Best Credit Cards for Hilton in November 2023

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In our full review of the Hilton Honors Rewards program for 2024, we pointed out how Hilton Honors Points have some of the lowest value in the business (around 0.5 cents each) but that Hilton-branded credit cards are highly rewarding and benefit-rich to compensate. 

From five-night welcome bonuses to 34X earning rates, daily breakfasts to Diamond status, these cards essentially “activate” the Hilton Honors experience and are well worth applying for if you have the required good-to-excellent credit score (think 700 or higher on the FICO scale). Heck, one of these cards doesn’t even charge an annual fee, making it a compelling pick even for those with zero loyalty to the Hilton brand. 

So whether you stay at an airport Hilton Garden Inn twice a year or you’re on a first-name basis with the bartender at the Waldorf Astoria, there’s likely a card in here for you. 

Overview of the 5 best credit cards for Hilton in 2024

Best overall: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card

The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card is an excellent mid-tier rewards card for casual travelers within the Hilton ecosphere, and all things considered, the best overall Hilton card on the market.

Why we like this card: The Hilton Honors Surpass Card is definitely the one Goldilocks would use to check in at the Waldorf Astoria (provided, of course, that she didn’t simply break in). 

Reason being, it offers a compelling mix of high-end perks and daily usability for a modest $150 annual fee. To start, there’s a welcome bonus of 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 6 months of card membership, which isn’t too terribly much less than you could earn with the $450-annual-fee Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card. And, those points are worth perhaps three to four nights at a Home2 Suites or two-ish nights at a higher-end property like The Bankers Alley Hotel in Nashville. 

The card also grants 12X on Hilton purchases, 6X points at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations, 4X points on U.S. online retail purchases and 3X points for all other eligible purchases on your card. Combined with instant Gold status, your net earnings rate on Hilton purchases launches as high as 30X — or roughly comparable to 15% cash back as Hilton credit at an average redemption rate of 0.5 cents per point. 

Gold status also unlocks space-available room upgrades and a daily food and beverage credit or continental breakfast (depending on the property), which by itself could potentially cover the $150 annual fee. But we’re still not done; cardholders get a $50 statement credit for Hilton properties each quarter ($200 total), instant Emerald Club Executive status with National Car Rental (read: guaranteed upgrades) and a free night reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year.. 

While we’re a little bummed that you don’t get an automatic free night on your account anniversary like the competing World of Hyatt Card offers, the four $50 statement credits are an acceptable — if slightly clunkier — substitute. You also won’t get any sort of airport lounge access with the Surpass card, so keep that in mind if you’re the type to show up early before a flight to snag some complimentary Biscoff cookies. 
Check out our full review of the Hilton Honors Surpass Card.

To view rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, see rates and fees.

Best no-annual-fee card: Hilton Honors American Express Card

With a welcome bonus that puts you within arm’s reach of a complimentary five-night stay, the Hilton Honors American Express Card is essentially a no-brainer for anyone who occasionally books a stay at one of Hilton’s more affordable properties.

Why we like this card: Despite being the “lite” edition of the Surpass card, the vanilla-sounding Hilton Honors Card still manages to offer a pretty generous suite of perks. You can earn a welcome bonus of 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases in the first 6 months of card membership. Those points could stretch to about three nights at a Hampton Inn, for example. You also get instant Silver status, which grants a valuable redeem-four-get-one-free redemption bonus on award stays. 

On the rewards side, the Hilton Honors Card offers 7X on Hilton purchases (or up to 19X total with your Silver status), 5X points per dollar on purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations and 3X points for all other eligible purchases on your Card. 

With a peak earnings rate of 19X, it shouldn’t take you long to earn your first free night using the Hilton Honors Card. Then, if you combine that night with the approximately three nights from your welcome bonus, you could qualify for a fifth free night from your redeem-four-get-one bonus. So in total, the Hilton Honors Card can help you book a five-night stay during your first year at an affordable property like Hilton Garden Inn at virtually no cost to you. 
Check out our full review of the Hilton Honors Card.

To view rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Card, see rates and fees.

Best premium rewards card: Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

If you’re a Hilton devotee in the sense that you stay at Hilton Garden Inns over 100 nights a year, the Surpass card might still be a better fit. But if you’re the type to debate the merits of the Waldorf Astoria Cancun vs. Costa Rica, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is certainly the ultra-luxe travel companion you’re looking for.

Why we like this card: Unlike Goldilocks, maybe you like your soup hot. Or in credit card terms, you’re ready for Hilton’s spiciest offering — a card that requires a $450 annual fee but showers you with perks, status and double-digit rewards in return. 

If so, you’re looking for the Hilton Honors Aspire Card. 

At first “sip” it’s not all that spicy; the welcome bonus is just 150,000 points if you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months from account opening, which is pretty underwhelming considering the Surpass card offers a welcome bonus nearly that large for a much smaller $150 annual fee. 

But things heat up quickly when you look at the Aspire card’s lengthy list of perks. To start, you’ll get instant Diamond status which takes the benefits you’d get with Gold and adds 20X base earnings on Hilton purchases (up to 34X total using the card), executive lounge access, 48-hour room guarantee, premium Wi-Fi and more. 

You’ll also get semi-annual $200 resort credits ($400 total), a free anniversary night (with the chance to earn second and third free nights after spending $30,000 and $60,000, respectively), a $200 flight credit ($50 quarterly), $100 Hilton on-property credit for qualifying stays of two nights or more, $189 CLEAR Plus credit and Emerald Club Executive status with National Car Rental. 

The Aspire card also offers far better travel insurance than its little brothers. While the Surpass card only offers car rental loss and damage insurance and baggage insurance, the Aspire card adds trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay coverage and up to $800 in cell phone protection (with a $50 deductible). So while the Aspire card costs $300 per year more, it lends additional peace of mind — and can pay out $10,000+ should things go terribly wrong. 

As for caveats, the $200 resort credit only applies to Hilton Resort properties and the $100 onsite credit only works at Waldorf Astoria and Conrad properties. Both are pretty clear indications of who this card is for: Hilton’s high-rollers. 
Check out our full review of the Hilton Honors Aspire Card.

All information about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.

Best for general travel rewards: Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card is an excellent travel rewards card for those who are brand agnostic.

Why we like this card: While it doesn’t come with any Hilton-specific benefits, the Chase Sapphire Preferred still manages to be an excellent card for booking Hilton stays due to its generous welcome bonus, strong earnings on travel purchases and robust travel protections.

The “CSP,” as travelers call it, offers a welcome bonus of 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening (that’s $750 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®). Plus, you’ll score 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x points on dining, streaming and online grocery purchases, 2x points on travel purchasesand 1x points on other purchases. 5x points on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025 (that’s 3x points in addition to the 2x points you already earn on travel).

Points have a base value of 1 cent each when redeemed for cash back but are worth 25% more when you redeem them for travel in the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

Toss in a $50 annual hotel statement credit for stays booked via Chase and tons of included travel insurance and the Sapphire Preferred easily justifies its $95 annual fee, year after year.

As a surrogate Hilton card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with one major disadvantage: Booking hotel stays through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal typically disqualifies you from earning points on the hotel side. In other words, you’ll earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points but not Hilton Honors Points on that particular stay. You also typically won’t be able to take advantage of any elite status you have with the hotel chain.

But, on the plus side, the Chase Ultimate Rewards points you earn are far more flexible — you can redeem them to book flights, for cash back or even (gasp) for stays with Hilton’s competitors.

Check out our full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Best flexible points for Hilton: American Express® Green Card

If you’re looking to rack up Hilton Honors points rather quickly while you travel, while still retaining the option to transfer them somewhere else, the American Express® Green Card might be an excellent fit.

Why we like this card: As a mid-tier travel rewards card, the Amex Green Card is compelling enough on its own, offering 3X on travel, transit, and dining, a $189 CLEAR Plus credit, and a $100 LoungeBuddy credit good for booking passes to thousands of airport lounges worldwide. So if you’re keen to get through airport security more quickly — and escape to a lounge — the Green Card should easily justify its $150 annual fee. 

But the reason we chose it as a great Hilton card specifically is due to its transfer ratio. The 3X Membership Rewards points you generate on travel, dining and transit (and 1X points on all other purchases) transfer to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 ratio, meaning you’re effectively getting 6X Hilton Honors points within those popular spending categories. 

In addition, you can earn a welcome bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 6 months of account opening. Transferred to Hilton, 40,000 Membership Rewards points become 80,000 Hilton Honors points.

Granted, 80,000 points is still well below the 130,000 points you’d get with the Hilton Honors Surpass card, which charges the same annual fee and offers more ways to earn Hilton Honors points (including 12X on Hilton purchases and 6X on gas). 

But the advantage of the Green Card is that American Express Membership Rewards points are far more flexible than Hilton Honors points — you can use them to book or upgrade travel through the Amex portal, get gift cards for a variety of retailers, or transfer them to nearly two dozen different travel partners including Delta and Marriott. Savvy travelers seeking the best deals on award tickets and stays can maximize the value of their points with that last option.

Check out our full review of the American Express Green Card.

All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.

Frequently asked questions

What credit cards are linked with Hilton? 

There are currently four Hilton-branded credit cards, all offered by American Express: the Hilton Honors Card, the Hilton Honors Surpass Card, the Hilton Honors Aspire Card and the Hilton Honors Business Card. 

What credit score do you need for a Hilton card? 

American Express does not specify a minimum score required to open a Hilton card. However, since the Hilton Honors-branded credit cards are American Express travel rewards cards, you’ll generally want a FICO Score of at least 700 to have a strong chance of approval.

What credit card gives you Hilton Diamond status?  

The Hilton Honors Aspire card offers instant Diamond status. 

What bank are the Hilton credit cards issued through? 

All four Hilton Honors credit cards are American Express cards. 

What is 80,000 Hilton points worth? 

80,000 Hilton points is worth roughly $400 in redemption value toward Hilton bookings, upgrades and other purchases, assuming a value of about half a cent per point.

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Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.

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