This has been a very strange year for miles and points. We didn’t get a chance to travel and spend a lot of points but we sure did get quite a few great earning opportunities. We saw high-value increased offers, such as the five free nights up to 50,000 points each with the Chase Marriott Boundless card, an updated welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the overhaul and update of the Chase Freedom cards line up.

Never to be outdone, American Express also keeps surprising us.

Hilton Honors used to offer a plethora of co-branded credit cards in partnership with both American Express and Citi. Eventually, the options dwindled when American Express became the one and only Hilton card issuer.

Still, American Express offers a card for every type of traveler from a casual to a habitual Hilton guest. Let’s take a look at the cards’ similarities, differences and which card might be right for you.

American Express Hilton Honors Credit Cards’ Perks and Benefits

A hotel card wouldn’t be a hotel card without offering a number of perks and benefits.

The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express’ appeal comes from its simple and impressive earning power. For no annual fee whatsoever, on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year (January 1 – December 31), it earns 2 Membership Rewards on ALL purchases.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card is the latest addition to the Marriott family credit card portfolio, launched August 23, 2018. Rumor was the bonus would be 125k points, but turns out it's 100k points for $5k in spending.

All the new eligibility rules for sign up bonuses on Marriott family cards kick in August 26, but since the card has already launched there is a small window of time (right now!) in which one can apply before the new rules lock you out for up to two years. Today is August 24.

Reminder: The 100k sign-up bonus offer for the Amex Business Platinum ends tomorrow. 

Through August 8, 2018, the American Express Business Platinum Card is offering 100,000 total bonus Membership Rewards after spending $25,000 in the first three months:

50,000 bonus points after spending $10,000 in the first three months
50,000 more bonus points after spending another $15,000 in the first three months

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Credit Cards.

This is a big

The Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card, which will be the latest addition to the Marriott family credit card portfolio, is actually scheduled to launch August 23, 2018.

Despite the fact that Marriott and the Starwood Preferred Guest programs are merging into one unified loyalty program on August 18, both Marriott and SPG credit cards will continue to be issued for the time being, by Chase and Amex respectively. Both banks have published new terms for all current (and future) Marriott-family credit cards that define who is and isn't eligible for sign up bonuses, as of August 26.
Why These New Rules are Different
Sign up bonus rules are not new to the miles and points community.

Hilton used to partner with Citi for the issuance of their co-branded credit cards.

The miles world received some unsettling news recently. I've been mulling it over myself since I read about it, waiting to see if any further information was published or insight gained from others' experiences. And now we have some.

The Priority Pass membership is a standard perk these days for premium credit cards. It grants you access to Priority Pass' network of lounges (and even some restaurants, where you get a free set tab) located all over the world. Not all Priority Pass lounges are created equal, but thanks to sites like Lounge Buddy you can vet a lounge before travel.

Priority Pass memberships (with varying levels of free access) come with all the following credit cards:

Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Citi Prestige
American Express Platinum
American Express Business Platinum
Chase Ritz-Carlton Card
U.S.