Aspire Card Two Annual Fees(?)
 

In December 2018, I upgraded from the Ascend card to the Aspire, and I knew it was $450 AF. I assumed the AF would hit in the first or second cycle. On my March statement, I saw a Membership Fee of $75. I paid it, thinking I would now owe $375. So in April statement, there is a second Membership Fee of $450.
I called in to question this, and long story short, here is what they explained:
The Aspire benefits began in December when I upgraded from the old-Ascend. $450 per year divided by 12 months is $37.50 per month. So they charged me for January and February. $37.50 x 2 months = $75. Then in March, my full, non-prorated AF began. That is $450.
So I asked, why not charge me the full $450 in December 2018. Why make me pay for the rest of my old-ascend term, and then re-bill me $450? The way they do it, I'm paying two separate membership fees, two separate months in a row. She kept telling me that it's because of the cycle of my old-ascend card. I believe that, but still I asked for a credit back on that $75. As I'm now paying $525 for membership that began last December. No dice.

Is this a possible HUCA situation where someone might see my side and give me a courtesy credit of $75? If not, without a good secure message system at Amex, where's a good address to write to someone?

Would you be ok for your annual cycle to end in December if you get the $75 credit back as oppose March. Since they are prorating annual fees; if you plan to keep the card for the foreseeable future, I don't see how it'll make any difference. Or is there some sort of annual cycle based benefits?

Good question. Yes'd I'd prefer the cycle be December to December, and I would pay the $375 from now until in December. But you're right about it not making a difference. Just seems trouble some to pay a one-time annual fee (or a portion of it) TWO months in a row.

Good point, no I didn't. Although I can't honestly remember if the Ascend had an AF or not. I think so. One of the things I mentioned on the phone was that I'd be better off closing the Ascend card in December and then immediately opening the Aspire. She said yes. LOL

Sorry to reboot an old thread, but I’m planning to upgrade my no-fee Hilton Card to the Aspire and am looking for new data points. Since I’m doing this toward the end of my cardmember year, I understand that Amex will bill me a prorated fee through my card anniversary.

Will I still get full access to the Aspire benefits? For example, the $250 airline credit and resort credits for the current card member year and calendar year? If so, this seems like an incredible bargain to pay just part of an annual fee but get the full airline/resort reimbursements.

I don't have time right now to pull my old Hilton Surpass statements, but I decided to upgrade my Surpass to a 2nd Aspire in 2020.

Here's what happened:

I was refunded a prorated amount of the Surpass annual fee.
Charged a prorated amount of the Aspire annual fee.
You keep the same card anniversary date, which is important for determining when your resort credit resets.
I immediately had access to the resort credit.
The airline benefit has to be manually selected online, but it is based on calendar year, so you should have 4+ months to use 2021 credit.
I used my airline credit on Delta within a week after upgrading the card and was reimbursed several days later. Good Luck.

This is fantastic! So you basically got all of the major benefits of having the card and saved a lot on this year’s annual fee, right? Thanks for the great data.

Did they also give you the free weekend night certificate when upgrading? Or perhaps that only takes place on your anniversary date.

I received my anniversary night 8-12 weeks after upgrading the card.