Bottom Line
Still deciding what hotel brand is your fave? Then this is a good card to keep around. There is no annual fee, so you aren't losing anything. Crack it out in between other cards to get your extra points per dollar spent. And definitely use it during your stay at Hilton brands for 7x extra points and Silver status. Not such an unassuming Hilton card after all.
Why You Might Want This Card
No Annual Fee But Still Some Good Value For Hilton Lovers
This is the entry level card for Hilton brands, but it still shines. It's great for those who want to tip toe into the shallow end of Hilton rewards. The sign-up bonus comes after spending just $1,000 in 3 months. There is no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. You earn 7x points when you use your card at Hilton properties, or 5x points for groceries, gas and restaurants. Get Elite Silver Status automatically, which basically means a 15%-point bonus; 5th night free on award stays; and 2 whopping bottles of water per stay. With a card that's getting your toes wet, you wouldn't really expect that many extras. But you still get benefits like: travel accident insurance; baggage insurance; car rental insurance; extended warranty protection; even fun little extras like exclusive access to ticket pre-sales and free shipping on ShopRunner.
The other use for this card might be the the "one you keep" after getting points from the other cards if you don't want to pay the annual fee. That way you keep Silver status
Check out our Hilton Honors page for more details on how to best use Hilton Points.
Exceptions To The Rule
About Hilton Honors
Hilton is a key component of the points strategy for hotel stays for 3 big reasons:
1. Points are easy to accumulate
2. They have locations in nearly every city globally
3. The perks are great for cardholders
Hilton currently has 4 different cards to choose from -- and they don’t have the strict limitations on carrying different cards as Marriott and Hyatt do. That could easily add up to 500,000 points per person over a few years, which equates to 20-25 hotel nights. The cards also have high multipliers... as high as 30x on Hilton spends, which can be coupled with membership bonuses and 5-7x on select categories and 3x on everyday spending.
Most Hilton cards also come with Gold status. That gives you room upgrades (really nice ones usually) and complimentary breakfast, along with all of the standard hotel membership bonuses.
The downfall of Hilton points is they’re not a good value for transfer. So unless you’re just topping off your points to have enough for booking, it isn’t a good value to transfer Amex Points to Hilton points.
Booking can be a little tricky, so utilize the Points Explorer Tool on their site.
Where Hilton Honors Amex Fits In This Point Ecosystem
Personal Experience
