One more datapoint for this method to receive this credit: On 12/3/23 I made a 1 night (30 day cancellation, not advance payment or pre-payment) reservation for 3/15/23 at a DT by Hilton ski resort hotel which required immediate 1 night deposit of $387.15 which posted to my Aspire card the next day, AmEx Resort credit of $250 posted 12/12/23, reservation cancelled 12/14/23.

I understand that some may consider this risky, I don’t expect AmEx clawback anymore than I’ve previously expected clawback, I do expect the Hilton refund of the deposit to post in the next few days. I hope this method will continue to work for the new $200 semi-annual credit (particularly because I now use miles and/or points for expensive and/or resort stays and don’t anticipate a resort paid stay anytime soon and certainly don’t want to leave $400 (annually) on the table.

(I serendipitously stumbled on this method after I got my Aspire card 5-6 years ago. Shortly after approval in the fall, and again a year later in the fall shortly after my anniversary date, I made 5-7 night reservations at a DT by Hilton ski resort hotel for January or February. Both times either 1 night deposit or the full charges were charged to my credit card a day later, both times the $250 AmEx resort credit posted 3-4 days later, both times I completed (and fully enjoyed) the stays. In the fall of 2020 I made a similar reservation and received the AmEx credit but decided shortly thereafter that I wasn’t going to be traveling in January or February 2021 (COVID). Upon cancelling the reservation a month or 2 later I received the Hilton credit as expected and the AmEx credit was not clawed back. Voilà, a way to hack the AmEx Aspire Hilton Resort credit, perfect timing as the previous paid ski resort stay was my last paid Hilton ski resort stay .)