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At a glance
- Best for: Free Hilton Stays
- Annual Fee: $150
- APR: 19.99%-28.99% Variable
- Reward Rate: 3X - 12X
- Recommended Credit: 670-850
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
165,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points
Offer Details:
Earn 165,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 1/8/2025.
Why we like it
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card is an excellent hotel card, with a strong intro bonus of 165,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card in your first six months of card membership. It’s worth having this card even for a couple of stays a year, as the $150 annual fee is already validated by the free breakfast and strong points earnings. If free Hilton nights is the goal, its earning potential is stellar, with 4X points for each dollar on U.S. online retail purchases, and 3X points for all other eligible purchases on your card.
Reward details
12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio.
6X Points for each dollar of purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations.
4X Points for each dollar on U.S. Online Retail Purchases.
3X Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Strong 165,000-point intro bonus, which could translate to multiple free nights or one night in a luxury property in some places
Up to $200 back each year on eligible Hilton purchases after you use your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
Get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status. This entitles the cardholder to room upgrades if available, free breakfast, 80% bonus points on Hilton spends, and fifth night free on an award stay. It’s more than worth the annual fee.
Strong spending categories on popular purchases like U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations, and U.S. restaurants
Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year
Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors(TM) Gold Status
Cons
No automatic free anniversary nights
You’ll need a lot of Hilton points to redeem for a free night at a luxury property
$150 annual fee
Overview
Finding big value in a co-branded hotel credit card is a balancing act. It’s easy to be lured in by the idea of high-end perks like elite status and free breakfast, but if you’re not staying in hotels enough, a hotel card could actually start losing you money.
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card® is one of the best cards for bridging that gap. With a palatable annual fee and some perks that can get you outsized value, it’s perfect for the casual Hilton fan or semi-frequent traveler.
Better yet, it’s currently running a huge limited-time intro bonus that can score you a few free nights in many excellent hotels around the world.
Who is the American Express Surpass Card best for:
The card is best for casualand frequent Hilton customers who want some strong perks and earning but don’t want to commit to an eye-watering annual fee. The Surpass offers the best of both worlds.
The Bottom Line:
The Hilton Honors Express Surpass Card isn’t just one of the best Hilton co-branded cards; it’s one of the best rewards cards full stop. With perks and benefits typical of a much more premium card, it represents serious bang-for-buck for just about anyone.
Intro Bonus
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card is currently offering an elevated introductory offer where new cardholders can earn 165,000 Hilton points after spending $3,000 within the first six months of opening the account. The offer ends on January 8th, 2025.
With an average spend of just $500 a month needed to meet the spending threshold, this is one of the most accessible and generous bonuses around right now.
While 165,000 points seems like an astronomical bonus, it’s important to keep in mind that Hilton Honors points are not worth as much as most airline miles. But that’s not to say Hilton Honors points aren’t valuable.
165,000 points can go a long way with the right timing and planning. When combined with Hilton’s helpful “fifth-night free” offer, you could grab five nights in a mid-scale hotel in New York City or London. I mention those specific cities because I’ve done that myself in each of those places. Each of those award stays saved me around $1,000.
It’s fair to say the bonus should get you a minimum value of $825 in hotel stays, but it’s not far-fetched that you could get double that ($1,600) when staying a night or two at a luxury Hilton property.
Pros & Cons
The Hilton Surpass is an epic card by most metrics. From a low fee to outstanding perks, it might seem ike the perfect hotel card. But it’s always important to check both sides of the deal.
To help, here’s a breakdown of the card’s pros and cons.
Pros
- Excellent earning rates, especially in Hilton properties
- Excellent introductory bonus offer
- High end perks with an approachable annual fee
- Automatic Hilton Honors Gold status
- $200 Hilton credit offsets the annual fee
Cons
- Hilton's dynamic pricing system can make it hard to achieve maximum value
- General transferable cards have more value and adaptibility
Benefits & Perks
While the Surpass is great for earning Hilton points, its benefits are arguably the most valuable piece of the puzzle. The card offers some perks typically found on more premium products and helps recoup the cost of the annual fee with ease.
Hilton Honors Gold Status
One of the best benefits is the complimentary Gold Status with Hilton Honors. Members enjoy an 80% bonus on points earned during stays, helping to top up their balance, but the real value comes from the space-available room upgrades and the free breakfast or food credit. I’ve been a Hilton Diamond member for years (yes, I’d get upgraded before you, sorry), but in my experience, I’ve been upgraded around 75% of the time. The food and beverage credit or free breakfasts are also excellent ways of saving a few pennies when you’re traveling.
Throw in discounted rates, resort fee waivers, and that fifth-night free bonus, and you’ve got a strong package. It would take you booking 40 nights or 20 stays to earn Gold status the traditional way, so paying $150 for this card is a bargain in that respect.
$200 Hilton credit
Arguably the best benefit for regular Hilton customers is the $200 Hilton hotel statement credit. It might not be as sexy as Gold status, but it represents a direct recoupment of the annual fee. Cardholders can get up to $50 back each quarter on Hilton spending. That includes bookings or purchases made in a Hilton hotel.
And if you aren’t staying at a Hilton hotel when you’re traveling, you can still use this credit, or even at home. When you’re on the road, you can check out the restaurants in any Hilton properties at your destination (or where you live). Paying with your Surpass would trigger a statement credit, and all you’ve done is be a little more picky about your restaurant choice.
National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status
Another strong perk is Emerald Club Executive Status with National Car Rental. This might be a little more specific depending on your favored company and how often you rent cars, but it does come with some money-saving benefits and nice upgrade options.
Big spender benefits
The card comes with some benefits that are triggered by high spending. Those who spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year will earn a free night reward. This can be redeemed at nearly any Hilton property in the world and you can get huge value from it if maximized correctly since it can cover a stay at even the highest-end Hilton properties that can cost $2,000+ a night.
Those who hit $40,000 in spend in a calendar year will be upgraded to Diamond status. Do note, however, that you can also earn Diamond status by opening the Hilton Aspire Card.
Insurance and benefits
The Surpass also comes with a range of purchase protections and insurance perks. Cardholders can use car rental loss and damage insurance, a baggage insurance plan, purchase protection, extended warranties, the Global Assist Hotline and access to Events with Amex.
Many of these are underrated benefits that may not show value on the front end but can save you thousands in a tough situation.
Earning rewards & redeeming points
Earning rewards
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass card is an excellent way to earn Hilton points. It boasts generous earning rates across multiple high-spend categories. While I don’t necessarily recommend making a hotel card the focal point of your rewards-earning strategy, if it’s something you’re focussed on, this card will deliver.
12x points per dollar on Hilton Hotels and Resorts
The best earning category is, understandably, aimed at Hilton spending. Any spending at Hilton’s hotels and resorts will trigger the 12x rate, as well as the initial booking on Hilton.com. Note that you’ll need to book directly to earn the points — paying via a third-party platform will not register as a Hilton hotel.
6x points per dollar on dining, groceries and gas
The card offers a stellar earning rate of 6x points per dollar on the high-spend categories of dining, groceries and gas. If you’re set on building a strong pool of Hilton Honors points, the card is unmatched.
It’s actually a better earner across the board than its more expensive sibling card, the Hilton Honors Aspire Card. The only downside is that the rate only applies to purchases made in the US, so any foreign spending in the same categories won’t trigger this rate.
4x points per dollar on U.S. Online purchases
The card also offers a strong rate of 4x points per dollar on U.S. online purchases, allowing further coverage of big-spending categories. This category is unique compared to other rewards cards, and could be useful for those who shop online a lot at places like Amazon.
3x points per dollar on all other spending
Any other spending will earn 3x points per dollar. This will include any purchases abroad, even in the categories mentioned above.
Should you use the Surpass as a day-to-day earner?
It’s easy to be excited by the seemingly high rates the Surpass offers. 6x points per dollar on restaurants, gas and groceries sounds brilliant when compared to a card like the American Express® Gold Card. The Gold earns 4x points per dollar on dining and groceries on up to $25,000 per year then 1x points thereafter but earns super-valuable American Express Membership Reward Points.
Membership Rewards points are worth far more and can be transferred to other airline and hotel partners — including Hilton. Considering you can then transfer Amex points to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, you’re actually earning 8x Hilton points per dollar on dining and grocery purchases when using the Amex Gold card.
In short, while the 12x points per dollar rate on Hilton spending shouldn’t be ignored, using other cards for your day-to-day might make more sense, even if you’re trying to earn Honors points.
All that said, the earning rates on the Surpass are still quite solid, especially for a co-branded hotel card.
Redeeming points
As the Surpass is a co-branded card, any Hilton points earned are best used for hotel redemptions. It’s possible to transfer Hilton points to some airline partners, but the rate is generally poor and I wouldn’t advise doing this unless you’re in desperate need of a few extra miles for a specific flight redemption.
As for how to use your points with Hilton, you’ll be able to redeem them for free nights at any Hilton property around the world. This includes thousands of hotels and other hotel brands that are owned by or partner with Hilton, including luxury chains like the Waldorf Astoria, Nomad Hotels and Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
Opting to use the “fifth-night free” benefit is the way to go when it comes to stretching the value of your points. It’s as simple as it sounds — if you redeem four nights, you get a fifth night free. With the 165,000 points earned with the intro bonus, you could grab five nights for the price of four at a solid hotel like the Doubletree by Hilton New York Downtown.
If you decide to go a little larger, you could redeem two nights at SAii Lagoon resort in the Maldives. That might be a little far for two nights, but it could help lower the price of a longer trip. Nights in that hotel regularly go for over $700, so you’d be saving almost $1,400.
Is this card right for you?
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card is perfect for casual to frequent Hilton customers who aren’t comfortable shelling out for a premium card. With just a few stays per year, the card’s annual fee can be recouped and the experiential value from the complimentary Gold status will help elevate any stay on a Hilton property. The card’s strong points-earning capabilities and perks like the annual free night certificate can allow you to get a ton of value each year.
With the addition of the 165,000-point intro bonus, even less frequent Hilton loyalists can find immense worth in the card.
- Best for: Free Hilton Stays
- Annual Fee: $150
- APR: 19.99%-28.99% Variable
- Reward Rate: 3X - 12X
- Recommended Credit: 670-850
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
165,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points
Offer Details:
Earn 165,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 1/8/2025.
Why we like it
The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card is an excellent hotel card, with a strong intro bonus of 165,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card in your first six months of card membership. It’s worth having this card even for a couple of stays a year, as the $150 annual fee is already validated by the free breakfast and strong points earnings. If free Hilton nights is the goal, its earning potential is stellar, with 4X points for each dollar on U.S. online retail purchases, and 3X points for all other eligible purchases on your card.
Reward details
12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio.
6X Points for each dollar of purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations.
4X Points for each dollar on U.S. Online Retail Purchases.
3X Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Strong 165,000-point intro bonus, which could translate to multiple free nights or one night in a luxury property in some places
Up to $200 back each year on eligible Hilton purchases after you use your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
Get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status. This entitles the cardholder to room upgrades if available, free breakfast, 80% bonus points on Hilton spends, and fifth night free on an award stay. It’s more than worth the annual fee.
Strong spending categories on popular purchases like U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations, and U.S. restaurants
Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year
Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors(TM) Gold Status
Cons
No automatic free anniversary nights
You’ll need a lot of Hilton points to redeem for a free night at a luxury property
$150 annual fee
by your friends at The Daily Navigator
