American Express REVAMPS Hilton Cards: Good or Bad? Amex Hilton Aspire, Hilton Surpass

[@AskSebby]

💳 Sebby's Card Picks: www.asksebby.com/credit-cards 📈 Get up to 16 Free Stocks on Moomoo (exp 11/20/23): www.asksebby.com/moomoo More Hilton Aspire: www.asksebby.com/go/hiltonaspire

[@wireless1235]

The card got better for fewer people. People who travel a lot or are loyalists. But a lot of people had this card simply for the status and for the free night and it got worse for most of us.

[@chillinbrotha1072]

As an Aspire cardholder, I’m looking forward to the changes because my spending varies. It will allow me to test it to see if it continues to fit my needs. I’m not one of those that immediately go negative when changes happen without testing it first. I always appreciate Sebby’s straightforward facts to help me assess and form my own opinion.

[@Alvin_1914]

I can't wait to watch this. I've been waiting for Sebby's take. #squuuuuuuuuad

[@AskSebby]

🙌

[@chriskirsch441]

I do not mind losing priority pass at all. Not a fan of $200 split into 4 $50 credits for flights. $400 bi-annually may be okay but the real value regardless is Diamond status and the free night. If I can use at least $200 in resort credits and $50 airline I should still come out ahead. I just far prefer credits not broken up.

[@AskSebby]

Agree!

[@jimbobimboslice]

Same. $50 credit each quarter-ugh! I loved burning through the $200 baggage credit. Now I gotta see how I can get those credits every quarter.

[@zacharydingo]

I hate that Amex is now splitting up these credits, too 😣

[@Mex_gon_giv_it_to_ya]

☂️ I have the Surpass and love it! Gonna keep it because I mostly drive for my trips and vacations and the priority pass wasn’t a big loss for me. The online retail multiplier was a bonus as well!

[@AndrewOLoughlin-t8r]

I think you're overstating the value of the resort credit for many people who aren't beach people. I travel a lot, but I don't do beach resort vacations, and I hate Vegas. I sepnd time in Europe and Asia or even domestically in places like Seattle, Boston, etc. and there are very few Hilton resorts in those places. It's still a keeper for me based on the free night, plus the airline credts, and diamond alone. But that resort credit is very low value.

[@dw4421]

🏖️ I personally think any kind of couponing and breaking credits down to quarters is always a bad thing. The Aspire went from a “great if you travel at least twice per year” to “have to travel every quarter” for those who are obsessing with min/max. Every business/entrepreneur, by principle, just wouldn’t be happy with more restrictions along with price increase. I do agree with you it’s not that bad and for some people they can see the benefits, but in principle, it’s just not a great change. This becomes “the new norm” one which I’m not really liking at all and one which I hate to see trending.

[@rafaelsb83]

🏖️ I have the aspire and I don’t like that they break up the credits to quarterly.

[@kartikniyogi]

Correct me if I'm wrong but we can always find a pretty cheap flight on Southwest like around $50 and book them and then cancel them for a credit.

[@brendanfarnand561]

Agreed- same with delta e credit

[@TheCreditFrog]

🏖️ Thanks for sharing your endgame Amex setup Sebby! It’s nice to compare. Mine is the BCE (oldest card can’t cancel), Bonvoy Brilliant, Bonvoy Business, BBP, and Aspire. I was going to get 2 Aspires like you, but I have a lesser tolerance for statement credits so after the change, Idefibitely going with just 1. Curious to know your thoughts! Thanks for your commentary on this news!

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

🏖️ For the Surpass specifically, before these changes, I saw no reason for me to personally get it considering I have other cards giving me Priority Pass access already. While a lot of people may be mad about the Aspire changes, I think these changes actually made it into a card I want to apply for. Considering I don't have the Platinum right now, the Clear credit on the Aspire is actually a nice change. Great video as always man!

[@AboveAllBeOriginal]

fully agree with spencer

[@diamondshard2]

Do you know if the hilton branded cards are subject to the welcome offer restrictions that if you get the Aspire, you are ineligible for the Surpass bonus in the future?

[@Leoprieto74]

The new airline credit of $200 ($50 per quarter) is a loss for me. I already have Clear with my beautiful Platinum. The $400 Resort Credit ($200 semiannual) will force me to give one of these credit to a family member in Puerto Rico ( so it is also kind of a loss for me). Having said all that, we will still stay together till death do us apart. Your $12 (cash) Barber ($16 with tip) still doing a great job! 👍

[@AskSebby]

Haha, thanks!

[@MilesAndMayhem]

0.8 cpp for a hilton point seems aspirational. TPG still has them at 0.6 cpp and even that feels high from what myself and my friends have observed on redemptions. That said... still into the Aspire update.

[@RichardHabeeb]

Hey Sebby, I always love your videos I've been watching for years now! Friendly suggestion that would help folks like me who keep multi-tasking while watching your videos: put a running list of features of each card as you are talking about them, and maybe the name of the card on the screen. Sometimes I switch away and feel like I have to scrub back in the video because I got lost and wasn't sure if you moved on to talking about a different card or what. Cheers!

[@sladesurfer]

well, I have the surpass card . Only reason I got it is because it's the cheapest annual fee card that has priority pass. Now that its gone, will be downgrading it to the no fee Hilton card

[@MrLeoAndres]

🏖️ do we know if the quarterly $50 airline credit will work with United Travel Bank?

[@Joseph-f8j1f]

Am I the only one who would trade the $400 resort credit on the Aspire for the $200 hotel credit on the Surpass? Any tricks for getting more value out of the resort credit?

[@ApplyWithAdler]

⛱️Sebby, I’d love a video from you sharing your top 10 Hilton properties. More appropriately, the top 10 Hiltons to target for your free night stay (or for point redemption). This couldn’t be a video stating the best thing for your buck since that can change, but maybe it could be the properties with the best amenities, best rooms, best food, etc. Maybe this can be a running series with all of the different hotel brands.

[@TravelBossNas]

🏝️ for me the aspire changes are great. And I just paid my annual fee last month. So I’ll be getting those improvements at the old fee! The biggest downside is losing the $250 incidental credit as it was a great use for us with United 😉. But I can use the $50 every quarter.

[@worldtraveler8372]

Horrible changes for Aspire with price increase and lost of priority lounge, and quarterly credits for airline ! I have global security and don't need clear. Smh

[@nc8845]

I originally got the Hilton Aspire because it came with the Priority Pass and many more benefits. I finally took a flight out of LAX and no Priority Lounge was available. So I guess I don’t mind AMEX taking the Priority Pass away. Should I pay for Priority Pass direct, or should I apply for the Platinum AMEX?

[@Flyguy7500]

Does the diamond status with this card count toward lifetime diamond status? So say you keep the card for 10 years plus the spend?

[@ultramet]

Clear used to be great but now Random ID check comes up at least 25-33% of the time if you fly frequently. So you have to take out your ID anyway and show it to the TSA agent.

[@beaconscore]

For Hilton Timeshare owners this card is a must. Now with the upgrade in resort credit to $400. The annual maintenance fees give 14x in points. Totally worth the annual fee increase

[@andrewg993]

🏖Pleased by the new "midway point" on the aspire having a 30k reward night. Previously had been running two Hilton Business (6x shipping) also hitting the 15k on each was easier that the 60k needed on the Aspire...worked out with business staying untouched! (for now)

[@Ron-qe4ul]

🏖️ Just upgraded my Surpass to the Aspire last month. Wish they would've included all Hilton properties in the credit for the Aspire.... that would've made it a keeper for me based on how I travel. I'll likely downgrade back to the Surpass next year

[@MetroJet2000]

🏖️ I have some thoughts on the Surpass. Although I’m going to miss having Priority Pass, I have to say the card got more practical with the $200 Hilton credit. Since we mostly travel within the US and the main benefits of the card stayed intact, I’m keeping it. We generally prefer to stagger our vacations throughout the year anyway (taking one long trip and then waiting 12 months for the next one sucks) and since I’m from Florida, there’s no shortage of quick weekend getaways I can make to snap up the rest of those credits and have a nice time.

[@CeasarBergonia]

I need to do more research but it looks like downgrading to surpass card. I use the priority pass a lot. The full resort credit. Diamond is good but gold is just as good. Luckily I have until June to make my decision.

[@hotgrease]

Breaking up the credits is annoying but I think it’s still a keeper card. Seems like they’re trying to get people to do at least 2 stays per year instead of just 1 with the free night.

[@EthanPatrick_CreditCards]

Personally I travel a lot, but I’m not a Hilton loyalist and don’t want to track quarterly credits, but the welcome bonuses and free nights are pretty hard to complain about!

[@piere212]

First off, is 0.8cpp for Hilton Points insanely aggressive? Seems like that might be good for the high end properties but not overall to deduce value and ROI? Second, does anyone do an analysis of whether it’s a keeper card for overall spend based on the free night and free nights based on spend? That is, do the free nights juice the return on spend appreciably to move this card up the hierarchy? Just curious.

[@peterbrunsgaard2012]

Sucks for me, last year for this card.

[@bombas238]

Silly question, Sebby: for those of us with both Surpass and Aspire cards, do we just ask them to charge $50 to the Surpass and the rest to the Aspire on checkout?

[@AskSebby]

Yes, I’ve done that before with multiple Aspire cards.

[@Chris-vz2kv]

Awful changes

[@SpaceForceCommand]

@askSebby have you heard if they still offer upgrade bonuses? I'm holding on to an Surpass to maybe go to Aspire but haven't seen any offers 🏖️

[@Beyond_That0]

The Aspire was definitely nerfed I don’t consider it as a keeper card anymore, you have to at least travel twice a year for it to become a keeper. Sad since I was planning on getting it. Thanks for the update!

[@critter777]

You can match your Hilton diamond status with national executive elite status, fyi. I'm sad for the changes.. on the fence boys.

[@derekong6775]

The Aspire breaking up of credits is a negative no matter how you look at it. The reason why most cards are breaking up these credits is that very few will be able to utilize all. And the banks save money. Its a little insulting that the top fee card Aspire is breaking up more of their credits. I think top fee cards like Aspire should keep it as one credit like the travel credit on the CSR. And breaking up the credits would be for mid to low tier cards. It should be a benefit of paying so much in annual fees to keep the credit as one sum.

[@clifftanch]

Aspire 14x Hilton 7x restaurants 7x flights $200 incidentals 3x remainder $550 No Priority Pass DL 12/31/23 Hilton Resort $200/6mos $400 abroad CLEAR Natl Emerald status Diamond WiFi

[@Hookandlateral1]

🏖Most people I know don't even go anywhere when they take time off of work, so asking them figure something each quarter just isn't going to work for them. I think what makes more sense is if you value what you get otherwise enough to offset the annual fee like you were talking about at the end

[@mattlambert5079]

So far, every review I’ve watched failed to mention that the new Aspire is METAL. (According to the Hilton site when I ordered my replacement/update.)

[@landocalrisian2014]

I don't know HOW Sebby left THAT out 🤦🏾‍♂️😄

[@richsamuel2922]

Who cares!? 😅😂😊

[@mattlambert5079]

@@richsamuel2922 Good one! You’re so cool-you know-the way you don’t care about stuff…so cool.

[@AskSebby]

Ha!

[@landocalrisian2014]

@@richsamuel2922 Trust and Believe, many many people care lol.

[@412foto]

have a feeling if I get the Aspire, I will try the Southwest hack of buying a cheap flight to get the $50 credit activated and then cancel the flight to save it in my Southwest account for a future flight

[@Materoosi]

Did clear increase prices ? Now the credit doesn’t cover that full cost of member plus one.

[@radtechg9]

I am happy! Between my husband and I we have 1 Aspire and 3 Surpass accts. Our plan this year was earning FNC in multiple Surpass accts to use next year. So well have 4 total FNC coming to us. With all the extra resort credits ill be bringing all these cards with me on our trip next week to a Resort in Mexico. Going to have the front desk apply charges to each card to get all those credits. We travel 3x a year and sometimes 4. So these charges are Aok for us.

[@DaveMartinez-o1s]

Thanks for the video I imagine you can use the airline credit at Southwest. Just buy a one way ticket to To los angeles each quarter. And then cancel the flight and get credit. For the amount.

[@frankiehdrum1]

Has anyone experienced this? I just got approved for the Surpass card and now they are telling me to get the 170k intro bonus I have to spend 6k, not 3k. They said it’s split up and you get 95000 after the first 3k and the other 70k after 3k more. This doesn’t seem right to me as I did not see this at all on the terms anywhere. I can easily hit the 6k but still that isn’t what I signed up for. Any suggestions on what I should do? Love your videos too buddy. Thanks for all the info.

[@frankiehdrum1]

Has anyone experienced this? I just got approved for the Surpass card and now they are telling me to get the 170k intro bonus I have to spend 6k, not 3k. They said it’s split up and you get 95000 after the first 3k and the other 70k after 3k more. This doesn’t seem right to me as I did not see this at all on the terms anywhere. I can easily hit the 6k but still that isn’t what I signed up for. Any suggestions on what I should do? Love your videos too buddy. Thanks for all the info.

[@englishbars]

honestly, i am tired of these credit card perks game......quarters.....all this credit card stuff is stupid coupon books. amex seems to be the leader in coupon books

[@MarkS-cd3cw]

The Hilton Surpass seems like a no brainer vs the Amex gold with the 6x on grocery, gas and dining. 4x on online and 3x on everything else. Even if I don’t stay at a Hilton isn’t this better than the gold? Maybe I’m missing something?

[@mattatbat96]

I work for an airline and already get free personal flights through my company. I also already have Dimond status with high chance of lifetime Dimond in the next few decades. Not sure if the Aspire is worth it in my case considering I already have so much of what the card offers provided. Thinking I should go Surpass. I really like the idea of getting a free night and while the Aspire does that automatically I am not so sure 30k in a year to get the next free is in the cards. Although the 15k needed for the Surpass will easily happen.

[@conor2439]

Just take a trip from around June 29th to July 2nd or so each year for the resort credit and use it all at once 🧠 💡

[@Panamaking]

Sebby we will fly u out from New York to houston no problem and pay for your hotel room for my podcast

[@TheCedrik34]

☂ is the 5 amex card limit real? I currently have six amex cards, Gold, Plat, Aspire, Surpass, Delta Reserve and Marriot Bonvoy. I was unaware of the 5 rule when applying and now just have 6. Wondering if I'm the only one. Also for myself the new changes are nice, but only because I'm not relying on either cards for the priority pass.

[@AskSebby]

Gold and Plat don't count for the 5 card limit. It's "credit cards" vs. their hybrid cards (fka as charge cards).

[@SwanFJQ]

⛱️ Another great review. I've been waiting for this video from you😊!

[@gilbertnicholas1582]

They should've went semi annual with the flight credit on the Aspire

[@robertlowrie8446]

Do a video about doubling up on cards. Having 2 Aspires seems crazy to me.

[@NorthVandea]

They nerfed the benefits & raised the fee. Goodbye 👋

[@Damastawilliams1916]

Hopefully we get some data points on how the flight credit can be used in those unintended ways lol

[@scb9]

Surpass-changes suck. It’s gone 1/31/24.

[@gregb5876]

Data point -flight credit - seems to work with the AA Miles multiplier. I had multiplied the miles on one of my trips just before these changes. And I'm showing the $50 airline credit.

[@AskSebby]

Thanks for the data point!

[@gingerman5123]

I just got an email about this card. Seems better value, for me, than the gold.

[@ajcab819]

I think Hilton is my favorite cobrand portfolio. I was going to downgrade my surpass and keep my aspire but I think I can make it work keeping both of them. Honestly, if I didn’t have guaranteed 4pm checkout as a Globalist, I’d be all in on Hilton.

[@mikeybee98]

The surpass is even better for me now than it was before.

[@ivan_ochoa]

can you trigger the credit if you purchase $50 gift card ??

[@zzjxchsnonezjxx]

Surpass is a great card to have for gas and supermarket. It's very easy to meet that $15k spend requirement to get the free night.

[@rred4]

Tried to get hilton aspire and kept getting pop up so i called in to apply and they said no sign up bonus because i have a delta platinum card and they group their airlines and hotel cards in the same family 🤦🏾‍♂️ that doesn't even make sense. I have perfect history with amex since 2007 with platinum, gold and delta platinum so i have no idea why im getting rejected for this sub

[@AskSebby]

Thanks for the data point! Crazy if that's a new rule...

[@stonedig]

🌂 ⛱️. I have the 0AF HH. I travel less than I used to, but here in the Midwest, I get room upgrades like 90% of the time.

[@samkatana]

🏖 Haha I love the 2Chainz adlib

[@thejokerspeaks]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a premium business card offered next year (The Hilton Perspire!), with boosted small business travel perks, and spend thresholds. I just hope they don't cut shipping like the Amex Business Gold!

[@thejokerspeaks]

The resort credit is easy for us, because we have an every-other-year Hilton timeshare (got off Ebay), and we fly from Las Vegas. Sometimes we stay at Virgin to be slightly off strip anyways. Endgame setup: Hilton Aspire, Hilton Business, Delta Business Platinum, BBP, BBP

[@AskSebby]

Good setup!

[@SuperSonicBaroque]

What’s the “Coupon Book”?

[@AskSamPugh]

🏖️I’m still deciding if i will keep this card. I liked the old airline incidental credit for me personally. The clear credit i already have so I may sell that tbh so that maybe a way to reduce the fee 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@00177454419]

Surpass cardholder here. These changes seem like a big win. They've gotten rid of priority pass which is all but worthless and they've added 4 x $50 credits, by which the card pays for itself. Also important is that unlike the Aspire, these credits are good over their entire portfolio. Also the multiplies are very good.

[@AskSamPugh]

🏖️I’m still deciding if i will keep this card. I liked the old airline incidental credit for me personally. The clear credit i already have so I may sell that tbh so that maybe a way to reduce the fee.

[@PhotoDaveJax]

🏖️ Really thinking about the Amex Hilton Surpass. Mid-level game I guess. 🤔🤷‍♂️ Was offered 170k bonus points!

[@novamaster0]

🏖 I've been eyeing this card for years for Diamond Status, but couldn't justify it. I'm trying to think if there's any advantage to this card as a Vegas Local that I could justify who maybe would do 1 trip/year. The best I can think of is going down to Resorts World once or twice for one half of a year and use the resort credit on a restaurant there if I could, then the second half of the year go on a trip with the free night and $200 in resort fees? It's how I use the Wyndham Business card $95/year only buy gas on it. I transfer the points to Caesars, and use the $100 Dining credit and/or Points to ball out at Gordon Ramsey Burger 2-3 times/year, Then I transfer all the points back to Wyndham until the next 'special occasion'

[@WeiliXu88]

Called Amex and confirmed, for existing card holder, you will still have your incidental airline credit plus the new $50 airline credit for the remaining days in this year. They were generous enough to change my airline selection for my upcoming trips in December 😊

[@rickmustang]

Currently own the Amex Gold. I travel 3 weeks a month and mostly stay in Hiltons. I’ll hit my SUB total in about a month so my original plan was to sign up for an Amex Platinum. The question is do I grab a Surpass or Aspire now to maximize Hilton points until I hit the SUB total for Gold then get the Platinum for the trifecta.

[@TheLandMiler]

Personally I'm super happy about the changes to the Aspire Card! I have a similar setup with 3X Aspire and 1X Bonvoy Brilliant and I think the increase to the $400 annual resort credit makes up for the annual fee and then some! While the $50 quarterly flight credit is a bit more niche, I think there'll be use cases that already have been working out. Priority Pass can always be supplemented with other end game cards like the Capital One Venture X!

[@nnamuenmada]

I can't wait for the daily airline credit of $0.55 to be announced

[@NewJerseyScratchKing]

I like the changes to aspire besides the AF! For me will be quite easy to use $600 in credits and been loving my Hilton card since I got it over a year ago. Now that the AF went up though makes me wonder which other Amex card I ax 🤔 🏖️

[@tristanolarti9671]

🏖️ Decided to attempt a 3 card aspire set up instead of a 4 card delta instant gold medallion. Figured the $150/qtr could reduce the cost of flights while also rewarding me with 3 FNCs. Too bad for the Amex 5 card rule, otherwise I’d be on both.

[@SwiftAC94]

These changes for the Surpass is negative for me. I only got it because of the Priority Pass, which I haven't been able to use since lounges are always full. plus I already have the Venture X for Priority Pass. Probably will downgrade to a 2nd Hilton Honors card. If they kept the Hilton credits together rather than split it quarterly, then I may keep the card.

[@DavidRaccah]

IMO these cards went from being sock-drawer marriott goer cards to essentially - stay at Hilton or drop the cards. I get it, but they are killing - I think - a lot of card holders. They are trying too hard, by forcing the quarterly route - they may have gone too Delta! LOL!

[@paulstein916]

🏝️ Not really a fan of the quarterly coupons. Really annoying to keep track of as I already have other coupon cards to track. I don’t think you mentioned the new SUB’s available on these cards. What do you think of them? To me, the Surpass sub looks like the best one.

[@Stealther]

I’ve had it with AMEX and them making it inconvenient to use their credits. Cancelling my Aspire and moving my business elsewhere.

[@EarlMcDowellJr]

First...although I'm scared to view if my MVP card, the Hilton Aspire, has been nerfed.

[@AskSebby]

More credits! Net good if you can use everything :)

[@EarlMcDowellJr]

Great! 🙌🏿

[@JKPham23]

Are you able to use the free night from holding aspire and $200 of the semi annual credit on the same stay? For example booking a 2 night stay, using your free night to cover one of the two, and then paying for the second night minus $200 effectively in the form of the statement credit?

[@Juliozev96]

Wanted to add a data point here that for the aspire, it looks like the $200 flight credit that is split into $50 quarterly, is already in affect. I bought a flight this month with the aspire and I received a $50 flight credit from Amex already.

[@joshuaniles-dancy585]

I canceled my Aspired Card right before this revamp and looking at the revamp I'm glad i did. However, i wonder if i should of done it after the revamp to show AMEX I'm not a fan of it 🤔

[@kylecarvalho3623]

Can the 400 Hilton resort credit be used all 400 at one time? U made it sound so in this video

[@AskSebby]

$200 semi-annual = $400 per year. $200 Jan-Jun + $200 Jul-Dec.

[@SpaceKarma]

⛱️ I'm not a fan of these changes, but I will have to wait and see. I have the Surpass and I just applied for the Aspire before these changes took effect. The diamond status is great for international travel which I do semi regularly. However, I'm not a fan of quarterly credit in any fashion. I have a few more months to figure our a game plan.

[@Dtrain79]

If they change the business card I will dump it. I travel weekly for work and use my Hilton business for priority pass when the Admiral’s club isn’t a good option (Citi Executive Elite.) The new quarterly credits will only benefit my Employer since they reimburse all my stays. I currently have Diamond with Hilton just through spend so shouldn’t be hard to keep without card. I’m sure Bonvoy will gladly take my $60-70k a year.

[@NewJerseyScratchKing]

I like the changes to aspire besides the AF! For me will be quite easy to use $600 in credits and been loving my Hilton card since I got it over a year ago. Now that the AF went up though makes me wonder which other Amex card I ax 🤔 🏖️

[@richora2007]

I already have a Hilton but would like to upgrade, can I apply and grab the sign on points reward bonus? will AMEX allow?

[@rene.s.s]

Surpass update is terrible for low end PP entry. Aspire is a good update since we have multiple PP that we can’t do anything with.

[@fastfreddie6572]

I got lucky, just got charged $95 annual fee this week. 🎉 🥃🥃🥃

[@41SumGreenDay]

🏖 I tried to get the Aspire last year and was stuck in popup jail. I was hoping to get it with the old perks, as they were easier for me to use - I don't travel more than once or twice a year right now. With how many cards have priority pass, I am happy to see it removed and something else in it's place 😄

[@Th33Vultur3]

If I buy something internationally, would it get 3x on everything else with the Hilton cards?

[@AndrewOLoughlin-t8r]

The Aspire changes definitely make me less likely to get that card, as someone who isn't going to take quarterly trips. Higher AF, credits are broken up on both Resort credit and the airline credits.