Kacee

Just like Chase's current RC card, Plat will require $75k spend. And that's for what currently counts as Marriott Gold.

AMEX SPG Luxury Card

jiaogulan

Hilton Belgrade charges posted to my AMEX Ascend as the management company's name, nothing close to "Hilton" and the statement is not awarding 12x spend on these dollars. Fun, fun.

Waiting on for AMEX to resolve this, and hoping it is quick. Any tips?! Will report back once I have resolution.

So tired of this crap. Same stuff happens with random IHG's. Oh well, maybe I am a diva and need to expect occasional hiccups. Just frustrating when the ONLY reason you use a card is to get the award multiplier, then things do not even work correctly. Then YOU have to chase down the company for the points, and time is valuable.

I even spotted the incorrect posting on my account the second it posted, and alerted the hotel front desk, but of course they did not really care/understand. I realize they are not responsible for AMEX, but I told them, you should look into fixing this because I cannot be the only person you are going to have to help correct on this fielding calls from AMEX, and it will save everyone time if you guys just code the credit card terminals properly.

fredc84

Well, you may be a diva but I agree with you. In such a high tech world we live in, things like this should be more rare than they are, IMO.

jiaogulan

Agreed. I can barely believe we live in 2018 sometimes. I am somewhat aware of IHG's spend on IT and it is ... ginormious like all corporations these days ... and they even hire decently sharp people in their IT organization ... but their systems are complete garbage from a consumer perspective. SPG, Hilton, Marriott all lap them, bad.

Oh, and on the AMEX thing, after spotting the immediately incorrect "name" posting I not only told the Hilton front desk, but I told an AMEX chat rep who acknowledged it and said it would post properly. Of course it didn't! Haha.

I will not use my Hyatt (old) card anymore because the CSR is just as a good with 3x on hotels and they convert to Hyatt anyways. I will ONLY use my IHG Chase card (and begrudgingly) when I get a bonus specifically for using the card outside the multiplier on spend (like 5,000 points for one stay paid for using the card). And I will not consider not using my Hilton Ascend for Hilton stays in favor of the simplicity of the CSR, unless maybe I need Hilton points ... I'll have to think about this one.

Majuki

I had the same thing happen with the Hilton Tallinn last year. At the time I was on the Citi card, and they did a manual adjustment. I've found that affiliated boutique/independent hotels like Curio and some overseas properties are the most inconsistent with proper coding on credit cards. Another best practice is never check out in the lounge overseas, even when some properties give that as an option. I have had places code as "Bar and Lounge", which has made it difficult to get proper category bonuses.

jamesteroh

Thanks! I didn't know the card details were already out. I'm disappointed, was hoping it would be similar to the $450 Hilton Am Ex. Not only are they not giving you top tier there is a cap on the award night and the other benefits aren't quite as good with the exception of the Global entry credit which I get on my chase sapphire card anyway.

SESTAR

So, my first stmt just cycled a little less than 2 weeks ago. $450 fee posted. Only spent about $1k so far for the min spend. I received an email from AMEX saying I won't be getting my welcome bonus and referred me to the term and conditions. I received that email when my stmt cycled. I had AMEX Hilton card long time ago. I figured that might be the reason. I didn't think I can make the min spend anyway to qualify for the welcome bonus. Today, I logged in to my Hilton account and saw I received a welcome bonus of 100k. Not sure why really. Thought I wouldn't get it and I only spent $1k so far. It didn't make sense to me. Hopefully they don't catch it.

BrlDsguise

Having a prior Hilton card wouldn't disqualify you from the Aspire welcome bonus since it is a new card - I had a Surpass and my Citi Reserve became an Ascend and I signed up for an Aspire and received the 100K points.

That said I would still charge enough to meet the bonus requirement and remember the $450 fee does not count towards it.

myburg

I have the Amex Surpass card ($95 ann fee) which renews in Sept. I am pretty sure that I want to change it to the new Aspire now. Couple of questions/clarifications:
1 - It seems that I am eligible to get the 100K signup bonus since these are different cards, correct?
2 - Would you just apply for it and then cancel the Surpass? Or should I call and upgrade (if this is possible)?
I want to make sure that I get the 100k points...
Thanks!

TheMoops

Got my Aspire card about two weeks ago, and I bought 5 $50 American Airlines gift cards last week. They show the same "Travel - Airline" code that it shows from my similar purchases in January for my personal Platinum card, but it's not yet showing my airline credits. It's only been a week, but this airlines credit is what helped me decide to get this card. How long has it been taking everybody to get the credit after buying airline GCs? Is it worth a call to American Express yet, or should I give it some more time?

EDIT: Think I've figured it out. I'm 99.99% sure I saw that I had already selected an airline, but I just review the AmEx page and saw that I wasn't enrolled in the Airline Benefit. Re-selected my airline and will try again! I fly on American a lot, so the extra gift cards won't go to waste.

Portolan

While I understand that gift cards may have worked for some, why should it? The terms and conditions state: "Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not deemed to be incidental fees." Pretty clear that this shouldn't work. Since this is a new card, maybe they have found and are closing holes.

On a related note since I'm debating upgrading where the $250 airline credit fee would make or break my decision, how would I benefit from this on United where I am lifetime Gold. So, no baggage fees, no seat charges for E+...and, maybe, $25/year for on-board food. Also have unlimited Priority Pass with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Rarely stay at Hilton Resorts. So Diamond status and a free night annually are pretty much it for me.

AJCU

After having a recent change in location and job, I am beginning to entertain the idea of getting a more premium hotel card. Up until now, the hotel cards have been something I cared less about, and always gone for more airline miles. Does anyone have any data points for upgrading the basic, no AF Hilton card to the Aspire? I have an upgrade offer for the Ascend, but the perks of the Aspire sound really nice, particularly for the resorts and free weekend night every year. I think I have a decent relationship with AMEX, having only closed 1 business card with them since I got my first card with them 5 years ago.

Any info/advice would be great!

farnorthtrader

Go ahead and accept the upgrade offer, assuming it is offering 100,000 points and then apply for the aspire and get another 100,000.

flew-d-coop

How does this work work if starting with free personal version? I currently have a 75k upgrade offer (free -> Ascend) and there is a 100k offer for new Ascend applications?

farnorthtrader

the other poster wanted the aspire and did not have an upgrade offer for it. In your case, you would have to decide whether 25,000 points is worth the additional credit check and new account on your credit bureau if you just apply, rather than taking the upgrade.