With the new name for the world's largest loyalty program unveiled, the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card is finally rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.  Everything remains the same but the name - including (1) the $450 annual fee, (2) 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening, (3) annual $300 credits at any Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, (4) an annual free night at Marriott portfolio hotels or resorts with a redemption level of 50,000 points or less, (5) annual 15 night credits towards Marriott elite status,  (6) free Marriott Gold status and upgrade to Marriott Platinum status after $75K annual spending, and (7) Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited airport lounge access for you plus two guests.

At the same time, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express is rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card.  The only thing that changes other than the name is the annual fee - increased from $95 to $125 and NOT waived for the first year any more.  However, if you apply before  3/28/19, you will continue to receive the first annual fee waiver and your annual fee after the first year will be grandfathered in at $95.  You will also receive 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months.  If you have been thinking about applying for this card, you probably want to do it before March 28.

Since we covered the changes to Citi Prestige back in November, we have been waiting for the big moment of relaunch of this legendary high-end card.  As of January 4, 2019, the changes kicked in for the existing cardmembers; however, the card hasn't been available for new applications until the last day of January.  Now our review of Citi Prestige is updated.  Also updated is our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list - after two and a half years, Citi Prestige finally takes back the throne from the almighty Chase Sapphire Reserve!  As a result, Alliant CU Visa Signature falls off the Top 10 list.  Chase United MP Club Visa has surpassed Amex Platinum Card and Citi AA Platinum WEMC, as we have confirmed it retains two consumer protection coverages that are no longer available on most other Chase products - Price Protection and Return Protection.  Here are the before and after screenshots of the Top 10 list:

Here is the full updated review:
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The Facts

• Annual Fee: $495 for primary holder and $75 for each additional user.  The primary annual fee is reduced to $350 for Citigold clients.
• Signup Bonus: 50,000 points ($500 in travel rewards, gift cards, etc., or 50,000 miles of Avianca, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Flying Blue, JetBlue, Etihad, etc.) after you spend $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  The signup bonus won't be available if you have received a bonus from or closed any of these Citi cards: ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premier, Citi Premier, or Citi Prestige, within the past 24 months.  Historical best bonus of this card: 75,000 points with $7,500 spending requirement in July 2017; 60,000 points in 2014 and 2015 with $15,000 spending requirement.
• Application Landing Page
• Rewards: 5x airlines, travel agencies, and dining, 3x hotels and cruise lines, 2x entertainment (through 9/1/2019), and 1x everywhere else.
• Best Use of ThankYou points: ThankYou (TY) Rewards is Citi's rewards program and the points can be redeemed for cash, merchandise, gift cards, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point (note: cash rewards in form of statement credit or check have 0.5 cent value and in form of bill pay have 0.65 cent value).  In addition, as a premium ThankYou card, Citi Prestige offers an enhanced redemption option: you may transfer TY points to miles or points of several frequent traveler programs.  Please see our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR for the programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler accounts. 
• Annual $250 travel credit each calendar year.  Any travel category expense up to $250 a year will be automatically reimbursed.
• Priority Pass Select membership for you (primary cardholder or any authorized user) plus two guests for unlimited complimentary access to over 1,000 airport lounges around the globe (you don't need to fly with the airlines).  Note that Delta left Priority Pass in 2009; United/Continental has not been part of the Select program after September 2011; domestic American lounges never participated.  However, it may still be valuable, as it covers Alaska Airlines and some domestic lounges, plus many international lounges.
• Hotel Privileges: (1) MasterCard World Elite Luxury Hotels & Resorts: a collection of 500+ luxury hotels worldwide, through MasterCard's designated travel agency, Ten Lifestyle Group.  You will receive complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, early check-in, late check-out, and a special amenity such as a certain amount of hotel credit up to $100 per stay, free internet, or welcome gift, etc.  The rates are usually the same as hotel's best available rates (refundable flexible rates).  Note that any World Elite MasterCard offers this benefit and you can book your hotels on MasterCard website.  (2) Complimentary Fourth Night: You will receive the fourth night free when you book a stay for at least four consecutive nights through ThankYou.com; you may use this benefit up to twice per calendar year, at any of the numerous participating hotels, from budget to luxury.  [You may use this benefit as many times as you want when you book hotels before 9/1/2019].
• Other Benefits: (1) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.  (2) Reimbursement for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application every five years.  (3) Citi Private Pass Beyond for special access to entertainment and sporting events.  (4) While most credit card's Roadside Assistance service only dispatches a provider and you have to pay for the actual charge, Citi Prestige is among very few cards that cover towing up to 10 miles or other incidental charges, regardless of how far you are away from home.  (5) Citi Prestige also enjoys other standard World Elite MasterCard benefits such as MasterCard Travel & Lifestyle Services (savings on airfare, private jets, airport concierge, car rentals, chauffeured cars, cruise lines, tours, vacation packages, etc.), 10% discount with onefinestay (high-end home sharing service), complimentary ShopRunner membership (free two-day shipping and returns at participating stores), the Dining Program (special amenities at participating restaurants), the Nightlife Program (exclusive access to and recognition at participating night clubs), Priceless Cities, Priceless Surprises, Priceless Causes, Priceless Golf, etc.
• An authorized user also receives Priority Pass Select membership.  However, the $250 annual travel credit, $100 Global Entry credit, and even the two-time limit for the 4th night free benefit are shared by all card members within the same account.
• Protection: Citi Prestige WEMC offers the highest level of consumer and travel protection among Citi cards.
• Other Facts: since July 2017, Citi Prestige has received a metal design and is thus heavier than regular plastics.
• The History: To replace its prestigious Chairman Card, which was Amex Platinum's longtime archrival, Citi introduced ThankYou Prestige in late 2010 which received a lackluster review from us.  In 2013, Citi tweaked this relatively new product, reducing the annual fee by $100, enhancing its features, and renaming it simply as "Citi Prestige", hoping to gain more market share.  In early 2014, Citi increased the annual fee by $50 but also introduced a new redemption rate of 1.6 cent per point for American Airlines or US Airways flight and the free Admirals Club access, which made us praised it as the "king of high-end cards".  In July 2014, Citi made another dramatic revamp of the product effective October 19, 2014: seven airline partners were added to the transfer feature, which makes it actually useful; a new 3-2-1 rewards structure replaced the 2-1 rewards structure; annual airline credit was increased from $200 to $250; Airport Angel was replaced by Priority Pass Select, which makes more sense for most U.S. consumers; annual relationship bonus got tweaked; several valuable benefits such as flight points earning, annual complimentary companion ticket, and 15% airfare discount were removed.  In July 2017, Citi discontinued several valuable features (60% redemption bonus on American Airlines, 33% redemption bonus on other airlines, Admirals Club access, three rounds of complimentary golf).  The positive changes introduced are a new metal card design and the ability to use ICNHR 4th Night Free feature through ThankYou.com, which are minor compared to the loss.  In January 2019, Citi relaunched the Prestige Card after 6 months of unavailability, increasing the annual fee to $495, increasing airfare/travel agencies/dining earning to 5x, increasing cruise lines earning to 3x, reducing entertainment earning to 1x, expanding $250 annual credit from airlines to all travel categories, and limiting complimentary fourth night benefit to twice a year.  The overall enhancement has made this card once again the king of high-end cards, also regaining the #1 Best Credit Card title from Chase Sapphire Reserve.

The Math
After considering the easy-to-use $250 annual travel credit, the effective annual fee on this card is $245.  With that, this card offers an unmatched 5-3-1 rewards structure.  As our current valuation of TY points is 1.5 cents per point (based on the miles/points transfer feature), this card returns 7.5%, 4.5%, and 1.5%, for the 5-3-1 categories respectively.  It is not too hard to beat the $245 effective annual fee and the 2% cashback (from cards such as Citi Double Cash, Fidelity Visa), for example, when your annual spending in the 5x categories exceeds $4,455.  The more you spend on the 5x or 3x categories, your annual earning over 2% will be better.  Of course, for general spending, we still recommend looking somewhere else.  In addition, you enjoy the excellent travel perks and consumer protection for free.

Citi Prestige vs. Citi Premier: the difference in the annual fees might seem high at the first glance ($495 vs. $95), and Citi probably intends to offer Prestige only to the most affluent clients.  However, after considering the $250 annual travel credit, Prestige is merely $150 a year more than Premier, and its 5-3-1 rewards are generally much more than Premier's 3-2-1 rewards - Prestige offers 2 more points on airfare and travel agencies and 3 more on dining, but 2 less points on gas and travel other than airfare/travel agencies/hotels/cruise lines.  You may do your own math to see how easily Prestige comes out ahead, even with the $150 more in annual fees.  For example, based on 1.5 cents per point valuation, assuming your gain in airfare/travel agencies happens to offset your loss in gas and trivial travel categories, you just need to spend $3,333 in dining for Prestige to make more sense.  Of course, you receive better travel perks and consumer protection from Prestige on top of that.  The bottom line is that Prestige is generally a better card.

Citi Prestige vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve: First of all, both cards offer incredible rewards, perks, and protection.  (1) Similarity - both cards offer Priority Pass Select, waived foreign transaction fees, concierge service, and Global Entry application credit; their hotel privileges are also similar in our opinion: Citi has 4th Night Free and World Elite Luxury Hotel Collection, while Chase offers Relais & Chateaux privileges, LHRC, and Visa Infinite Hotels; our current valuation of both ThankYou and Ultimate Rewards points are the same at 1.5 cents per point.  (2) Citi's advantages - Prestige offers 2x additional points on airfare, travel agencies, and dining, as well as slightly better travel and consumer protection (including roadside assistance). (2) Chase's advantage - the effective annual fee after considering the annual travel credit is $95 cheaper on Sapphire Reserve; Chase offers 2x additional points on trivial travel categories (other than airfare/travel agencies/hotels/cruise lines); the rental car collision coverage is primary on Chase but secondary on Citi; even though 1.5 cents per point valuation for both currencies are based on frequent traveler miles/points transfer, Chase does offer better value for fixed value travel redemption (1.5 cents vs. 1 cent per point).  (4) Bottom Line: with the January 2019 revamp, you only need to spend $3,167 per year in dining, airlines, travel agencies minus trivial travel categories for Citi Prestige to be a better rewards card, even with a higher effective annual fee.  However, if you cannot achieve 1.5 cent value with miles/points transfer features and rely on fixed value travel redemption, Sapphire Reserve is still a great alternative.

To see how Citi Prestige competes with other cards with similar annual fees, ​please check out our featured review Comparing High-end Cards covering Amex Platinum Card, Amex Delta Reserve, Amex Hilton Aspire, Amex SPG Luxury, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United MP Club, Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, CNB Crystal, and MasterCard Black Card.

The Conclusion
Before its arch-rival Chase Sapphire Reserve came out in August 2016, Citi Prestige was the #1 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card.  After outshined by Sapphire Reserve for more than two years, Citi Prestige has finally regained the precious title with the January 2019 relaunch and impressive performance in rewards (#3) and protection (tied #1).

© 2019 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.

Chase has just upped the signup bonus on the United Explorer Business Visa Signature, from 50K miles to 75K miles: you will receive 75,000 United miles after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.  The $95 annual fee is waived for the first year.  Our current valuation for United miles is 1.5 cents a piece, so the signup bonus is worth $1,125 in our book.  This is the best offer in history for this product! 

With certain United perks such as free bag fees, 2x miles on United | dining | gas | office supplies, as well as the annual 10,000 miles booster when you spend at least $25K per year, this is a great card to keep after the first year for United flyers and/or if collecting United miles is of your interest.

Chase has changed the signup bonus on its three personal Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Credit Cards (Plus, Premier, Priority): from "40K + 20K" to "Companion Pass + 30K".  On any of the three cards, you will earn Companion Pass + 30,000 points after spending $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  Companion Pass is Southwest's potentially extremely lucrative top-tier elite status that allows you take a companion free of airline charges (not including taxes and government fees) on any Southwest operated flight as many times as you want and is normally achieved by flying 100 qualified one-way segments or earning 110,000 qualifying points in a calendar year.  This promotional Companion Pass earned by opening the credit card is good through December 31, 2019.  This bonus is not available if you currently have any personal Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card (Southwest Plus, Southwest Premier, Southwest Priority) or have received a signup bonus for any personal Southwest credit card in the past 24 months.  Based on anecdotal reports, this card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for this card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards). 

With this offer, you have a potential of saving a lot of money with the one-year Companion Pass, depending how many times you fly with a companion and where you go.  Southwest Airlines flies to most destinations in continental U.S., Mexico, some Caribbean destinations, and Hawaii (starting sometime in 2019).  Our valuation of Companion Pass is conservatively $600 based on one long trip and two short trips, which most cardmembers could realistically do.  Combined with the 30K Southwest points, the signup bonus ranges $870 to $950 in value, easily the best in history of Southwest Visa.  Previously a similar bonus of Companion Pass + 40K was offered to California residents only back in 2017.

It seems like every card issuer is upping the signup bonuses to attract new applicants towards the end of the year.  Barclays has just increased signup bonus on its popular Arrival Plus WEMC from 60,000 miles to 70,000 miles while waiving the first year annual fee.  These miles are not and can not be transferred to frequent flyer miles, unlike those miles earned from Arrival Premier WEMC; instead, they can be redeemed to cover any travel expense at least $100 at 1 cent per mile and you also receive 5% of the redeemed miles back each time.  In this way, the signup bonus is worth $735 in travel.  This is very similar to Capital One Venture Card's 75K offer.

Several cards are offering increased signup bonuses - please always check out our Promotions page for the latest credit card signup offers, sorted by our valuation.

• Capital One Spark Cash Business Card: up to $2,000: $500 after spending $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening and an additional $1,500 after spending $50,000 total within 6 months.  Even though requirement of the additional $45K spending to get the full $2,000 is undoubtedly on the high side, the effective cashback of 5.3% (3.3% from bonus + 2% from regular cashback) is not bad at all.  For comparison, the best business card for general spending is Amex Blue Business Plus which returns 2x Membership Rewards (MR) points on the first $50,000 each year and with our valuation of MR point at 1.5 cents per point represents equivalent cashback of 3%.
• Capital One Spark Miles Business Card:  up to 200,000 miles: 50,000 miles after spending $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening and an additional 150,000 miles after spending $50,000 total within 6 months.  Capital One Miles can be redeemed for travel rewards at exactly one cent a piece, so this signup bonus is similar to Spark Cash's.  However, one thing to know is in the coming December, Capital One will finally introduce the miles transfer feature that allows its Miles to be transferred to the following partners: Aeromexico, Air Canada (Aeroplan), Alitalia, Avianca, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Guest, EVA, Finnair, FlyingBlue (Air France & KLM), Hainan Airlines, Qantas, and Qatar.  The transfer ratio will be 1 Capital One Miles = 0.75 frequent flyer miles (1,000:750).  Based on these transfer partners, our valuation for Capital One Miles will be 1.1 cents a piece, and the 200K miles you obtain from this signup bonus will be worth $2,200, a little more than the fixed value travel redemption.
• Capital One Venture Card: 75,000 miles after you spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  Similar to Spark Miles, these miles are worth 1 cent a piece when redeemed for travel rewards, but can be transferred to frequent flyer miles after December.  
• Chase United Explorer Visa: up to 65,000 miles: 40,000 miles after spending $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and an additional 25,000 miles after spending $10,000 total within 6 months of new account opening.  If you don't want to spend $10K to get the full 65K miles, you may consider another offer of 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening. 
• All three personal Chase Southwest RapidRewards Visa Credit Cards are offering 60,000 points: 40,000 points after spending $1,000 within 3 months of new account opening and an additional 20,000 points after spending $12,000 total within the first year of new account opening.  All three personal Southwest Visas offer the same signup bonus: Southwest RR Plus Visa, Southwest RR Premier Visa, and Southwest RR Priority Visa.  Note that the Southwest RR Premier Business Visa still has an easier offer of 60,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening.
• Banca Popular Avianca LifeMiles Vuela Visa: 60,000 miles after the first purchase - increased from the regular 40K offer.  You need to enter the promotion code LM17WB to receive this offer.

Since three weeks ago, there have been "rumors" about upcoming major changes to Citi Prestige, which has been temporarily discontinued to new applications since August.  It seems like Citi has learned a lot from Chase regarding this type of marketing strategies - remember two years ago before Chase unveiled Sapphire Reserve there had been all these down-to-details type of rumors about the new card circulating around for months.  When the "rumors", a.k.a. strategic sourcing of unofficial information, started three weeks ago, I called Citi and the custom service representatives did not disclose or confirm any of the information that was circulating around.  But I knew the information was highly likely to be accurate.  Now we finally have it - official words from Citi: existing Prestige cardmembers started receiving emails from Citi regarding the revamp and Citi now also have a dedicated page for this information at information.citi.com/prestige/intro.

The changes will start kicking in on January 4, 2019 when supposedly Citi Prestige will be back online for new applications.  I ran some quick numbers and it seems like as long as Citi offers at least 20K points signup bonus, Prestige will finally take the crown back from Sapphire Reserve as the #1 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card, after about 2.5 years later.  We won't update the list until then, but let's first look at the changes.

• On January 4, 2019, Citi Prestige will offer 5x points on dining (up from 2x), airfare (up from 3x), and travel agencies (up from 3x), 3x points on hotels (the same as before) and cruise lines (up from 1x), 2x points on entertainment (which is the same, but will go way on 8/31/19), and 1x everywhere else.  Recently, we have seen Amex dramatically increased category bonuses on its personal Gold Card and Business Gold Card with introduction of some 4x categories (personal card now has groceries and dining as 4x and business card has two categories you spend most each month from six categories).  Now Citi pushes the bonus game even further with almost too-good-to-be-true type of bonuses.
• On January 4, 2019, the annual $250 airline credit will be expanded to cover all travel purchases, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, parking, ground transportation, etc.  This is similar to Sapphire Reserve's $300 annual travel credit and will make it much easier to effectively reduce the annual fees.
• The annual relationship bonus will be removed - you will receive your last relationship bonus on your next account anniversary.
• On May 1, 2019, cellphone protection will come to Citi Prestige.  Note that Prestige has already the best in industry consumer and travel protection, along with American Airlines Executive WEMC.
• Coming on September 1, 2019: annual fees will be increased to $495 (from $450) for primary cardmembers and $75 (from $50) for authorized users -  but if you are Citi Gold members, your annual fees will be kept the same at $350.; the Fourth Night Free feature will be capped at 2 times per year (now it is unlimited);  25% bonus ThankYou points when redeeming for flights will be removed - any travel redemption will have fixed value of 1 cent per point - however, the transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points remains the same, and thus our valuation of ThankYou points will remain 1.5 cents per point; 2x points earning on entertainment will be reduced to 1x points.

In general, with the already impressive perks and protection and the dramatic increase in category bonuses, Citi Prestige is surely on the way to take back the glorious #1 Best Credit Card spot.  As an existing cardmember who has been thinking about canceling Prestige after obtaining Sapphire Reserve, I can't wait 2019 to come!

Just about a month after revamping the personal Gold Card, Amex did it again with the new Business Gold Card with the following changes.

• The name is changed from "American Express Business Gold Rewards Card" to simply "American Express Business Gold Card".
• The annual fee is increased from $175 to $295; in addition, the first year annual fee is no longer waived.
• The signup bonus is changed from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to one year of G Suite Basic + one year of ZipRecruiter Standard (estimated to be over $3,000 if you take the value on paper).
• Bonus category changes: the old Business Gold Rewards Card offers 3x MR points on one category selected by cardmember from airfare, U.S. gas stations, U.S. shipping, U.S. advertising, and U.S. computer purchases, 2x the rest of the five categories, and 1x everywhere else; the new Business Gold Card offers 4x points on two categories you spend most each month from six categories (five as above plus newly added U.S. restaurants) and 1x everywhere else.
• In addition to the miles/points transfer feature,  Business Gold Card now offers a new redemption option - 25% points rebate with the "Pay with Points", essentially making MR points fixed value at 1.33 cents a piece, when buying First/Business Class tickets with any airline through amextravel.com, and Economy Class tickets with your selected airline also through amextravel.com.  While we value miles/points transfer feature a little higher at 1.5 cents a piece, we do think the 1.33 fixed value option is much easier to achieve for most consumers.

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In general, even with the increased annual fees, the new card represents a major enhancement over the old card, especially considering that the non-fee Amex Blue Business Plus already offers very impressive 2x points on everything and the old Business Gold Rewards Card only returns one extra point on one single category which we have been criticizing as lackluster.  Now the new Business Gold Card pairs extremely well with Blue Business Plus by adding two extra points for two major categories.  You only needs to spend approximately $10K on 4x categories each year to beat the $295 annual fee, and everything beyond that will be your net earning with this card.  For example, if your business' annual 4x category spending is $30K, you will earn approximately $600 in addition to your Blue Business Plus.

In addition, you may even strategically add the personal Amex Gold Card to the mix and use it for 4x on groceries and dining while using Business Gold Card for 4x on airfare and gas (or other categories).  Of course, if you value the lucrative travel perks such as airport lounge access and luxury hotel privileges by having the personal or business Amex Platinum Card, you will have 5x points on airfare and can adjust your 4x categories accordingly.  The Amex MR ecosystem finally becomes internally harmonic and poses a great threat to the Chase UR ecosystem.  At least on paper, Amex seems leading the way.  We will have a separate post to compare two ecosystems.

Amex has just revamped its Premier Rewards Gold Card and rebranded it simply as Amex Gold Card.  The annual fee is increased from $195 to $250 and not waived anymore, but Amex adds $10 monthly dining credits (up to $120 per year) at participating restaurants - Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Chris Steak House and participating Shake Shack locations (excluding Shake Shack locations in ballparks, stadiums, airports and racetracks).  While we consider the (unchanged) $100 annual airline credit as an effective annual fee reducer, we are not sure about the new dining credits - we would rather view them as extra perks.  The public signup bonus is now 50,000 points and up to $100 statement credits (20% return on U.S. restaurants capped at $100 in bonus).  Note that the 50K points bonus is not available if you have or had this card or Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card.  Amex is also upgrading the card material from plastic to metal.  Another interesting marketing trick is that Amex now offers a limited edition Rose Gold metal card design if you apply before January 9, 2019.

The biggest change comes in the rewards structure: the 3-2-1 structure is replaced by a 4-3-1 structure.  The 3x points on airfare remains the same; 2x on U.S. gas stations is eliminated; U.S. groceries and U.S. restaurants receive a bump from 2x to 4x (grocery spending has a $25K annual cap).  The last part is unexpectedly and crazily lucrative - for example, if you spend $7K in groceries and $8K in dining each year, you will receive an extra bonus of 30K Membership Rewards (MR) points compared to the old card (valued at $450 in our book)!  Considering the fact that the old PR Gold Card had already been pretty impressive in the bonus department, this move is HUGE.  We are excited to see its position on the Best Credit Cards for Rewards list jumps from #8 to #2, now just below Amex EveryDay Preferred.  Even though the Amex Gold Card still lags behind in Perks and Protection, it made a strong come up to our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list with a nice #5 finish.

How about the exiting Premier Rewards Gold cardmembers?  They have the best deals - the annual fees will be kept at $195 until April 1, 2019 and the 2x points on gas stations will be grandfathered in until October 4, 2019.  Amex is very generous in this regard.

Amex has increased welcome bonuses on the Hilton co-branded credit cards, for a limited time.  The landing page for all four cards is here.

Amex Hilton Aspire Card ($450) 150K + one free night @ signup
Amex Hilton Ascend Card ($95) 125K
Amex Hilton Business Card ($95) 125K
Amex Hilton Card ($0) 75K

Even with the highest annual fee, Amex Hilton Aspire Card, our #2 Credit Card for Perks, will be our recommendation as long as you stay at Hilton portfolio hotels a few times a year, because other than the signup bonus, it offers $250 annual airline credit, $250 annual Hilton resort credit, one annual free weekend night (Friday/Saturday/Sunday), complimentary Hilton Diamond status (their top-tier elite status), Priority Pass Select membership for airport lounge access, premium roadside assistance (better than your regular AAA membership), etc.  The free night can be redeemed at any Hilton portfolio hotels worldwide, and Hilton's most expensive hotels require 70,000 to 95,000 points or $400 to over $1,000 in cash per night.   Some examples of exceptional redemption for the weekend free nights: Conrad Maldives, Conrad Koh Samui, Conrad Bora Bora Nui, Conrad Tokyo, Hilton Seychelles Labriz, Hilton Seychelles Northolme, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, Grand Wailea A Waldorf Astoria Resort, and Waldorf Astoria Park City (in peak seasons).