Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express Review: Worth the Annual Fee?

The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express can be worth it for frequent travelers who prefer staying at Hilton properties and appreciate the card’s premium perks and benefits. While the $550 annual fee may be too steep for some, the card comes with a generous welcome offer and plenty of travel-related perks to justify the cost.

In fact, the Hilton Resort credit (up to $400) and flight credit* (up to $200) alone more than cover the card’s annual fee. But you’ll also get Hilton Honors™ Diamond status*, an annual free night reward (worth around $750), a CLEAR® Plus credit* up to $189 and more.

However, if you don’t travel often enough to take advantage of the card’s many perks, you may want to consider one of the lower annual fee Hilton credit cards. And if you’re not loyal to a specific hotel brand, a general travel credit card (like the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®) will be a better choice.

• Generous welcome offer

  The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express comes with a valuable welcome offer that more than covers the annual fee for the first year. You’ll earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership.

  How much is it worth? We value Hilton Honors points at about 0.5 cents each, making this offer worth around $875.

• Impressive earning rate

  With the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express, you’ll earn bonus Hilton points on both travel and everyday purchases: Earn 14X points on eligible purchases at hotels or resorts in the Hilton Portfolio, 7X points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies and U.S. restaurants and 3X points on other purchases.

  While 14X points on Hilton purchases is impressive, there’s potential to earn even more. Once you factor in the 10X points you earn as a Hilton Honors member — plus the 100% points bonus you get with complimentary Diamond status (enrollment required) — you get a whopping 34 points per dollar when using your Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express to book stays.

  This is a great rate on hotel purchases and a high earning rate overall. But as you can see in the table below, Hilton’s mid-tier card — the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card — has the edge over the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express on earning, thanks to an additional bonus on U.S. supermarket and U.S. gas station purchases.

  	Rewards earned per $1 spent*
  American Express® Gold Card	$0.046
  Chase Sapphire Reserve®	$0.033
  Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card	$0.024
  The Platinum Card® from American Express	$0.023
  Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express	$0.021
  Hilton Honors American Express Card	$0.021

  *Based on LendingTree’s value methodology

   

  Redeeming rewards

  While Hilton offers several ways to redeem your Hilton Honors points, you’re best off redeeming them for free hotel nights. Hilton has more than 7,600 properties around the world and no blackout dates that restrict when you can book reward stays.

  Just be aware that Hilton uses dynamic pricing, which means that the amount of points required for a stay could change depending on when you book and at which property. As an example, reward nights start at 5,000 points per night for a standard room but can go all the way up to 120,000 points per night for specialty properties.

  Savvy traveler tip: Hilton’s fifth night free benefit lets you stretch your points further, giving you a free night on a stay of four or more reward nights.

• Valuable travel perks and benefits

  The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express comes with a laundry list of benefits, including complimentary Hilton Honors™ Diamond status* and up to $889 in annual credits:

  • Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Diamond status*: Receive automatic Diamond status — the highest tier of the Hilton Honors rewards program — upon enrollment. This provides benefits like a 100% points bonus on every stay, executive lounge access, premium Wi-Fi and more.
  • Annual free night reward(s): You’ll get one free night reward each year on your cardmember anniversary, plus the opportunity to earn a second when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year and a third when you spend $60,000.
  • Up to $400 Hilton Resort credit: Each year, you’ll receive up to $400 (up to $200 semi-annually) in statement credits for eligible purchases made with your card directly with participating Hilton Resorts.
  • Up to $200 flight credit*: Get up to $50 in statement credits each quarter — up to $200 back each year — on flight purchases made directly with an airline or through Amex Travel.
  • Up to $189 CLEAR® Plus credit*: Receive up to $189 in annual statement credits when you pay for a CLEAR Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal) with your card.
  • Up to $100 property credit: Get up to $100 in credits when you book a two-night minimum stay at participating Waldorf Astoria® Hotels & Resorts and Conrad® Hotels & Resorts.
  • National Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® Status*: Receive complimentary Emerald Club Executive® status with National Car Rental after enrolling with your card.
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Numerous travel protections: Protections include car rental loss and damage insurance¹, baggage insurance² (up to $3,000), trip delay insurance³ (up to $500), trip cancellation and interruption insurance⁴ (up to $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per year) and Premium Global Assist® Hotline access⁵.
  • Purchase protections: In addition to purchase protection⁶ (up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 per calendar year), you’ll get an extended warranty⁶ (up to one additional year) and return protection⁶ on U.S. purchases.
  • Global Dining Access by Resy: After adding your card to your Resy profile, you’ll get access to exclusive reservations, special dining experiences and more.
  *Enrollment required

• Hefty annual fee

  The most obvious drawback to the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express is its $550 annual fee. While the card offers plenty of credits and points-earning opportunities to help offset the fee, it can still be hard to fork over such a large amount each year.

• Welcome offer can be difficult to attain

  If you don’t typically spend enough on your Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express to meet the spending threshold (an average of $1,000 per month), you may find it challenging to earn the card’s lucrative welcome offer. This can be a major drawback, as the welcome offer is a strong selling point for the card.

• Hilton Honors points have a low value

  Hilton Honors points are worth around 0.5 cents per point, which simply can’t compete with more valuable, flexible points offered by general travel cards. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® earns Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be worth up to 2 cents per point. And while hotel rewards points tend to come at a lower value in general, Hilton points are still particularly low:

  Hotel	Average value per point
  World of Hyatt	$0.017
  Choice Privileges	$0.008
  Marriott Bonvoy	$0.009
  Hilton Honors	$0.005
  IHG	$0.005

  The welcome offer and bonus categories on this card are so generous that they easily offset the low point value. Just keep in mind that they’re worth about half of face value.

Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

If flexibility and overall value are more important to you than hotel-specific benefits, a general travel credit card will usually be your best bet — and it doesn’t get any better than the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®. For the same $550 annual fee, you’ll get a better sign-up bonus, a much higher point value, lounge access, a $300 annual travel credit and more. Plus, you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards® points to any of Chase’s travel partners for an even greater value (just know that Hilton isn’t included in the list).

	Chase Sapphire Reserve®	Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
First-year value	$2,346*	$1,625*
Ongoing annual value	$1,146*	$1,500*
Welcome offer value	$1,200*	$875*
Travel credits and perks	$1,034	$889
Rewards flexibility	5/5	2/5

 

Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express vs. American Express^® Gold Card

The $325-annual-fee American Express^® Gold Card is another great choice for travelers looking for more flexibility. It earns Amex Membership Rewards points, which can be redeemed via Amex Travel or transferred to one of Amex’s 20-plus travel partners (including Hilton) for even more value. In fact, Membership Rewards points transfer to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, meaning 1,000 Amex points are worth 2,000 Hilton Honors points. And while this card is lighter on travel perks, you’ll still get solid travel protections and up to $524 in annual perks and credits.

	American Express® Gold Card	Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
First-year value	$2,317*	$1,625*
Ongoing annual value	$1,117*	$1,500*
Welcome offer value	$1,200*	$875*
Travel credits and perks	$524	$889
Rewards flexibility	4/5	2/5

 

Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express vs. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card

Another great choice for Hilton loyalists, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card is a cheaper alternative to the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express. For a $150 annual fee, you’ll get fewer travel credits and perks and a slightly lower earning rate on Hilton purchases. However, you’ll still get a great welcome offer and complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status (enrollment required). Plus, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card comes with three additional bonus categories — you’ll earn 6X points at U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations and 4X points on U.S. online retail purchases.

	Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card	Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
First-year value	$1,349*	$1,625*
Ongoing annual value	$1,149*	$1,500*
Welcome offer value	$825*	$875*
Travel credits and perks	$200	$889
Rewards flexibility	2/5	2/5

If you’re a frequent Hilton guest who’s looking for a luxury credit card and are willing to pay a large annual fee, the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express could be a great addition to your wallet. In addition to its impressive welcome offer and earning rate, this card is jam-packed with benefits, including automatic elite status and tons of statement credits.

However, if you want more flexibility — or you simply can’t justify the card’s $550 annual fee — you may want to consider a general travel card or another option from Hilton.