Update: reader iahphx may be seeing once-in-a-lifetime language using this link. As mentioned in the post, please be sure to check the terms when upgrading. I’ll update the post or remove this warning as appropriate once more DPs roll in.
Update: readers have reported not seeing this language, so I’m crossing the above out for now. Still – check your offer terms carefully! They’re very short.
The first upgrade offer people were seeing after the recent change to the signup bonuses American Express’s Hilton cards contained once in a lifetime language in their terms (“Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product”), such as this once-in-a-lifetime link.
I’m very happy to report we’ve found an upgrade offer without that language, thanks to reader Joe-SC1 and confirmation from reddit user SJ0! Always be sure to check the terms when upgrading, in case things change.
The bonus is (oddly) not displayed directly on the page. You can click on “REVIEW CARD BENEFITS”, then “Benefit Terms”, and then scroll up slightly to see the terms, without logging in (or just go directly there). There is no mention of “Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product” & the offer terms state:
You can earn 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases on your Card in your first 3 months of Card Membership starting from the date your account is approved.
You will need to log in to see if you are targeted for this upgrade offer–not everyone will be! (Alas, I am not.)
You can read more about American Express upgrade offers by consulting this article.
Questions, comments, and anything else can be dropped in the comments below!
FAQ
Q: Can you get the upgrade bonus if you currently have a Hilton Honors & a Hilton Honors Surpass card? —TomT
A: I haven’t heard any DPs to the contrary, so my answer would be yes because the offer terms do not include “Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product”. There is no hard pull from upgrading, so there’s not much to lose in any case.
Q: If you currently have a Hilton Honors card, but have never had a Hilton Honors Surpass card and apply for a new Hilton Honors Surpass card, can you get the upgrade bonus on your Hilton Honors card? —Joe-SC1
A: Again, I haven’t heard any DPs to the contrary, so my answer would be yes, assuming you’ll still be targeted for the upgrade after your new Hilton Honors Surpass card is approved. Personally, I would go for the new application no matter what because the weekend free night for keeping the card in year 2 is very, very good. (Assuming you aren’t running into any new account issues or the 4–5 CC limit with American Express.) Since there’s no hard pull for the upgrade, there isn’t much to lose.
Q: Can you downgrade from the Hilton Honors Surpass to the Hilton Honors, then upgrade using this? —Jeremy
A: Unknown, due to the timeline. The problem is that you have to be targeted for the upgrade offer (for instance, I am not) and we do not know how targeting works. It’s possible that the offer is only targeted at existing cardholders as of the time when the promotion went live and will not be targeted at people after that.
In better news, there are some users who have downgraded recently who were targeted: Milo (downgraded 3–4 months ago), gary (downgraded 4–5 months ago).
Q: Does upgrading require a hard pull? —DW
A: No.
Targeted for me as well, got it this time (in March i got a 75k upgrade offer)
Any chance of 100,000 coming back anytime soon? Have a 75K one on a couple cards with $2K spend.
Back 9/1/17 targeted.
DP – upgraded card No Fee on 5/30 (I had applied for the Surpass in May 2016 and cancelled on April 16, 2017). Met 3,000 spending on August 15-ish. Points posted today 8/19.
I think this is expired now. Does this one come around often though? Or would Amex likely honor it via chat?
And does anyone know if this would count as a “new” account opened (for Chase 5/24 or new accounts on credit report)? Thanks,
–Kyle
Anyone get their 100k upgrade bonus posted recently?
@Ted Not for me. Did you get yours? It normally posted a few days after required spend met. Getting nervous here.
so you have to pay the annual fee 2 times before you get the free night certificate?
Anyone know if when you upgrade if it resets the date on credit report to the current date. Or will it retain the previous cards date. Its import to me because this card is grandfathered into matching my first amex card which is like 26 years ago. And this massively helps my credit age.
Does anyone happen to know of the upgraded Surpass card arrives via USPS or FEDEX or UPS?
USPS
@Ted, @The Value Traveler, @Joe S
The upgrade offer is still alive. It just does not work on Google Chrome for some reasons. I managed to open the “Direct link to offer” on Microsoft Edge browser and upgraded my card a few minutes ago (still did not work with Google Chrome).
Thanks mjs for suggesting that it may work on a different browser!
Thanks for this!
Firefox didn’t work either, but Edge did like you said. Just upgraded remaining two Hiltons (again).
Chrome and Firefox shows a newish looking login page, whereas Edge still shows the original UI for log in. Hopefully Chrome and Firefox hints are not a sign of things to come!
Did you receive any kind of confirmation email after your upgrade was approved? My online account still shows the no-fee version of my Hilton card. IIRC, I did get a confirmation email from my last upgrade.
Just signed up two cards using the “direct link to offer” in the write-up to this post, so not dead.
Maybe try a different browser or alternate between the log-in and card input functions. When I did the log-in, it automatically “found” the card that was eligible and offered to upgrade it.
Remember though that you have to have had the card for at least a year before you can upgrade it (or e-upgrade it after a downgrade!)