American Express has announced changes to the Hilton business card and they are overwhelming negative. Changes are as follows:
- Annual fee will increase from $95 to $195. Applies to anybody that applies from today and for existing cardholders it’ll go into effect for card renewals on July 1, 2024
- New $240 Hilton credit. Get up to $60 per quarter on purchases made at Hilton properties (including bookings and incidentals)
- Removal of Hilton Honors Free Night Rewards benefit (previously required $15,000 in spend in a calendar year). Eligible purchases made through June 30, 2024 will count towards this certificate
- Removal of Priority Pass select. If you enrolled in the Priority Pass Select program on or before June 30, 2023, your Priority Pass membership will continue through June 30, 2024 and will be cancelled as of July 1, 2024. If you enrolled in the Priority Pass Select program between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, your membership will continue through March 31, 2025 and will be cancelled as of April 1, 2025. Any unused lounge visits will be forfeited at the time of cancellation.
- National Emerald Executive status
- Changes to earning rates:
- 5x on all purchases for the first $100,000 in spend per calendar year, then 3x
- Removal of the 6x categories:
- 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service producers and U.S. purchases for shipping
- 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on U.S. restaurants, flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, and car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies
- Sign up bonus of 175,000 points after $8,000 in spend within the first three months
Our Verdict
I’m actually not 100% sure that the free night benefit removal is legal in it’s current form as cardholders will have made purchases on the expectation that they have until the calendar year to meet the spend requirement. I suspect only being able to get it through June 30, 2024 is only for new cardholders that apply now and that hasn’t been communicated properly.
Overall the changes are negative for people wanting to keep the card long term, I know some people met the $15,000 annual spend for the free night certificate. I guess if you’re a Hilton regular then the $240 split up in quarterly credits will offset the annual fee but other than that the card itself doesn’t really offer anything enticing. The sign up bonus isn’t an all time high either, we have seen 180,000 points or 130,000 points + a free night certificate.
spending requirement is actually 6 months not 3. Makes a huge difference for me.
Anyone know if I close the old version of the card right before the renewal date, can I reopen the renewal version of the card for the SUB or will I be blocked?
My AF will be billed 7/10. Is it possible to shift the statement closing date so my AF is billed before 7/1?
Does anybody know how to see the tracking number for the USPS GC delivery? Has been a radio silence since I purchased last week. On the plus side Amex did reimburse the purchase, thanks for the suggestion.
I purchased GCs on 3/31 and online activity shows purchase posted on 3/31. The $60 credit posted on 4/3. Does the credit count for Q1 or Q2?
Should be Q1, the statement might provide more clarity. Might also show under Benefits on the website.
Shipping does apply with the gift cards. I ordered a $50 on 3/30 and since USPS delivery is sloppy in my area I selected the $8.50 signature delivery. I was reimbursed for $58.50 on my Hilton AMEX business card.
These changes seem to be getting worse press than they deserve. The increase to 5x on initial spend is pretty good. So for a SUB you are getting the 175,000 plus 40,000 points for the spend (5×8000). I use fifth night free typically but sometimes not so my minimum redemption averages at least .75cpp. That makes the points worth $1,613. As of now you can also get $200 worth of Hilton gift cards with the quarterly credits and it’s easy to burn those up with leftover meal charges or it is for us as a family. Annual fee went up $100. The increased signup bonus, multiplier change, and gift card credits are worth a lot more than $100 to me in increased fee. I never spent to get the free night but I realize others did. But for me, this was never a keeper card so $1613 plus $200 in gift cards for $195 and probably $160 for opportunity cost at $160 in 2% cashback spend, still a great value.
Here’s the update: we got reimbursed $60 (P1 and P2) for the first quarter, just under the wire. So, GCs still work as of today anyway.
We’re actually staying at a Hilton in April (place called Hagia Sofia Mansions in Istanbul), where we plan to use our Surpass credits (x2) and our business card credits (again x2). For Q3+Q4 we’ll likely have to go the GC route again. We stay at a fair few hotels throughout the year so we’ll use them soon enough but for 2024 I am two years away from lifetime platinum (yeah, I know) and will direct many of my stays to Marriott. Will Billy Bob keep the Hilton Business card?
I’ll decide over a couple of glasses of wine. 😉
You mean you bought GC’s today and were able to get the $60 credit for last quarter? Was this through chat?
Purchased the GCs right at the end of March, the day I got the email about the changes to this card. They said quarterly, starting immediately, so I decided to see if the first quarter, ending 31 March, also counted. It did, as I got $120 (P1 and P2) credited. Second quarter is open now for all of the coupon books. I plan to get my Aspire airline credit this week. We have a long Hilton stay coming up and we’ll use all of the Surpass credits during that stay (Istanbul).
Seems a net benefit. If you were already spending 15k+ a year at hilton wouldn’t you have an aspire anyways? At least now there’s an argument for keeping this one beyond the first year with the credits (probably still not worth an amex slot though)
Nice little freebie for me as it looks like I’ll be able to get 6 quarterly credits before the increased annual fee hits
Bought $75 worth of Hilton gift cards online (at https://www.buyhiltongiftcards.com/) on 3/28/24. $60 automatically reimbursed on 3/31/24.
Nice, wish they didn’t cancel my card after trying twice
I’m only seeing $50 and $100, where did you find the $75?
Pretty sure they bought a $50 and $25 card to total up to $75
How did you get a $75 gift card? I’m only seeing $50 or $100.
I figured it out. I’m dumb for even asking. Moving forward, just ignore me and I’ll answer my own question. 🙂 LOL.
$50 gift card purchase posted on the 29th for $51.95 and refunded Apr 1.