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Travelers have dozens of ways to earn Hilton Honors points. That's a big deal if you're building a stash to fund a free night at some of Hilton's most luxurious properties or several nights at one of Hilton's budget-friendly brands. But all else being equal, the best way to earn a lot of Hilton points quickly is via credit card — either by netting a sign-up bonus on a Hilton credit card or initiating a transfer from one of Hilton's partner programs.
Read on to learn about all the credit cards that earn Hilton Honors points.
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Hilton Amex Cards
American Express issues all four Hilton-branded credit cards, and you'll earn Hilton Honors points every time you swipe your card. In addition to a valuable welcome bonus, each co-branded card offers a slew of perks that can be valuable to even the most infrequent Hilton traveler.
For instance, you'll enjoy complimentary Hilton elite status as long as you keep your account open. This perk alone unlocks a fifth night free on reward stays, helping you stretch your hard-earned points to the max.
Here's an overview of Hilton's four credit cards:
| Card | Annual Fee | Welcome Offer | Earning Rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hilton Honors American Express Card | $0 (Rates & Fees) | Earn 80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. |
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| Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card | $150 (Rates & Fees) | Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. |
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| Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card | $550 | Earn 150,000 Bonus Points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. |
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| The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card | $195 (Rates & Fees) | Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within the first six months of Card Membership. |
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Related: Hilton Gold Benefits: Free Breakfast, Room Upgrades, and More
Cards That Earn Points Transferable to Hilton Honors
If you collect transferable points, you can pick and choose between partner programs with which to redeem your rewards. The benefit of earning this type of reward is that you're not tied to redeeming them with a specific program, as is the case with Hilton's co-branded cards.
Presently, two rewards programs offer transfers to Hilton Honors: American Express Membership Rewards and Bilt Rewards. But as you'll quickly see, both programs don't provide the same value on Hilton transfers.
American Express Membership Rewards
Several Amex cards earn Membership Rewards. Better yet, Amex offers transfers to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, so you'll collect two Hilton points for every Membership Rewards point you transfer. And sometimes, Amex will even offer a transfer bonus to Hilton Honors.
At first glance, that ratio looks pretty good. However, based on recent AwardWallet user redemptions, Hilton points are worth about 0.59¢ apiece. Comparatively, Amex points are worth about 1.96¢ per point. In other words, Hilton isn't Amex's most valuable transfer partner. But it can make sense in the right circumstances.
The following cards earn Amex Membership Rewards and are open to new applicants:
| Card | Annual Fee | Welcome Offer | Earning Rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | $695 (Rates & Fees) | Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. |
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| American Express® Gold Card | $325 (Rates & Fees) | Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. |
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| American Express® Green Card | $150 | Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. |
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| Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card | $95 | Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in purchases in your first 6 months. |
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| Amex EveryDay® Credit Card | $0 | Earn 10,000 Membership Rewards® points after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in purchases in your first 6 months. |
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| The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | $695 (Rates & Fees) | Limited Time Travel Offer: Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases on your Business Platinum Card® within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Plus, earn a $500 statement credit after you spend $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel® with your Business Platinum Card® within the first 3 months of Card Membership. You can earn one or both of these offers. Offer ends 6/30/25. |
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| American Express® Business Gold Card | $375 (Rates & Fees) | Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.* | Get 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 eligible categories where your business spent the most each billing cycle from the list below:
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| Business Green Rewards Card from American Express | $95 (Rates & Fees) | Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Business Green Rewards Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership |
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| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express | $0 (Rates & Fees) | Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership. |
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Related: 5 Excellent Redemption Strategies for Amex Membership Rewards Points
The Bilt Mastercard®
Bilt is a relative newcomer to the points and miles game. You can earn Bilt Points by joining Bilt Rewards and paying rent or by adding The Bilt Mastercard® to your credit card arsenal.
- 3x points on dining
- 2x points on travel
- 1x points on rent payments without the transaction fee (up to 100,000 points each calendar year)
- 1x points on other purchases
Bilt Points are incredibly valuable, especially with certain transfer partners. Bilt launched transfers to Hilton Honors in June 2024 and offers a 1:1 ratio, which is a subpar compared to what Amex offers.
On average, AwardWallet users redeem Bilt Points for 2.01¢ apiece, nearly four times the average value of a Hilton point. All to say, Bilt to Hilton transfers might be worth avoiding unless you're a few points shy of a specific redemption. But even then, you're better off leveraging other ways of earning Hilton points or buying Hilton points outright than initiating a transfer from Bilt.
Related: Should You Use Bilt to Earn Rewards by Paying Rent?
Loyalty Programs That Offer Point Transfers to Hilton Honors
Filed under “ways that are nice to know about but that you should probably avoid” are the additional loyalty programs that offer point transfers to Hilton Honors. According to Hilton, the two programs that provide this functionality are Amtrak Guest Rewards and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Amtrak Guest Rewards
If you're looking for a way to redeem your Amtrak points without spending them on more rail travel, you can kick off a transfer to Hilton Honors. Hilton will let you exchange 5,000 Amtrak points for 10,000 Hilton Honors points. To make these redemptions, you'll need to call Hilton at 1-800-307-5000.
By extension, that means the Amtrak Guest Rewards® Preferred Mastercard® and Amtrak Guest Rewards® Mastercard® technically earn Hilton Honors points. Both cards award Amtrak points on multiple spending categories and offer sizable welcome bonuses:
- Amtrak Guest Rewards® Preferred Mastercard®: Earn 30,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first three billing cycles of account opening.
- Amtrak Guest Rewards® Mastercard®: Earn 12,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three billing cycles of account opening.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Virgin points are redeemable in innumerable ways. And they're pretty valuable, too; AwardWallet users redeem Virgin points for an average of 3.64¢ apiece! Generally speaking, that value comes from booking award flights in premium cabins, not transfers to Hilton.
But if you're not keen on putting your points towards flights, cruises, experiences, or others, you can also transfer your Virgin points to Hilton Honors points. For every 10,000 Virgin points you convert, you'll get 15,000 Hilton Honors points. To make a transfer, dial 1-800-365-9500.
Now for the fun part. How many cards earn Virgin points? Well, a lot. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and its parent program, Virgin Red, are accessible via a large number of transferable rewards programs. This means that any card earning one of the currencies below offers transfers to Virgin, which can be transferred to Hilton Honors. Clear as mud, right?
Of that list, some of our favorite cards that earn points that can be transferred to Virgin points — and potentially onwards to Hilton Honors points — include:
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card: Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
- 10X points per $1 on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
- 3X points per $1 spent on airfare, and other hotel purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent at gas and EV charging stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining at restaurants, including cafes, bars and lounges
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
Related: Overlooking Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Can Be Costly
Final Thoughts
Hopefully this article demonstrated that dozens of cards earn Hilton Honors points — either directly or indirectly. Coupled with all the other ways to earn Hilton points, earning the rewards necessary to redeem for that next free night should be a breeze.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (Rates & Fees), Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees), Hilton Honors American Express Card (Rates & Fees), The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), Business Green Rewards Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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