Hilton and American Express offer a suite of co-branded credit cards ranging from the no-annual fee *Hilton Honors* to the priciest (but well worth it) Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card. And each and every one of them just got a little lot more appealing with new limited-time welcome offers!
Here's what you can currently earn with each card in the full portfolio of Hilton Amex cards:
- *Hilton Honors*: bonus_miles_full
- *Hilton Surpass*: bonus_miles_full
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors points after you spend $6,000 on the card within the first six months.
- *hilton honors business card*: bonus_miles_full
Let's be perfectly clear: These offers are especially exciting because of the added free night reward … and the big point bonus is nice, too. Considering these certificates can be used at any property with standard award availability, Hilton's entire portfolio of hotels is fair game – including the 400-plus Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) that Hilton has added over the past year. It's hard to overstate just how valuable these free nights can be, and being able to earn one on the no-annual fee (see rates & fees) Hilton Honors Card and the $150 per year (see rates & fees) Surpass card is pretty incredible.
Between these exciting new bonus offers and plenty of additional ways to earn points, we'd argue Hilton is one of the best hotel chains out there – maybe even better than Hyatt! Plus, these cards also come with other perks like automatic elite status, annual resort credits, and even the ability to earn insanely valuable free night certificates.
Just remember: Credit cards are serious business. All the Hilton points in the world aren't worth digging yourself into debt if you can't afford to pay off every dime you charge to your new card.
Read on for full details on each of these cards and their exciting new welcome offers.
The Suite of Hilton Honors Credit Cards
Hilton Honors American Express Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- Earn Hilton Honors Silver Status for as long as you have the card.
- Get Hilton Gold Status if you spend $20,000 or more in a calendar year.
- 7x Hilton Honors Points: At participating hotels in the Hilton portfolio.
- 5x Hilton Honors Points: At U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations.
- 3x Hilton Honors Points: on all other eligible purchases.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- No Annual Fee (see rates & fees)
Learn more about the *Hilton Honors*.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- Earn a free night certificate after you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year, valid at almost any Hilton property.
- Get up to $200 back each year for purchases made directly with Hilton. You'll get $50 in statement credits to use at Hilton properties each quarter, up to $200 per calendar year.
- Get Hilton Honors Gold Status for as long as you have the card. This will get you free breakfast at almost any Hilton hotel abroad or a daily food and beverage credit at U.S. properties.
- Earn Hilton Diamond Status if you spend $40,000 or more in a calendar year.
- Earn 12x Hilton Honors Points at participating hotels in the Hilton portfolio.
- Earn 6x Hilton Honors Points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations.
- Earn 4x Hilton Honors Points on U.S. online retail purchases.
- Earn 3x Hilton Honors Points on all other eligible purchases.
- Get complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status – easily our favorite car rental elite status.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- $150 annual fee (see rates & fees)
Learn more about the *Hilton Surpass*.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- Welcome Offer: Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after spending $6,000 in the first six months of card membership.
- Get top-tier Hilton Honors Diamond Status for as long as you have the card.
- Get up to $400 in Hilton Resorts statement credits: Each calendar year, you’ll receive up to $400 in statement credits for incidentals charged to your card at participating Hilton resorts – a category that includes many Hilton properties. Cardholders get one $200 credit from January through June and another credit July through December.
- Free night certificate: After opening your account and again each year on your cardmember anniversary, you will receive a certificate for a free night for any property in Hilton's portfolio.
- Additional free night certificates: You can earn a second free night certificate by making $30,000 in purchases in a calendar year, plus another after spending $60,000 in the same year (for up to three free nights total).
- Get up to $200 in annual airline credit: Get up to $50 in statement credits each quarter on purchases made directly with an airline (including airfare) or through amextravel.com.
- Earn 14x Hilton Honors points per dollar for each eligible purchase on your Card made directly with a participating hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio.
- Earn 7x Hilton Honors points per dollar for eligible purchases on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com; on car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies; & at U.S. restaurants.
- Earn 3x Hilton Honors points bonus points on all other purchases.
- Get complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status – easily our favorite status with a rental car chain.
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Get up to $189 per calendar year in statement credits when you pay for a CLEAR® Plus Membership with the Aspire Card.
- $550 annual fee (see rates & fees)
All information about the Hilton Aspire Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
We consider the Hilton Aspire Card the best hotel credit card, period – read our guide to see why!
Learn more about the Hilton Honors Aspire Card (for full disclosure, this is our personal referral link)
Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- $240 a Year in Hilton Credits: Get a $60 statement credit per quarter at any Hilton property worldwide.
- Get Hilton Honors Gold Status: For as long as you have the card. This will get you free breakfast at almost any Hilton hotel abroad, or a daily food and beverage credit at U.S. properties.
- Instant National Car Emerald Club Executive Status
- Get Hilton Diamond Status: If you spend $40,000 or more in a calendar year, you will earn Hilton's top-tier Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.
- 12x Hilton Honors points: At participating hotels in the Hilton portfolio.
- 5x Hilton Honors points: On every dollar spent up to $100,000 annually, earning 3x thereafter.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- $195 Annual Fee (see rates & fees)
Not sure if you're eligible for a small business credit card? You might be surprised!
Learn more about the *Hilton Honors Business*.
Best Use for a Hilton Free Night Reward
How much time do you have? This list could get long … in a hurry.
With a Hilton free night reward, the world is your oyster: We've used these certificates to book properties that cost $800 to $2,000 a night (or more). The value is truly incredible.
Like many other hotel programs, Hilton uses a dynamic pricing model … with a twist. While the points rate is typically tied to the cash price, they also have “standard awards” at a set rate for every property. From brand-new luxury hotels to boutique properties to all-inclusive resorts, nothing is off-limits with these free night rewards, so long as there is standard award availability.
If you want to maximize the value of the certificates, certain Hilton brands will get you far more bang for your buck than others: Generally speaking, Waldorf Astoria, SLH, Conrad, LXR, or even Hilton's Curio collection properties will be your best bet.
In no particular order, here are a handful of our favorites.
Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal (Mexico)
The Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal is easily one of the best ways to put these free nights to use – and one of our favorite hotels, period.
But consider yourself warned: It's not cheap. Cash rates typically range between $1,500 to as much as $3,000 per night – especially over the peak winter. However, as long as you find award availability at 120,000 points per night, you can put a free night certificate to use instead.
Read our full review of the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal!
Calala Island (Nicaragua)
With just a half dozen villas, Calala Island – a near-private island all-inclusive resort experience off the coast of Nicaragua – has historically been hard to book with points … and otherwise charges $4,000-plus per night. But our Thrifty Traveler Premium hotel alerts team has unearthed a few instances of wide-open award availability at 150,000 points a night, meaning you could use a free night certificate.
You'll be hard-pressed to find a better value for a free night certificate in Hilton's entire portfolio.
Book your flights into Managua (MGA), and the Calala team will take you on the long trek to the resort by short flight, car, and then a 90-minute boat ride. Yes, your Hilton points or certificates cover everything except the flight to Managua!
Hermitage Bay (Antigua)
Also new to Hilton through the SLH partnership is Hermitage Bay, a Caribbean all-inclusive resort in Antigua that you can book for 150,000 points a night after a recent increase.
With cash rates often hovering around $3,000 or more, it's a stellar way to use points or free night certificates. Our editor, Kyle, recently stayed here and said it might just be one of the best all-inclusive resorts in the world. It was also his best-ever Hilton redemption.
Read more: A Full Review of Hermitage Bay Resort in Antigua
Grand Hotel Victoria (Italy)
Lake Como in Italy is one of the dreamiest places on the planet. If you have Hilton points or free night certificates, why not use them at one of the best hotels in the area?
The Grand Hotel Victoria is new to the Hilton portfolio, again through the SLH partnership. It's located on the western shores of Lake Como in the town of Menaggio, far away from the touristy areas of the lake, and while we haven't stayed ourselves, it gets rave reviews.
Standard room award availability is bookable for 150,000 points per night, but paying cash can cost as much as $1,400 here during the peak season, making it an easy entry on this list.
Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique
While it won't officially open until May 2025, the Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique in Costa Rica has already positioned itself as one of the best ways to use a free night certificate. In fact, we're planning to check it out for ourselves (using a Hilton free night certificate) shortly after opening.
The property is about a 40-minute ride from the Liberia (LIR) airport, and cash rates start at around $1,500 a night, so using a free night certificate or even 120,000 Hilton points is an excellent value.
What You Can Get With Hilton Points
Both the *Hilton Honors Business* and the top-tier Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card come with welcome offers of 175,000 points. Plus, the *Hilton Surpass* includes a 130,000 points, in addition to that ultra-valuable free night reward.
So what can you do with all those points?
When you can find those highly-coveted “standard awards” at top-notch properties like the Conrad Bora Bora Nui, for example, that's the time to put them to use.
The words Bora Bora and cheap simply don't go together – but instead of shelling out $1,000 (or more) per night, you could instead book an award night for 130,000 points. Better yet, you can use a free night certificate from either the Hilton Aspire or Surpass for an additional night in paradise … and potentially still have points left over.
Getting two free nights (with points to spare) from a single welcome offer sure beats paying north of $2,000 in our book.
Or take the little slice of heaven known as the Hermitage Bay Resort in Antigua, for example. This property now goes for a whopping 150,000 Hilton Honors points per night. At first glance, that might not seem like a great deal. But consider that this is an all-inclusive, adults-only resort in the Caribbean regularly goes for $2,000 (or more) per night, you can quickly see just how valuable Hilton points can be.
Pair all those points with the free night reward that comes with the Aspire Card (or can be earned with the Surpass), and you can book some really incredible Hilton stays with these bonuses.
Are You Eligible?
American Express welcome offer bonuses can only be earned once per lifetime. That means you generally can't earn another bonus on a card you've already held … but you can earn a new bonus on other versions you haven't yet opened – at least for now.
Amex has been adding new restrictions to some of its other families of credit cards, making it much harder for travelers to stack welcome bonuses on different Amex cards. For now, though, Hilton's portfolio of cards has been spared.
Plus, there's a quick way to check whether you'll be eligible for one of these welcome bonuses on the Hilton credit cards. Read about Amex's handy Apply with Confidence tool – and make sure to check out our post breaking down all the bank application rules you need to know.
Even though Hilton Honors points may not go as far toward a free night as other hotel chains like Hyatt, there's still tons of value to be had with a stash of Hilton points. Plus, you'd be picking up valuable benefits like automatic Hilton status, too.
Just for holding the Hilton Honors Surpass Card (or the Hilton Honors Business card), you get automatic Hilton Gold Status. That was one of our favorite hotel credit card perks for years, as it offered free breakfast for two guests at every stay. Unfortunately, that took a bit of a hit as Hilton replaced it with a less-valuable food and beverage credit at U.S. properties. Still, it can take some expense out of your next hotel stay – especially with free breakfast when traveling abroad.
Bottom Line
American Express and Hilton are out with elevated bonuses on their co-branded credit cards, with as much as 175,000 points – and, more importantly, an uncapped free night reward – up for grabs, depending on which card you choose.
These big welcome offers, combined with other valuable benefits like elite status and free night certificates, make now the perfect time to add a Hilton card to your wallet!