sunil

Hello Everyone,

I'm thinking of applying for the AMEX
optima card, and so far the best I've
found is 7500 points. Is there any other
promotions offering more points ?

Cheers,

Sunil

pgupta011

Not that I know of. If you collect MyPoints from www.mypoints.com , you could also get 175 points by applying through that site (though in my case I never got the points, or an email confirmation, and I'm following up with them to get the points credited).

doc

Or you could take pgupta's former advice and get a fee free, Freeride VISA and charge everything to that including reservations made through HRN (hotel reservations network), which is now a Freeride partipant. HRN gives you a point for each dollar and you also get the benefit of points for every dollar charged to the Freeride VISA, along with the rebate benefit!

doc

In view of the discussions recently in Starwood threads on the Starwood Amex Optima and Amex MR points and the possible initiation of new fees, I thought I'd note that a brochure just came touting the no fee virtues of the HHilton Optima.

"Unlike many other CC that offer hotel rewards, you don't pay an annual fee for the Hilton CC" and so on. Would they I actually be sending these out if they wer going to start a new fee or raise charges in the next 90 days? I certainly hope not! Time will tell.

flyguy

doc, have had the free card for years now and no mention of fees. by the way, you can also get points from AT&T long distance calls credited to you HHonors account even if you do not use AX cards.

doc

Thanks flyguy. There's been some expressed suspicion however in other threads that Amex is preparing to institute come new charges/fees to spring on us all!

Karen2

Has anyone who participated in the Optima bonus point promo received any points yet? They offered varying numbers of points for increasing your spending over the months of Sept, Oct, Nov. I would think that the points should have made it to HHonors by now. We are owed 5000.

jaguar99

What were the details of this program? I'm a Diamond member who spends several thousand a month with the Optima and hadn't heard anything about this bonus.

Typical.

Karen2

Probably you spent too much! They were looking to boost the use of cards which had little activity. I was ticked off at them because they offered my husband a different deal than me. Our cards came at the same time and had about the same amount of use. He was offered a deal if he spent $500 or more per month for Sept, Oct, Nov, he would receive a bonus of 5000 points. I was offered if I spent $850/mo over the same months, I would receive 3000 points. Actually, no one got anything. We cancelled our accounts last month.

doc

Bonus HHonors points are back again at Hilton from 4/1/00 - 6/15/00 at supermarkets and gas stations with Hilton Optima!

Though not entirely clear from the postcard I received in the mail, it seems that Hilton is offering 3 HHonors pts for every $ spent.

This may be, however, customer specific or "targeted" as you know- so you may want to call and check your actual eligibility in the Bonus promo!

Karen2

I would be willing to bet that the real motive for this promo is to get supermarkets to accept AMEX. Safeway does not. If enough people fuss, AMEX is hoping that will influence the stores.

dgordon

I had two DL AMEX cards because of mileage promotions. I just switched one to the starwood program and like that there is no annual fee. I'm wondering if I should cancel my DL card outright, or if there is any benefit changing it to a HHilton card.
1. Is there a fee?
2. How much do you earn per $ spent?
3. Can HH points be converted to ff mileage - if so at what rate, and which airlines.
4. Any other reason why it would be worth having. (such as current double promo on HHilton, which is not applicable to Starwood.
Thanks
P.S. If there is a thread on this subject, please direct me. I couldn't find anything.


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DtG

yeelam

The Hilton Amex card has no annual fee, with 7500 Hilton points (5000 upfront, 2500 for first purchase), 2 points per each $ spent on the card.

With 10k points for 1500 miles for CO, UA, DL, NW, US, TW plus some other (2000 miles for AA); 20k points for 3500 miles (4000 for AA); 50k points for 10k miles (12k for AA).

The reason I have it is because I want to avoid $10 annual fee to keep my hilton account alive coz I've got some points from flying UA, plus the current double promotion.

dgordon

Please tell me more about the $10 fee to keep the Hilton points program. I was not aware of it. I joined because of the double dip promo when I flew UA, but I don't usually fly UA so I don't know how many Hilton points I would collect. It seems the ratio of conversion of the points at Hilton isn't as good as at starpoint, so I would think using the starpoint card would be a better choice. If I had a Hilton card but never used it, would this $10 fee be waived?

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DtG

yeelam

If you don't have any hotel activity or Amex Hilton card activity within a year, you'll be charged $10 to keep your account by Hilton, otherwise, they'll close your Hilton account.

You are required to use the card at least once every year (e.g. charge $3.30 when you buy 10 stamps in post office) to avoid being charged $10.

The conversion rate is poor, and it is not my intention to use the Hilton points for airline miles unless I have to top off an airline account to get an award. And I don't stay in Hilton much at all. The Hilton points I have are from either UA or Amex. That's why I have to get an Amex Hilton card.

You get 1 Hilton point for each actual flight mile from UA. This promotion ends May 31, 2000.

If I were you, I'll use the Starwood card as much as possible.

[This message has been edited by yeelam (edited 04-03-2000).]