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Hilton’s mid-tier rewards card has changed names (again) and relaunched with an all-time-high welcome offer. The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (formerly Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card), is now featuring a limited-time offer of 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points and a free weekend night reward after you spend $4,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 4 months of Card membership. (Terms Apply.)
That’s a significant increase over the most recent offer of 125,000 points, with Amex adding an extra 5,000 bonus points plus a free weekend-night certificate into the welcome bonus.
Let's dig into the highlights of this stellar new offer on the Hilton Surpass card.
130,000 Bonus Points, a Free Weekend Night, and Top Benefits With the Hilton Surpass
- Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points and a free weekend night reward after you spend $4,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 4 months of Card membership.
- Earn a Weekend Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
- 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.
- Spend $40,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year and you can earn Hilton Honors Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.
- $95 annual fee.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- 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
- 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
- 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
The increased welcome bonus on the Hilton Surpass can land new cardholders 130,000 points plus a free weekend night after you spend $4,000 within the first three months. The card also features some of the best perks of any co-brand card at its price point.
- 10X complimentary Priority Pass lounge passes each year
- Hilton Honors Gold Elite status for as long as you hold the card
- Hilton Honors Diamond after you spend $40,000 in a calendar year
- A Free Weekend Night after you spend $15,000 in a calendar year
- 12X points per dollar at Hilton hotels and resorts, 6X points at US restaurants, US supermarkets, and US gas stations, and 3X on other purchases
- Access to Amex Offers
- No foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees)
We typically value Hilton points at ~0.5¢ each, making the 130,000-point welcome offer worth roughly $650 towards free nights. Redeeming Hilton points for free nights costs between 10,000-95,000 points per night, so you’ll get up to 13 nights at the lower end of Hiltons redemption options, or 1-2 nights at an aspirational property like Conrad Bali.
Unlike the free night certificates offered with most hotel rewards cards, the free weekend night certificate you get when you signup for the Hilton Surpass is valid at almost any Hilton property worldwide, with just a few exclusions you can see here. This means you could potentially redeem your free night certificate for a high-end Hilton property costing upwards of $500-$600 per night. For most folks, however, we see a redemption value of ~$300 as a more achievable target, given the likelihood that a good many Hilton free night certificates would be used for local weekends away or for overnight sporting events.
When you tally the ~$300 free night certificate and ~$650 worth of points, the welcome offer will return roughly $1,000 in value, dependant on how you redeem your points and free night. Thanks to the free weekend night earned after $15,000 spent on the card each year, we’ve run the numbers to show how you can get a minimum 3.5% return on non-bonus spending on the Hilton Surpass, and as high as 8.5% back on Hilton spending. Add to that the value of Hilton Gold elite status, which we rank the best mid-tier hotel elite status, and the 10X Priority Pass lounge passes, and you have an impressive credit card package for the $95 annual fee (Rates & Fees).
Earn 90,000 Bonus Points on the Hilton American Express Card
Already hold the Hilton Surpass, or don’t like the idea of paying an annual fee? The Hilton Honors American Express Card is also offering a limited-time increased welcome bonus, so you can pick up a cool 90,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months (Terms Apply.) While this card doesn’t offer the same level of perks found on its premium stablemates, you’ll still receive:
- Hilton Honors Silver status for as long as you hold the card
- Hilton Honors Gold after you spend $20,000 in a calendar year
- 7X points per dollar at Hilton hotels and resorts, 5X points at US restaurants, US supermarkets, and US gas stations, and 3X on other purchases
- Access to Amex Offers
- No foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees)
Outstanding returns when you consider the lack of an annual fee. (Rates & Fees)
Final Thoughts
With the cost of renaming its rewards cards every few months, you could be excused for thinking Hilton might reduce the number of points issued with the refreshed Hilton Surpass. Instead, we are on the receiving end of an all-time-high welcome bonus of 130,000 bonus points plus a free weekend night, one of the most valuable sign-up bonuses currently available and on a card which already stands out for its top return on spending.
Keep in mind, if you already hold a Hilton Surpass (or Hilton Ascend), or you’ve previously held the Hilton Surpass, Hilton Ascend, or the old Hilton Reserve from Citi, you won’t be eligible to receive the bonus this card. However, holding one Hilton Amex doesn’t prevent you from acquiring another card in the Hilton lineup. If you're ineligible for the Hilton Surpass, you can still get the Hilton Amex with its excellent 90,000 point offer.
These limited-time bonuses are advertised to end on 8/28/19, so if you want to take advantage of the increased offers now is the time to act.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees), and Hilton Honors American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
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Nice offer. Wish they would also sweeten the Aspire offer.
Does the Hilton Business card have a free weekend night offer, too?
Not currently. Fingers crossed.
TPG says an improved offer for the Hilton Biz is coming.
These offers are interesting but I think that I am going to hold out for the top end Hilton card for diamond status. The Amex platinum already gives me Hilton Gold status.
This is true, but there is almost no opportunity for points accrual with the AmEx Platinum. If I had more reasons to visit Hilton I would strongly consider the surpass or the next tier up just because of the points stack opportunities.
This offer gives you a lot of clout for little money in a decent hotel loyalty program. Gold status means free breakfasts and room upgrades plus extra points per dollar spent. 130K and a free night certificate after spending $4000 in 4 months is a pretty good way to get started in the hotel game.
If you are starting out, keep Chase cards in mind to claim valuable UR points which you can use for airline miles. If you are signup eligible with Chase and Amex, I can see a weeks worth of free hotel nights and air transportation in someone’s future. Unfortunately for me, I’m ineligible for this offer and all Chase cards because of the Chase 5/24 rule but should be seriously considered by those who are eligible for these offers.
This can be a great deal. Combining the fifth night free on an awards Stay, and a free weekend night one can get six nights at the cost of four nights points.
The Hilton program is underrated. Hilton has a lot to advantages. You can get top status with just a card. So check it out.
Aspire is the beat hotel card on the market. Cant beat the return you get from that card anywhere.
Thanks for the reminder to evaluate Aspire for an upcoming card decision.
Wonder if the free weekend nights after $4K and $15K have 12 mos expiration dates?
“With the cost of renaming its rewards cards every few months, you could be excused for thinking Hilton might…” haha
We care for the points, they care for the name. Its a win-win!
I have just lost track of the offers, no matter how hard I have been trying 🙂
I’m currently trying to get under 5/24 for more Chase cards, but this offer is definitely very tempting…should I give up on going under 5/24 for the new Hilton card offers?
That’s hard to answer. It depends a bit on how you use your points. Hilton points aren’t worth nearly as much as Chase UR.
I guess it all depends on how much longer you have to wait to get below the 5/24 threshold. If you’re close I would go after all the UR offers you are eligible for. Sign up for all Chase emails and check your online account for offers that do not include 5/24 language.
You never know when you’ll get an offer you can’t refuse even though it will count against 5/24. As mentioned above, I am not eligible for Chase cards, but I did take advantage of huge bonus point card offers (Hyatt and IHG) that didn’t include the 5/24 rule and I use those cards all the time.
I have given up on Chase but can tell you that other card companies have some great bonus offers. This hobby isn’t as restrictive as some make it out to be as long as they are willing to do the investigating to see what’s out there.
Makes me consider moving over to Hilton! Thanks!
So have a plain Hilton Honors AMEX card still make me eligible for this bonus on this new card?
Yes, as long as you don’t have the exact same card, you’re eligible.
This beats the sign up bonus for Aspire. DANG!
The additional bonus is good but would be better if the free night was every year on the anniversary date like some of the cards.
It is on the anniversary date. You get a free weekend night award after you are approved and spend $4K in the 1st 3 months. You also will receive the 130K bonus HH points. If you spend $15K on the card during the year you will receive an additional weekend night. On your anniversary and each one after that, you will receive another free night certificate after paying the annual fee.
I got the base card and was targeted for the surpass within 3 months. It was great to receive two offers!
so the ascend is no more?
Yep, renamed (again). But the benefits are unchanged.
I had some type of Hilton Amex years ago – probably 8-10 years ago – but don’t recall which kind. If I apply and the card is approved, does that mean I will get the bonus or can they still deny it?
I’d say you’re probably fine. I believe any Hilton cards in existence 10 years ago are separate products. If you apply while logged in to your Amex account, the system should warn you if you are identified as ineligible for a bonus.
Since you’re not trying to churn, you could always call CS and ask if you’re eligible for the bonus.
I got this just before the change and only needed 2k in spend to get the 130k bonus
Upgrade offers (i.e. from Surpass to Aspire) with the same terms are going out to current cardmembers too, so keep and eye on your inbox, if interested.
Just recently got great value with family mini vaca with Hampton Inn 4 rooms for 2 nights at 160,000 points. Rooms value $858+!!! No complaints sleeping 14 folks, free breakfast, ice cream at night, outdoor pool, great staff😀
So nice to provide for our kids and grandkids for $0!!!
thanks
This is a wonderful offer. I got it when the sign-up bonus didn’t include the weekend night, but used the points at a beachfront resort in Waikiki. I’m about to redeem my Aspire free night for a room in Santa Barbara that would have gone for nearly $650 after taxes and resort fees (shudder).
Are the priority passes per calendar year or card member year?
I believe these are based on a calendar year, but not 100% sure.
Update, per the T&C, it appears tht the Priority Pass membership year begins when you enroll in the benefit with Amex. Your enrollment starts the Priority Pass membership year, and the benefit is based on that.
So in short, it doesn’t look like it is possible to get 10 between now and December, and 10 more in January. Sorry for the incorrect initial reply:
T&C: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card-application/apply/prospect/terms/hilton-honors-surpass-credit-card/26129-10-0#offer-terms
This looks interesting. Too bad I have 4 AMEX cards. I don’t want to waste another credit inquiry.
“Waste”?? How are 2 free weekend nights in the course of 1 year, Gold status and 130K points for an AF of $95.00 a waste of a credit inquiry? In my area that’s 5-6 free nights at 30-40K redemptions. BTW, I’m sitting on 6 AMEX cards now.
@Bill, I’ve heard that some folks are limited to 4 AmEx cards, so that may *part* of the issue for CharlesJ? The second part of the statement is a bit non-sequitur though… certainly not a waste… I agree 130k+FWN is a great offer.
I wish we had these offers in Australia