Should You Use the Hilton Surpass as a 1-Card Setup?

[@michaelkeaton32]

I agree with your past statements that these setups are very personal, so my setup won't work for someone else, and that's fine. There's room for everyone to have their own opinion and "best" setup. To me, I like Marriott and Hilton points, so having the Custom Cash card or Savor card is useless because they do nothing for me, even though they earn points well. I love the idea of simplicity, and knowing what you want to get out of your spend is imperative to getting the setup that works best for you. You need to know your "why". Because unless you know your why, these other credit cards that earn 5x points or whatever in a currency that doesn't align with your goals is merely noise and a distraction from what you really want. I was guilty of chasing fads and going with other's setups, but later I find out those don't work for me, and I have a glut of points that don't work for what I want to do.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Point taken! I absolutely agree that you really need to know your "why" because that will help you figure out where you're going. Sometimes it's hard to answer these questions because there's not a complete picture, but assuming the person is ok with cash back along with points, it's always interesting to see the types of setups that come up! As long as you know what you want, that's what important! Because then, it's like you said, you end up with a bunch of points that are useless for your situation.

[@SuperMrgentleman]

Dang where do you get value out of Marriott points?

[@TheCreditFrog]

@SuperMrgentleman Still trying to find out!

[@L-Man-Gaming]

I’m with Uncle Luke, give me the points and make them flexible, I will make my own trip. I would never lock myself into a program.

[@TheCreditFrog]

That’s fair. But if you lock in Hilton points and you have a lot of them, is it really the end of the world? Something has to give, but yeah I get it, Hilton points are not that valuable compared to most flexible point currencies.

[@mostlyfreetravel]

Great video Stan! I used my surpass this year as a catch all to work on getting the FNC. Im surprised no one talks about the PayPal 5% back debit card. Seems like an easy way to fill in any gaps in a cash back setup. It’s up to $1000 spend a month /$50 back and you pick your category every month.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Thanks! Yeah, the Surpass is an excellent catch all card, getting a lot of points, and earning towards that FNC! I actually have never looked into the PayPal debit card. I guess it just flies under my radar since I typically don’t take debit cards seriously. Thanks for letting me know about it!

[@mikealbright4994]

Thank you, Stan, for another very informative video.

[@TheCreditFrog]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@thejokerspeaks]

I am converting my Hilton Surpass into a pseudo business card next year and will spend $15K under "Online Retail" at 4X. I don't like having 2 HH personal cards. If my free night is worth $500, then I would have to spend $100K at 5X on the actual business version to break even!

[@paulfelkner6749]

Those Hilton points really add up - but they are normally worth less than .05 cents a point and rarely a bargain in my travels. Same with IHG - the points really add up. And they are normally worth way more than ,05 cents a point in my travels - but IHG does not have locations with points availability compared to Marriott and Hilton. By the same token, I can generally get over a penny a point with Marriott and normally 1.25 and if it's below a penny a point I normally spend cash.

[@TheCreditFrog]

I need to learn how to get regular redemptions with Marriott around 1.25cpp. That would be ideal, but I find that my Hilton and IHG redemptions are much better at 1cpp or higher. I'm the same though - if I can't get a good redemption, I book the hotel in cash or using FHR.

[@Ljberkow]

The Surpass is my primary card (get Diamond as well) and have Costco as well. My set up is similar. Also have the Marriott Amex business - just a great card for benefits and big SUB. Also have Chase Amazon Prime. My big fee card is AMEX Platinum. For spending, Surpass is great. Are there better? Sure, but not much.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Yeah, what this setup taught me is that I should look into what it would be like to use the Surpass as a primary card. It’s pretty simple and you get a lot out of it if you stay at Hiltons (at least once per quarter!)

[@Gangrenous_Hank]

Since Marriott gold isn’t really worth it if you could only get one would you get? the bonvoy brilliant for the platinum status or get ritz Carlton card and try to get enough nights to earn platinum?

[@TheCreditFrog]

Bonvoy Brilliant. I would just never stay enough nights to earn Platinum by itself. But I would get Hilton Gold before I went Bonvoy Platinum.

[@andreeldridge8457]

$40k on dining😳😳

[@TheCreditFrog]

It exists!

[@chrissevy]

An interesting comparison. $325 Gold AF would equal 65k additional HH points. Which would be 24% in additional points for the gold, however that is assuming 100% spend is dining/grocery. The Surpass is really surprisingly strong and simple!

[@TheCreditFrog]

Absolutely! Definitely some good food for thought with this one! 🍎

[@lisaco1]

3X uncapped at Costco is probably why the issuer of USAR cannot afford new applicants

[@412foto]

Love my surpass. not that high of annual fee. usable spend categories and coupons to discount the annual fee,

[@shawn.credit]

I think so yes that 3x everything else is clutch, also the Business Hilton with the 5x everything else is very good! The 5x categories on the Surpass fit most folks spend.

[@TheCreditFrog]

5X is actually pretty good. The issue is that the $195 Hilton Business card doesn't have anything else going for it unless you can use those $60 quarterly credits! At that point, another card is probably a better option, but it depends on what you're looking for!

[@Mike_Genisys]

Adding the gold card provides flexibility, so if an opportunity comes up in another system you can take advantage of it. I don't think hotel points will transfer well to say airlines.

[@TheCreditFrog]

That’s for sure! Aner another reason to sample the trifecta setups to see if that would be a better move!

[@paulfelkner6749]

Let me know where the Weston Club is. I'm 0-3.

[@TheCreditFrog]

There's definitely one at Westin at LAX. Used that one a bunch of times, and it's pretty nice!

[@FreedomFinanceFun]

If your in this game, there is no such thing as a 1 card setup

[@TheCreditFrog]

I know what you mean, but it's so simple!

[@DaIton-]

3rd

[@TheCreditFrog]

You got it Dalton! 🥉

[@soapa4279]

First?

[@TheCreditFrog]

First!! 🥇

[@ToboeKey309]

​@TheCreditFrog do u still have your amex hilton honors credit card with no annual fee? 🤔 I have 4million hilton honors points I'm 5,000 points away from 5 million hilton honors points 🤔

[@TheCreditFrog]

I do! Wow that’s a lot of points! Better start using them!

[@soapa4279]

@@ToboeKey309 Wow. At bare minimum that’s like $20K worth of stays

[@russellrhodes1468]

Okay. Sloppy seconds !

[@TheCreditFrog]

Ew. But valid. 🥈

[@russellrhodes1468]

@ somebody has to say it. Also, always look forward to your content. The jump in me when credit frog is on is unrivaled.

[@paulfelkner6749]

Core is Marriott - personal and business - titanium - lifetime Plat. Secondary: Hilton Surpass, IHG premier and Wyndham business earner. Bucket list: Hyatt IHG business Hilton Business Best Western Choice

[@TheCreditFrog]

I'd like to think that I'm the same! Nice that you're life time platinum though, makes things more flexible with the Brilliant card. Definitely love Hilton and Surpass being secondary. Haven't had much experience with Wyndham.