diver858

Question for Lauren: Now that AMEX will be offering a business card, will it be possible for to connect both a business and personal card to one Honors account?

RolfD

Totally agree with you 100%

keeton

I don't see what all of the hoopla is about, especially for the Aspire card. I feel it will have very limited appeal and it will be an even more limited group that will "get paid $50" to use it.

- If you are an elite in your airline, you are exempt from many of the fees so the incidental fee credit will be of limited use. If you travel for business, your company probably picked these up anyway.
- The Hilton resort credit only applies to a limited set of properties and even then, if you are a true HH elite you would be paying with points.
- The Waldorf credit is even more restrictive and I doubt if I would ever use it, certainly not every year.

One Diamond benefit that no one mentioned is the free upgrade to the premium Internet so if you stayed 20 nights, that would have about a $60 - $100 value, but again, if you are on business, your company would probably be paying.

Are the Priority Pass coupons free entry or do you still have to pay the $27 to get in? If so, that makes it pretty worthless unless you are a heavy drinker.

I don't see a high take rate for the Aspire card. Diamond by itself is not worth the cost and the other perqs are pretty limited.

Full disclosure: I have had the Surpass card for several years as I was an "amost-gold" player in the HH program and the gold status with the breakfast "My Way" benefit paid for the card. I got occasional lounge access at full service Hiltions and most of the domestic lounges are nothing to brag about (there are some exceptions). The equivalent Ascend card may still be worth it.

peter1962

Hi Lauren,
Thanks for the details. Quick question.
1. Can extra cards be issued on the Amex Hilton Honors card? Cost?
2. If i apply for the current Amex Hilton card today, I assume it will be replaced in January with the new card. if a better signup bonus is offerred on the new cards will I receive the newer bonus?
thanks for your help

Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant

Lauren,

Does the $450 Aspire Amex do anything towards entrance into the Amex airport lounges?

I'm at Seattle airport all the time and walk by the little Amex lounge there, been interested in checking it out.

48pager

First it was Hyatt sticking it to their Diamond members with WoH. I can only hope Hilton doesn't do the same to their LTD members.

cjd

Lauren,

Any new cards coming for your UK Hilton Honors members with these great benefits or are we and other worldwide Honors members not worthy of these offers and just to be ignored?

flyer4512

Should be no problem as you can link the Delta business and personal cards to one Delta account.

SPG works the same way, same with American ( Citi) and Marriott ( Chase)

bse118

'Huge devaluation?" Overreact much?

Meh. This is irrelevant to my experience as a diamond.

Never understood the hype about upgrades. It's just more space that I don't need.

the only diamond perk that matters is the bonus points.

flyer4512

Same question, can I book an award stay and use the credit to pay for anything I charge to my room ?

Bicoastal Local

According to the Amex forum, we should be able to use the airline credit to purchase multiple $50 Delta gift cards, which can be applied to airfare. If that doesn't work, I'll probably use it for Sky Club membership, which I currently purchase with points.

krazykanuck

While I'm not Lauren... If that card had Centurion Lounges access, I'm sure it would have been announced. Also Amex recently cut the access policy to Platinum and Centurion cards only, so I'd presume the Aspire provides no Centurion Lounge access.

thebackback

Hey Lauren,

Thanks for taking the time to read all our nuanced questions.

I have a few more specific to my situation that I couldn't exactly answer for myself from reading the Hilton FAQ.

1. I had the Surpass years ago and downgraded to an AMEX Hilton. Is it possible for me to get the Ascend sign up bonus, or does AMEX consider that as the same product under the once-in-a-lifetime rules?

2. My wife has the Citi Reserve, but has never had the Surpass card. If her Citi Reserve gets converted to an Ascend in January, then will she ever be able to get the sign up bonus from the Ascend?

3. How long after we reach the 10K Citi Reserve spend will we receive our free night certificates? Will it be at the end of our cardmember year, or a certain # of weeks after reaching the 10K threshold?

3a. If it is after our Feb 2018 cardmember anniversary, then do we need to keep our Reserve and let it be converted to an Ascend in order to meet the terms for receiving the free night cert, or could we downgrade/cancel?

3b. If we receive the cert just a few weeks after we meet the 10K threshold, then how long after we meet the threshold do we need to keep the Reserve open in order to receive the cert? If we downgrade/cancel the Reserve/Ascend before the cardmember anniversary, will we receive the cert?

Thanks so much!

farnorthtrader

Another question in regard to the free night. Do you have to stay within a year of receiving it or just book within a year of receiving it? For citi cert, you had to stay, just curious if it is the same for AMEX cert.

Happy

Your are comparing Vanilla to Chocolate.

This is a US-based Hilton card. Nothing to do with the cards you mentioned. Plain and simple.