resort Statement Credit is super easy to use as it is applied automatically for any eligible charges made at Hilton Resorts. This means that you can pay for room charges, spa treatments, dining, and more with your Hilton Aspire and receive a statement credit. The credit doesn’t roll over and can expire, so make sure to use it before it expires within your membership year.

The $200 Airline Fee Statement Credit is also very flexible. You can use it to offset all sorts of airline fees, including checking bags, in-flight meals, in-flight entertainment, and much more. The airline fee credit doesn’t roll over and can expire, so make sure to use it before it expires within a calendar year.

Application

The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card is an excellent option for Hilton loyalists who frequently stay at Hilton properties.

According to American Express rules, you can get the welcome bonus on an Amex card only once in a lifetime (in reality, it resets in about 7 years, so not really a “lifetime”). If you currently have this card or previously had it, you are not eligible to receive the welcome bonus again. If you are not sure whether you are eligible for a welcome bonus, you can call American Express Customer Service and ask whether you are eligible for the welcome bonus. If you are not eligible to receive the welcome bonus, you can still get the card, but you will not receive the sign-up bonus.

You can use our referral link to sign up for the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card.

Non-affiliate disclosure: all information about the this card have been collected independently by On Points With Kids and has not been reviewed by the issuer.