Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card review: Lots of luxury, but not for everyone
Editors’ Take: The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers extensive perks like complimentary Diamond status and significant travel credits. But the high annual fee means this card is best for frequent Hilton guests who can make use of all these perks during their stays.
Image: hands-thumbs-upGreat for maximizing Hilton benefits
Annual Fee: $550
The average credit score for members who have matched with this card or similar cards is 728
The average credit limit for members who have matched with this card or similar cards is $16,080
Explore more about this card:
Here’s the average credit limit of members who matched their Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card or similar cards.
% of members by credit limit range
The average credit limit for members who have matched with this card or similar cards is $16,080, with $1,000 being the most common.
Here’s the average credit score of members who matched their Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card or similar cards.
% of members by credit score range
The average credit score for members who have matched with this card or similar cards is 728, with 816 being the most common. Note this is just one of the deciding factors when it comes to getting approved.
This content is curated by Intuit Credit Karma’s Editorial team using data from members who were approved for this card or similar cards, or who self-matched this card or similar cards. Intuit Credit Karma receives compensation from third-party advertisers, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our third-party advertisers don’t review, approve or endorse this content. Information about financial products not offered on Credit Karma is collected independently. Our content is accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted.
Member stats
Updated daily
23.4%
Average credit utilization (or what percent of the card’s credit limit is being used) of members who matched with this card or similar cards.
45 years
Average age of members who matched this card or similar cards.
$119,356
Average annual income of members who matched this card or similar cards. Note: Income may be estimated for some members by Credit Karma and may differ from members’ actual incomes.
Pros and cons
Image: yesFree night every year
Image: yesTravel credits worth hundreds of dollars
Image: yesComplimentary Hilton Diamond status
Image: ConPoints are less valuable than other hotel reward programs
Image: ConSteep annual fee
Image: ConHoops to jump through to redeem travel credits
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card review
Updated December 3, 2024
This date may not reflect recent changes in individual terms.
Written by: Tim Devaney
Is the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card worth it?
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is best for very frequent travelers who book the majority of their hotel stays at Hilton properties. While the rewards points and award nights you could earn are nice, the real benefits of this card are the luxury experience you can get from Hilton.
Thanks to the complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status, you can pamper yourself with free room upgrades, and access to executive lounges. If you use most of the travel credits, you can more than make up for the large annual fee.
Although the card offers plenty of potential value, only loyal Hilton guests who book longer stays at least twice a year will be able to tap into all of it.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card at a glance
- Welcome bonus: 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases within the first three months of card membership
- Estimated welcome bonus value: $788
- Standout benefit: Complimentary Hilton Diamond status
- Standout rewards rate: 14 points for every $1 you spend directly at Hilton hotel stays
- Foreign transaction fee: None
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card best perks and features
Complimentary Hilton Diamond status
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card includes complimentary Diamond status, which pays off when you stay at Hilton hotels. With Diamond status, Hilton will pamper you with space-available room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, access to executive lounges and other amenities.
For regular travelers, this automatic status may be the most valuable feature of the card.
Generous points for Hilton stays
You could score a boatload of points when you use your card to stay at a Hilton hotel. The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card gives you 14 points for every $1 you spend in eligible purchases at Hilton hotels and resorts.
But the complimentary Diamond status also allows you to earn another 20 points for every $1 you spend on hotel stays at Hilton. That’s an impressive 34 points for every $1 you spend on hotel stays at Hilton.
You’ll also earn:
- Seven points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or through the American Express travel portal and for rental cars booked directly through certain rental companies
- Seven points per $1 spent at U.S. restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Three points per $1 spent on other eligible purchases
Travel credits add opportunities
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers a number of travel credits:
- $400 in statement credits each year to spend on eligible purchases at participating Hilton resorts. Eligible purchases include restaurants, spas and other establishments within the hotel property.
- $100 property credit that can be used on incidental charges (costs like spas and restaurants, but not the room itself) during stays of at least two nights at Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and Conrad Hotels & Resorts booked through Hilton.
- $200 travel credit each year ($50 in statement credits per calendar quarter) for eligible purchases of airfare purchased directly with airlines or through AmexTravel.com.
These credits can be valuable if you use them, but you might find there are limitations.
Free night reward
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers one nightly reward each year just for being a cardholder. If you spend at least $30,000 on purchases in a calendar year, you can earn a second nightly reward from Hilton. With $60,000 on purchases, you can earn another nightly reward.
That’s a lot of money to spend for those extra nights, and keep in mind that Hilton blocks certain properties from accepting these rewards.
What are the drawbacks of the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card?
Steep annual fee
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has a sizable $550 annual fee. To put that in perspective, the amount of money you pay for the annual fee could be enough to book two or three nights at certain Hilton hotels.
Hilton’s welcome bonus isn’t worth as much as it seems
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases during the first six months after your account is approved. That’s more points than many travel cards offer from their sign-up bonuses.
But the estimated value of the welcome bonus will bring you back down to earth. Because Hilton Honors points are worth relatively little, the estimated welcome bonus value for those 175,000 Hilton Honors points is $788, according to Credit Karma’s point valuations.
No airport lounge access
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card no longer offers a complimentary membership to the Priority Pass program — which allows members to access more than 1,300 lounges located in many countries.
It is a considerable drawback of The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, especially since other premium travel cards with similar annual fees come with airport lounge access.
Hoops to jump through for travel credits
The card’s travel credits can be difficult to qualify for. The $400 credit each year to spend at Hilton resorts won’t apply at just any Hilton hotel. It must qualify as one of its eligible resorts, which tend to be between mid-priced to luxury stays.
Similarly, the $100 property credit can only be used on incidental charges during stays of at least two nights at the premium Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and mid-tier Conrad Hotels & Resorts booked through Hilton.
And while the $200 in travel credits available each year offers more flexibility, you won’t be able to use the credit all at once. Instead, you’ll get $50 every three months.
How to redeem Hilton Honors points
Hilton Honors™ points are worth far less than the industry standard. According to Credit Karma’s point valuations, Hilton Honors points are worth only 0.45 cents each when booked for hotel stays.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t have value. Considering how many points you could earn from the welcome bonus and Hilton stays, your points could still help you save money on a future hotel stay.
You can redeem points for Hilton stays, shopping, car rentals, concerts, sporting events, dining and more.
Other cards to consider
- The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: This card offers benefits for business travelers who stay at Hilton.
- Platinum Card® from American Express: This card is a good option for luxury travelers who want more than hotel rewards.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: This card offers airport lounge access at a comparable annual fee.
Credit Karma’s methodology
Credit Karma uses qualitative and quantitative measures to review travel and premium credit cards. Our goal is to help you understand a card’s most useful features — and where it may fall short compared to other options.
We take into account factors such as unique rewards and benefits, ease of redeeming rewards, fees and rates, transfer partners, lounge access and rewards rates.
Credit Karma editors have also built some proprietary metrics to measure the value of rewards credit cards.
Our point valuations estimate how much rewards programs are worth. We look at both the value you could get by redeeming your points directly through a credit card issuer, as well as the value you could get by transferring your points and miles to an airline or hotel rewards program.
Instead of just telling you how many miles you could earn, the editors’ estimated bonus value multiplies the sign-up bonus by the reward program’s point valuations to tell you how much we believe they’re worth.
Our goal is that these metrics will help you decide whether the card’s rewards and benefits are worth it for you.
FAQs about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has an annual fee of $550.
What credit score is needed for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card?
While Credit Karma can’t say for sure if you’ll be approved, a large majority of members who reported having this card or similar cards have good or excellent credit.
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card no longer offers complimentary Priority Pass Select memberships for airport lounge access. However, Hilton Honors Diamond members can access executive lounges at participating Hilton properties.