Amex Sends Out New Upgrade Offers for Hilton Cards
A new batch of people have been targeted for an upgrade offer on the no fee Hilton card. This is nothing new, American Express used to offer upgrade offers to the old Surpass card on a regular basis. Those offers were usually for 100,000 points where this one is only for 75,000 points.
You can find these offers in the Amex Offers section for your Hilton card, via Amex’s homepage when you are looking at “all cards” (logged in), or via email.
Details on the Offer
Upgrade from the Hilton Honors card to the Ascend card and receive:
- 75,000 Hilton Honors points after $2000 in spend within 3 months
- You will be charged a prorated $95 fee (keep the same cardmember anniversary)
This isn’t as good as the old 100,000 point upgrade offer but it is still pretty compelling. It also gets you into the Ascend card which earns better rates and comes with Hilton Honors Gold status. The Ascend is a great card for non bonus spend.
Why You May Not Want to Take this Offer
In the past people have been able to do this multiple times. I have personally upgraded mine and my wife’s card twice each. But with Amex’s new terms they may deny the bonus if you have already done an upgrade in the past. We should start seeing some data points in a month or two though.
If you haven’t already had the Ascend card then you would be giving up 25,000 points and a free night (on your one year anniversary) that you could get for signing up instead of upgrading. The current welcom offer for the Ascend card is for 100,000 points and a free night on your one year anniversary.
Going the upgrade route would keep a hard inquiry off your report and would keep it off your Chase 5/24 count though. You have to decide which is more valuable to you.
CLICK HERE to compare this card and other hotel credit cards
Conclusion
This is a great offer for people who have already signed up for the Surpass/Ascend card in the past. While it is not as good as the previous 100K offers it is still very compelling.
If you have never signed up for the Surpass/Ascend or have done the upgrade offer in the past it becomes a little bit of a murkier decision.
I would probably still do it if I had received the offer even though I have done the upgrade offer in the past. It is worth the risk to me.
If I had never had the Surpass or Ascend card I would be torn. A lot would depend on my 5/24 status and future application plans etc.
Hat Tip Double Duty Daddy
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I haven’t received an upgrade offer for the Hilton Honors personal yet. How can I go about getting one without being targeted? I’m trying to stay under 5/24
You could try calling in and see if they can offer you the offer (longshot). Remember that you usually have to have had the card for 12 months before you will see offers.
Will I get the bonus with the offer if I already had Surpass.
In the past it has worked out fine but tough to say with Amex’s new rules and policies. I would say yes but no way to know for sure at this point until some people give it a try.