Hilton Ascend by American Express

It has been a fun ride with earning my Hilton HHonors points the last year.  This is my favorite credit card! Although I use this as my secondary credit card.  This card helps me rack up Hilton Honors points by the thousands!!!  At around $100 annual fee, this card pays for itself quickly.  And is a good fit for anyone who wants to be rewarded with free nights stays.  You CAN use your points to make purchases on Amazon, but your are not maximizing your rewards if you go that way.

My journey with the Hilton Ascend card goes back over the last couple of years. It started off with Citibank’s Hilton Reserve card.

This card offered:

• 6 points per dollar spent at Hilton
• 3 points per dollar spent on car rental and airface
• 1 point per dollar spent on everything else.

However, in the summer of 2017, I found out that Hilton was ending their relationship with Citibank.  They had decided to work exclusively through American Express.  After a little research I found the brand spanking new American Express Hilton Surpass card.

I was happy to find out that the Surpass card offered even more:

• 10 points per dollar spent at Hilton
• 6 points per dollar spent on gas, grocery, and restaurants
• 3 points per dollar spent on everything else

After rolling with that for a few months, I started getting word that Reserve AND Surpass customers were going to be moved into the new (and improved!) American Express Hilton Ascend card.

• 12 points per dollar spent at Hilton
• 6 points per dollar spent on gas, grocery, and restaurants
• 3 points per dollar on everything else
• Hilton Gold status for holding the card (Diamond if you spend $40k in a year)
• Weekend Night Reward after spending $15k per year
• Priority Pass membership with 10 free visits per year
• and a whole bunch more

Update 4/6/2018:

Now my Hilton card is the American Express Hilton Aspire card. ( You can still get the Ascend.)