Sorry, I just didn't see the point in coming onto the Hilton forum and saying that the Hilton program wasn't very valuable. I was assuming that there was some context here, that telling the OP "actually you should just stay with Hyatt" or such wasn't a valuable answer, that OP presumably had an interest in Hilton since he was here.

Anyhow, not worth arguing about.

What the OP asked was if it was "worth any effort" and the answer is that if we are talking about ways to get hhonors points (not opportunity costs or this card vs. airline cards, etc.), and if you want 70k hhonors points, which is better than the standard 60k, and if you can spend $3k, then yes it is a good way to get those points. Just know that with the current AMEX rules, it's effectively one and done for this card, so you won't be applying for it again.