Eujeanie

Thanks for the info. I got a little trigger happy and did apply for the Aspire today - and supposedly will get the 150,000 pt bonus. What astonished me was that almost immediately (and I mean within 5 minutes) I went and made a Hilton reservation, and my account showed me already Diamond.

I am a little confused about the airline credit...our 99% airline use is on Alaska, so will have to see what we can do with them. I'm actually ok with saving and using it for changes, we've been Gold with them for so long that I do make lots of changes, and since we're dropping down in status this year I might make use of it simply for change fees if necessary. But did I screw up in getting the card now, on Dec. 30? Isn't it a calendar year, so I'll have my $250 airline credit to use during all of 2019? If not oh well, live and learn. But not sure when I'll get the directions to pick an airline - when I get the actual card?

And we really don't sock-drawer any cards. We use them all (we don't have that many). I've got my little cheat sheets to remind me who gives better points in which category. I think we will cancel my husband's current Ascend once we get a current promo credited, and we'll each be left with our own Hilton Amex no-fees, plus my new Aspire. Cancelling his Ascend will give us $95 back so the Aspire AF will be virtually $350, not $450. And keeping the no-fees will give us a higher point earn on restaurants and supermarkets, which we use more than anything, and will be better than the 3x the Aspire gives. (looks like restaurants are better with aspire, so will use our no-fees for supermarkets and anything else that will fall into the 3x category).