The Citi HHonors Reserve card does not come with bonus points. It's a separate Citi HHonors card (with no annual fee, but no automatic Gold status either) that comes with bonus points (each time you apply for it).

And it's two free weekend nights the first year with the Reserve; you can't use them for weekdays.

However, the Reserve credit card comes with simplicity: If you pay your bill any time it's due (which includes the annual fee when billed), you're HH Gold as long as you hold the card. While with the Milepoint solution, you have to sign up for a new deal each year.


There is a separate annual-fee card from Amex, the Surpass, that gives Gold the first year only. It's not repeatable, at least not for consecutive years. (And it comes with bonus points but not free nights.) So IMHO it's not comparable to either the Citi Reserve Visa nor the Milepoint deal, unless someone is considering it for one-time use only and is confident they won't need HH Gold again the next year.