Hilton Honors American Express Card Review

As a Hilton Honors loyalty program member, you may want a credit card that helps you earn points — but don’t want to pay for that privilege. Your best option is the Hilton Honors American Express Card, which charges a $0 annual fee and offers a robust rewards rate. You’ll earn the most points for hotel-related spending, along with higher points when using the card for U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations.

The Hilton Honors American Express Card is absolutely worth it for most customers, since there’s $0 annual fee or cost to use the card. In fact, with its generous welcome offer, ongoing rewards on a wide variety of purchases and automatic Silver status (enrollment required), it’s one of the best no-annual travel cards around.

Still, savvy travelers will know that there are other travel credit cards available that might give better rewards — especially if you’re willing to pay an annual fee. Every dollar you spend on this card means you’re not earning rewards on a card with a higher earning rate. And if hotel perks and elite status matter to you, you’re better off with a higher tier Hilton credit card.

• Good welcome offer

  One of the biggest perks about the no-annual-fee Hilton Honors card is the welcome offer that comes with the card. Currently you can earn 80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points with the Hilton Honors American Express Card after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership. Note that Hilton no longer publishes an award chart, so it’s impossible to tell exactly how many free nights you can get with your points — still, this bonus should be worth at least a couple of free nights.

  While this is a solid offer for a card with no annual fee, there are other rewards credit cards that offer higher sign-up bonuses.

• Generous earnings on everyday purchases

  The Hilton Honors American Express Card has an excellent earning rate for everyday purchases. Currently, you can earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations AND 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.

  This is a great rate for a no-annual-fee card, even considering that Hilton Honors points are less valuable than most credit card rewards (more on this below).

• Redeem points at more than 7,000 hotels worldwide

  Hilton has one of the largest footprints of hotels in the world. With more than 7,000 properties across 120 countries and territories, you’re likely to find a Hilton hotel in most places you plan to travel. And you can easily redeem points at any of those hotels, with no blackout dates.

• Good elite status benefits

  Just by having the Hilton Honors American Express Card and being enrolled in the Hilton Honors program, you’ll be granted instant Silver Elite status. Hilton Silver status comes with better-than-average perks compared to other hotel programs. You’ll get:

  • A 20% tier bonus points per hotel stay
  • A guaranteed member discount
  • No resort fees on reward stays
  • A fifth standard reward night free
  • Two bottles of water daily

  You can also qualify for Hilton Gold Elite status by spending at least $20,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year (enrollment required).

• No foreign transaction fee

  If you’re a frequent international traveler, you’ll enjoy the fact that the Hilton Honors American Express Card has no foreign transaction fees. That means that you can use the card for foreign purchases — both online and while traveling — without incurring an extra 3% fee.

  However, acceptance of American Express cards is more limited outside the U.S. and most of the rewards are targeted for U.S. purchases, so it likely won’t be your top choice for international travel.

• Hilton points are inflated

  One of the biggest drawbacks about earning Hilton points is that they’re worth about half of a normal award point. That, coupled with the fact that Hilton no longer publishes an award chart, means that you may need a huge amount of points to get a free night. For example, a standard room at a mid-tier hotel like the Hilton Austin required 70,000 points for most nights in a recent search.

  As mentioned, the card does offer impressive rewards earnings, so you can stack up free nights quickly in spite of the inflated value. Just be aware that the earnings aren’t as impressive as they appear.

• Rewards are limited to Hilton

  Hilton does offer a few other redemption options for your points (including transfer to airline programs), but they are generally poor value. Depending on your travel patterns, many people will get better rewards value out of a general travel card, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card.

• Limited travel benefits

  The card is lacking many of the perks and benefits that come with some rewards cards with an annual fee, like travel insurance or award nights. These limited travel benefits are one of the tradeoffs that come with signing up for a card with $0 annual fee.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card

 
The Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card is the $0-annual-fee Marriott credit card that is issued by Chase. If you find that you stay with Marriott more than Hilton, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card may be a better option.

Similar to the Hilton Honors American Express Card, you’ll also get Marriott Silver status along with extra points with each paid stay. But while the welcome offer with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card is decent, currently it’s not quite as high as the offer that comes with the Hilton Honors American Express Card.

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card

 
If you frequently stay at Hilton hotels and want a Hilton credit card that comes with a few more perks, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card may be a better option. While it does come with a $150 annual fee, it also comes with a higher welcome offer and more perks (like higher earning rates and instant Gold Elite status upon enrollment, instead of just Silver).

If you’re not sure about whether the $150 fee will be worth it for you, you can always apply for the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card for the higher welcome offer. Then you can downgrade the card to the no-annual-fee version if you find that the benefits you’re getting aren’t worth it for you.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

 
Another option to consider is a card that earns flexible rewards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. While you won’t get any hotel-specific perks like elite status, extra earning or late checkout with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, the upside is that you have additional flexibility.

You can use your Venture miles to book nights at just about ANY hotel, which means you won’t be tied down to Hilton hotels. This added flexibility may be worth it, especially if you are a more infrequent traveler or vary your stays across many different brands.

The Hilton Honors American Express Card is the no-annual-fee rewards card issued by American Express and Hilton. If you’re looking for a decent amount of Hilton Honors points as a welcome offer, solid rewards on everyday spending and no annual fee, this could be the right card for you.

If you are looking for more Hilton points or increased earnings, you could also consider the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card. On the other hand, if you’re looking for more flexible rewards, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card might be a better option.