The Ultimate Hilton Status and Credit Card Review!

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

If you find value in the video, please be sure to give a like and share it with others. #subscribe. Be sure to click the join button to become a member at just 99 cents a month to receive tailored and first take content. @Tyrantt__ thanks for pointing out that it's 10 (non-consecutive) years of holding diamond and NOT 10 consecutive years when seeking Diamond for life status.

[@jmbwashi]

I just got the Aspire with a 175,000 point welcome offer. 🙌🏼 I also hold the IHG premier card and Platinum status with them. I have very much enjoyed the upgrades from holding that status. In the continental US it's been 100% upgrades for me. Quite fun.

[@tofutrader]

I love your videos. You give the most clear and helpful information! Thank you

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Thank you for the very kind words. Much appreciated 🙏🏼

[@MattMcGrathOfficial]

Solid video. I was considering canceling the Hilton cards and being a Marriott loyalist but I may keep them and get the Aspire.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Matt, Matt, Matt, what are we going to do with you? Hilton, Hilton, Hilton is the way to go - we know this!

[@Xavier_ID.]

Hilton baby!! 🎉 I have ran up the Hilton ladder and just need to add the Aspire. Plan is to pick it up beginning of next year before our next big family trip to knock out the SUB in one go.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Great that you're on point with the order of your card acquisitions.

[@seand99x]

Hey man, great video! Very comprehensive! You may want to note that to truly enjoy all the perks of diamond status you need to travel internationally diamond status does not mean much here in the states unfortunately! Have a great 👍 day

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

@@seand99x I did touch on it a bit here and in other vids. However almost all of my travel is international so I often don't call out your prominently. Thanks for watching the video.

[@DC_Consulting_DC]

Today I'm at the Hilton Garden Inn Bucharest, Romania. The Gold breakfast benefit is awesome. I have the business card, which pays me $5 per year to keep it. I was Diamond on spend until this year but rarely got suites and so many lounges have closed.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Welcome fellow traveler. If you can be diamond on spend, there seems to be a case for your owning the aspire card unless you don't like Hilton resorts to pick up the $400 resort credit. You clearly travel enough to pick up the $209 flight credit. I don't always get a suite but I get upgrades.

[@ryanccc777]

Great review!! I travel with my family so buying 4 award flights on points is not worth it which leaves me with hotels. The only brand where I can easily transfer points to is Hyatt where I regularly get 3-4cpp in value. As another option, I just went with the Surpass and the 130k points / free night cert offer. The food and beverage credit that comes with Gold status is a big plus, e.g. we are staying at a Curio in NYC and since that is a “select market” we get $18 each for my wife and I for two days so $72 + the $50 quarterly hotel credit so in one two night stay we already recover $122 of the $150 annual fee!! The Aspire might be an upgrade for next year, tbd!

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Nice!! So consider this since you indicated that you travel with your family. Consider the BILT card, and no I don't work for BILT and I'm ignoring whether or not you own your home. It transfers to Hyatt which you currently seem to enjoy but the magic is the 1st of the month. Pay all of your utilities and other 1X spend on the card on the 1st. Pay your kids expenses on the 1st. This nets 2x. So what's so special about 2x when you can put that on the BBP, the CDC or VX? Because with BILT status, there are these rent day elevated transfer boost which can double your points when you transfer them out. So all of that 1X spend eventually becomes 4x. If you use the BILT card for dining, that makes it 6X for dinner and 12x on rent day. Consider that as a way to also grow your points rapidly when you're not applying for new cards.

[@ryanccc777]

@@RSquared-travel-rewards thanks for the info, I have looked into some of this and 2 of my 3 utility companies (water and gas) only accept ACH and my third is on the CFU, so it doesn’t benefit me to get one card for one utility payment and switch that to the 1st in order to go from 1.5x on the CFU to 2x on Bilt. All of my kids after school programs and summer camps only accept ACH payments too. I could pay my HOA on Bilt but it’s not enough to move the needle, the fight is real when it comes to aggregating points! 😂

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

​@@ryanccc777 Agreed but keep in mind that 2X on BILT becomes 4X when I transfer my points out whenever the transfer boost is offered. If it were just 2X vs 1.5X, I wouldn't jump through hoops, but I happily do it for 4X vs 1.5X giving that I have lots of no category catch-all spend each month. For some reason my utility companies ALL accept credit cards payments including car insurance etc. I also time large purchases for the 1st. However, I totally get your point that it might not be the sweet spot for you.

[@reneecopeland1095]

I like the Hilton hotels and cards! Great video! Thanks

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

It's the simplest hotel brand to use. Very valuable.

[@Whoisbu89]

I opened Hilton honors last week and just opened Hilton surpass yesterday. 2 free night certificates and 200k points coming my way soon! Will upgrade my honors to the aspire and then eventually upgrade my surpass to a 2nd aspire.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

You're crushing it!!

[@412foto]

In June I stayed at the Oceana in Santa Monica California. Used a free night certificate for the $1100 night room. Arrived and got upgraded to a pool side suite that was listed at $1400 a night. Living room in it had 3 couches! Fantastic high end service too plus a $50 food credit that got my a tasty steak. Still have 1 free night cert and very close to earning another on my Surpass. Diamond status is great and if it goes away on my Surpass (not sure how I even got it honestly) then I will definitely be getting the Aspire at some point.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

You've crushed it with that $1400 room using a free night award cert. Did you say that you have Diamond status from the Surpass card without putting the required $40K in spend on the card?

[@412foto]

@@RSquared-travel-rewards yes Diamond from the Surpass. And not sure how I got it honestly lol Doubt it was from $40k in spend unless somehow I did that across the Biz and Surpass card plus while pursuing welcome offers or something. not complaining and we will see when it expires. App says I need 56 night to retain it but doesn't say when it expires and no way I am getting 56 nights

[@412foto]

@@RSquared-travel-rewards Went back into email...got Diamond Status upgrade email December 2023 and email says it is through March 2025. Doesn't say how it was earned or why rewarded

[@kevingray7855]

Great video, two quick so with the Aspire card you keep diamond status as long as you maintain the card or is it just complementary Diamond status for the first year? Second question is…what fluent card do you pair with your hotel cards?

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

@@kevingray7855 hey Kevin. Diamond as long as you own the Aspire. I unfortunately/fortunately have tons of cards so it depends on what points I'm trying to earn for the quarter and if I'm in the U.S. or abroad. My use case is unusual and very fluid. So you're better off asking a specific question related to your situation.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Not dodging your question but when abroad, I always have the Citi Strata Premier, BILT and Sapphire Reserve on hand. Unfortunately, I often leave my venture X behind but it's in my digital wallet. When in the US, I often use 3 Citi Custom Cash cards, BILT, Amex Gold and the Amex Blue Business Plus. That's generally speaking.

[@Milkinporsche]

When it comes to amex cards, always apply from low to high.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Correct. Low to high within a family of cards.

[@DaveVelasquez-t3s]

I attempted to get Hilton gold status for the annual spend of $20k on the Hilton credit card. They indicated I don’t qualify for it because of my card that I hold. They also asked for the link that I received the info from. Do you have any link or assistance to confirm the annual spend requirement to get upgraded to gold status? Thanks for the great content.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

It's a known perk of the Hilton card that $20K in eligible annual purchases allows you to level-up to Hilton Gold status. The key here is "eligible". www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card-application/apply/prospect/terms/hilton-honors-credit-card/25330-10-0#offer-terms Hilton Honors Upgrade to Gold Status You may receive an upgrade to Hilton Honors Gold status if the total eligible purchases on your Card Account during a calendar year reach $20,000 or more. A calendar year is from January 1 to December 31 regardless of when you open your Card Account. Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents.

[@DavidRodriguez-ou9fy]

Really enjoyed this one. I have the Surpass card. Should I get the upgrade offer or apply outright for the Aspire? Does upgrade give you the bonus points as well?

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

In general, I'd recommend applying outright to get the current 175K offer (of course you'd use my referral link in the desc) because you don't know what the upgrade offer will be. However, if you don't want a hard pull on your credit report it would be desirable to wait for an upgrade offer. Let's say you have other cards in mind or trying to get under chase 5/24, waiting for an upgrade is a smart more but always expect the upgrade offer to be less than the new card acquisition offer. The fact that you're asking about upgrades signals to me that you're not interested in keeping both the Surpass and the Aspire. I have just the Aspire because I don't plan on putting $15K on the Surpass to get the FNA Cert. Some Hilton loyalists have both Surpass and the Aspire but spend on the Surpass so that they get 2 FNA certs each year. That's not me unfortunately. I'd prefer to get 2 Aspires if I ever decide to go all in with Hilton. When I used to travel often domestically for work, holding the Surpass and Aspire would have been desirable but that ship has sailed where my travel now is all international. Thanks for watching the video and supporting the channel!!

[@CardHunter-u2t]

Great video and new subscriber here. I got the Hilton Honors card almost 2 months ago because of the SUB. I just couldn't let that free night get away and to top it with 70K points, I was sold. How long should i wait to upgrade to the next level? Thanks again for the awesome video! Bravo!

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Thanks for the sub, much appreciated 🙏🙏. I personally would apply outright for the Surpass and get that card's full SUB when you're ready. There are techniques to upgrading in conjunction to applying and carrying 2 of the same cards for 1 year but not going to get into that over chat. I might make a vid on it. If you're ready to slay a new SUB, the Surpass is waiting!

[@Tyrantt__]

7:09 I could be mistaken, but I think it’s 10 non consecutive years. Do you have any content on negotiating long term stays at villas and how that whole process works? I’ve never even considered practically renting out a place like that for months at a time

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Thanks for the correction. I updated my pinned comment and tagged you regarding the 10yr Diamond status requirement. I wouldn't put such private negotiations on the Tube but here is some guidance I'm happy to share. Hopefully you're a subscriber because this is pure gold 🤣 My go-to approach is to look on AirBnb for awesome properties. I pretty much ignore the daily rates and lowkey request the phone number of the owners who are always happy to play ball because a long-term contract with no turnover maintenance is desirable. You have to get pass property managers, so it is not foolproof because the property managers don't want to be cut out, but I'd say many if not most AirBnbs are managed by actual owners (that's anecdotal). Once you get an audience with a property owner then just sell yourself and the value of full-time occupancy for your desired period. Owners don't have to pay AirBnb when you go direct so that should factor into the monthly rate you wish to offer. Be sure to find out the low season for your desired area because that then becomes a no-brainer for owners. The occupancy rates for AirBnb during low seasons are brutal. Now be sure to recruit 1 other subscriber for this channel and my travel channel @RichardDebs 🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@Tyrantt__]

@@RSquared-travel-rewards Hitting up the owner directly, what Novel idea lol. Thanks for the detailed response! Definitely earned a sub. I’ll be sure to share!

[@frantz904]

I had a bad experience with Hilton Garden in Dominican Republic, horrible i want to explore other options!

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Do you normally have bad experiences at Hiltons? Additionally, that was a Garden Inn so you shouldn't expect anything special. You should still receive good service but definitely not anything special. However, I'm a fan of having many options. I love Hilton but I shot this video from a Park Hyatt. Explore more and keep traveling. Thanks for watching the video🙏🙏

[@412foto]

sucks they nerfed the Hilton Business card with eliminating the $15k free night perk on it

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Well you still have the Surpass to execute that same approach if need be. I get it though but I suspect that the perk wasn't being used as much. Frankly, I'm good with the 5X catch-all.

[@412foto]

@@RSquared-travel-rewards just was nice to have the bonus of a business card where you could hide utilization and pursue the $15k or get 2 free night certs

[@Ryan-iq2zd]

I already own the Hyatt credit card and the Marriott Bonvoy, so maybe getting another card is too much. However, due to their elevated offers right now, I was debating on getting the Hilton Surpass or the IHG Premier card. Any thoughts and feedback on which one is better or if I should get another card would be appreciated.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

If you value hotel status and you believe that you will stay outside of Hyatt and Marriott then it is clearly worth it if it fits into your overall card strategy. I have no experience at all with IHG so I can't offer you any IHG perspective beyond what I've read and I do not give guidance without firsthand experience. Of course I have lots of experience with Hilton and Marriott hence the video. I hear over and over that IHG offers great value in Asia etc but that's 100% hearsay on my end. I recommend that you watch others who have demonstrable evidence with IHG and not just someone who makes a video by reading the IHG website. Personally, I will finally get a Hyatt card later this year just to get better multipliers and basic status when I stay at Hyatts. In summary, if you believe that you want to branch out beyond Hyatt and Marriott then the Hilton Surpass & Aspire are great options. I can't speak to IHG because I don't see myself getting an IHG card anytime soon.

[@Ryan-iq2zd]

@@RSquared-travel-rewards Thank you for the thorough response. I really appreciate it. Stay blessed...

[@kennygallego302]

Hi, wanted to know if you were sure about the $100 aspire credit at Conrad and WA when using points? We booked a 2 night stay at WA Los Cabos and they said we dont get the credit because it wasnt paid for in cash

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Sounds very strange to me. The credit is for incidentals so it shouldn't matter what method of payment is used to book the room. However, if you use hiltonhonorsaspiredcard.com or call their number directly, you will know in advance if your booking qualifies for the $100 property credit. This is a property credit and not a statement credit so naturally you're at the discretion of the check-out personnel but if you're armed with the website link to show them the rules the property ought to honor it. This is in the same boat as suite upgrades. They are supposed to upgrade you if there is availability, but we know that sometimes they just don't want to for their own reasons which they don't have to articulate other than to said that there is no availability. Lastly, if you're paying 100% with points and then you're seeking to take advantage of the $100 property credit for incidentals, don't be surprised that some properties will want you to have some skin in the game, so be ready to bring your receipts but it's best to validate when booking and when you check-in to avoid any disappoint at check-out.

[@sys1351]

On the fence about keeping the Aspire. The $400 resort credits are not easy to use and clear credit not that important to me as I have tsa pre. I love the free night certificate and diamond status but do i use it enough to pay $550 ?? Not sure

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

It does take some planning if you're not jetting off to a resort twice a year. In my case, I intentionally straddle periods if I'm only going to stay at a Hilton resort once in a given year. I intentionally booked my last resort stay in Barbados from late December 23 to early Jan 24 which allowed me to knock out $200 in Dec and $200 in Jan. It works nicely for a family summer vacation which may straddle end of Jun into early July. Just an approach but I get your point because without proper planning, a person might lose $200. Additionally, I do try to familiarize myself with which properties are designated as resorts. The Kwetu Nairobi mentioned in this video is designated as a resort which was a pleasant surprise so I would have knocked out my 2nd half $200 benefit by the time I head back to the Kenyan coast next week.

[@sys1351]

Like the straddle idea, excellent video glad I found your channel!!

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

@@sys1351 I'm glad you found me as well because it's a crowded field for sure. I however endeavor to share my actual experience vs just reading from a website.

[@sys1351]

I'm going to catch up on the ones I missed, how long have you been doing videos?

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

@@sys1351 I started the credit card channel in Q2 last year but stepped up production quality in Q4. It's actually 😊.

[@trafalgarlaw8004]

why shouldnt i spend 20K in a calendar year to upgrae to the gold status? what speaks against it?

[@DConnellyII]

8:20 It's because you can get gold status by getting the Hilton Surpass card which only has an annual fee of $150. There would be no reason to spend $19,850 extra to achieve the status and have fewer benefits on your card as well.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Thanks for covering DC 🙏🙏

[@trafalgarlaw8004]

@@DConnellyII okay i understand but if i have to spend 20K anyway, then the upgrade would be still the better option right? cause it would be annual fee free and i got the gold status

[@DConnellyII]

@trafalgarlaw8004 I would say, without crunching numbers, that you'd be best paying the $150 and not taking the chance to miss out on the benefits because you didn't reach a threshold. Considering that you would use most of the 20K on the multiplying categories, you'd receive a better return on spending and a better sign-on bonus. Also, if you reach 15K within a calendar year, you get a free night certificate that you wouldn't get with the no fee card. But come on man, if you were going to spend 20K with the card, $150 probably wouldn't destroy you 😅😂

[@trafalgarlaw8004]

@@DConnellyII thx for teaching me,.true that, 150$ wouldnt destroy me if i'm able to spend 20K 🤠

[@hustlehard4L]

It's kinda crazy that the categories changes between the two cards

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

2 cards?

[@hustlehard4L]

@@RSquared-travel-rewards play some the video you made it seem that the Hilton aspire in the Hilton surpass have different multiplier categories

[@jmbwashi]

I just got the Aspire with a 175,000 point welcome offer. 🙌🏼 I also hold the IHG premier card and Platinum status with them. I have very much enjoyed the upgrades from holding that status. In the continental US it's been 100% upgrades for me. Quite fun. I would say that's my second favorite brand right now.

[@RSquared-travel-rewards]

Welcome to team Hilton Diamond. All we ask is that when you're staying with us, don't shoot a video promoting another brand🤣🤣 When I hit up the far East, I will explore IHG.