Hilton Honors Review

Overview

I usually do not recommend hotel cards, but the no-fee Hilton Honors is one of the few I will make a case for, at least for that first year. If you stay at Hilton even a couple of times a year, the welcome bonus alone makes it worth picking up, and it costs you nothing to hold.

The honest truth is I would not actually use this card after you have earned the welcome bonus. It is more of a grab-the-bonus-and-park-it card. But since there is no annual fee, there is no harm in keeping it in your wallet for the little perks it comes with.

Our 3.5 out of 5 rating

Each score weighs the rewards rate, value after the annual fee, welcome offer, points flexibility, and perks, with every point valued at a flat 1 cent. This is our editorial assessment to help you compare cards, not a guarantee of approval or of the value you will get.

Rewards: how it earns

The earn rates are fine, 5x on dining, groceries, and gas, and a higher multiplier on Hilton stays, but honestly I would not use this card for everyday spending. These are Hilton points, locked to Hilton and worth less than a flexible currency, so once you have hit the welcome bonus there are better cards to put your spending on. The earning is not the reason to get this card, the welcome bonus is.

Brand and bonus rates: beyond the everyday categories above, this card also earns:

• 7x Hilton Honors points at Hilton portfolio hotels

Every point and mile above is valued at a flat 1 cent, the same honest standard we use for every card. Run your own spending through the calculator to see what this card would actually return for you.

Pros and cons

The welcome bonus

This is the whole appeal: spend $2,000 in six months and you get 100,000 Hilton points plus a $100 statement credit. For a no-annual-fee card, that is a genuinely good haul, and the $2,000 spend is easy to hit. If you stay at Hilton occasionally, that is a nice chunk of free nights for very little effort.

Is it worth the annual fee?

There is no annual fee, which is exactly why this card is easy to recommend for the first year and easy to keep afterward. You grab the welcome bonus, and then you can just hold the card in your wallet, mainly for the automatic Hilton Silver status, without ever paying a cent to keep it. There is no fee to justify, so the only question is whether the welcome bonus is worth one application slot, and if you use Hilton at all, it is.

First-year value vs ongoing value

The welcome bonus makes year one the high point: roughly $2,062 in value once you count the bonus, this card’s rewards, and its credits, minus the no fee. After that, the honest figure is about $1,062 a year, so judge whether it earns its keep on the ongoing number, not the first-year headline.

*First-year value counts the welcome bonus, estimated rewards, and annual credits, minus the annual fee; ongoing value is a typical year after. Every point at a flat 1 cent, on average spending.

Benefits and protections

Beyond the rewards, the perks and protections worth knowing about include:

• Automatic Hilton Honors Silver Status
• No foreign transaction fees
• Car rental loss and damage insurance
• Purchase protection and extended warranty

Statement credits

This card does not come with recurring statement credits. Its value is in the rewards rate and welcome offer.

Who should get it, and who should skip it

Here is how I would play it: if you stay at Hilton even a couple of times a year, get this card in year one, hit the $2,000 spend for the 100,000 points and $100 credit, and enjoy the easy value. It is one of the few hotel cards I will actively recommend, precisely because it is free.

After the welcome bonus, I would stop using it for spending, since the points are locked to Hilton and worth less than flexible currencies. But there is no reason to cancel it either, keep it parked for the automatic Silver status and the car rental and warranty protections it throws in. And the usual hotel-card rule applies: if you never stay at Hilton, skip it entirely.

Frequently asked questions

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