Using the American Express Hilton Aspire Card Perks
I recently signed up for the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card, I mean how could I not, it is only the most rewarding premium card on the market. After using it for a month I wanted to discuss what perks I have used so far and how long it took for Amex to credit them.
Remember that American Express recently introduced new Hilton cards that has 350,000 points up for grabs!
Perks Details
Here are the best perks of the card:
- Diamond status
- Free weekend night certificate
- $250 Property credit
- It only works at Hilton resorts. Be sure to check the participating hotels before using the perk.
- $250 Airline Fee Credit
- Should work the same as the American Express Platinum credit.
It comes with 4-5 other perks that I highlight in my Aspire card perks review but these are the ones I wanted to focus on.
I received Diamond status within a few hours. Can’t beat that kind of speed! I expected it to take a few days but it was almost instant. The speed at which they issue it is great if you have an upcoming Hilton trip like I did.
My free night certificate has not come yet. I was informed it should arrive via email within 6-8 weeks and the minimum spend DOES NOT need to be completed first. I have already reached my $4,000 in spend and I have already received my 100,000 point sign up bonus. So it seems like completing the minimum spend does not speed up the process.
I used the $250 property credit at the Waldorf Astoria Casa Marina in Key West (review coming in the next few weeks). I used points for the room so I used the credit to charge things back to the room. After charging valet parking, food, and beverages back to the room my checkout total was $251. I received the $250 statement credit a few days later.
As expected, the airline incidental credit worked the same way as the Platinum charge card’s airline credit. I received the $250 credit a few days after my Southwest purchase.
Conclusion
The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card is great, not because of the sign up bonus or earning structure, but because of the valuable perks it offers. It is great to see that the best perks are all working and crediting accounts as expected.
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what did you buy in southwest to get reimbursed?
$150 and $100 GC. Although there have been reports of $250 working fine.
Can I still get the sign-up bonus if I had had Hilton cards before but or close now like to surpass card and the free Hilton Honors card and the citi card ‘s ?
Is this considered a new product?
Also about Key West you can say right next-door to the Cassa Marina at the Teach which is also a Waldorf a Astoria property for the same amount of points and it is much nicer and newer
Yes you can get it – it is considered a new product. Thanks for the info on the Reach. I may have to check that out next time.
Great article. I have my new Aspire card and also received my 100,000 on the first statement.
Interested to find out which $100 and $150 incidentals you charged to Southwest? I have heard some people are receiving credit for buying gift cards to only certain airlines.
My husband & I both have 5 AMEX cards each – isn’t that the limit (in terms of applying for a new Aspire account)? I can certainly close one of the NF cards to make room for it but also risk losing the very old account origination date.
Thanks for sharing your experience at CM. Yes – the new tower is instead very modern with new furniture and electronics and no funky smells. I would definitely recommend it over the other rooms in the historic tower they showed us. I agree it was a mistake to take away their restaurant for anything other than breakfast buffet,but the pool bar has a LOT of great options for lunch/light dinner, though, and there was a seafood place or two in easy walking distance of the property without having to dine at The Reach. I can’t believe they were as chintzy with Diamond status there as they were with Gold, crazy. I wonder exactly WHO they are reserving the better rooms for? I finally scored a suite after being a real nuisance, but I really dislike going thru all that and thought the property was otherwise a good use of a bunch of points I had from previous sign-ups.
I also would like the Aspire but I currently hold 6 Amex credit cards with the Citi conversion over to Amex. I’m also looking for an upgrade offer to Aspire.
I am not sure if one will come around anytime soon. You don’t have 2 Amex cards you would be willing to close to get it?
Looking forward to your review of the Casa Marina, Mark – I have used my own free night certs (from old Citi Reserve card) at that property in the past along with HH 5th night free. SOOOoo much better property than the similarly-priced/points W-A Reach next door, but still had to haggle at the front desk for an upgrade from a broom closet with only Gold status. Interested to hear what type room you were offered with Platinum; the rooms there are all very unique and individual, kind of like the Curio Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. One tower is fairly new, the other “historic,” so we literally had to visit several rooms in both towers to find one we would enjoy for an entire week!
After AMEX’s portfolio takeover, my husband & I are now in possession of 3 Ascend cards and 2 no-fee regular HH cards. There is an upgrade offer to Aspire when I log in for our old AMEX Surpass cards but NO bonus offered (yet, hopefully, after reading about some of your past successes!). In addition, any points earned from 1.1.18 to whatever date we might choose to upgrade do NOT count towards the $15k spend needed for a free night. They are forfeited – and since I just put a lot of Hilton spend on this card in Januaury towards the $15k, I need to finish out the spend on those cards.
There is also a Rollover offer on the old Citi Reserve whereby since I already completed $10k of spend on it before the takeover, I only now have to put another $5k on the card for another free night. I just got the first free night cert from my $10k spend when it normally would have posted in September, the month after my old Citi Reserve card anniversary. T&Cs say if I upgrade THAT card now to Aspire, I lose the Rollover option so no go on that. Readers should also be aware of this awesome opportunity for themselves if they carried the old Citi Reserve card. 5,000 points for a (say) $400 free room at the Casa Marina is a very attractive 8 cents/point.
We are at 5 cards each with AMEX and really would like to upgrade one of the no-fee cards to an Aspire. I used to have a no-fee HH with AMEX. I closed it several years ago, but now my “new” no-fee card is at least taking over the original issue date of the very old card on my credit report. If I upgrade it to Aspire, that date remains I know you have done upgrades/closings then re-openings a lot with AMEX – what are the chances of an eventual bonus offer from the no-fee to Aspire (and not the Ascend)?
For now we are stuck at Gold but looking forward to carrying this card soon when/if AMEX makes it attractive for current customers. Please let me know what you have heard about any bonus upgrades offered by AMEX, even on a targeted basis perhaps? Thank you, & I am with you – this card is a tremendous opportunity for a whole lot of reasons.
I loved the Casa Marina property but I was stuck in the older tower and the hallway and elevator smelled horrible. The room was ok but worn and not worth 80k per night in my opinion. I also don’t like that they don’t have a real restaurant like the Reach does and the fact that you can’t bill back to your room from the other property seems crazy.
I may have had a better overall rating of it if I had been in the other tower but we were only there for 1 day and I just wanted to get into the room so the kids could use the beach.
I would give the beach, property, and service 5 stars and the room and rest of the property 2.5 stars. They are cheap on the Diamond breakfast benefit too only giving you $15 per person towards the buffet or grab and go place. A parfait, smoothie, cinnamon roll, and tea was $31.
Overall I don’t think the value is there. I find it a better property to just visit and hang out at the bar and use the beach, which they allow non guests to do.
As far as the cards go I don’t see an upgrade offer for the Aspire with points anytime soon. I doubt the no fee would ever get one. I would assume they will get Ascend offers though. I would sign up for the Aspire anyways to get the 100k offer and then if they give the upgrade offer later you can get that too. If you get the upgrade offer first then you miss out on the signup bonus and won’t get the double dip. That is the way I would do it.
I guess we don’t know if the resort credit could be used for the cost of the room itself?
American Express has said it will work. I know it hasn’t worked for advanced bookings/payments but paying for the room at checkout shouldn’t be a problem.
Does one have to be staying at a Hilton resort to use the property credit or could a card holder go to the restaurant at a resort for instance?
I believe it has to be billed back to a room. I removed your referral but you are welcome to post it on the referrals page.
Sell sell sell
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