Bottom Line

If you prefer the Hilton brand -- and you're going to take advantage of all the perks -- this card should be in your wallet (for at least a year). Its benefits outweigh the annual fee and everyday purchases roll up those Hilton points pretty quickly. The annual reward night, coupled with your earned points, can give you and your family a weekend away in a Hotel that's only known by the rich and famous.

Why You Might Want This Card

Annual Fee Can Be Offset By Hilton Perks

The card for Hilton lovers. This little nugget of a card comes with a $450 annual fee, so let's measure what you get against that small fortune. Each year, you get a $250 airline fee credit. Just pick the airline of your choice, and you can get up to $250 in incidentals like lounge fees, baggage fees, change fees, etc. You also get $250 in Hilton Resort credits. It's good for dining, spa treatment, and a host of incidentals when you stay at a Hilton resort. If you hit all those credits, you've more than covered your $450 annual fee.

A more difficult perk to redeem is the Hilton property $100 credit. You actually have to book for a Waldorf Astoria or or Conrad property through Hilton. Add a free weekend hotel night; a year's worth of unlimited Priority Pass lounge access; Hilton Diamond Status (which includes free breakfast and other niceties) -- and this card easily offsets the $450 if you take full advantage of the benefits. And, oh yeah, you also get a sign-up bonus of 150,000 Hilton points.

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 Aspire Fits In This Point Ecosystem

Personal Experience