Kat007

I don`t have any Hilton cards, and I think that`s what I need to get right now for diversification (I only have Priority Club card from the hotels).

My priorities are: high sign up bonus, a status which gives me upgrades in most cases+free breakfast, no annual fee. Spending req is not such a big deal anymore (after charging $10k for AmEx Gold biz everything is possible now, lol)

I am actively using Chase now, and have some old Citi cards with a pretty low limits (they cut my lines in 2008-2009 when the economy was bad, so from $25K/card it went down to $500-$5K/card) I like AmEx, but going to use my no annual fee cards and plan on closing 2 cards with annual fees soon.

What`s my best option?

dcpilgrim

For Gold status its Citi Reserve (life of the card, $95 AF) vs Amex Surpass (1st year, $75 AF). The earn rates differ - but ultimately you will wind up with a mix of both.

Sample approaches (5 cards each approach, no chase cards):

Option A:
Citi Reserve - 2 weekend nights, gold for as long as you have the card, no forex fee, $95 AF, spend 40K for diamond.
Citi Hilton - 50K
No Fee Amex - 65K + AXON reward access
BOA/BOH - Hawaiian cards - 35K each transfers to 70K each $79 AFx2.

Total 2 weekend nights; 255K points; gold as long as you hold, AXON; $253 AF.

Option B -
Amex Surpass - 60K (?), Gold year 1, spend 40K for diamond, AXON reward access.
Two Citi Hhonors cards - 100K
BOA/BOH - Hawaiian cards - 35K each transfers to 70K each $79 AFx2.

300K points; Gold year 1; AXON; $233 AFs.

Option A is a little stronger, though I like points more than award nights in most cases.

vacashawn

In this scenario, pick 2 of 3.

You can get the AMEX Hilton and get 65k and no annual fee, but you only get Silver status (no upgrades)

Either the citi reserve or amex surpass cards get you Gold status (upgrades) and points/weekend nights, but there is an annual fee.

smedleyb

I say start with the free cards (AMEX Hilton, CITI Honors Hilton, roughly 100-115K when taken together), then work up to the Citi Reserve Card, the 2X35K Hawaiian Air cards (BOA, and BOH), all of which have fees (but which give you two Hilton points for each HA point transferred).

Stage two, bump up the AMEX to the surpass (and get the second bonus of 60K), keep an eye out for the 65K Virgin Atlantic card from BOA (which also is a good (2X) transfer partner with Hilton), and if spend in not a problem, go for Diamond via the Reserve card (spend 40K in a year) to achieve real status and upgrades (not impressed with my Hilton gold status. All it seems to get me is free water).

Good luck.

StephenW

And free breakfast.

caGALINDO

Any reports the upgrade to Surpass works in the past few months? There was a new CC reform that supposedly stopped it.

dcpilgrim

I got the no Fee card in Feb 2012. I tried to upgrade yesterday and the website said I am not eligible (despite showing me ads encouraging me to do so). My understanding is the CARD ACT says that credit card company's can not change terms on a card to the holder's detriment until 12 months has passed, and even then, only with notice (45 days IIRC). In these cases the Surpass has an annual fee, which under the law is a detrimental change.

I plan to try to upgrade it in March 2013.

Kat007

Thank you! I`m not really interested in hotel points, but a status is important (my Plat Priority Club is nice), and my real target (my number 1 goal) is to accumulate United miles, so if I can have Hilton status and get a nice ratio on transfer-that would be a dream

smedleyb

I actually thought you were chasing points too.

AMEX Hilton and Citi Reserve Hilton each give diamond after 40K spend. The reserve card has the added bonus of kicking off 4 free weekend nights with a 40K spend, so it wins the battle, IMO.

farwest101

4 free nights for the Reserve? Are you sure? The way I understand it is you get 2 free weekend nights upon meeting spend, then one night on your anniversary date. You get Diamond status after $40K spend in one calendar year. You keep Diamond status the year you earn it and the following year, so meeting $40K spend early in the first year offers the most benefits. The free night awards expire in 12 months, so have limited shelf life. I don't have a Hilton stay planned next year, so won't get the Reserve card until late 2103.

amolkold

Does anyone have a list of the hotels where the Reserve free weekend night does NOT work?

smedleyb

You're absolutely right. I read it as one free weekend night for every $10,000 charged. But like you said, it's just one free weekend night total per year once you bang out 10K in spend.

rookie10

My wife received a targeted email to upgrade to the Surpass. Offer was for a 50k sign up. She's had the card for almost a year. The promo was available first by logging into her account then a email followed. She took the offer last week and is awaiting her new card.

vacashawn

2x browser trick can still net 4 weekend nights with 5k spend in 4 months. Spend an additional $37,500 on one of the cards and get Diamond status.

sdsearch

Sorry, but ratio on transfer from Hilton points is pretty horrid (about 6:1) and there's nothing you can do about it.

The key is to stay at 500-miles properties (Hilton, Embasssy, DoubleTree, etc) not 100-miles properties (Hampton, Homewood, etc), and hotel hop, and then every night (with hotel hopping, every night being a separate stay) you'll get 500 miles (which is way more than you'd get by earning only points and then transferring).

(Remember, HHonors gives points + miles, so you're still earning points while earning those miles. Specifically, the above examples assume points + fixed miles.)

This is different than in Priority Club, where it does usualy make sense to earn only points and later transfer.

But the HHonors points you end up with (inevitably, since you cannot earn only miles on an HHonors), turning them into miles at that 6:1 ratio is not a particularly good use for them.

Similarly, points earned with the Hilton HHonors credit cards, after thatn 6:1 conversion, earn way way less per dollar than earning with an airline card, or earning with a WyndhamRewards credit card (even if you never stay at WyndhamRewards properties)! The WyndhamRewards credit card, not any of the "big famous" hotels' credit card, has the best UA earnings (0.8 UA miles per dollar spent) with a no-fee credit card. (Because SPG has 1:2 for UA, even though 1:1 for most other airlines, WyndhamRewards Visa/MC beats SPG Amex for being looking to end up with UA miles.)

The only real good use of HHonors points is for (carefully chosen) HHonors reward stays (often cash + points rates being much better than either cash alone or points alone).