American Express Hilton HHonors Card and HHonors Surpass Card Review (before May 2013)

Updated October 22, 2012.  Please see our updated review here.

The Facts
Amex Hilton HHonors Card
  • Annual Fee: None
  • Signup Bonus: 40,000 points
  • Rewards: 6x Hilton, gas, groceries, drugstores, and telecommunication (cellphone, home phone, internet, cable and satellite TV), 3x everywhere else.
  • Other Benefits: Complimentary Hilton Silver status, which is not much but allows VIP awards booking for 15%-25% saving when redeeming points.  Hilton Gold status with an annual spending of $20,000.  Hilton Gold, normally achieved by 16 stays or 36 nights, is considered as the best mid-tier hotel status in industry.
Amex Hilton HHonors Surpass Card
  • Annual Fee: $75
  • Signup Bonus: 40,000 points
  • Rewards: 9x Hilton*, 6x gas, groceries, drugstores, and telecommunication (cellphone, home phone, internet, cable and satellite TV), 3x everywhere else. * Starting 11/1/2012, you will earn 12x on Hilton properties.
  • Other Benefits: Complimentary Hilton Silver status.  Complimentary Hilton Gold status for the 1st year and for $20,000 annual spending thereafter.  Hilton Diamond status for $40,000 annual spending.  The standard Priority Pass Select membership ($99): you pay $27 per visit. 
  • Best Use of Hilton HHonors points: Hilton HHonors points are best used for Hilton Worldwide hotels, including Conrad, Waldorf Astoria Collection, Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites.
  • Other Facts: American Express Hilton card holders can use AXON rates when redeeming points for stays of 4 days; AXON6 (for redemption at Category 6 hotels) and AXON7 (for redemption at Category 7 hotels) represent even better value than VIP rates.

The Math
The value of Hilton HHonors points varies greatly, from 0.3 to 1.0 cent per point.  Thus the basic HHonors Card returns around 1~3% on general spending and 2~6% on bonus categories.  If you redeem Hilton points towards high-end Hilton brand hotels, this card can be invaluable, especially with Hilton Gold after $20K.

Hilton HHonors vs. Hilton HHonors Surpass: The Surpass card costs $75 more, but returns an extra 3 points on Hilton and the possible Hilton Diamond after $40K.  While it is hard to figure out how much value Hilton Diamond offers over Hilton Gold, if you spend more than $3,600 on Hilton a year ($300/month) and value one point at 0.7 cent then definitely upgrade to the Surpass Card, since $3,600 x 3 point/$ x 0.7 cent/point > $75.  Also if you would like to sign up one, go with the Surpass first since you will get instant Hilton Gold and the difference in signup bonus is more than the annual fee; then upon renewal, you can always downgrade it to the basic card if you can't justify paying the annual fee.

The Conclusion
If you value Hilton points high, Amex Hilton HHonors cards are invaluable, especially considering Hilton Gold or Hilton Diamond as the spending bonus.