Hilton Honors Aspire Review

Overview

The Hilton Honors Aspire is a category rewards card from American Express, running on the Amex network. The Hilton Honors Aspire earns up to 7x on dining and travel, so it pays you the most exactly where you already spend. It carries a $550 annual fee, so the real question is whether its rewards, credits, and perks clear that bar for the way you spend. New cardholders can earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after $6,000 in 6 months.

It sits at the premium end of the market, trading a steep annual fee for lounge access, statement credits, and travel protections. That makes the decision less about the rewards rate and more about whether you will use the perks enough to come out ahead.

Our 4.5 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

Where the Hilton Honors Aspire earns its rewards is its bonus categories: 7x on dining (about $210 a year on the $3,000 a typical household spends there) and 7x on travel (about $126 a year on the $1,800 a typical household spends there). Across a full year of average household spending, the card returns roughly $1,067 in rewards before any welcome bonus, so the more your spending overlaps those categories, the better it does.

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

• 14x Hilton Honors points at Hilton portfolio properties

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

The current welcome offer is 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points, earned after you spend $6,000 in 6 months. Valued honestly at a flat 1 cent per point, that is worth about $1,750. The spending requirement works out to roughly $1,000 per month, so make sure it fits your normal budget rather than pushing you to overspend. Stacking the welcome offer on top of a typical year of rewards and accounting for the $550 annual fee, the first year is worth roughly $2,267.

Is the annual fee worth it?

To come out ahead on the Hilton Honors Aspire you need to clear its $550 annual fee. On typical spending it earns about $1,067 a year in rewards, and it carries up to $600 in statement credits. For anyone who spends in its categories, the fee is easy to justify.

Benefits and protections

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

• Automatic Hilton Honors Diamond Status, the highest tier
• Free Night Reward every card anniversary + another after $30k spend
• $400 Hilton resort statement credit annually ($200 semi-annually)
• $200 airline fee credit annually
• Priority Pass lounge access (unlimited visits)
• No foreign transaction fees
• Trip cancellation/interruption and baggage insurance

Statement credits

• $400 Hilton resort statement credit annually
• $200 airline fee credit annually
• Free Night Reward every anniversary
• Priority Pass lounge access (unlimited visits)

Who should get it, and who should skip it

It is best for regular guests of this hotel brand who will use the free anniversary night and elite status to more than cover the annual fee.

Skip it if you will not use the lounge access and annual credits, or if you would rather not float a high fee and chase reimbursements every year.

Frequently asked questions