UPDATE: This offer has expired.
The Hilton Honors™ Surpass® Card from American Express just increased their welcome offer big time! They are back at offering their highest ever 100,000 points bonus plus a free night award certificate.
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- Hilton Honors™ Surpass® Card from American Express – Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 3 months. Plus, earn a free weekend night on your anniversary date of Card approval. Some hotels may have mandatory services and resort charges. Offer Ends 10/4/17. *Terms Apply.
Card Benefits:
- Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold elite status each year you keep the card
- Earn Hilton Honors Diamond status after you spend $40,000 in a calendar year
- Earn 12x points at Hilton Hotels, 6x points at U.S. gas stations, supermarkets, and restaurants, and 3x points on all other purchases
Free Night:
An added benefit to this offer is that you’ll receive a free night on your anniversary date of Card approval. This is not an annual benefit, but one tied to the welcome bonus. This means it is a one-time offer and you’ll receive it a year after you apply for the card (6-8 weeks after the first anniversary date of the Card account). This means you’ll be required to keep the card a 2nd year (and pay the $75 annual fee) to receive the free night.
The certificate is valid for 1 free WEEKEND night in a standard room and will expire 12 months after it is issued. This is similar to the free night certificate that comes with the Citi Hilton card. Ultimately, the “free” night is costing you $150 (the cost of two years annual fee) which definitely can be worthwhile. Many resort and other desirable properties can easily go for $500+ a night during peak times.
What are 100,000 Hilton Points Worth?
Earlier this year, Hilton introduced an entirely new program. Instead of “Hilton HHonors”, they are now “Hilton Honors” and the name change came along with an entirely new redemption process. Hilton got rid of their award chart and you’ll now be charged a certain number of points depending on the price of the hotel, although it is not a fixed rate. They also introduced a points and cash option where you can pick the amount of points and cash you’d like to use based on a sliding scale for every hotel stay. While these changes haven’t been around long enough to see if this is a positive or negative change, they have ensured their members that you will not pay more then the highest amount of points required previously for a particular hotel. I really hope they do stick with that.
Ultimately, the 100,000 points from the welcome bonus can get you anywhere from 20 nights at a low level category to 1 free night at a high level category. Remember, since this card gives you automatic status, you’ll receive your 5th night free when using points for your stay.
Below is the old reward chart that they got rid of. So the points required will not exceed the higher range amount for each category.
Comparing the Different Hilton Co-Branded Credit Cards
Remember, there are four different Hilton co-branded credit cards – two American Express and two Citi. The one comparable is the Citi® Hilton Honors™ Reserve Card as it also comes with Gold status and an annual fee. The difference with this card is that the welcome bonus gives you two free weekend nights at ANY hotel that has a standard room available. Depending on where you are looking to stay, the 100,000 points with the Amex Surpass will not give you two free nights at a top hotel. Although if you are looking at very low level hotels the 100,000 points will get you way more than 2 free nights. The two weekend night certificates also expire, where the 100,000 points do not.
My thoughts
Although this card comes with a $75 annual fee, if you plan on staying at Hilton hotels throughout the year, having Hilton Gold status is a great status to have. Even though this is a mid-tier status, you’ll still receive complimentary breakfast, free internet, a possible upgrade and concierge floor, etc. You’ll also receive your 5th night free on award redemptions.
Keep in mind though that Hilton does run status matches often though, so if you have status with another hotel, you might easily be able to earn Gold status anyways. You can read more about the perks of Hilton status here.
Key Link:
- Hilton Honors™ Surpass® Card from American Express – Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 3 months. Plus, earn a free weekend night on your anniversary date of Card approval. Some hotels may have mandatory services and resort charges. Offer Ends 10/4/17. *Terms Apply.
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