American Express Hilton Aspire Bonus Increased To 150,000 Points – Best Ever

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • American Express has increased the sign up bonus on the Hilton Aspire to 150,000 points after $4,000 in spend within the first three months

Card Details

  • Annual fee of $450
  • Card earns at the following rates:
    • 14X Hilton Honors Bonus Points at hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio worldwide
    • 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies and at U.S. restaurants
    • 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other purchases
  • Complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status for as long as you hold the card
  • One weekend night at any hotel or resort in the Hilton portfolio (on account opening and on every account anniversary)
  • A second weekend night at any hotel or resort in the Hilton portfolio after spending $60,000 on the card within a calendar year
  • Priority Pass membership (unlimited access for you and up to two guests)
  • $250 airline incidental fee statement credit (to work the same as the credits provided on Platinum & Gold cards)
  • $250 Hilton resort statement credit
  • $100 on property credit at Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and Conrad Hotels & Resorts when booking the exclusive Aspire Card package
  • Authorized users can be added for no additional charge but don’t receive any of the benefits the primary cardholder does (they can use the $250 credits, but it’s a total of $250 in credits across all cards. They can also get access to the Waldorf Astoria/Conrad $100 benefit).
  • Full review here

Our Verdict

No end date on this offer. Previously the bonus has been only 100,000, so this is a significant increase. If you applied for this card recently then keep in mind that American Express doesn’t match bonuses, but they do offer courtesy points. Here’s what you want to do:

  • Don’t message, online representatives do not have the ability to award courtesy points.
  • Call and say you’re disappointed that a new higher bonus became available so recently after you applied.
  • The firs representative will usually not offer a full match for 50,000 points. Ask politely to escalate to a manage and repeat your disappointment.
  • Manager does have the ability to provide the full difference.

Don’t let them just say that they will e-mail the rewards department, that is a sure fire way of getting nothing. This offer is really worth considering if you can take advantage of the resort and airline credits, if you can’t then the $450 annual fee likely kills the deal unfortunately. I will be adding this to our list of the best credit card bonuses. If you have any questions about American Express read this post first. Bonuses have also been increased on other Hilton credit cards:

Hat tip to US Credit Card Guide

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110 Comments
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sevillada
sevillada (@guest_705909)
January 14, 2019 16:30

are we sure this applies? for some reason, I’m not seeing it in my brand new aspire. I haven’t’ seen anything in my aspire I got back in november
One weekend night at any hotel or resort in the Hilton portfolio (on account opening…)

LAXJeff
LAXJeff (@guest_658975)
October 17, 2018 09:44

Got the 150K upgrade offer and couldn’t resist. I got upgraded to a suite on my first stay after they bumped me to Diamond status.

Hsn
Hsn (@guest_649642)
October 1, 2018 03:46

If somebody is looking for ascend($95) card with 150k points, let me know. I can send you my referral.

Hsn
Hsn (@guest_649396)
September 30, 2018 04:00

Can someone please tell me if i could get hilton $250 travel credit buying gift cards like people do with amex gold and amex platinum?
Also, i have recived amex ascend bonus 4 months ago, will i be able to get aapire bonus?

Chris
Chris (@guest_646078)
September 22, 2018 05:57

i got the 150k upgrade offer from Ascend. can i apply for a new Aspire and then accept the upgrade so i can get twice the 150k bonus?

i did use that trick with the Surpass upgraded to Ascend and a new Ascend card and got twice the 100k bonus.

Chris
Chris (@guest_645670)
September 21, 2018 12:57

I called and the amex rep told me that he couldn’t do anything for me. I politely asked for his supervisor and when she came on she told me the same thing. I think it is rather ridiculous that they aren’t honoring this especially for people that have been using amex products for quite some time and as far as I know they have never offered 150k points as a bonus for anything.

Ang
Ang (@guest_645044)
September 20, 2018 16:06

Referral links are showing the 150k btw

Anand
Anand (@guest_644821)
September 20, 2018 01:35

Hello Doc, I see that there is no end date specified in the offer. How long can we expect the offer to stay in effect ? I am mainly looking to maximize the airline incidental perk by applying in Nov/Dec. Would that be feasible?
One more thing which is bothering me from waiting is experience. Chase introduced CSR in Aug 2016 (I believe) with calendar airline credit and then switched back to card member credit in May 2017, so survived 9 months. Is there a chance Amex catches on with such terminology in the near term ?

Joseph N.
Joseph N. (@guest_645293)
September 21, 2018 00:37

Maybe that explains it. Maybe AmEx keeps upping the Hilton sign up bonuses because not many people are biting. However, since AmEx won’t match their own SUBs, they are creating a lot of ill will among customers who see a higher bonus, grab it, then watch it go up again before the card even arrives. I’m seeing complaints not just here but on all the travel weblogs plus flyertalk.

Anand
Anand (@guest_667771)
November 4, 2018 22:54

Has Amex removed the airline fee credit ? I dont see it in their Aspire card benefits page.

sleepycat87
sleepycat87 (@guest_670171)
November 9, 2018 00:30

I’ve noticed that as well- they dont list it on the main page but if you click on the Offer & Benefits Terms you’d see it listed there

PV
PV (@guest_644741)
September 19, 2018 22:25

Whats the best way to maximize the bonus ? I got the card today but I am thinking $450 is a high AF if I cant use the benefits. Airline gift cards can be used for the incidentals ?

Hsn
Hsn (@guest_649640)
October 1, 2018 03:44
  PV

I have a referal link for ascend which only has $95 AF and you will still get 150k points

mcafeeee
mcafeeee (@guest_643583)
September 17, 2018 14:27

Just applied and was approved. 4th Amex credit card (1 biz). I called in for security verification and was told there would be no hard pull. Thanks DoC!