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Offers for the Hilton Honors Ascend Card from American Express, Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card and Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card are not available through this site. All information has been independently collected by AwardWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers.
All information about Hilton Honors Ascend Card from American Express, Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, and Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by AwardWallet
American Express and Hilton have again rebranded their mid-tier rewards card (formerly known as the Hilton Honors Ascend Card from American Express) as the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card.
- 12X Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio
- 6X Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations
- 3X Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
In addition to earning 12x points on Hilton purchases and receiving complimentary Gold Elite status, the Hilton Surpass enjoys some additional perks; Earn a Weekend Night Reward after you spend $15,000 on purchases in a calendar year, no foreign transaction fees, and ten free Priority Pass lounge passes. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
The improved Hilton Surpass joins Hilton's refreshed lineup below, with similar benefits to the new business card.
- Hilton Honors American Express Card
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card Welcome Offer
Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership
Some of the best value in the Hilton Honors program is found at the lower end of the award spectrum. Hotels in Asia are often particularly good value, where 100,000 points can land you as many as 10 nights at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur or up to 20 nights at the Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport. If you're more interested in aspirational properties, check out our list of the top luxury Hilton hotels you can book with points.
Points Earning Potential and Category Bonuses
The Hilton Surpass retains the same earning structure as the Hilton Ascend: Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio. Earn 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations. Earn 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
While Hilton points don’t hold the same cent per point value as rival program Hyatt, the high returns at Hilton properties, combined with the 25% bonus for Gold status and Hilton’s regular promos, offer some of the highest-earning ratios of any hotel rewards card we’ve reviewed.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card Feature Benefits
Weekend Free Night Award after spending $15K
Hilton Surpass cardholders receive a weekend free night certificate after spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year. A nice feature, the free night is redeemable across the Hilton portfolio of hotels and resorts (with a few exceptions) and could return hundreds of dollars in value if redeemed at a high-end property.
Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Elite Status
Hilton Gold ranks at the top of the charts for mid-tier elite status, providing complimentary breakfast, potential room upgrades and late checkout, and a 25% bonus on top of the base points earned for your stay. It’s also possible to earn Hilton Honors Diamond after spending $40K on the card in a calendar year. But the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card receives automatic Diamond status alongside a host of other benefits, and there's a good argument for applying for Hilton’s premium card if your annual spend is over $40K.
10 Free Priority Pass™ Lounge Passes
Another new benefit, Hilton Surpass cardholders receive 10 free Priority Pass Lounge passes just for holding the card. If you don’t already receive a complimentary Priority Pass membership via another card, this is a tangible benefit that provides added value for the increased annual fee.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
Foreign transaction fees used to be a common complaint from international travelers swiping this card while out of the country. The 2.7% foreign transaction fee imposed on overseas purchases has been removed on the revamped Hilton Surpass which features no foreign transaction fees . It may not be a high-flying perk like lounge access or elite status, but it can potentially save you hundreds of dollars when traveling abroad.
Application Restrictions
The Hilton Surpass is not considered a new card product. If you’ve previously earned a welcome bonus offer for this card or the Hilton Ascend, you won't qualify for the welcome welcome offer on the Hilton Surpass card. As per the Amex application page:
“Welcome Offer not available to applicants who have or have had the Hilton Honors Surpass® Card or the Hilton Honors Amex Ascend Card. American Express may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.”
Hilton’s refreshed lineup of co-brand cards includes two credit card products Hilton is offering for the first time, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, opening up terrific points earning opportunities for new and existing cardholders alike.
Final Thoughts
A step up from the Hilton Amex, the Hilton Surpass is a quality co-brand hotel rewards card that’s sure to be a hit with Hilton fans. Featuring new and improved perks, including 10 free Priority Pass lounge passes, no foreign transaction fees , and a weekend free night certificate after spending $15K, the new Hilton Surpass is a significant improvement on the Hilton Surpass of old. If you’re chasing even more benefits, more points, and higher status, Amex’s new Hilton Aspire card is one of the latest premium travel cards on the market, and it offers all that and more.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Be very careful if you sign up from Hilton email they won’t give your points.unless you get a new card . Very bad service
I had a HH Honors Amex and was approved and received the Surpass card without the 130,000 points offer. I was told when I contacted them that I was upgraded and did not apply for a new Surpass card and was therefore not eligible. I had clicked on the apply button to receive the card, there was no upgrade button. Over 1 1/2 hours, three representatives, two managers worth of discussing this and being misinformed by a second level escalation manager of what he was going to do and what would occur, I am now supposed to be sent a new standard HH Amex card. Amex card member for 36 years. Verbiage on offer and disclosure which I read thoroughly is not what is offered. Compliant filed with Amex but have no idea what they will do. I was told they do not contact complainant about resolution.
New Hilton credit card useless in small town America and Canada, most small hotels and shops will not accept it thus we get no points now. Without the added points we will have less rewards.
Will probibly cancel after we use our current points. Between Hilton raisins all reward points and not being able to use card we don’t want it.
If I take my family of 3 to a lounge, can I use 3 of the 10 complimentary PPs”?
Yes.
Wish I knew WHERE to max out the Hilton value. My redemptions have not been great.
Wish I could qualify for the bonus, but had and cancelled the Surpass. However, my husband got it last summer and he’s going to hang on to it.
That way we will still get free breakfast.
Gold status with Hilton is a solid benefit across the brand — free breakfast is one of our favorite perks as well.
darn. missed out on the surpass giving free nights away. got 75000pts after 30K spend.
Thanks for updating this post as more information becomes available.
Really a solid offering. I thought I’d miss the Citi Reserve more, but this card basically ticks all the same boxes for me.
Great benefits for a low fee card.
That signup bonus is really sweet! The only thing you might look out for is the Amex brand, since it’s not easy to find merchants abroad that will take them
I thought the Surpass come with free night certificate?
The Surpass card, historically, has not come with a free night certificate. There was a short recent time period where it was added as a benefit — if you were eligible for that you’ll still have it coming to you, but with the card and its benefits changing, you should be aware that how that certificate works won’t be the same going forward.
I got the HH Surpass Card with the yearly free night last year!! Are you saying that the yearly free night is going away???
You need to look at your terms specifically. Was a free night after the first year, or a free night after EVERY year?
I called AMEX today. The Ascend card is being used to transition folks out of the expiring (cough cough!) CITI card to the new AMEX product. BUT if you also have or have had the old AMEX Supass card, even if you cancel your CITI card ( and that’s probably now past deadline as transition is “in process”), you won’t get the sign up points promo. The only ways you can get the promotional points is to apply for the Aspire card ( annual fee= ALOT) or the Business HHonors AMEX whose benefits mirror the Surpass card with a similar fee.
Extra PP has high appeal. I’ve always been a sucker for anything airport lounge related.
It was the attraction of lounge access that first led me to taking out a card with a hefty annual fee. While a wouldn’t pay anything to access a lounge on a pay as you go basis, I will happily pay for a credit card that gives me free access.
The passes are electronic and issues annually.
Great review! Thanks for the info.
It’s always interesting to read all about these new products…keep it up!
hilton pesos….
Hah! But pesos certainly still have value if you know where to max out their value
Oh I like that.
I wish I could qualify, but I’ve had the surpass
I have the Ascend, but was told it was spend $3000 in first 3 months. Was I misinformed?
You were misinformed.
Any news about getting the sign up bonus if I had the Surpass card? If not, could one refuse card and apply for Aspire, or call and negotiate? ( eg. to get the bonus associated with being accepted for the Aspire card?)
As of now we have no data points one way or the other — but we’re assuming if you’ve had the Surpass, no dice on the bonus for the Ascend.
This is a great improvement for me over the Surpass card I have. 10 PP visits are no charge, foreign transaction fees are gone and the free weekend night for an additional $20.00 seals the deal. I get my Diamond status from spending on my card and actually staying at Hiltons so that remains a non-determining factor for me. Overall, this is a pretty powerful card for what you pay if you stay at Hilton properties and if you are eligible, receiving 100K points for $3K spending is good for a few additional nights.
Does spend on the Surpass this calendar year before conversion to Ascend count towards the $15,000 spend for the free weekend night?
I would assume yes but have not confirmed this.
Still better than any option in Canada. Really hope they offer something at some point.
Come on, guys… Cards, cards and more cards… A few weeks ago there would dozens of comments on your posts, but now…
Not sure what you’re getting at? We’re covering too many credit cards? The focus here is points and miles — with new cards coming out from Hilton, they’re gonna get a ton of attention.
Thank you for your work! I can’t see myself doing all this math, finding the best solutions, always like to read your tips. Thank you!!!
I have to agree. I love reading about credit cards that earn hotel or airline points or status. This one looks particularly exciting.
Sorry if i sounded like a rant. I guess the blog is very US-focused, which means that for many (most?) of the readers and Award Wallet users these amount of posts about (US only) credit cards feels like spam.
Nuno, we’re definitely VERY US-focused, because the majority of our readers and members are from the US. I’m sorry it feels like spam, and I honestly completely understand.
The increase in the AF may be worth the PP access for some, but for those who get unless PP access from other cards, it’s effectively $20 less value from this card
Hm. Think I might pass on this one, though it isn’t a bad setup.
I wish some of the simple perks from the Ascend (grocery points, etc) were on the Aspire.
Hilton and Amex have clearly built these products around specific demographics. There isn’t a single card that covers/maximizes everything.
Not a bad deal. Are the 10 PP passes issued once or annually?
Annually.
Do you know if these are physical paper passes and not credits when you use that credit card to pay the fee? Thanks.
They’re digital credits linked to your Priority Pass membership. You do not “pay” or use your credit card at Priority Pass lounges but instead present your Priority Pass membership card.