AMEX has won exclusivity for Hilton cards and Citi Hilton cardholders will have their cards converted to AMEX cards on 1/30/18. Citi Hilton cards will become AMEX Hilton cards and Citi Hilton Reserve cards will become AMEX Hilton Ascend cards, the new moniker for the AMEX Hilton Surpass card. Your Citi card will be deactivated and you will be issued a new AMEX card with a new account number. Here is the FAQ on that change.
As AMEX cards have a limit of 1 bonus per lifetime (more like once every 6-7 years, but the exact timeframe is unpublished), you may want to cancel your Citi Hilton card before it converts into an AMEX Hilton card. You won’t get a signup bonus for a converted card and you won’t be eligible for a signup bonus for the flavor of AMEX Hilton card that you get converted to in the future.
Currently AMEX only offers the AMEX Hilton card and the AMEX Hilton Surpass card. The Hilton Surpass card will become the Hilton Ascend card, but the Hilton Aspire and Hilton Business are new card offerings.
Hilton pulled a Delta when they devalued and removed their award charts, but a top-tier hotel like the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem or Conrad Maldives will go for 95K points per night or 76K points per night for elite members/cardholders on a 5 night stay.
Here is a chart comparing the 4 AMEX Hilton cards that they will offer starting in January:
| Hilton AMEX | Hilton AMEX Surpass | Hilton AMEX Business | Hilton AMEX Aspire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Fee | $0 | $95 | $95 | $450 |
| Welcome bonus | 100K points+$100 statement credit | 150K points+$150 statement credit | 150K points+$150 statement credit | 150K points+free Hilton night |
| Points Per Dollar on Everyday Purchases | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Points Per Dollar on Hilton Purchases | 7 | 12 | 12 | 14 |
| Points Per Dollar on Airlines/Car Rentals | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 |
| Points Per Dollar on Wireless Phone Service and Shipping | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| Points Per Dollar on US Supermarkets | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Points Per Dollar on US Restaurants | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Points Per Dollar on US Gas | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| Foreign Transaction Fees | None | None | None | None |
| Elite status for being a cardholder | Silver | Gold | Gold | Diamond |
| Elite status with spending | Gold if you spend $20K/year | Diamond if you spend $40K/year | Diamond if you spend $40K/year | - |
| Free weekend nights | None | 1 after spending $15K/year | 1 after spending $15K/year, a 2nd night after spending $60K/year | 1 free annual night, a 2nd night after spending $60K/year |
| Priority Pass Lounge Access | None | 10 annual uses | 10 annual uses | Unlimited uses |
| Airline fee credit | None | None | None | $250 annual credit |
| Hilton Resort Credit | None | None | None | $250 annual credit at select Hilton resorts |
The Aspire card is an amazing card if you will take advantage of the annual free night, the annual $250 airline fee credit, and the annual $250 Hilton resort credit.
Here are the ways you can use the AMEX airline fee credit.
Here is a list of Hilton Resorts where you can get a $250 spend credit.
Diamond status comes with the Aspire card and is Hilton’s top-tier status. It comes with benefits like free breakfast, free bottled water, free premium WiFi, upgrades, late checkout, and more. Here’s hoping it also comes with a sweet signup bonus!
What Hilton cards do you currently have? Will you close your Citi Hilton cards before conversion? Will you signup for an AMEX Hilton Aspire card when it becomes available? Hit the comments!
Hi Dan. I cancelled my Citi Hilton card 2 weeks ago, but just received an Amex Ascend card with a message to call to activate it January 30? Is there any way I can still get a signup bonus by not activating this card? I did cancel the citi card before this one is even in effect.
Do you get bonus points for signing up?
When the citi card transfers Into the Amex card, in relevant to the chase 5/24 will it show on my credit report as a new card from Amex
Question: I currently have the Hilton Surpass and I understand that I will be moving to the Hilton Ascend card. Will AMEX allow me to move from the Ascend to the Aspire card when they become available? I am willing to make that move ($95.00 to $450.00 annual fee), but I do not want/need 2 AMEX cards.
Anyone else giving this a thought?
I already have the Amex maximum – 5 Amex credit cards, will they transfer my Citi Hilton card to the #6 Amex credit card?
i presently have the citi reserve should i cancel it now so i will be eligible for the new amex 1
Apologies if this has already been covered. If I have the Citi Hilton Reserve and the Amex Hilton Surpass is there any potential benefit to have the Hilton Reserve convert at all or should I simply cancel the Reserve card to get my prorated fee back?
So here is the question – as someone who has today both the hilton amex and hilton visa. As they close the visa, which visa card would you recommend for those stores that don’t take amex?
amex platinum vs hilton aspire?
no centurion lounge access?
Does the annual free night work for Waldorf as well?
How do the 10 annual lounge passes work? Are they actual passes that you get or do they swipe your card. Will you get them immediately with the card? Are they transferrable?
If we cancel now do we get a pro rated return of annual fees? I am about 6months into the year?
Yes, ask for it based on the forced AMEX conversion.
If I spend already ten k on my Citi Hilton to get my anniversarry free night but my annual fee is due June time will I get the free night once the end of January comes and my card gets switched over to amex Instead of having to wait till June? And if yes can I spend another 15k on the Amex surpass to get another free night by June time when my annual fee comes due.
Currently have the AMEX Hilton free card and the citi free card. Come January what happens to us. Two identical cards or ?????
Likely 2 identical cards.
Does it make sense to cancel our Citi cards before the transfer? To not take up another another Amex slot or lose out on the once per lifetime bonus?
It can definitely make sense to cancel now.
Even if Hilton pulled off a delta as you call it they still over three points per dollar 30k spend on any Hilton cc gets you a night in a top tier hotel Waldorf etc if you have gold statues then even more and Hyatt that has 30k spend to get one night in their top hotels ? Not sure why you call that devaluation ?? And they give ten points per dollar to Hilton honors members per night without even using your Amex Hilton to pay? Which can potentially give you 20 ppd what does Hyatt give 10 ppd total? Counting if you use the chase Hyatt to spend? Ty
They already pulled a Delta.
In 2014 they raised their top-tier from 37.5K to 76K on a 5 night stay:
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/milespoints/4-days-left-until-hilton-devaluation/
And earlier this year they deleted their award charts:
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/milespoints/hilton-joining-delta-in-a-brave-new-chartless-award-world/
Yes, you can earn a lot. But do you trust them?
Dan please forgive me if I was to sharp your the best thanks for everything you do mashiach now
Should I get the surpass now, or wait until January. Best offer I found currently is 90k, but no free night. But annual fee now is $75 (which would become $95 in January). Thoughts?
I’d for an offer like the last 100k+free night. Don’t sweat the $20, that will go up to $95 for everyone soon enough.
Citi offers a annual free night after spending 10K Will that stand after its changed to Amex?
Thanks Dan! When do you advise we close the CITI cards by?
No reason to wait if you want to close.
Any idea how this will affect someone who was shut down by amex?
Nope.
Right dan but still to close the citi Hilton when citi doesn’t allow credit line transfers to another citi card hurts your credit .? Also what happens if I can’t get approved for a Amex because I underwent f/r am I going to have problems when my Citi converts over to Amex? And if not could that potentially be beneficial to rebuild my relationship back up with Amex to get more cards in the future without having to undergo fr? Thank you for taking the your time to read and respond to my questions.
Did you ask Citi to do a credit line transfer?
Hard to stay what will happen if you have had an FR. They might shut you down again.
Thanks dan much appreciated every rep I asked on citi told me no we don’t do cl transfers. Only in some special instance
If you apply for a new Citi card they may be willing to transfer over the Hilton line.
But either way, HUCA
Foreign transaction fees?
It’s in the chart.
I’m wondering if anyone has had any luck pcing the citi hilton to something else?
I tried converting my Citi Hilton Reserve to any other Citi card. Can’t be done, only option is to cancel it.
Thanks. I still might try. I’ll let you know if I have any success. I’d rather not have another Hilton amex card and I’d rather not lose that line of credit either. Blah
should I apply for the existing Amex cards so i can at least cash in on current offers as they seem better than upcoming amex cards. For example no AF amex offers now 75,000 points better than future offer for the No AF card
Where do you see the future offer for the no AF card??
your post mentions amex card no AF starting Jan 18
Where does it say what the signup offer will be?
Dan why do you still have the citi Hilton ? And if you spend 10k to get the free night how do you do it? Just curious how you manufacture spending on many of your cc? And is it time consuming especially for someone like you who Is busy running. This website?
Thanks as always for the post. I’ve got a couple of questions here:
I got the Hilton Surpass just recently in July/August under that special offer for a free anniversary night after one year. Would you keep the Surpass for the free anniversary night or cancel it before 1/18 to be eligible for the potential new bonus?
Other question is I have the Citi Hilton Reserve I got in June. Same question as above. Just trying to see what someone else may do in this position.
I doubt that you would be eligible for a bonus on the Ascend card as it’s just a rebranded Surpass.
You can probably just hang onto both and see where the chips fall and if you get any decent upgrade offers.
i have a hilton amex and my wife has a citi hilton. what would the bonus be for her to sign up for a hilton amex? also, if she has a secondary card on my account, would that kill a signup bonus for her?
There are no great offers right now, but stay tuned.
Being a secondary user does not affect signup bonuses.
Will i lose my current points if I close the citi card ?
No.
If I have Hilton Surpass and close it soon. will I be eligible for new sign up on the Ascend?
Probably not, but that’s unclear as of yet.
Should I transfer my Hilton points to United?
The Hilton transfer ratios are quite poor.
I think there is a mistake in the chart: Doesn’t the Surpass card entitle a free weekend stay after the first anniversary? (It’s advertised too in this post: https://www.dansdeals.com/credit-cards/hilton-american-express-100000-point-signup-bonus-free-night-75k-limited-time-offers/ )
That was only available with that limited time offer. It’s no longer available.
I actually called Amex multiple times about the above since I upgraded to the Surpass card back in April for 100k points and I thought I was entitled to a free night but they wouldn’t budge. I also have the Citi Hilton card so what does someone who has both the Amex Surpass and the Citi Hilton card being discontinued do? Is there a way to benefit off of this?
Ok, just wanted to make sure I’m still getting that free night since I got the card then with that offer!
I chatted with AMEX and they confirmed that I would still be getting the free weekend night after the anniversary and told me “The free weekend night award will be sent as an email from Hilton to the email address listed on their Hilton Honors account within 6 – 8 weeks after the first anniversary date of the Card account. ”
Dan – cool. Any news in SPG amex changes to arrive as per the merger ?
There will be, but AMEX and Chase are still fighting that one out.
Will i be able to get a signup bonus if i upgrade my current Amex Surpass card to the Aspire?
No, you would have to apply as a new card to get a signup bonus, though occasionally they do offer targeted upgrade bonuses.