Card Review: AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire

When I give credit card recommendations to people, I always emphasize prioritizing a keeper card. A keeper card is a credit or charge card with valuable benefits that outweigh the card’s overall cost. Even if you’re paying an annual fee, it provides enough quality perks, credits, and amenities that you get more in return by holding onto the card. Keeper cards usually don’t have great multipliers and have higher annual fees but offer tons of value for specific airlines or hotel brands. One of my favorite keeper cards is the American Express (AMEX) Hilton Honors Aspire card. If you are a Hilton loyalist, it is a no-brainer credit card, but it works for anyone who travels at least once or twice a year. 

Sign-Up Bonus & Multiplier

The AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card is currently offering a sign-up bonus of 150,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $4,000 in three months. Be aware that since this is an AMEX card, you’re only allowed to receive the sign-up bonus once per lifetime. With a valuation of 0.6 cents per point, the sign-up bonus is worth about $900. The Aspire Card earns 14X per dollar spent on Hilton hotels and resorts when booked directly through Hilton and 7X on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly with select companies, and U.S. restaurants. All other purchases will earn 3X per dollar spent.

The American Express Hilton Aspire is one of my favorite cards for its benefits and perks. Photo by American Express.

If you’d like to apply for the AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! Click HERE to access my referral link!

Annual Fee & Benefits

The card’s annual fee is $450, but it comes with plenty of lucrative benefits and perks to make the card a valuable player in your wallet.

$250 Annual Airline Credit

The $250 airline credit is essentially the same airline credit you get with the AMEX Platinum card. Once you receive the AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card, you will have a chance to select an airline of your choice from the following airlines:

• Alaska Airlines

• American Airlines

• Delta Airlines

• Frontier Airlines

• Hawaiian Airlines

• JetBlue Airways

• Spirit Airlines

• Southwest Airlines

• United Airlines

Be careful when selecting an airline because you only get to change the airline at the beginning of the year. After choosing an airline, you can use the card towards the following fees:

• Overweight/oversize baggage fees

• Checked baggage fees

• Flight change fees

• Phone reservation fees

• Airport lounge day passes and annual memberships

• Pet flight fees

• In-flight food and beverages

• In-flight entertainment fees (does NOT include wireless internet)

• Seat assignment fees

Use your $250 airline credit towards luggage fees. Photo by Anete Lusina from Unsplash

If you use the card for the correct charge, it will trigger the airline credit, and you will receive up to $250 in statement credits. As you can see from the list of qualifying fees, the $250 airline credit is not as straightforward as the $300 travel portal credit you get with the Capital One Venture X card. You cannot use it for upgrades or gift cards, and if you are a frequent traveler with the airline you chose, your baggage fees or other incidental fees are likely covered with your frequent flyer status. Because what matters is how each incidental transaction is coded in the backend, there are some loopholes you can work around the rules. However, I highly recommend following AMEX’s terms and conditions since AMEX has the right to claw back your points or terminate your AMEX account if you don’t abide by their rules. The credit will expire by the end of each year, so be sure to use it all!

Hilton Honors Diamond status

Simply by holding the AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card, a cardholder will receive Hilton Honors Diamond status, which is the highest tier in the Hilton Honors elite ladder. As a Hilton Honors Diamond member, you’ll get a 100% points bonus and 10 extra points per dollar spent at Hilton properties. Therefore, the Aspire card earns a total of 24X per dollar spent on Hilton properties when booked directly with Hilton, yielding a grand return of 14.4%. With Hilton’s frequent points promotions, you can rake in a serious amount of Hilton Honors points in no time.

Hilton Honors Diamond comes with plethora of benefits, and my favorite is executive lounge access, especially when traveling internationally. Photo from Hilton.

Hilton Diamond members can get room upgrades (subject to availability and up to a one-bedroom suite), executive lounge access, milestone bonuses, daily food and beverage credit, 48-hour room guarantee, premium Wi-Fi, and more. The room upgrade is not always guaranteed, but when you do get upgraded to a suite because of the Hilton Diamond status, it can significantly elevate your lodging experience. When I stayed at the Candler Hotel in Atlanta, I was upgraded to a beautiful suite. My favorite benefit would be the executive lounge access. Some hotels, especially domestic properties, have subpar executive lounges, but the benefit shines when you travel internationally. When I stayed at Hilton Tokyo in Japan, the executive lounge had delicious local food and alcoholic beverages ranging from sake and champagne to whiskey and wine.

Free Weekend Night Certificate

As soon as you open the AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card, you receive a free weekend night certificate, and you will get another certificate on every cardmember anniversary. A free weekend night certificate can be used at almost all Hilton properties during Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights that show standard room rates. However, if the stay indicates a premium room rate, then you cannot use the free weekend night certificate. I value a free night certificate at about $800 because of its versatility. As long as you do your research, you can use it at aspirational properties such as Oceana Santa Monica, LXR Hotels & Resorts. If I were to book a regular room, it could cost over $1,100 a night.  

One weekend night at Oceana Santa Monica could cost more than $1,100 a night. Photo from Hilton.

With a free weekend night certificate, you are covered! Photo from Hilton.

Though I don’t recommend it, high spenders can earn another weekend night certificate by spending $60,000 on the card in a calendar year. To use your free weekend night certificate, simply dial Hilton Honors, and a representative can assist you with booking a hotel.

$250 Hilton resort credit

Similar to the free night certificate, during every cardmember year, you will receive up to $250 in statement credits when you use your AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card at participating Hilton resorts. Fortunately, the $250 Hilton resort credit is not as restrictive as the $250 airline credit. From room rates and taxes to spa treatments to dining, most charges at participating Hilton resorts would trigger the credit. There is no need to call Hilton Honors to use the credit or book your stay using a particular link; simply book your stay as you normally would! However, be aware that the $250 Hilton resort credit cannot be applied to advance purchase rates or non-refundable rates.

I used my Hilton resort credit at DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Paradise Valley - Scottsdale when I traveled to Scottsdale, AZ.

Up to $100 Credit at Waldorf Astoria or Conrad Properties

If you are looking for a luxury getaway, this benefit is for you. You will receive up to $100 on-property credit when booking at least two nights at either Conrad or Waldorf Astoria properties. You will have to either use a unique promo code (ZZAAP1) when making a reservation over the phone or directly access the special booking site through Hilton. You can receive up to $100 in statement credits towards incidentals during your stay.

Priority Pass Membership

As with almost all premium travel cards, the AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card provides Priority Pass Lounge access, which means you can visit more than 1,200 airport Priority Pass lounges around the world. Priority Pass lounges offer basic food and beverages and are especially useful for travelers hoping to enjoy a few drinks before their flights. You can bring up to two guests for free, and you will have to pay $32 per additional guest. Note that the Priority Pass membership from both Chase and Capital One have partnerships with select airport restaurants. In contrast, the Priority Pass membership from AMEX does not participate in the restaurant program. Make sure to enroll in the benefit when you receive the AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card, and your Priority Pass membership card will be mailed to you. 

Priority Pass lounges can be hit-or-miss, but the membership serves as a great safety net for most airports.

The AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card comes with additional travel perks such as lost baggage insurance, secondary car insurance coverage, trip delay insurance, and many more. 

Summary

The AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card is a no-brainer, premium credit card if you are a Hilton loyalist, but it is still a fantastic keeper card for any traveler. The annual fee is $450, but it comes with a decent sign-up bonus and numerous benefits and perks, including $250 airline credit, $250 Hilton resort credit, free weekend night, Hilton Honors Diamond status, Priority Pass membership, and more. If you value these benefits at 100%, the card is certainly worth keeping for the long term since AMEX is essentially paying you to have the card. It’s an understatement to say that it is rewarding to have the AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card. Anyone who travels should consider getting the card, and you won’t regret it.

If you’d like to apply for the AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! Click HERE to access my referral link!