Last Day for 100k & 75k Hilton Amex Card Offers

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Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.

Today (October 3) is the last day to take advantage of the limited time elevated sign up bonuses on the Hilton Honors Card and the Hilton Surpass Card, both issued by American Express.

We recommend using Hilton points on lower tier Hiltons, as you tend to get a better value for your points. Aim for what used to be Category 1 – 3 Hiltons (priced at 5k to 20k points a night). For aspirational stays, you’re better offer using Free Weekend Night Certificates from Citi’s Hilton Reserve card.

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 Travel Credit Cards.

Breakdown of Offers

Hilton Honors Amex 

• Sign Up Bonus: 50,000 bonus Hilton points after spending $1,000 on the card within three months of opening the account, plus an additional 25,000 Hilton points after spending another $1,000 on the card within the first six months of opening the account (total bonus of 75,000 points)
• Category Bonuses:
  • 7 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on hotel stays within the Hilton Portfolio
  • 5 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations
  • 3 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• Elite Status: cardholder gets automatic Hilton Silver status (biggest benefit is the fifth night free on award stays)
• Online Booking Bonus: Earn 500 bonus Hilton points when you book stays with your card online
• Annual fee: no annual fee
• Foreign transaction fee: 2.7%, so don’t use while traveling!

Hilton Honors Surpass Amex

• Sign up bonus: 100,000 bonus Hilton points after spending $3,000 in the first three months
• Category Bonuses:
  • 12 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on hotel stays within the Hilton Portfolio
  • 6 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations
  • 3 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• Elite Status: cardholder gets automatic Hilton Gold status (biggest benefit is the fifth night free on award stays, but you also get lounge access at select hotels, room upgrades, free breakfast at select hotels, and more)
• Customer Loyalty (Retention) Bonus: a Free Weekend Night Certificate upon your first card approval anniversary, that can be used at almost any Hilton in the world within a year of issuance (except these)
• Online Booking Bonus: Earn 500 bonus Hilton points when you book stays with your card online
• Annual fee: $75 annual fee
• Foreign transaction fee: 2.7%, so don’t use while traveling!

How to Turn all Those Points Into Lots of Free Nights

If you signed up for both cards and spent $5,000 on them collectively, you’d have at least 190,000 Hilton points without considering any category bonuses.

Hilton elites get the fifth night free on award stays, which start at 5,000 points per night. That means by maximizing the fifth night free elite benefit, 190,000 Hilton points are enough for…

• 47 free nights at [prior] Category 1 Hiltons (5,000 points per night if you maximize the fifth night free benefit)
• 23 free nights at [prior] Category 2 Hiltons (10,000 points per night if you maximize the fifth night free benefit)
• 11 free nights at [prior] Category 3 Hiltons (20,000 points per night if you maximize the fifth night free benefit)

Eligibility

You are limited to getting the bonus once per lifetime on American Express personal cards. If you’ve gotten either of these exact cards before, you can’t get it again (publicly) with the bonus. If you are targeted for the offer, then you might be able to get it again. Due to this “once in a lifetime rule”, you should only snipe public Amex offers when they’re offering historically high sign up bonuses. 100k is the highest public sign up bonus we’ve seen for the Hilton Honors Surpass Amex, and 80k is the highest public sign u bonus we’ve seen for the Hilton Honors Amex.

You are also limited to holding four to five American Express credit cards. Both personal and business count toward this limit. (AMEX Everyday, Delta, and SPG are credit cards.) Separately, you are limited to holding four to five American Express charge cards. Both personal and business count toward this limit. (AMEX Platinum is a charge card.) Both of these Hilton cards are credit cards.

If you’re on the verge and contemplating a fifth credit or charge card, read this post–you can apply basically risk-free.

You typically won’t be approved for more than one Amex credit card in a five day period. However, if you wanted to apply for both of these Hilton cards before the bonuses drop tomorrow, you could do so anyways. What will likely happen (assuming you have excellent credit and barring other circumstances) is that one will be automatically approved and the other put on hold for five-ish days before it is processed.

Bottom Line

The Hilton Amex cards have elevated sign up bonuses that are ending tomorrow. The fact that the sign up bonuses are record high is significant because you can only collect the sign up bonus on an American Express card (that you apply for through a public link) once per lifetime.

If you’re planning a vacation in the near future, I’d check out Hilton properties in your destination(s) to see if Hilton points can help you save big. You’ve got two days including today to jump on these offers.

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 Travel Credit Cards.