[ARCHIVE to 2018] American Express Announces Two New Hilton Credit Cards
Dec 28, 2017, 9:59 am
#571
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 17
Hilton Resort
For "Hilton Resort," (Aspire) does that include Hilton Grand Vacation Club?
Dec 28, 2017, 11:03 am
#572
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: AA, B6, UA, HH, WoH
Posts: 455
$250 Hilton resort statement credit - Is this only for resort hotels - is there a list of which ones are eligible for this credit?
... www.hilton.com/resorts lists out all of our resort hotels. You need to use your Aspire card to pay for the resort stay at one of these hotels in order to earn the $250 statement credit.
Dec 28, 2017, 11:52 am
#573
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Yiron, Israel
Programs: Bates Motel Plat
Posts: 68,930
I had an unusual experience today. I have never used my Priority Pass membership as I usually fly in the front cabin and get free lounge access. Even in the Old Days, when I flew in Peasant Class, I found that most lounges charged almost the same with Priority Pass as they do without it. In fact, I have no idea of where my PP card is but with the Ascend card about to give me 10 free entries I decided that it would be a handy thing to have.
I wrote to Priority Pass asking for a replacement card and received this reply:
Thank you for your enquiry about Priority Pass membership.
Your membership was cancelled by American express on 22 December 2011.
If you’re still with American Express and are still eligible for a complimentary Priority Pass, you’ll need to contact American Express who’ll confirm to us directly that they’re happy to re-activate your Priority Pass account.
Okay, I called Amex, the rep confirmed that I am still eligible and could not explain why Amex cancelled it. She told me she would transfer me to the Priority Pass representative. I thought this mean someone who works for Amex but handles Priority Pass problems. Instead, she somehow transferred me to Priority Pass itself. The rep there told me that Amex would have to contact them, I told her that Amex transferred me to her, and she told me to call Amex back and ask to speak to a supervisor.
I did that, the Amex supervisor put me on hold while she checked my account, confirmed that I should have Priority Pass and said that she can either set up a conference call with herself, PP, and me or else I could wait for her to contact PP by email and will get back to me when she gets an answer from them. I opted for the conference call but the supervisor came back and told me that PP refuses to handle this by phone and she will have to write to them.
In short, if you have PP but haven't used it for a while, you should check to see if it is still valid and, if not, try to get this straightened out before the new cards come out.
I wrote to Priority Pass asking for a replacement card and received this reply:
Thank you for your enquiry about Priority Pass membership.
Your membership was cancelled by American express on 22 December 2011.
If you’re still with American Express and are still eligible for a complimentary Priority Pass, you’ll need to contact American Express who’ll confirm to us directly that they’re happy to re-activate your Priority Pass account.
Okay, I called Amex, the rep confirmed that I am still eligible and could not explain why Amex cancelled it. She told me she would transfer me to the Priority Pass representative. I thought this mean someone who works for Amex but handles Priority Pass problems. Instead, she somehow transferred me to Priority Pass itself. The rep there told me that Amex would have to contact them, I told her that Amex transferred me to her, and she told me to call Amex back and ask to speak to a supervisor.
I did that, the Amex supervisor put me on hold while she checked my account, confirmed that I should have Priority Pass and said that she can either set up a conference call with herself, PP, and me or else I could wait for her to contact PP by email and will get back to me when she gets an answer from them. I opted for the conference call but the supervisor came back and told me that PP refuses to handle this by phone and she will have to write to them.
In short, if you have PP but haven't used it for a while, you should check to see if it is still valid and, if not, try to get this straightened out before the new cards come out.
Dec 28, 2017, 1:42 pm
#574
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,221
I had an unusual experience today. I have never used my Priority Pass membership as I usually fly in the front cabin and get free lounge access. Even in the Old Days, when I flew in Peasant Class, I found that most lounges charged almost the same with Priority Pass as they do without it. In fact, I have no idea of where my PP card is but with the Ascend card about to give me 10 free entries I decided that it would be a handy thing to have.
I wrote to Priority Pass asking for a replacement card and received this reply:
Thank you for your enquiry about Priority Pass membership.
Your membership was cancelled by American express on 22 December 2011.
If you’re still with American Express and are still eligible for a complimentary Priority Pass, you’ll need to contact American Express who’ll confirm to us directly that they’re happy to re-activate your Priority Pass account.
Okay, I called Amex, the rep confirmed that I am still eligible and could not explain why Amex cancelled it. She told me she would transfer me to the Priority Pass representative. I thought this mean someone who works for Amex but handles Priority Pass problems. Instead, she somehow transferred me to Priority Pass itself. The rep there told me that Amex would have to contact them, I told her that Amex transferred me to her, and she told me to call Amex back and ask to speak to a supervisor.
I did that, the Amex supervisor put me on hold while she checked my account, confirmed that I should have Priority Pass and said that she can either set up a conference call with herself, PP, and me or else I could wait for her to contact PP by email and will get back to me when she gets an answer from them. I opted for the conference call but the supervisor came back and told me that PP refuses to handle this by phone and she will have to write to them.
In short, if you have PP but haven't used it for a while, you should check to see if it is still valid and, if not, try to get this straightened out before the new cards come out.
I wrote to Priority Pass asking for a replacement card and received this reply:
Thank you for your enquiry about Priority Pass membership.
Your membership was cancelled by American express on 22 December 2011.
If you’re still with American Express and are still eligible for a complimentary Priority Pass, you’ll need to contact American Express who’ll confirm to us directly that they’re happy to re-activate your Priority Pass account.
Okay, I called Amex, the rep confirmed that I am still eligible and could not explain why Amex cancelled it. She told me she would transfer me to the Priority Pass representative. I thought this mean someone who works for Amex but handles Priority Pass problems. Instead, she somehow transferred me to Priority Pass itself. The rep there told me that Amex would have to contact them, I told her that Amex transferred me to her, and she told me to call Amex back and ask to speak to a supervisor.
I did that, the Amex supervisor put me on hold while she checked my account, confirmed that I should have Priority Pass and said that she can either set up a conference call with herself, PP, and me or else I could wait for her to contact PP by email and will get back to me when she gets an answer from them. I opted for the conference call but the supervisor came back and told me that PP refuses to handle this by phone and she will have to write to them.
In short, if you have PP but haven't used it for a while, you should check to see if it is still valid and, if not, try to get this straightened out before the new cards come out.
Dec 28, 2017, 2:03 pm
#575
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Yiron, Israel
Programs: Bates Motel Plat
Posts: 68,930
Well, I've never used PP since I don't want to pay $21 (or whatever it is) so I'm sure I'm cancelled, too...but so what? Isn't this going to be a "new" benefit of the Ascend card, with the upcharge in the annual fee won't we all get the New "free" Priority passes when we get the new Ascend card after Jan. 18? Any reason someone like me has to contact Amex/Priority Pass now?
Dec 28, 2017, 2:10 pm
#576
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,221
Dec 28, 2017, 2:22 pm
#577
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,221
Well, that could not have been easier. Called the 800 # on the PP website...very nice CSA...even though we have never used it, it is still active, and he said there will be no problem with the transition to the new Amex Surpass. Not important, but guess where he was located? Cape Town, SA, a new one on me for a call center.
Dec 29, 2017, 4:23 pm
#578
Join Date: Oct 2012
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, AAdvantage, Southwest, HHonors, National
Posts: 528
Question for anybody that has an Citi HHONORS Reserve anniversary date this month. Did you receive your certificate on the day of? I called Citi earlier today to ask about the cert, since my anniversary date was a couple days ago. The CSR did not have any idea when it was coming and told me to call Hilton. When I called Diamond Desk, the CSR did not know either. In addition, she stated some info that is counter to what Lauren has provided here. The DD CSR said that if I don't receive my Citi reward certificate before Jan. 1, I probably wouldn't receive it. According to her after Jan. 1, they won't have access to any of Citi's information. Honestly I'm not sure how this affects the reward certificates.
Dec 31, 2017, 8:50 pm
#579
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 5
Hi all,
Wanted to share a quick update/correction re: weekend rewards, as I know you all had a lot of questions that you posted/PMed about.
Confirmed with our partners that you will in fact be receiving this year’s Citi weekend reward from any spend met this year on your Citi anniversary date (and not 6-8 weeks after spend is met, as previously announced). If your Citi anniversary date is after January 30, 2018 (the day your Citi Reserve account transfers to the Amex Ascend account), you need to keep your Hilton Honors American Express Ascend card account open in order to receive the weekend night reward.
Going forward with your Amex card, the clock starts ticking on your new Ascend $15K spend threshold on January 30, 2018. Once you meet the spend on the Ascend card, you will then receive your weekend reward 6-8 weeks from that date. Technically, that means you could receive your Ascend weekend reward before your Citi reward (depending on when your Citi anniversary is).
Weekend night reward codes are sent via email from Hilton Honors so please make sure your preferred email address is on your Hilton Honors account.
Thought it might be helpful to map it out by date - see below:
January 18, 2018: New Amex Cards Available for Sign Up; Surpass cards become the Ascend Card and you can start using Priority Pass benefits
January 18 & On: Citi Cardmembers Begin to Receive New Ascend Cards; Citi Cardholders Can Continue to Spend on Their Reserve Card Through January 30, 2018
January 30, 2018: Citi Reserve Cards officially become the Amex Ascend Cards; Count Towards New Spend Threshold Begins
So sorry for any confusion, feel free to reach out if you have other questions.
Thanks,
Lauren
Wanted to share a quick update/correction re: weekend rewards, as I know you all had a lot of questions that you posted/PMed about.
Confirmed with our partners that you will in fact be receiving this year’s Citi weekend reward from any spend met this year on your Citi anniversary date (and not 6-8 weeks after spend is met, as previously announced). If your Citi anniversary date is after January 30, 2018 (the day your Citi Reserve account transfers to the Amex Ascend account), you need to keep your Hilton Honors American Express Ascend card account open in order to receive the weekend night reward.
Going forward with your Amex card, the clock starts ticking on your new Ascend $15K spend threshold on January 30, 2018. Once you meet the spend on the Ascend card, you will then receive your weekend reward 6-8 weeks from that date. Technically, that means you could receive your Ascend weekend reward before your Citi reward (depending on when your Citi anniversary is).
Weekend night reward codes are sent via email from Hilton Honors so please make sure your preferred email address is on your Hilton Honors account.
Thought it might be helpful to map it out by date - see below:
January 18, 2018: New Amex Cards Available for Sign Up; Surpass cards become the Ascend Card and you can start using Priority Pass benefits
January 18 & On: Citi Cardmembers Begin to Receive New Ascend Cards; Citi Cardholders Can Continue to Spend on Their Reserve Card Through January 30, 2018
January 30, 2018: Citi Reserve Cards officially become the Amex Ascend Cards; Count Towards New Spend Threshold Begins
So sorry for any confusion, feel free to reach out if you have other questions.
Thanks,
Lauren
Jan 1, 2018, 7:01 am
#580
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Milano (Italy)
Programs: Marriott TITANIUM, BWR Dia, IHG, Millemiglia Alitalia
Posts: 487
Unfortunately no branded credit card available for Italian (or many Eu) customers, that's very annoying
Jan 1, 2018, 7:58 am
#581
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: Hilton - Diamond, IHG - Spire Amb
Posts: 901
Arggh Amex! I thought I would escape and you drag me back in (tongue in cheek comment)
In preparation of being able to apply for the new cards, I was signing in to cancel some existing Blue Hilton Honors Amex cards. Unfortunately, 3 different ones (spread across 2 different accounts) had an offer to upgrade to Hilton Surpass for 75k points, 3k spend $75 fee. Sigh, why yes, I will take another 225k hilton points (75*3 ). So, those 2 people will apparently be auto converted from the hilton surpass to the new card and likely not be eligible for the sign up bonus. But, a bird in the hand now is the offer I'll take and figure out about the future cards later.
So for those of you who have the hilton honors amex card still in your login and don't mind, you could upgrade to the surpass (each of these were previous surpass that had been downgraded.)
In preparation of being able to apply for the new cards, I was signing in to cancel some existing Blue Hilton Honors Amex cards. Unfortunately, 3 different ones (spread across 2 different accounts) had an offer to upgrade to Hilton Surpass for 75k points, 3k spend $75 fee. Sigh, why yes, I will take another 225k hilton points (75*3 ). So, those 2 people will apparently be auto converted from the hilton surpass to the new card and likely not be eligible for the sign up bonus. But, a bird in the hand now is the offer I'll take and figure out about the future cards later.
So for those of you who have the hilton honors amex card still in your login and don't mind, you could upgrade to the surpass (each of these were previous surpass that had been downgraded.)
Jan 1, 2018, 9:57 am
#582
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: PHX
Programs: HHonors Lifetime Diamond, UA Million Miler Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,142
Arggh Amex! I thought I would escape and you drag me back in (tongue in cheek comment)
In preparation of being able to apply for the new cards, I was signing in to cancel some existing Blue Hilton Honors Amex cards. Unfortunately, 3 different ones (spread across 2 different accounts) had an offer to upgrade to Hilton Surpass for 75k points, 3k spend $75 fee. Sigh, why yes, I will take another 225k hilton points (75*3 ). So, those 2 people will apparently be auto converted from the hilton surpass to the new card and likely not be eligible for the sign up bonus. But, a bird in the hand now is the offer I'll take and figure out about the future cards later.
So for those of you who have the hilton honors amex card still in your login and don't mind, you could upgrade to the surpass (each of these were previous surpass that had been downgraded.)
In preparation of being able to apply for the new cards, I was signing in to cancel some existing Blue Hilton Honors Amex cards. Unfortunately, 3 different ones (spread across 2 different accounts) had an offer to upgrade to Hilton Surpass for 75k points, 3k spend $75 fee. Sigh, why yes, I will take another 225k hilton points (75*3 ). So, those 2 people will apparently be auto converted from the hilton surpass to the new card and likely not be eligible for the sign up bonus. But, a bird in the hand now is the offer I'll take and figure out about the future cards later.
So for those of you who have the hilton honors amex card still in your login and don't mind, you could upgrade to the surpass (each of these were previous surpass that had been downgraded.)
Jan 1, 2018, 11:01 am
#583
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,221
I think you math is off. 75K points for the $3k spend is 75,000 points plus a minimum of 9,000 points for the spend and a maximum of 36,000 (if the $3k spend is all Hilton spend). So 84,000 minimum points and 111,000 maximum provided you only the the minimum spend. Not saying it is a bad offer or that you shouldn't do it but I can not find any way this is 225,000 points
Jan 1, 2018, 11:09 am
#584
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: PHX
Programs: HHonors Lifetime Diamond, UA Million Miler Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,142
Jan 2, 2018, 12:56 pm
#585
FlyerTalk Evangelist & Ambassador: China
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: DL DM/MM, UA 1K, AA Exp, HH Dia, WOH Glob, IHG Plat, Marriott Gold, NA EE, Hertz PC
Posts: 17,423
Two quick questions:
1. For those with Surpass that wish to upgrade to Aspire (instead of Ascend) I presume we can just call Amex on Jan 18th? Or can we do this online? And if we upgrade, is it immediate or do we have to wait to the next billing cycle?
2. I presume the annual fee will be assessed on the anniversary date of the card? So, if I upgrade from Surpass and say my Surpass anniversary is Sep (ie I got charged my $95 annual fee in Sep), then the $450 is charged in Sep?
1. For those with Surpass that wish to upgrade to Aspire (instead of Ascend) I presume we can just call Amex on Jan 18th? Or can we do this online? And if we upgrade, is it immediate or do we have to wait to the next billing cycle?
2. I presume the annual fee will be assessed on the anniversary date of the card? So, if I upgrade from Surpass and say my Surpass anniversary is Sep (ie I got charged my $95 annual fee in Sep), then the $450 is charged in Sep?