Hilton Honors Aspire is one of my absolute FAVORITE credit cards. I think it should be in everyone’s wallet if you travel 2-3 times per year. I am going to break down the reasons why I absolutely love this card, and what kind of perks it has gotten for us over the years. In fact, Dave and I BOTH hold the Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card. That is how valuable we think it is. You can also check out my segment in our Travel Tip Tuesday’s YouTube video here.
All information about Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by basictravelcouple.com
In this article I will include
- Free Weekend night reward
- Hilton Resort Statement Credit
- Airline Incidentals Credit
- Hilton Property Credit
- Diamond Status
- Priority Pass Lounge Access
- Car Rental Insurance
- Baggage Insurance
- Foreign Transaction Fees
Lets jump in.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
1. Free Weekend Night Reward
My favorite perk of the Hilton Honors Aspire card is the uncapped annual Free Weekend Night Reward Certificate. This certificate is given each year on your cardmember anniversary. Typically the Hilton Honors Free Weekend Night Reward can only be used on a weekend night, which covers Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights. However, due to the pandemic, AMEX actually made this certificate available for any night if it was issued by December 31, 2020. It is also good for 24 months instead of the typical 12 months.
The certificate can be used at ANY Hilton Property that has availability for a “Standard Room Rate” when you go to redeem points for a room. This EVEN INCLUDES high-end resorts like the Hilton Conrad Maldives, which costs about $700 a night after taxes and fees. What this means for you is two things:
- You can ‘stack’ certificates. Let’s say you open your Hilton Honors Aspire card and earn your annual weekend night reward certificate before December 31, 2020. Next year you get another certificate on your anniversary, but you didn’t use your certificate yet from 2020. You can now book 2 nights (if you find availability) back to back for completely free. That would give you two nights at the Hilton Conrad Maldives for a value of $1,400 for $0.
- Finding availability is a lot easier as you have 4 additional days to utilize!
ARV: $200 at minimum. I typically use for high-end resorts, but for the actual retail value, we will go on an average end resort.
2. $250 Hilton Resort Statement Credit
The Hilton Honors Aspire $250 Resort Statement Credit is given for each year of your card membership. This means if you open your card in July of 2020, it will renew in July every year. This perk is a $250 statement credit on your card account for eligible purchases made directly with participating Hilton Resorts. It is actually pretty easy to redeem. We utilized this benefit when we were in Japan last year and stayed in Tokyo.
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How to redeem:
First, you will want to look up what resorts qualify. You can do so by going to hilton.com/resort. Next, you pick which property and book. Another great perk is once you are at the hotel, say your hotel is only $100 a night and you book 2 nights. You can then charge any items to the room- food, spa, or whatever else the hotel might offer. Then upon checkout, pay for your hotel and any extras. You will get a statement credit automatically 8-12 weeks after. I received mine after about 4 weeks.
ARV: $250
3. $250 Airline Incidentals Credit
The Airline Incidentals Credit is a little bit different than the Resort credit. First, you have to pick which airline you would like to be reimbursed for the incidentals credit. I fly Southwest often because of the Southwest Companion Pass, so I choose them. To choose your airline, you can call the number on the back of the card, or go to their website. You can change the airline one time per calendar year in January. If you have never selected one, you can choose at any time. Be sure to choose wisely. I like that you can track your benefit on amex.com to see how much farther you have to meet your Airline Fee Credit.
As for the credit actually being redeemed, this works similarly to the Hilton Resort Credit where they will automatically redeem anything that qualifies for airline incidentals. It seems as if these ‘incidentals’ are for items such as in-flight purchases of food and beverages, as well as checking luggage, or flight changes and cancellations. They do not count towards purchasing airline gift cards, points, or tickets. You can review the terms and conditions here.
As for the credit actually being redeemed, this works similarly to the Hilton Resort Credit where they will automatically redeem anything that qualifies for airline incidentals. It seems as if these ‘incidentals’ are for items such as in-flight purchases of food and beverages, as well as checking luggage, or flight changes and cancellations. They do not count towards purchasing airline gift cards, points, or tickets. You can review the terms and conditions here.
ARV: $250
4. $100 Hilton ON Property Credit
This credit only applies to bookings at the Hilton Conrad or Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts for qualifying charges. Qualifying Charges do not include property taxes & fees, gratuity, or the charges for the room. To use this credit you need to book a minimum of two nights. The credit will be reflected on your ending hotel bill at checkout and not your Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card Statement.
You can book online at hiltonhonorsaspirecard.com or by calling Hilton Honors at (855) 292-5757. When booking by phone, reference code ZZAAP1.
ARV: $100
5. Hilton Honors Diamond Status
Hilton Honors Diamond Status is the highest tier you can receive with Hilton. This status gives you one of my favorite perks- access to the Executive Club Lounges that are in select Hilton Honors Hotels.
- Space available upgrades, all the way up to one-bedroom suites
- Premium Wi-Fi
- 100% Base Points Bonus
- Executive Club Lounge Access
- Complimentary Breakfast
There are a few other perks that you get just for being Hilton Honors members, that I will also include. However, some of these perks are for base status, gold, or silver status.
- 2 Free Water Bottles per stay at select properties
- Fifth night free on award stays
- No resort fees on an award stay
- Late Checkout Requests
- Digital key and check-in
ARV: If you travel 2-3 times a year, I’d give this at least $300 in value. (Breakfast and lounge access at $50 per person for 2 people for 2 trips, and $100 for the fifth night free, as well as upgrades.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
6. Priority Pass Select Lounge Access
Priority Pass is an amazing perk in over 1,000 airports around the world. They offer complimentary food and beverages to travelers who have access. With your Hilton Honors Aspire Card, you and two guests can accompany you in these lounges for a nice ‘break’ from airports. Sometimes the locations even have showers. We were lucky enough to get one in Buffalo recently (The Club at BUF) that we wrote a review on. You can also check out our detailed overview of what the Priority Pass Select Lounge Access covers.
All information about Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by basictravelcouple.com
If you were to pay for access to the lounges, it could be $99 for the year and then $32 per person to enter. I will call it $35 a person for entry to include the food and beverages. In all reality, it is more like $50 per person.
ARV for 2 people for 2 entries: $140
7. Car Rental Loss and Damage insurance
If you don’t have a credit card with this kind of coverage and rent a car, you are missing out. This perk covers car rental damage if your car is damaged or stolen. It is great as it means you can waive the ‘extra’ collision coverage on a car rental.
One note on this: Be sure to read the terms and conditions. Some countries are excluded. At the time of this writing, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy were not covered. Some cars are also excluded so if you are renting a high-end luxury car, you might want to ensure if it is covered.
Usually, car rental insurance is an additional $10-15 a day as an add-on. If you travel for a long weekend of 4 days, on the low end I would rate this at $40-$50 in savings per trip.
ARV: $40
8. Baggage Insurance
Whether you are a luggage checker or carry-on lover, this is important. Lost or damaged luggage has probably happened to everyone that travels, but not all are fortunate enough to have their lost items returned. Baggage Insurance with the Hilton Honors Aspire Card works like this: if you book your tickets with your Hilton Honors Aspire Card on a common carrier (and this can be a plane, train, ship, or bus), and your luggage is lost, stolen, or damaged, then you will be covered up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage. This will be in excess of coverage provided by the common carrier.
All information about Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by basictravelcouple.com
As always, there are restrictions and guidelines to this. You can read these details at: americanexpress.com/BIPterms
I will note that they state in the terms if you book a flight by redeeming points that are not AMEX Membership Reward points, it does not seem as if it will be covered. It has to be a full-price ticket unless you are redeeming Membership Rewards. There are more details in the above terms.
ARV: $0- I put 0 as this only works if you use the benefit, but if you use it it could be worth hundreds.
A Few other Perks
A couple of other things I wanted to note that a lot of other cards do offer, but if you do not have a card with these, this makes it even more valuable to you.
9. No Foreign Transaction Fees
When traveling to other countries, if you use a credit card that does not have any no foreign transaction fee, you will be charged each time you use your credit card. I accidentally did this once when I was younger in Canada and I was not happy to see my bill afterwords.
10. Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption
If your trip was booked entirely on your Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card, (including paying with points and paying taxes and fees with your card), and it is canceled or delayed for a covered reason, you may receive reimbursement for non-refundable travel expenses up to $10,000 per trip. This does have a maximum of up to $20,000 per eligible account for each consecutive 12-month period. “Covered Reasons” include inclement weather, terrorist action, call to jury, sudden illness or injury to you or an eligible traveler.
All information about Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by basictravelcouple.com
11. Trip Delay insurance
If your trip is delayed by more than 6 hours due to a ‘covered reason’, this perk will cover unexpected expenses such as meals, lodging, and personal use items. This is up to $500 per trip.
Basic Recap
This card provides incredible value for an annual fee of $450. Even with the high annual fee, utilizing just the $250 airline credit and $250 Hilton Resort Credit, you easily make your money back and then some. If you look at all of the ARV I put in this article, it is about $1280+ in value, and even more, if you utilize the perks more than I stated. This is by far one of my favorite hotel cards and overall Travel Rewards Credit Card. If you are looking for other Top Credit Card Options, be sure to check out our list that updates each month.
The Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card has some of the best value out there among hotel brands. Hilton Honors Brand portfolio has over 6,500 hotels throughout 119 countries. Let me know if you have this card, or if you will be getting it anytime soon!
All information about Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by basictravelcouple.com
I’d love to hear in the comments below or over in our 8,700+ Member Basic Travel Facebook Group!
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
All information about Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by basictravelcouple.com
