[ARCHIVE to 2018] American Express Announces Two New Hilton Credit Cards
Jul 4, 2018, 1:28 pm
#1366
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Alpharetta, GA, USA
Posts: 948
I am unsure if it works differently for upgrades to Aspire, but I opened a new (non-upgraded) Aspire on May 7 and have yet to receive my free night. I believe it comes about 30 days after the statement in which your annual fee posts (so that you cannot cancel and keep the free night). This may be different for upgraded accounts.
Jul 4, 2018, 1:40 pm
#1367
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 92
I just called about this, because I opened the card on May 2nd and have a 2 night stay coming up at the Conrad Koh Samui (one night already covered by the Surpass free night offer from last year) and would like the 95k points back. They first said it's upon renewal, at which point I corrected the rep and she corrected herself. Then she said it's 8-14 weeks, so I may have it in time (July 28 stay) or I may not. I already earned the 100k signup bonus.
Jul 5, 2018, 6:37 am
#1368
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Alpharetta, GA, USA
Posts: 948
Well, I would call Hilton and nag, because lo and behold, I received the email this morning stating I had earned my annual free night and "You will receive an email from Hilton Honors containing the reward number and booking instructions within the next 8-14 weeks." When I got the Surpass free night, it only took a couple of days between this email and the one with the reward code so hopefully I'll receive it before I leave the country in 10 days.
Jul 5, 2018, 6:48 am
#1369
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 82
So maybe it just me who didn't realize this but the way Amex handles points for their cards (At least the Ascend) is odd. The other day I was looking at my statement after staying at a Hilton. The room cost was $404.70, so I should have gotten 4856.4 points (12x). But instead the way Amex does the points is 3X points on everything and then an additional 9 bonus points to bring it up to 12x. So for Hilton Honors Brands I show 3642 bonus points which is $404 x 9. And then $1214.1 for regular points. (3X)
Why would they do this, why not just give the 12x on the base price?
Why would they do this, why not just give the 12x on the base price?
Jul 5, 2018, 11:57 am
#1370
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Alpharetta, GA, USA
Posts: 948
So maybe it just me who didn't realize this but the way Amex handles points for their cards (At least the Ascend) is odd. The other day I was looking at my statement after staying at a Hilton. The room cost was $404.70, so I should have gotten 4856.4 points (12x). But instead the way Amex does the points is 3X points on everything and then an additional 9 bonus points to bring it up to 12x. So for Hilton Honors Brands I show 3642 bonus points which is $404 x 9. And then $1214.1 for regular points. (3X)
Why would they do this, why not just give the 12x on the base price?
Why would they do this, why not just give the 12x on the base price?
Jul 5, 2018, 12:34 pm
#1371
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 92
So maybe it just me who didn't realize this but the way Amex handles points for their cards (At least the Ascend) is odd. The other day I was looking at my statement after staying at a Hilton. The room cost was $404.70, so I should have gotten 4856.4 points (12x). But instead the way Amex does the points is 3X points on everything and then an additional 9 bonus points to bring it up to 12x. So for Hilton Honors Brands I show 3642 bonus points which is $404 x 9. And then $1214.1 for regular points. (3X)
Why would they do this, why not just give the 12x on the base price?
Why would they do this, why not just give the 12x on the base price?
As the consumer, I find the breakdown to be more informative than a lump total if I need to calculate whether the bonuses were correct.
Jul 5, 2018, 12:53 pm
#1372
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 82
Maybe because they have different flavors of the Hilton card with different bonus categories (e.g.: 14x for Aspire vs. 12x for Ascend and Business on Hilton stays). It may just be programmatically easier to calculate the bonuses on the base points. It may also make changing the bonus categories or multipliers a little simpler. Just a guess, though.
As the consumer, I find the breakdown to be more informative than a lump total if I need to calculate whether the bonuses were correct.
As the consumer, I find the breakdown to be more informative than a lump total if I need to calculate whether the bonuses were correct.
Jul 5, 2018, 1:01 pm
#1373
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,222
Even then you just see the total points on the front of the statement - when we get ours, I go through the whole list of charges and mark down 3, 3, 6, 3, 6, 12, 6 , etc. then my ex-accountant husband does the calculating. At least with the Marriott credit card, right on your on-line statement, you can click on each charge and it will show you whether it is 1, 2, or 5x the amount charged, depending on category.
Jul 5, 2018, 1:04 pm
#1374
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,872
Well, I would call Hilton and nag, because lo and behold, I received the email this morning stating I had earned my annual free night and "You will receive an email from Hilton Honors containing the reward number and booking instructions within the next 8-14 weeks." When I got the Surpass free night, it only took a couple of days between this email and the one with the reward code so hopefully I'll receive it before I leave the country in 10 days.
Jul 6, 2018, 10:27 am
#1375
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: PHL/EWR
Programs: AA, US, WN, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 1,528
Even then you just see the total points on the front of the statement - when we get ours, I go through the whole list of charges and mark down 3, 3, 6, 3, 6, 12, 6 , etc. then my ex-accountant husband does the calculating. At least with the Marriott credit card, right on your on-line statement, you can click on each charge and it will show you whether it is 1, 2, or 5x the amount charged, depending on category.
I'm comfortable enough with Amex to not check the math - if anything they tend to include purchases like convenience stores in gas stations and liquor stores in groceries that boost my bonus points.
Jul 7, 2018, 11:35 am
#1376
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,529
You can do this on the website -- go to "Statement and Activity" and click "Preview New Version." Be aware that it can take like at least a few days after the transactions posts before point activity information is available.
Jul 7, 2018, 11:45 am
#1377
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Richmond, VA
Programs: AA (Gold)
Posts: 302
Hit my $15k spend yesterday on my Ascend for the free weekend night. I’m wanting to do a product change on this card...how long does it take to receive the email from Hilton/Amex with the free night promo code? I don’t want to jeopardize getting the code by initiating the product change before the code is generated.
Jul 7, 2018, 12:08 pm
#1378
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,872
Hit my $15k spend yesterday on my Ascend for the free weekend night. I’m wanting to do a product change on this card...how long does it take to receive the email from Hilton/Amex with the free night promo code? I don’t want to jeopardize getting the code by initiating the product change before the code is generated.
Jul 7, 2018, 12:23 pm
#1379
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Richmond, VA
Programs: AA (Gold)
Posts: 302
Jul 7, 2018, 1:24 pm
#1380
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,222
I must be doing something wrong? I did as directed above, clicked on a charge from several days ago that should be 6x (a supermarket), and it just shows the regular dollar amount of the charge? I thought this new way would show something like $40 charge/240 points.