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Hilton is one of the largest hospitality companies in the world. With over 24 different brands of hotels and more than 8,000 properties around the globe, travelers can choose from top-of-the-line luxury resorts or roadside motels under the Hilton umbrella. Many choose Hilton because of the excellent Hilton Honors loyalty program.
While you can earn Hilton Honors points by paying for stays at any Hilton property worldwide, many Hilton loyalists pick up a co-branded hotel credit card they can use for travel and everyday spending. Hilton credit cards help you earn more points on Hilton stays than you would earn otherwise, and every card comes with some level of automatic elite status and other benefits to enhance Hilton hotel and resort stays.
Comparing the best Hilton credit cards
To find the right Hilton credit card for your travel needs, compare our picks to see what card offers you the most value.
| Card name | Best for | Highlights | Annual fee | Bankrate Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilton Honors American Express Card | No annual fee |
|
$0 | 4.3 |
| Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card | Everyday spending |
|
$150 | 4.7 |
|
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card* |
Elite status benefits |
|
$550 | 4.2 |
| The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card | Business owners |
|
$195 | 4.1 |
Top Hilton credit cards
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The Hilton Honors American Express Card is the only Hilton card without an annual fee, making it ideal for people who stay at Hilton properties infrequently. You’ll earn a decent welcome bonus and get automatic Silver elite status. It’s also a solid choice for everyday spending, earning 5X points on eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations and 3X points on other eligible purchases.
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Pros
- The card has excellent everyday earning rates for a no-annual-fee card.
- With automatic Silver status, you can more quickly earn your way to the same elite status offered on premium Hilton cards.
Cons
- You’ll get lower earning rates on Hilton purchases than on other Hilton cards.
- Complimentary Silver elite status provides minimal on-property benefits.
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The mid-tier Hilton Honors Surpass Card may be the best value if you travel enough to take advantage of its perks. You’ll earn a higher welcome offer and better rates than the Hilton Honors Express Card plus you can earn 4X points on U.S. online retail shopping (3X points on other eligible purchases). On top of that, you can take advantage of automatic Hilton Honors Gold status, quarterly statement credits at Hilton properties and a free night award good at almost any Hilton property when you spend at least $15,000 within a calendar year.
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Pros
- The card is an excellent choice for a standalone card, covering a wide variety of categories.
- You can earn an uncapped free night for an average of just $1,250 in monthly spending.
Cons
- Unless you travel frequently, you might find the quarterly Hilton credit difficult to utilize.
- According to Bankrate’s valuations, Hilton points are less valuable than some other hotel points.
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The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card targets Hilton loyalists who travel often and can take advantage of its premium travel perks. Although it has a high annual fee, you’ll get top-level Hilton Diamond status and other attractive perks like expedited security statement credits, a free night certificate every year (with the ability to earn two more through spending), a sizeable resort statement credit and more. However, while you’ll get the highest rewards rate on Hilton stays, the everyday category rates don’t measure up to the Surpass, except for U.S. restaurants.
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Pros
- Using the free night certificates at luxury properties and Diamond benefits can significantly enhance your travel experience.
- Frequent travelers can take advantage of almost $800 in statement credits annually, which more than offsets the annual fee.
Cons
- The high annual fee can be difficult for less-frequent travelers to justify.
- The card lacks everyday spending value.
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The Hilton Honors Business Card is ideal for business owners with travel needs. You can earn a sizable welcome bonus, a high rate on eligible Hilton stays and 5X points on eligible purchases for your first $100,000 in spending each year. While it doesn’t have the elevated bonus categories of the Surpass, it has a higher rate on non-bonused purchases than all of the personal cards and a higher quarterly Hilton credit.
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Pros
- Business travelers can easily offset the annual fee using the Hilton credit.
- The card offers a high welcome bonus for a reasonable annual fee.
Cons
- The card doesn’t offer the premium loyalty benefits found on the Aspire card.
- You won’t be able to earn any free night certificates with this card.
How to choose the best Hilton credit cards
To decide between Hilton credit cards, assess how often you travel and what categories you spend the most in. Here are some questions to consider when choosing between Hilton co-branded credit cards.
- What categories do you spend more in? Hilton cards offer different rates for different categories. Examine your spending habits in categories like U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations and U.S. online retail shopping to determine which card gives you the best return on your spending.
- Will you take advantage of travel perks? Some Hilton credit cards come with travel-related credits for Hilton resorts, airlines or CLEAR. You can also earn free night certificates to use at high-end properties to save significant money. Make sure you travel often enough to take advantage of these benefits before paying a premium.
- Do you mind paying an annual fee? Three of the four Hilton credit cards come with annual fees. Ensure you’ll use all the cardholder perks before you commit to paying a pricey annual fee for the year. If not, you’ll still want to determine if you’ll stay at Hilton properties enough for the no-annual-fee version to be worth a space in your wallet.
- Are you interested in elite status? All Hilton credit cards offer some level of elite status, but you’ll get a higher status with cards with higher annual fees. It can help to compare elite status benefits with Hilton to see which status level offers the perks you want most.
- Do you want to focus on Hilton points or have more flexibility with your rewards? Decide whether you want to focus on earning Hilton Honors points or whether flexible rewards may serve you better in the long run. If you want the ability to cash in your rewards for airfare and hotel stays with other brands, check out travel credit cards instead.
Dig deeper: Hilton Amex vs. Hilton Surpass
Alternative credit cards that earn Hilton Honors points
If you’re unsure about picking up a travel credit card that earns points for Hilton properties specifically, consider a flexible travel credit card instead to give yourself more options. If you aren’t loyal to the Hilton brand, you’ll likely get better value this way.
American Express credit cards that earn Membership Rewards points are another option since you can transfer points to the Hilton Honors program at the ratio of 1,000 Amex points: 2,000 Hilton Honors points. However, this isn’t often an ideal use of Amex points. Here’s a list of cards to choose from:
Another option with Hilton as a transfer partner is the Bilt Mastercard®, which only transfers points at a 1:1 ratio. Like Amex, Bilt has much more valuable transfer partners that might be a better use of your points.
Frequently asked questions
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According to Bankrate’s valuations, Hilton Honors points are worth around 0.6 cents each. Be sure to factor this math when determining whether to use Hilton cards for everyday spending.
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Yes, you can have one of each version of Hilton co-branded card. Your only limitation would be Amex’s application rules, which limit you to five personal credit cards. You can also only apply for one card in five days and two cards in 90 days.
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You can redeem Hilton Honors points for experiences, Lyft rides, rental cars and shopping on Amazon.com and Hilton’s online shopping mall. You can also convert points to airline miles with Delta and United. However, these options usually offer significantly less value than using your points for hotel stays.
What’s next?
Check out these Bankrate tools to match your next card.
The bottom line
Hilton Honors offers several solid co-branded card options to meet varying goals and needs whether personal or business. Consider each card’s perks, annual fees and earning categories and how they match your travel and spending habits to determine which will provide you the best value.
*The information about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
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