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SPG Luxury AMEX vs. Hilton Aspire AMEX

SPG Luxury AMEX vs. Hilton Aspire AMEX

Old May 8, 2018, 8:37 am
  #16  
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Originally Posted by TravelinSperry
Another perk found on Aspire is that they offer premium roadside assistance. You get 4 tows free up to 10 miles annually. Plus, flat tire, lockout, etc. Could cancel AAA with that perk saving $50-$70 annually.
Talk about phantom savings. I save hundreds if not thousands of dollars every year booking AAA hotel rates.
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Old May 8, 2018, 9:33 am
  #17  
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There are a lot of strings attached in the Aspire card.

- The $250 airline credit is very limited - mainly to fees that Flyertalkers don't pay. And you have to pick one airline. While some report hacks like buying low-value gift cards that look like baggage fees to Amex, who knows if that's reliable or will last?
- The $250 resort credit is limited to a very small subset of HHonors properties worldwide - about 200 of them. I looked at the list and I go years without visiting one of those particular hotels, and I've been Diamond for years and stay at lots of different Hiltons in different parts of the world.
- The $100 property credit is through a special link only. I'm guessing that "perk" will cost you money if you have access to any kind of HH rates better than standard rates.

For me, the HH card would be a $200 card only if I went out of my way to stay at one of the qualifying hotels for the resort credit. Otherwise, it's a $450 card. The 14 points per dollar is nice. (The OP's math isn't quite right - it's the 14 pts HH vs. 6 pts MR that should be compared. The 29 HH includes other base and bonus points unrelated to the card.)

HH Diamond has become a rather weak status over the years - not as good as SPG Platinum and likely not as good as Marriott Platinum Premier post-8/1. I had a recent stay where Diamond status did enable me to haggle with a front desk clerk and have her go in the back to "speak with her manager" to get me a 2PM checkout. I felt like I had to pull a total DYKWIA move to get what should be a simple, easy request for any hotel chain frequent guest. Made me miss SPG/Marriott.

I look at SPG Luxury Amex as an easy $150 card that generates a nice room-night. We all stay in the hotels, so the $300 credit is always going to be easy to collect. I probably put CSR, Citi Prestige, and Amex Plat as better values if you want to carry only one super-premium card and already have your MR/SPG status the regular way. But I've got SPG Luxury Amex above HH Aspire, mainly because of the nearly-unattainable airline credit (unless you can trick it) and the rather limited hotel credits.
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Old May 8, 2018, 9:39 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Talk about phantom savings. I save hundreds if not thousands of dollars every year booking AAA hotel rates.
This. And once or twice a year, I'm asked to show proof, so I'm glad I'm actually a member and not just pinching their hotel rates... Also had them jump start a car last week... they were there in 10 minutes. I always wonder about non-AAA roadside services...do they have as many local trucks to dispatch? Maybe it's the same people who show up for AAA calls? I've never seen much comparison on this, but to date I've used AAA for a few jumps and a couple flat tires and they've always been responsive. I'm pretty sure one or two of my existing credit cards have some kind of roadside benefits, but I've never tested them.
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Old May 8, 2018, 9:39 am
  #19  
 
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I've been comparing IHG vs Hilton Hotels, and the Diamond benefit of breakfast and lounge no matter what rate is booked makes the Aspire card good for us. I was excited about the $100 credit (Conrad and Waldorf Astoria only), but in comparing rates it seems that the "$100 credit" rate is the same as the flexible rate (it's equally flexible). If you use either AAA or HHonors Advanced Purchase you come out just about even, so really you're getting the flexible rate for "free", and that only counts if you spend $100 on property since it's not a credit against room rates.
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Old May 8, 2018, 12:08 pm
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Talk about phantom savings. I save hundreds if not thousands of dollars every year booking AAA hotel rates.
I'm not sure what one has to do with the other. I too love the hotel and hertz discounts via AAA. All I'm saying is that IF others solely use AAA for towing, you get a nice little perk with the Aspire card too.
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Old May 8, 2018, 2:40 pm
  #21  
 
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Aspire blows away the SPG card. I prefer SPG, so Im bummed but the Aspire is worth it just for the few times I stay at Hiltons.

Aspire airline credit, at least on American is super easy to use. As are the airline credits on my other Premium Amex cards at least with American. Been getting gift cards for about 7 years.

yes that could change, but it hasnt and I love them.

Aspire gives free night plus airline credits plus resort credit plus a point bonus worth at least one night anywhere (100k) points.

Assuming I wanted to stay at one of the resorts, and I do, thats $550 plus the free night and bonus. Luxury SPG card is just the hotel credit, seems like less than half the value.
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Old May 9, 2018, 5:46 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by beachfan
Aspire blows away the SPG card. I prefer SPG, so I’m bummed but the Aspire is worth it just for the few times I stay at Hiltons.
Originally Posted by beachfan
Assuming I wanted to stay at one of the resorts, and I do, that’s $550 plus the free night and bonus. Luxury SPG card is just the hotel credit, seems like less than half the value.


As a longtime SPG fan, I sadly see it the same way! I need this year to finish qualifying for LTP and then I will likely upgrade my Ascend to an Aspire and start staying at more Hilton properties.

I think Marriott did an OK job with the merging of the two programs so as not to upset too many people....even though the final award chart can still change my view on that! I do think they are completely shooting themselves in the foot with the changes to the credit card earnings and most Starwood loyalists are not happy about that. In the end it will remain to be seen how people react to the changes overall.

Last edited by christianj; May 9, 2018 at 5:52 am
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Old May 9, 2018, 11:02 am
  #23  
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Originally Posted by christianj
As a longtime SPG fan, I sadly see it the same way! I need this year to finish qualifying for LTP and then I will likely upgrade my Ascend to an Aspire and start staying at more Hilton properties.

I think Marriott did an OK job with the merging of the two programs so as not to upset too many people....even though the final award chart can still change my view on that! I do think they are completely shooting themselves in the foot with the changes to the credit card earnings and most Starwood loyalists are not happy about that. In the end it will remain to be seen how people react to the changes overall.
It's interesting: I expect Amex will see an uptick in total accounts but a decrease in volume per card. And an increase in accounts who don't actually use their cards at all.

Which begs the question: do CC companies make more on annual fees or on transaction fees when people use their cards extensively? The evolution of the SPG Amexes means I will use mine a lot less - basically, when I'm at Marriotts. No longer my automatic go-to everyday spending card.
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Old May 9, 2018, 1:20 pm
  #24  
 
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Hello,

For me, the platinum status with $75K + spend a year is a real bonus as thats probably already passed this year on my SPG card already.

I think thats worth mentioning
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Old May 10, 2018, 6:01 am
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by tattikat2
Hello,

For me, the platinum status with $75K + spend a year is a real bonus as thats probably already passed this year on my SPG card already.

I think thats worth mentioning
The question to answer if IF it makes sense to spend that much on the card AFTER the changes occur. I think there is a general consensus that the earnings return on the card will drop after the merging of the program since under the current situation you earn 1 SPG point (or 3 MR points) per $1 spend. Under the new program it will be 2 MR points per $1 (unless you spend mainly in bonus/hotel spend). So does it make sense to spend $75k on the new card and earn 150k MR points vs the 225k you would earn now? This is a calculation you will need to make and I think there will be different opinions.
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Old May 10, 2018, 9:49 am
  #26  
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Right now, in today's Marriott Rewards, I value a single MR point as 1.2 cents. To hold this value, the 120,000-mile Travel Packages must stay the same *and* there can't be some sort of wholesale category devaluation across the board on August 1.

If both of those hold true, then there's still a decent case to use a credit card that earns 2 points per dollar on general non-bonus spend. That still puts you in the same realm as the good cashback cards, Chase UR, the various ThankYou cards, etc. Keeps you solidly ahead of the HH cards, given that their points are rapidly approaching 0.5 cents with limited upside opportunities.

Structural changes to the Travel Packages are the single biggest risk to Marriott value. Category creep is a distant 2nd. But either one could impact how you value the points and whether earning 2 per dollar is worthwhile.
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Old May 10, 2018, 9:03 pm
  #27  
 
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Another plus of Aspire- my wife and I are in a joint Hilton account (same honors #) so we both get diamond. Next year well drop hers, Ill apply and get the sign-on bonus with no status interruption.
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Old May 11, 2018, 7:31 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by pinniped
Keeps you solidly ahead of the HH cards, given that their points are rapidly approaching 0.5 cents with limited upside opportunities.
Not if you have a lot of grocery/gas/restaurant spending. I also don't value Marriott points as highly, as I have never done a travel package and find the vast majority of hotel redemptions to be less than $.01/pt.
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Old May 11, 2018, 9:38 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by Cledaybuck
Not if you have a lot of grocery/gas/restaurant spending. I also don't value Marriott points as highly, as I have never done a travel package and find the vast majority of hotel redemptions to be less than $.01/pt.
Actually with the Amex EDP you can get more HH points for grocery spend than you can with any HH cards. $1 grocery spend on EDP = 3 x 1.5 = 4.5 Amex points = 9 Hilton Honors points (vs 6 with the HH card directly).
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Old May 11, 2018, 9:48 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by Cledaybuck
Not if you have a lot of grocery/gas/restaurant spending. I also don't value Marriott points as highly, as I have never done a travel package and find the vast majority of hotel redemptions to be less than $.01/pt.
Yeah, if you're using Marriott points for anything *other* than Travel Packages, the math is a lot different. Then none of the Marriott/Starwood cards are worth it for general spend after August 1. A big part of the value prop of the Marriott Rewards program is based upon your ability to reach at least the 270,000 point (and probably 330-360k) mark on a fairly consistent basis. It's a much weaker program if you're a slow grinder. Starwood and Hyatt were always better programs if you liked quick, small awards on a regular basis.

As for grocery/gas/restaurant, I will confess that I've never really optimized around bonus categories. I have enough travel/restaurant spending that I should probably factor that in this summer as I overhaul what's in my wallet.
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