The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is the newest credit card on the market, and while it has some attractive benefits, several drawbacks make this card less than perfect. Let’s explore what makes this card different from other cards on the market to see if it might be a good fit for you.
What is the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card?
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card is a rewards credit card, which offers free Hilton Honor Gold status and complimentary Diamond status with the ability to earn more points. This two-tiered system proves beneficial for borrowers who travel frequently. In addition, the card’s benefits make it a good choice for people interested in earning bonus points, primarily through Hilton purchases.
Who is eligible for this card?
The cardholder must be a US resident with a valid social security number. In addition, the user has to have a good/excellent credit score. If not immediately approved for this particular product, American Express offers other options that may work better based on their financial profile, such as The Blue from American Express, which AmEx provides many others.
There’s no introductory APR offer, so borrowers need to pay interest in full each month, or it will add up quickly if they carry a balance. The minimum income requirement is $60,000/year.
Why should I choose this card over other cards?
- This card is perfect for people who like to travel and stay at Hilton properties. There are many benefits such as airline incidentals fee waivers, complimentary gold status, hotel upgrades/amenities (at select hotels), etc.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- You receive up to $250 in statement credits each year for eligible purchases at Hilton resorts, including room rates.
- Welcome bonus on the first year of card membership.
- The card offers 14 points per dollar spent directly at participating Hilton hotels or resorts and eligible Hilton purchases. There are seven points per dollar on flights, and car rentals booked directly on select car rental companies and restaurants in the United States, and 3 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
- Airline incidental fee waivers on your chosen qualifying airline, including baggage fees.
- Complimentary Hilton Honors gold status with the ability to earn up to Diamond Status in the Hilton Honors Program after you spend $40,000 in purchases within a calendar year.
- No annual membership fee for Priority Pass Select Membership – access more than 1000 airport lounges worldwide with free guest access.
- Cardholders earn 15X points on all flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel. Book airfare and hotel stay using your Aspire card for bonus points – up to 60k bonus per year! This is limited to $200 per booking, so if you book an expensive flight, be sure to use this benefit. Combined with airline miles (American Express Membership Rewards), you can fly business/first class for free with these benefits alone! That’s right, FREE!!!
What does this card offer?
This card offers a signup bonus of 100,000 points after spending $4000 in the first three months of receiving it (worth about $750). It also has an annual fee which is waived for the first year ($150), and then you have to pay another $250 per year after that time has passed.
This means if you are planning on keeping your account open for longer than one year, then there will be an extra fee involved with using this credit card service provider or bank, depending upon how you look at it from a different perspective.
The downsides to having an Aspire Card (and what you can do about it)
- $450 Annual Fee (in the first year)
- $75 Annual Fee each additional year. This is a great introductory offer, though! So if you plan on using this card for the first year, then it would be wise to cancel after that unless you intend on keeping it long-term. This will save you money in fees and give your credit score time to recover from opening multiple new cards in a short amount of time.
- The interest rate is 19.99% which can add up fast if you don’t pay it off monthly or within AmEx’s grace period (ensure no late payments). You should always pay your balance before the due date to avoid unnecessary fees and penalties!
- Forty thousand points are required to earn Diamond Status. This can be reached in a few months if you spend over $4000 on this card per month and use your airline benefit every time it’s available – up to a 60k bonus after spending at least 200$ on airfare.
How do you apply for the card?
Visit the application site. Fill out the information about yourself and your credit history. Then, follow instructions on applying for a new card or an existing one if you already have it saved in the system at this bank/credit company website.
If approved, they will mail you a physical copy of the card in a couple of weeks via standard shipping unless there is another option available that can be selected during that process when applying online from start to finish after following each step accordingly way through.
This part might take 15 minutes to complete depending upon your previous experience regarding past experiences using their services before and know what to expect next without any confusion along the way while going through this entire process together.
How to use this card?
You can use this card everywhere American Express is accepted, including online shopping. Use the card at least once every three months, or you will lose all of your points!
You need to keep track of when you received your points and how long until that point in time expires as well, so this doesn’t happen unexpectedly without any warning if using it sparingly over a more extended period rather than excessively for shorter periods instead based on your personal preferences about doing things like this usually.
To get the most from this card, you must be committed to the Hilton Honors loyalty program. This would be considered an active account that needs some activity on it regularly (such as spending $300-$400) each month, even if buying groceries with no other expenses involved unless there are additional purchases made during that same timeframe depending upon your personal preferences and spending habits as well.
Most people should easily spend $4000 over three months without any issues or complications. However, that could arise during this period making it overly complicated for you to meet all qualifications needed to receive these types of rewards depending upon how much money is spent on other things such as entertainment, utilities, mortgage payments, etcetera month.
Hilton Honors Points
Earn a lot of Hilton points from using this card regularly. If you do not, they will expire in 12 months! This would mean that if you do not use them, these accumulated rewards will be lost forever. Sometimes, promotional deals are available to attract new members or existing ones, which allows for bigger bonuses.
These deals or bonuses can include additional points which are added to the existing amount for this total number of Hilton Honors points earned to equal a more significant figure than what it would be if using one card alone.
You should always pay your balance off each month before interest rates are applied otherwise, you could end up paying thousands over time depending upon how much money is owed and how much time passes until it gets paid off.
Since we are talking about $4000 in total spending over three months, this would mean that the payment would likely be due around a month or so after receiving your statement each time, giving you enough time to pay for everything beforehand without any issues which might arise unexpectedly if not.
How does this card work with American Express Membership Rewards points?
The Hilton Honors Aspire credit card can be used to book flights through American Express Travel, giving you points back. These points are called Membership Rewards Points, and they go towards free flights, hotels, etc., using this benefit alone!
If you pay for an expensive flight, it’s best to use your airline benefits each time that offer is available. That way, you get the most out of them before canceling or closing your account after receiving all awards/points earned in full at some point, maybe years down the line.
It seems like a waste, but if you cancel too early, then there isn’t any value to having these types of cards, I promise because it’s possible to lose everything without flying first-class one last time on vacation, spending money like it’s going out of style. The good news: this Hilton card is not a charge card, and your points do not expire as long as you keep the account open, which means there are no limits to how much money can be spent each month!
In conclusion
It’s best to research your options and then pick one (or several) before making any decision about which option you will choose next as well as what you can expect from using each service provided by them depending upon how frequently you plan on using these types of services over time if at all possible based off of the information given such as annual fees, interest rates, APR (annual percentage rate), benefits offered like free flights, money back deals, etc.
