The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers some impressive perks that can make travel easier, including elite hotel and rental car status and hundreds of dollars worth of credits annually. This suite of benefits can make this premium card’s $550 annual fee—far higher than many other hotel cards—nonetheless worthwhile. 

Cardholders get complimentary Diamond status, the highest status tier in the Hilton Honors program. Most other hotel cards only grant cardholders first or second tier status. The card also comes with extras such as room upgrades, guaranteed reservations, premium Wi-Fi and access to the executive lounge at certain hotels, which can include amenities like free breakfast, snacks, afternoon tea and evening cocktails.

Starting on your first anniversary with the card, you’ll get a free annual-night reward, plus up to two more based on your spending. You can also enjoy up to $400 in annual Hilton resort credits, up to $200 in annual flight credits when you book directly with the airline or through AmexTravel, elite status with National Car Rental and a $189 credit each year toward a CLEAR Plus membership, which can help you get through the airport security line faster. 

Additionally, the card is currently offering 180,000 bonus points when you spend $6,000 in the first three months, and you’ll also get 14 points per dollar on purchases at Hilton hotels and resorts; 7 points per dollar at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines or AmexTravel and car rentals booked directly with select car rental companies; and 3 points per dollar on all other purchases. 

You can use your points at more than 7,300 properties, ranging from budget hotels to luxury resorts. 

Are the rewards worth the fees? 

The card’s $550 annual fee is much higher than what most hotel cards charge. But for frequent travelers who can stay on top of the card’s complicated benefit rules, it can be worth it. 

For example, you can get enough value to offset the card’s annual fee with the annual flight and Hilton resort credits. But the flight credit is offered in $50 quarterly increments, and the Hilton credit maxes out at $200 every six months and can only be used to offset charges for specific amenities, so you can’t use them up all at once or at just any property. If you travel at least once a quarter, though, and can align some of your trips with one of Hilton’s roughly 300 resorts, you can get your money’s worth. 

The $189 CLEAR Plus membership credit can help you get through the airport security line faster, and it can be a great companion to a TSA PreCheck membership, which speeds up the actual screening process. However, CLEAR Plus doesn’t include TSA PreCheck, so you’ll need to apply for and pay for that membership separately.  

That said, Hilton is the only hotel chain that offers a free-night reward that you can use at any of its properties—other hotel cards generally limit your options to budget and midtier hotels. If you can snag a night with a luxury brand like Waldorf Astoria or Conrad, you could save upward of $500. 

You can also earn a second free-night reward when you spend $30,000 in a year, or $2,500 per month, and a third free night when you reach $60,000 in annual spending, or $5,000 monthly. If you spend $3,000 on your credit cards like the typical Wall Street Journal reader, you could enjoy at least two free nights each year.

The Aspire Card is also the only hotel card that offers its loyalty program’s highest elite status tier. While there’s no dollar value for elite status, feeling like a VIP every time you stay is a nice touch. 

The card’s rewards rates are also high, but keep in mind that it also takes a lot of points to book a stay at Hilton hotels. While free nights technically start at 5,000 points, you can expect a minimum of 30,000 points or more, even at lower-priced hotels. 

Card details you might miss

In addition to some premium perks, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers some other notable features, including:

• Up to $3,000 in baggage insurance, which covers lost, damaged or stolen baggage
• Up to $10,000 per trip in trip cancellation and interruption insurance if your trip is canceled or cut short due to a covered reason, such as injury, illness or death of a traveler or family member and severe weather  
• Up to $500 per trip in trip delay insurance, which covers expenses like meals, lodging and other personal items if your trip is delayed by more than six hours due to covered reasons, such as severe weather, equipment failure, lost or stolen passports
• Up to $10,000 in purchase protection on eligible items that are stolen or damaged within 90 days of the purchase date when you use the card
• Up to $10,000 in extended warranty protection, which adds up to one year to the original manufacturer’s warranty on eligible items with warranties of five years or less
• Up to $300 in return protection, which can provide a refund for eligible items you attempt to return within 90 days of purchase but the merchant refuses
• Auto rental collision damage waiver, which protects you against theft and collision damage on eligible rental cars
• No foreign transaction fees

Who benefits most from the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card?

The Aspire Card is best suited for people who travel frequently and stay almost exclusively at Hilton hotels. While the card’s value can exceed its cost, it takes some effort to make the most of its benefits. 

If you’re looking for something simpler and with a lower fee, you may consider the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card, which charges a $150 annual fee. The card offers a comparable sign up bonus and rewards rates, as well as some solid perks, including up to $200 in credits toward Hilton purchases each year and Gold Elite status (with a chance to earn Diamond when you spend roughly $3,300 per month on average.) You can also get a free-night reward each year, but you’ll need to spend $15,000 annually, or $1,250 monthly, to earn it.  

Additionally, hotel points are generally best used only for hotel stays, if you want more flexibility with your rewards you may consider the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. The card offers more straightforward rewards, with a flat 2 miles per dollar on most of your purchases. You can redeem your rewards for various travel expenses through the Capital One Travel portal or by booking travel on your own and requesting a statement credit. You can also transfer your miles to several airline frequent flier and hotel loyalty programs.

Methodology: How we evaluated the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

To choose Buy Side from WSJ’s Best Hotel Cards, we compared 15 credit cards from seven major hotel chains. We started our search with cards that offer the standard benefits you can expect from a hotel card, such as elite status and an annual free night benefit or points bonus. 

Then, we considered other valuable benefits that make it easy to offset the card’s annual fee, even without earning rewards. Examples include things like a second free night benefit, discounts on stays booked with points and perks for other travel expenses like flights and rental cars.

To find out more about how we choose credit cards—and to meet our panel of experts—you can also check out Buy Side from WSJ’s full best credit cards methodology.

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