American Express has made major changes to the Hilton Surpass and Hilton Aspire cards.
- Annual fee increases will go into effect on 2/14/24 for existing cardholders
- Increased sign up bonuses good through 1/17/24
- New benefits now live for new & existing cardholders
- Old credits only apply if you applied before October 19, 2023.
American Express Hilton Surpass
- Annual fee increase from $95 to $150
- Sign up bonus of 170,000 points after $3,000 in spend within the first three months
- Up to $200 back in statement credits annually for eligible Hilton purchases made with your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card directly at participating Hilton properties (up to $50 in statement credits each quarter)
- 4X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on U.S online retail purchases
- Free national Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® status
- 10 free priority passes per year benefit is being removed (Effective February 1, 2024, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card will no longer offer a complimentary membership to the Priority Pass™ Select program. Through January 31, 2024, you may still enroll in the benefit by calling the American Express customer service number on the back of your card. If you enrolled in the Priority Pass Select program on or before January 31, 2023, your Priority Pass membership will continue through January 31, 2024 and will be cancelled as of February 1, 2024. If you enrolled in the Priority Pass Select program between February 1, 2023 and January 31, 2024, your membership will continue through October 31, 2024 and will be cancelled as of November 1, 2024. Any unused lounge visits will be forfeited at the time of cancellation.)
American Express Hilton Aspire
- Annual fee increase from $450 to $550
- Sign up bonus of 180,000 points after $6,000 in spend within the first six months
- Free national Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® status
- Up to $400 in statement credits annually for eligible purchases made with your Hilton Honors Aspire Card directly at participating Hilton Resorts (up to $200 in statement credits semi-annually)
- Up to $200 in statement credits annually on eligible flight purchases (up to $50 in statement credits each quarter) made on your Hilton Honors Aspire Card
- $189 in statement credits per calendar year after you sign up and pay for a CLEAR Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal) with your Hilton Honors Aspire Card
- An additional Night Reward after you spend an additional $30,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year
- Cell phone protection: You can be reimbursed, the lesser of, your repair or replacement costs following damage, such as a cracked screen, or theft for a maximum of $800 per claim when your cell phone line is listed on a wireless bill and the prior month’s wireless bill was paid by an Eligible Card Account. A $50 deductible will apply to each approved claim with a limit of 2 approved claims per 12-month period
- The following benefits will be removed:
- Priority pass membership (1/31/24)
- $250 airline free credit (12/31/23)
- $250 statement credit for Hilton resorts (12/31/23)
Our Verdict
American Express seems intent on increasing the annual fee across all cards and introducing statement credits that can be difficult to use. Frustrating for some to lose priority pass access as well. Surpass has offered 130,000 points + free night certificate in the past, bonus on the Aspire is the best we have seen (I think).
Overall I see these as negative changes as quarterly credits are very annoying to use. It should be possible to purchase a $50 Hilton gift card at reception and it trigger the credit (for the Surpass), but that still involves going into a hotel and hoping they actually sell the gift cards.
View Comments (355)
Weird. In my offers section for this card, I have an Amex Plat personal 80k offer. Anyone else getting this?
does it work? I have a HHonors Surpass upgrade offer showing but the link then says it might be no longer available...
Bought air tickets at Virgin Atlantic on 12/9. It's been a week and I don't see the credit being posted. Guess VAt isn't coded as "a scheduled flight on a passenger carrier". I wonder what else are not qualifed.
Looks like the additional free night for spending $30k is only a one-time thing; the benefits page for me tells it's $60k for a free night every year (same as before), plus another night if I spend $30k by Dec 31, 2023. No mention of the $30k night being annual.
Has anyone gotten the semi-annual $200 resort credit so far?
Anyone have experience with status matching using this card? One of the perks mentioned on the website is that you get Hilton Honors Gold status.
Doesn't sound like much but that matches with Wyndham Diamond (assuming I'm reading https://help.wyndhamrewards.com/s/status-match?language=en_US) right, which will then cross over and status match with a bunch of other things, including Ceasars Platinum (https://www.caesars.com/myrewards/partners/wyndham_resorts). Gets you fun stuff like free hotel nights in the Bahamas (https://www.caesars.com/myrewards/partners/atlantis-paradise-island)
Haven't done it yet, but seems like it'd make the rewards more beneficial.
Caesars don't match to Wyndham anymore if your Wyndham status on based on a status match. They used to but definitively do not any more. You have to earn Wyndham status to get matched to Caesars, although getting Wyndham status from the Wyndham Credit Cards does count for a match.
You probably can match Hilton Gold to some other mid level statuses. Check statusmatcher.com The Hilton Diamond status with the Aspire card is much more valuable though.
Been seeing the Amex popup for a lot of their cards recently having closed the Schwab Platinum, Applied for this card at 1/6, 3/12, 9/24 from a NLL google link and got a pending review message. Got approved a couple of days later and the card came in the mail.
Where does one find the SUB info? Amex doesn't include it in the packet sent to my address.
Does anyone know if the new Hilton quarterly credit works for Hilton grand vacation stays?
My Hilton Aspire cardmember year resets in early November. I already got the $250 Hilton resort credit under the old regime for this past year and it appears the new semiannual $200 resort credit doesn't kick in until 1/1/2024. Since I have a new cardmember year just starting here shortly, do you think the $250 credit will work again as long as I stay before the end of the year? Or since this cardmember year starts after these changes were announced they likely won't give me another credit until 2024?
I spoke to the reps yesterday and they confirmed this. You're in same situation as me, which is actually a great one although my AF hit in october:
1. same AF of 450
2. 250 incidental credit is calendar year but lasts until dec 31 2023. after that it's gone
3. 250 hilton hotel credit can be used from now until dec 31 2023 then the 200$ semiannual credit kicks in on Jan 1 2024. This means you'll get 650$ in credit for the 450$ AF
4. priority pass works until the february date
This is an overall win for people in our situation.
Has this been confirmed as working? I’m in a similar boat. Cardmember year just reset on 12/1 with AF posting. We are flying to Key West currently and staying at a hilton resort that is eligible. We already used the $250 credit early in 2023. So we should be able to use again in December 2023, then have the credit reset on Jan 1 for the $200 semi-annual credit.
Why do you say that semiannual $200 only starts in 2024? I think it should have already started. For airfare, people are already getting reimbursed $50.
So will he get both the $250 and $200 credit after the annual fee posts in 2023 November? Or just the $200?
Sorry if this has been answered before, but will the $200 hilton credit be usable for both old and new hilton surpass cards? (Meaning, we can use $50 in Q4 2023, regardless if it's an old or new Surpass card)?
Yes, all new benefits are active to existing accounts already.
From what I can see, the Amex Hilton business card appears to be unaffected. The priority pass select perk looks to still be a thing. Unsure how long it will last but a nice discrepancy in the near term.