EightBall

I was about to apply for the Aspire card, but went to check the list of resorts to make sure I could use the $250 resort credit. I did not see the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Anaheim Resort - Convention Center listed. I could have sworn when I checked a couple months ago this hotel was on the list and it was where I had planned to use the resort credit. A quick search of this thread shows mention of the DT Anaheim resort near Disney which I believe is referencing this same hotel. Can anyone confirm that this hotel was at one point on the resort list?

This isn't a huge issue for me since I have not yet applied for the Aspire card, and may not apply for it at all now. However, I am somewhat concerned that hotels may disappear off the resort list with no warning, thereby making it difficult to plan how to use the resort credit.

sdsearch

You need to go the Amex forum and look for the thread talking about $100/$200/$250 credit, where there is a separate thread for each supported airline.

And the reason for that is that what qualifies for that credit varies tremendously from one airline to another. For example, at only a few of the airlines (including AA and DL) can you get the credit by buying e-gift cards on the airline's website, but even then the rules are different (in terms of what size -- $50 for DL or $100 for AA -- max gift card works for each credit, how many gift cards you can apply to an air ticket purchase (3 at DL, 8 at AA), etc.

And no, I don't think BA is supported, this is the list of supported airlines (with links to their respective threads in the Amex forum):

AA Thread
AS Thread
B6 Thread
DL Thread
HA Thread
UA Thread
WN Thread

You'll notice that all of them are domestic USA airlines, which BA isn't. And this is a credit card issued in the USA, so it makes sense that I might only support airlines based in the USA. (How are you getting these Amex USA cards if you're based in London? You have to keep in mind that even if you have a way to get those cards, they're obviously designing their benefits for people based in the USA, not for people based overseas.)

Dovster

That is no problem if you have a US mailing address. Amex knows I have lived in Israel since 1979 and mails everything directly to me but because I have my sister's mailing address in TN listed in my records as my own, they are happy to keep me as a customer.

jphripjah

Has anyone met the $15,000 spend requirement for a free night on the Ascend card yet? Do you have to wait until after your anniversary date to get the free night e-certificate, or is it awarded within days/weeks of meeting $15,000 in spend?

farnorthtrader

sdsearch

Right, but they don't change the card to meet your needs in Israel. Amex design its cards with benefits based on your US mailing address, not where you happen to live if it's in a different country than the USA. You have to pay attention to that when applying for cards, don't assume that all the benefits are of use with local businesses necessarily. Amex is notorious for putting "USA only" on all sorts of category bonuses on various cards it issues. I don't see that problem with Chase, for example. So even though I can use an Amex card overseas (if it has 0% forex), I may not have much reason to, if my Chase cards give me category bonuses overseas but my Amex cards don't. (I don't remember offhand whether any of these Hilton cards have such "USA only" restrictions on category bonuses, but lots of Amex Membership Rewards cards do.)

UKOK

Got an email within days / weeks of completing the spend. I'm not sure the exact time frame because I always spend 40k plus to keep diamond status...but it was not after my anniversary date.

sethb

I do know that the Hilton cards give Hilton bonus rates for use at foreign Hiltons.

sdsearch

That of course. But do they give Hilton bonus points for use at foreign restaurants? It's for bonuses at something beyond what the card is mainly about that Amex tends to (all too often) restrict it to USA only.

Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant

A couple questions:

1. I got an email offering additional Ascend cards for a family member to use (5,000 point signup bonus per person/card). I'd been thinking about getting my daughter a card, she's old enough and wants to start getting her own credit rating. The promo material says it'll help her establish credit history. It reads:

"Add children 13 and older to your account to start teaching responsible spending habits and help children over 18 begin building their own credit. Plus, any other Additional Card Members age 18 or older you add to your account can also build and improve their credit."

How does that work to build her own credit, if she's 18 but the bill is in my name?


2.) I currently have two Ascend cards. One is hitting it's Annual Fee. This seemed a good jumping-over-point to upgrade to Aspire. But I want to make sure I hang onto it past the AF to make sure I get my $15k annual spend night. (Former Citi debacle, I'm not sure what I'm getting when and don't want to screw it up).
So, does the Aspire let you add extra people / cards to your account like the offer above? Or should I get her the card on the Ascend, wait a month or so and then upgrade to Aspire and hope she'll be carried over?

EDIT: Since the signup bonus of 100k seems to have disappeared on the Aspire, I guess I'll be waiting a while for a signup / upgrade bonus for Aspire anyway. But any insight into question #1 would be appreciated.


TDM

sdnativeboy

Amex requires her SSN, and the account will be reported to the credit bureaus as an authorized user (what Amex refers to as an Additional Cardholder).

B3nder

The Citi $10k night should be received only after the anniversary date. The amex $15k should come after you cross the spend requirement. You Will get two nights for $15k on the Citi converted card.

Amex website still shows 100k for aspire here.

Biggie Fries

Okay, so my anniversary date (from old Citi HHonors card) is in first week in January, i.e., several weeks before the card transition date. I figured this put me in the catbird seat for two free nights for $15,000 spend. I'm just now crossing $10,000 post-anniversary date on the card -- which, since the anniversary date is so close to 30 January means that I have also spent almost $10,000 in 2018 on the Ascend card itself. Knocking out the additional $5,000+ won't be hard.

If what I am reading here is correct, there is no incentive for me to finish the spend in a hurry, since although the free night from the $15,000 Ascend spend will arrive before the next anniversary date (assuming I don't wait until too late into December), the free night from ex-Citi HHonors will not come until the standard month or so after the early-2019 renewal date? Meaning I'm going to have to pay for the card one more year for that certificate? Not the end of the world, but I do want to time this thing right.

Update: When I hit $10,000 spend, I got, almost immediately, an e-mail saying that I had earned the (legacy) cert.

fredc84

Not necessarily. Both my and SO's arrived only a few days, not a month or two, after the anniversary. I used (booked rooms, haven't stayed yet) both certs even before the annual fee hit. It may have been safe to cancel but I didn't want to take the chance so I paid both annual fees. About a month later I product changed SO's card to the no fee card and got an $87 credit in the account.

farnorthtrader

No, this is not correct, you will get your $10,000 spend night shortly after you complete the spend, same as the $15,000 spend night. I also had an early January anniversary date. I spent $15,000 in one transaction in late April and received both certificates on the same day in early May.