The Hilton Honors credit cards by American Express US are a great way to diversify your hotel rewards game and rack up Hilton Honors points.
Three of the four Hilton co-branded credit cards are currently putting on higher bonuses of up to 150,000 Hilton Honors points, along with a statement credit of up to US$150. Even the no-fee Hilton Honors Card is offering 100,000 points and a US$100 statement credit, which is an incredible return for a no-fee card.
In this video, let’s walk through the current offers on all four Amex US Hilton credit cards, as well as where each card fits in to the overall Hilton credit card strategy.
Then, we’ll talk about the best way to maximize the Hilton credit cards in the long run by upgrading and downgrading between the three personal cards to earn maximum points for a minimal out-of-pocket cost.
Without further ado, you can watch the video below:
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Just to clarify, are you suggesting we are allowed to hold multiples of the same type of card? (No fee Hilton from SUB, and then downgrading to a second No fee Hilton)
Yes.
I have the Hilton Honors card. I see there is a refer a friend offer of 20,000 HH points by applying through the Hilton site. Can this be done so the friend, with no US history, can apply via Nova credit?
Ricky – I was going to wait until my 12-month anniversary at the end of June and hope for an upgrade offer from my base card to Surpass. Do you think I should just do a new GT app before April 21 for the Surpass card instead? Thanks.
Yes, because even if you get the upgrade offer, you’ll want to have applied for the Surpass under a new application first. Otherwise, you’ll lock yourself out from ever getting that new-cardholder bonus.
I just went to apply for the Surpass card and the offer is back down to 130K! And there’s no sign of the $150 statement credit anymore. I certainly didn’t think that the advertised April 21 deadline would be dropped!
The statement credit was gone 2 weeks ago, but I was able to get the 150k Surpass offer via referral.
Ricky…I just received an upgrade offer to the Hilton Aspire card from the Honors. Since I’ve never had the Aspire card, confirm that I should apply as new cardholder first to get the signup bonus and not take the upgrade.
Yep. What I would do in this situation is apply as a new cardholder, meet the spend, collect the 150k points, and then go for the upgrade offer right after that (I don’t foresee the upgrade offer going away just because you’ve also applied as a new cardholder).
Ok thanks. But did I miss something? What was the benefit of holding 2 of these aspire cards? The annual free weekend night is the only thing I see. Your thoughts? Thx
If you have the upgrade offer, that’s two signup bonuses you’re getting, in addition to the two annual free weekend night certificates and a net US$50 profit (if you can maximize the 2x US$250 credits on each card).
Oh…I didn’t see any mention of a sign-up bonus on the upgrade page. Only listed the perks. If what you are saying is true, then this would truly be a fantastic opportunity!
Thanks again
Then in that case, it’s not an “upgrade offer” in the sense we’re referring to, it’s just the ability to upgrade the card (for no points). Consider waiting for an upgrade offer to appear in the future – you’ll see it in your Amex Offers section or in the “Check for Pre-Qualified Offers” section of your online account.
Great video! Has anyone tried to sign up for the Hilton Honors, Hilton Surpass and Hilton Business card at the same time?
I currently hold the Honors, Aspire, and Business at the same time.
Ricky, I think he means what is the probability of getting approved for all 3 cards if one were to apply for all of them at the same time (as opposed to simply holding all 3 cards at the same time that you confirmed is possible)
Ah, in that case I’d say go for the two personal Hilton cards first through Nova Credit in quick succession – there’s already been data points that it may work. For the Business one, it may be trickier since you can’t do Nova Credit, but you may as well try your luck through Global Transfer after getting the other two done.