dtremit

This hints at what ultimately keeps me from putting significant non-Hilton spend on the Aspire — as someone who doesn't have a lot of OPM spend these days, it's hard for me to justify locking rewards into Hilton points (or any other "prime" airline or hotel points) when I can almost always easily get the same value in a much less restrictive currency from Chase or even Amex itself. I've never had to hurry to spend Chase points because of a coming category change.

notquiteaff

You were wondering about gift cards, travel bank and the like for AS.

Yeah, today I probably wouldn’t find a $50 main cabin (non-saver) ticket. $74 LAS-SFO is available right now. But during recent sales I have seen fares around $50 or even below. Without rehashing everything from the Amex AS thread, it really isn’t difficult to use the credit today, and it would only be easier if the nominal airfare exclusion is eliminated. We’d pay for that with the reduction of $50. Of course, there will always be Flyertalkers who aren’t flying much and thus don’t book tickets very often. But I don’t think they would be a representative for this community.

happy10345

For those of us that don't have this card...do we think it might be a good time to get it? I'd get the lower annual fee, and assume the current benefits now...and then when the change is made, I assume the new stuff as well. I already am diamond, with stays, though probably will lose that in February with the higher requirement, so was considering the card in the future.

Super Mario

Valid points. Neither scenario is works for everyone. It's often hard for me to wrap my head around people with premium travel cards not wanting to go to Vegas, Southern California/Florida, Caribbean, or other beach once a year. If a $250 credit won't influence your stay, how will $100 do it?

Had it been the same $250 credit, just limited to premium brands, I'd agree more. This has to be done 2x a year, which odds make it 2x as hard for the average person. If it can be used on the room rate life before, then it's not as bad. If it's similar or an expansion to the old $100 property credit" then it becomes fairly worthless.

Obviously, from a business standpoint, it is to push you into more expensive hotels, spending more at the resorts, engaging the card more, all while making it harder to pay you back. Save those discussions on how this is extra/equal value for the Platinum threads.

COLINDAD

Understood. The only AS fares I am familiar are the Transcontinental ones from EWR and they are in excess of $200 at a minimum, I believe.

In any event, at $75 a pop, I would think that maneuver would be doable for the most part for decent departures to US destinations -- not sure if AS flys trans-Pacific or not, or whether they have code-shares to Europe via AA.

With United Travel Bank it is a cinch so the potential quarterly change is a non-event, and the $50 reduction in spend on both the hotel and airfare credits is acceptable to me as it makes a ridiculous card not to have, to one that is still very good and justifies its cost -- for me, anyway.

But, as you noted, we will have to await just what those changes are and when they will occur -- given that it took the AMEX Brilliant some time to change, I don't think any radical changes will be announced until late this year -- so as to give notice and emplace the proposed air and hotel changes to start with 1/1/2024.

Certainly yes, so long as you can use/bank the yearly $250 annual airline credit asap as well as use the $250 resort hotel credit sooner rather than later this year. I think that the Sign up Bonus has been or still is at a historic high and thus a great way to reap a great deal of Hilton points at a small cost.

In fact, since my spouse and I were offered upgrade bonuses to the Aspire card, that was part of the reason we each converted lesser Hilton AMEX cards to the tune of us both having 2 Aspire cards each.

As noted above, that has been pared back to a total of 3 and I was looking to dump my extra Aspire card -- I will have to see if I should hold onto it now and wait 2 months past my anniversary date or not to await the free night.

zombietooth

I agree. I never use Lyft (or Uber). Clear doesn't actually improve speed through the TSA checkpoint enough for me to care about having it. Now, if they would shift the credits over to car rentals or something useful, I would be very happy. I only use my Aspire card for Hilton purchases (and enough airline purchases to use up the credit) because my spend there is 20-25K per year, so the 14x points plus the other Hilton credits and perks work out to nearly break-even on the cost of the card. The return on the Aspire for other purchases isn't good enough for me to use it. I use a 2.625% cashback card for the majority of my purchases and a 5.25% cashback card for my travel purchases.

nk15

That's what I thought, too, until I sat for 25 minutes in a 15-person TSA-pre line at MIA last week, with dozens of Clear passengers cutting in to the front of the line.

dtremit

I think you're focusing too much on money, and not enough on time. For many of us, the latter is the scarcest resource. Could we go to any of those places in a given year? Sure, and we probably do most of the time. But the closest destination on your list is a 3.5 hour flight away (and frankly, more like 4+ for the ones we're really interested in). That's tenuous for a long weekend; we could make it work but probably don't want to. For a longer trip, we're going to pick the destination first, and then evaluate the hotels; if there's a nice Hilton resort, great, but if it doesn't fit what we already want to do we're not going to book it.

On the flip side, it would be incredibly easy for us to spend two $100 credits at the brands in the first post. Adding locations in NYC or DC already makes it an afterthought — but adding the boutique-y brands (Curio/Canopy/Motto/Tapestry) would open up a huge number of options for us. Making sure we use the $250 resort credit each year requires intentional planning; a $100 credit we can use to pop up to Portland or Vermont or to see a Broadway show turns it into a fun game.

Obviously the same calculation doesn't work for everyone – which is very much my point. But I think there's a large segment of the potential audience for this card that isn't well served by the current resort credit.

I think you are probably in a very small minority of travelers if you never even need to take a taxi or car service to or from an airport in a given year. $10 a month isn't much to crow about, but it's very easy to use when traveling.

Eujeanie

He said he never uses Lyft or Uber, he didn't say he never takes a taxi or a car service.

They are not the same thing, and not mutually exclusive. We, too, avoid them.

COLINDAD

Well then, you are missing out on some HHonors points as Lyft has partnered with the Hilton chain.

Eujeanie

And Uber has partnered with whomever, too. And Doordash and Grubhub and who knows who. That's fine.

I'm old, lol. My life is very simple. I like it that way.

happy10345

At least with the AMEX Uber deal on the PRG it can be UberEats...which sucks...but still I get use out of. Lyft is far less valuable without a food option and no foreign countries...though I don't think the AMEX money for PRG can be spent on non-dollar denominated rides.

ChurnieEls

This has been in the mail for a while, I'm kind of astounded it has stayed at $450 this long given how easy it is to turn the card in what's effectively a money maker.

diesteldorf

I currently have 2 Aspires and plan to upgrade my no-fee Hilton card to a 3rd Aspire at the end of May.

For me, it's all going to come down to the credits and how they stack. I know I can stay at Hilton's 2-3 of 4 quarters organically and normally stay at the Waldorf/Conrad brand at least once per year to burn my free night certificates/Amex FHR credit on a nice vacation or two. I appreciate the CLEAR service and have benefited several times, but having potentially 3 CLEAR credits through the Aspire, along with 1 from my Amex Platinum, would be completely redundant.

However, a $50.00 Hilton credit becomes $150.00. There are quite a few decent hotels in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee that are around $200.00, or less, including several airport hotels that would be useful before or after a flight.

The potential $100.00 lifestyle credit, every 6 months, becomes $300.00. A couple years ago, I was staying at the Waldorf Astoria Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans. I booked through FHR, had $60.00 breakfast credit, $100.00 property credit. $50.00 Diamond credit, along with a $50 off $250.00 Amex offer. I asked the front desk if they also sold Hilton gift cards. Not only did they, but they wrapped them in a very nice gift box.

Obviously, some of my credits were restricted to F&B only purchases, but the $50 off of $250.00 was for any purchase.

I've never stayed at a Canopy, but the one in Minneapolis and Chicago are typically $150.00 to $250.00. Could I use my $150 quarterly Hilton credit and $300.00 lifestyle credit for a one night stay at the Canopy for F&B, gift cards, additional purchases...I guess I'll have to wait to find out.

Part of me cringes at the potential awkwardness at checkout, splitting a hotel stay between 3 credit cards. However, I did it last year at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort, and, though it took a few minutes longer, it was a non-issue. If one is upfront, polite, and respectful with the request, most businesses are happy to collect your money any way they can get it.

I walk and use public transportation, most of the time, but I could definitely utilize the Lyft credits during inclement weather or if I wanted to save time.

As long as they don't cap the free night award, it'll still have significant value. Over the years, I've stayed in Paris, Tokyo, Osaka, and Chicago at hotels that were $400+ per night.
Realistically, I would've never paid the cash rates, but it is extremely convenient to be able to book many of the best properties in prime locations, as opposed to paying for cheaper hotels/AirB&Bs in less convenient locations. Compared to those from other chains, those Hilton certificates are infinitely more valuable. I would gladly pay double the annual fee on my IHG cards if they were also uncapped.

Absolutely....you may be able to utilize the $250.00 resort/airline credit AND get an additional $50 quarterly Hilton/airline credit after the changes go through.

I hope you are right. I am hoping they avoid any changes until at least June, so I can upgrade my no-fee Hilton to a 3rd Aspire.

COLINDAD

Nope, with the Chase Sapphire Reserve you get heightened benefits with Lyft and we also earn HHonors points. An extra $10/month by using the Aspire card will definitely be used by us.

Can't see how they will be moving that quickly given the Brilliant and that they are just now soliciting opinions on potential changes. I think it will be the end of this year or perhaps some time next year, which should encourage some to move quickly on the $250 airline credit if it still exists as of 1/1/24.

I don't think that the Roosevelt still would be issuing gift cards as I thought Hilton did away with them, but a quick call to them would probably get one an accurate answer.

You definitely are maximizing the Aspire to its fullest and a 3rd -- given your travel patterns -- makes sense.

Inasmuch as my wife and I will at a minimum both need Clear, our each having 1 Aspire card would suit us just fine.

As we have the JPM Reserve, we still get Priority Pass Lounges & Restaurants (as well as all United Clubs).

Never found the AMEX Membership Rewards program all that useful vis a vis accumulating points/travel partners, that is why we are happily heavily invested in Chase's Ultimate Rewards program and their stable of partnerships -- Hyatt, United or pay oneself back.