On October 19, 2023, American Express announced refreshed versions of the Hilton Honors Aspire® Card and Hilton Honors Surpass® Card. The bad news is that both cards get an increase in the annual fee and lose the Priority Pass perk. For the Aspire card, there’s more money in annual credits but they’ll be harder to maximize. It also gets a few new and interesting perks. For the Surpass card, the news is mostly positive changes with a new hotel credit and several new perks. I think people will be split on the Aspire card changes but find the Surpass changes to be pretty positive.
Amex left the no annual fee Hilton Honors card the same except giving it a fresh new look.
Hilton Aspire Card
Before discussing all the changes, there are several benefits that are staying the same. The Hilton Aspire card is keeping the automatic Diamond Elite Status, the annual Free Night Reward, and the existing category bonuses.
What’s New and/or Changing
- $550 annual fee (up from $450)
- Welcome bonus of 180,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months
- $400 resort credit (up from $250 per year), to be used in $200 semi-annual increments
- $200 flight credit (down from $250 per year), to be used in $50 quarterly increments; it can now be used for actual airfare and not just incidental airline fees
- Free Night Reward with $30,000 spend in a calendar year, in addition to the existing reward at $60,000
- Priority Pass benefits expire on February 1, 2024
- Annual $189 CLEAR reimbursement
- National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status
- Cell phone protection ($50 deductible, max $800 per claim)
Prior to these changes, the Aspire card was easily the most lucrative hotel credit card on the market. So it was inevitable that Amex would make changes at some point to reduce benefits and/or increase the annual fee.
From a strictly financial standpoint, the card costs $100 more per year, up from $450. While the net change in credits is a $100 increase, receiving those credits will be much harder since they can’t be earned at one time. For many people, this card is probably not the “no-brainer” card it once was. However, it can still be quite useful if you know you can utilize the credits and value some of the new perks.
Losing Priority Pass might hurt for some, but there are lots of other credit cards that offer that perk. Plus many people should find the CLEAR credits, National Car Rental Executive status, and cell phone protection to be valuable additions.
Hilton Surpass Card
The Surpass card is also keeping some of its existing benefits. It still has automatic Gold Elite Status, with the ability to reach Diamond Elite Status after $40,000 in spending. It also kept the existing category bonuses and the annual Free Night Reward after spending $15,000 in a calendar year.
What’s New and/or Changing
- $150 annual fee (up from $95)
- Welcome bonus of 170,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first six months
- $200 Hilton credit, to be used in $50 quarterly increments (not limited to resorts only)
- New 4x U.S. Online Retail purchase spending category
- Priority Pass benefits expire on February 1, 2024
- National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status
While the annual fee is increasing by $55, the only takeaway is the loss of Priority Pass. That perk was a cheap way to get lounge access, so it’s a bummer for people who owned the card strictly for that purpose.
On the other hand, the $200 Hilton credit ($50 per quarter) is an exciting addition since it applies to more than just resorts. It’s valuable even if you don’t stay at Hilton properties in multiple quarters. After just one Hilton stay a year, and receipt of the $50 statement credit, the annual cost of the card drops to just $100, only $5 higher than before. If you manage to earn the credit more than once a year, then you’ll be well ahead. The addition of the online retail spending category could be useful, although 4x points isn’t too exciting when a Hilton point is worth about 0.5 cents per point.
Bottom Line
Both the Hilton Aspire and Surpass cards have undergone major refreshes. Whether they’re better or worse, largely depends on how you’ll use the perks and benefits.
Hilton Aspire Final Thoughts
The key changes for the Aspire card are the $100 annual fee increase and changes to the credit amounts and how they can be utilized. The card now offers up to $400 in annual Hilton resort credits and up to $200 in annual flights credits. But they’re more of a pain to use since they’re now split into semi-annual resort credits and quarterly flight credits.
Other perks which were added include a CLEAR Plus membership, National Car Rental Emerald Club status, cell phone protection, and the ability to earn extra free night rewards by spending on the card. However, Amex also eliminated the Priority Pass membership.
For most people, these changes are probably a net negative. However, if you’re somebody who’s able to use some combination of the Hilton resort credit and flight credit, you can probably extract even more value than before.
Hilton Surpass Final Thoughts
In exchange for a $55 annual fee increase, Amex made some pretty positive changes to the Hilton Surpass card. The two key additions are up to $200 in Hilton statement credits per year ($50 per quarter) and a new bonus spending category of 4x points on U.S. online retail purchases. The one takeaway is the elimination of Priority Pass lounge access.
If you stay at Hilton properties at least a few times a year and don’t care about the Priority Pass visits, these changes are definitely good news. However, if you don’t stay at Hiltons very often and valued the Priority Pass perk, then this change will probably have you reconsidering this card.
If you’ve never owned any of the three Hilton Honors personal credit cards and need help deciding which one is right for you, check out my side by side comparison.
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