Mikey

With the fee going up to $95, the only reason I am keeping the card is the 10 free lounge visits. However, I keep reading about how the lounges I am likely to use the most have regularly decided to not allow Priority Pass members entry (saying the louges are too crowded - and maybe they are - I don't knw). But if this happens, they will be useless to me, and I wil likely cancel the card. I like earning the HHonors points, but...

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi all,

Weekend Certificate: If you have already reached the $10,000 on your Reserve Card, you will receive the email from Hilton Honors with your weekend night reward code 6-8 weeks from the time you passed the $10,000 threshold. You will not need to wait for your anniversary date. Your Hilton Honors American Express Ascend card account must be open in order to receive the weekend night reward.
Annual Fee Refunds: Any questions or requests about annual fee refunds must be made to Amex or Citi directly.

Thanks,
Lauren

farnorthtrader

Thank you for looking into this. I surpassed the 10,000 spend threshold on April 27, 2017 (so we are long past the 6-8 weeks) with an account anniversary date in March, so when will I receive my free night for this account? On another family account, they passed the spend threshold on October 19 (with an anniversary date in May), so within the 6-8 week time frame. When can we expect to receive that free night?

jphripjah

Thanks Lauren. This response raises more questions for me. You mention 6-8 weeks after passing the threshold, which is self-explanatory. But then you say "Ascend card account must be open," as a condition of getting the free night. I understand that conversion will happen in January.

The questions this raises are:

1. What about those of us who have already met the spend requirement? 6-8 weeks after meeting the spend will happen before conversion to AMEX. Will we have to wait until the January AMEX conversion and then pay the annual fee in order to get the free night, or will the free night be sent to us before conversion to AMEX?

2. What about Honors and Citi Hilton Reserve Visa cardmembers who have spent the $10,000 but who simply don't want an AMEX card all? Are we now required to pay $95 for an AMEX card we have never wanted in order to get the free weekend night that was promised to us? That wasn't the original deal when we all started spending towards $10,000 on these Visa cards.

Thanks for your continued attention and responsiveness on this.

Dovster

Lauren,

From what I can see on the Amex website, of all the new HHonors cards only the freebie one offers no forex charge. Is this right? It seems illogical to me to give this to somebody who is not paying for the card while not giving it to those paying up to $450 per year for them.

BrlDsguise

My assumption is that either Amex will wait until my Citi anniversary date to charge the annual fee or Citi will give me a prorated refund in January.

In any event Amex prorates refunds of annual fees when you cancel so you will get the final Citi free night without having to pay a full $95. I paid $95 in August and received a certificate, earned another certificate which I expect to receive shortly after the conversion, and plan on spending $15K to earn an Amex certificate.

fredc84

Both current (fee and no-fee) Amex Hilton cards have forex fees. Both cards are supposed to get rid of them in 2018 (April, I believe I read)

peter1962

Just received the no-fee Amex Hilton Card, it included a letter stating that Foreign Exchange Fees will be discontinued as of January 18, 2018.

fredc84

Even better.

MD/DC Flyer

Thank you Lauren,

I've meet this year spend back in July - so we are way pass the 6-8 weeks and I have not received the certificate.

Of course I am not really surprised because this is not how it is supposed to work.

Up to the conversion the certificate is posted 6-8 weeks after the annual fee is posted and paid.

This year 6-8 weeks will happen after the conversion to Amex - so I still have the same question - when will the certificate will be posted? On the payment of the annual fee? Just before the conversion? Amex will give it after the conversion? Never, because it falls between the two companies?

In short, my expectation would be to get the weekend certificate sometime in the January - February time frame, after which the card will be cancelled with prorated annual fee refunded.

Can you please confirm?

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi all,

Seeing some specific examples posted. If you met the spend threshold on your current Citi card and it's been over 6-8 weeks but you haven't received your weekend night reward code, please PM me with your Hilton Honors account number. We can do some research and find out more for you.

And just providing additional clarification, members are not going to be charged two $95 annual fees for the same card year.

Thanks,
Lauren

BearX220

Amex sent me the you-are-being-slammed-into-Ascend paper notice this week. I've read it pretty carefully and I am net unimpressed.

HHonors Reserve cardholders are being forced into a card product with less utility (accepted fewer places, especially overseas), higher costs for merchants (I never use Amex at independent / smaller stores because empathy), and weaker actual benefits (cert threshold jumps from $10k to $15k).

The so-called "improvements" are theoretical. The higher Honors points earning rates can (and I suspect will) be countered by raising redemption levels or more dilutions in point value. The Priority Pass allowance is meaningless to me if entry is capacity-dependent, as so many PP vets indicate:

I'm not going to beg for entry into a crowded lounge as a second-class citizen. I'd rather not have that interaction at all.

Nothing else, upon careful reflection, seems like an improvement.

I'm undecided about whether to accept the slam and make Ascend a sock-drawer card that comes out for Hilton stays only... or cancel altogether. Gold for $95 doesn't even seem like such a big deal any more, considering how Golds and Diamonds are typically treated at US properties. There are tons of Visa cards that represent a better value prop than this. Whatever happens, the Hilton card will no longer be my primary card, which means Hilton will no longer be top of mind for me.

I was a big cheerleader / evangelist for the Visa Reserve product for years. I can't muster any enthusiasm for this.

jamesteroh

Thanks!

I want to make sure I understand this correctly. My annual fee posted on 8/17 and I received my free night cert. Since 8/17 I've made the $10K in purchases so I should received another cert shortly instead of in August for this year with the new changes correct?

The documentation that came from Am Ex said if I spend $10K I get a free night cert so does that mean if I spend $15 K total I get two more nights (1 for spending the $10K and the other one for doing $15K spend)?

I was going to cancel the new card when it came and upgrade my free Hilton Am Ex since I have a longer credit history with it but if I can get two more nights by spending $15K it would pay me to put $15K on this card.

Andriyko

We are in the same situation. The annual fee posted in August and we received a free night certificate in October. Since August we've made more than US$10,000 in purchases, and I don't understand whether we should have received one more certificate or not. With Citi cards it has always been that the certificate is mailed after the anniversary date rather than the date when the spending requirement was reached. But Lauren now says that the certificate is not tied to the anniversary date. Would appreciate a clarification!

jacisme

Hilton Rep,

Thanks for your posts explaining the upcoming conversion. I'm hoping you can help me with this unique timing.

I applied and was approved for the Reserve card on 1/28/16. The live chat rep I chatted with just now says my renewal date is 2/1/18. Does this mean that I would have to spend $10k between 1/30/18 and 2/1/18 in order to qualify for the first certificate, and then another $5k sometime after 2/1/18 in order to get the second? As in, I'd have 3 days to spend $10k if I want that amount to also count towards the $15k (and hence earn two weekend night certificates with $15k spend?). Is this theory correct but the $10k spend has to be done between Jan 27 and Feb 1?

The phrase in my letter confusing me says "Up until your account's next renewal date on or after January 27, 2018, we will track your purchases (inclusive of purchases on your Card and the Citi Hilton Honors Card) to determine if it reaches the $10,000 for the annual period ending on your account renewal date. If your purchases reach this threshold during this period, you will earn this one-time additional Weekend Night Reward."

Thanks in advance.