How To Double Dip Hilton Free Night Certificates With The Citi Hilton Reserve Product Change To American Express Hilton Ascend

Update 10/01/18: According to this you’re spend from January 1st until January 29th actually counts towards the Ascend free night as well.

Citi Hilton cards will become American Express Hilton cards on January 30th, 2018. Something that a lot of people have been wondering about is how the free night certificates will work, currently the Hilton Reserve gives you a free night certificate if you spend $10,000 within a card member year. The American Express Hilton Ascend earns a free night certificate after $15,000 in spend. Lots of readers have been asking if it will be possible to double dip this (e.g spend $15,000 and receive two free night certificates) and we now have confirmation this will be possible. The Hilton representative on Flyertalk provided the following answer:

  • The anniversary date will remain as the date you opened your Citi Reserve account. You will be able to earn two weekend night rewards: one by spending $10K that you would have earned through Citi and then a second if you spend $15K with the new Ascend card. The clock starts ticking on the $15K spend threshold on January 30 when the Ascend account goes live. So if you’ve already spent $8k on your Citi Reserve card for your 2017-2018 “card year” January 30 – once you spend $2K more, you will receive the email from Hilton Honors with your Citi Reserve weekend night reward. That $2K counts toward the $15K required to get the Ascend card weekend night reward.

So any spend after the product change is completed on January 30th will count towards both free nights. The rep also posted some information on when to expect the free night certificates to post.

  • The weekend night reward code will be delivered 6-8 weeks after passing the $10,000 spend threshold. This is the same process Hilton and Citi have been using. We will continue that process with Citi until January 30th and will use the same process with Amex beginning January 30, 2018.

This is confusing because this isn’t the process Hilton has been using with Citi, the award night has typically posted 6-8 weeks after the account anniversary date. Fingers crossed American Express will not be using the old Citi system going forward.

In any case this is great news for Reserve cardholders. Being able to spend $15,000 after January 30th to receive two free night certificates is a great deal for many people (maybe not as good as a regular sign up bonus but still useful none the less). $15,000 in spend is still a lot for many people so it will be out of reach for many.

Hat tip to reader Rob

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Alex
Alex (@guest_557210)
February 3, 2018 16:36

I got the Citi Reserve in July and since then spent $4500 required for the 2 nights sign-up bonus. My understanding is that if I spend another $5500 before July’s anniversary, I should get a free night cert. Then if I put another $9500 on Ascend before the end of 2018, I should get one more cert. Is this correct?

Smitty
Smitty (@guest_586494)
April 25, 2018 20:16

Anybody have any updates on the timing of the award nights being issued, based on personal experience? I’m interested to see if they are posting 6-8 weeks after hitting the spend requirements, or if they are going to be issued after the cardmember anniversary date. I’m approaching $10k in spending (all since Feb 2018 or later), so I should be able to provide an initial data point in 1-2 months time.

Smitty
Smitty (@guest_588163)
April 30, 2018 15:51

Update and data point: Just got my first certificate from spending $10,000 on the card since the beginning of February. It did not take the 6-8 weeks after spending the $10,000 (seemed to be pretty instant). Will be spending another $5,000 in the next couple months to hopefully get the second night. Will update here again, once that night posts. So far, so good, though.

World2Travel
World2Travel (@guest_601622)
June 1, 2018 22:59

Smitty, My certificate posted right away after hitting the $10K spend. I met the additional $5K spend the end of May, but haven’t received my certificate yet. Have you received your additional certificate?

Ted
Ted (@guest_549324)
January 10, 2018 01:28

Slight update from the Hilton rep on FT regarding double dip, seems to have changed for the better:

All Citi Reserve Cardholders who are transferred to American Express will be eligible to earn the American Express Ascend Weekend Night Reward if you spend $15,000 on purchases in 2018. This is inclusive of purchases on your Citi Card from January 1-29, 2018 and purchases on your American Express Card from January 30, 2018 through December 31, 2018.

In addition, you will be eligible to receive a one-time carryover of your Citi Weekend Night Reward benefit if you spend $10,000 within your current anniversary year. This is inclusive of purchases on your Citi Card from the start of your anniversary year with Citi through January 29, 2018 and purchases on your American Express Card from January 30, 2018 through the end of your current anniversary year. Your current anniversary year will end in the month you pay your first annual fee to American Express.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hilton-honors/1875140-american-express-announces-two-new-hilton-credit-cards-14.html#post29170463

ToddC
ToddC (@guest_526767)
November 29, 2017 14:12

These free night awards are for Weekend nights only, right? I have 2 from the Citi Hilton Reserve, the Hilton just let me use them to make a reservation for 2 week nights (I guess I forgot they were for weekend only when I made the reservation). Check in Wednesday and check out Friday. I assume that this is a mistake. Should I just show up at the hotel and assume that the check in will go smoothly? Any chance they will be rejected when I check in?

Pam
Pam (@guest_527028)
November 29, 2017 20:25

The front desk can, & will, not accept the certificates at check-in if they catch it. Also, btw, if a room is booked past its certificate expiration date.

Jake
Jake (@guest_526120)
November 28, 2017 18:45

I opened the Reserve card on 1/28/16. The rep I chatted with just now says my renewal date is 2/1/18. Does this mean that I would have to spend $10k between 1/27/18 and 2/1/18 in order to qualify for the first certificate, and then another $5k sometime after 2/1/18 in order to get the second? Is my timing just screwy and it’s questionable whether it’s even worth attempting this in just a 5 day window? I was thinking I’d divert regular spend to this card next year until hitting $15k but sounds questionable now. Someone please fill me in.

farsighted99
farsighted99 (@guest_520204)
November 20, 2017 17:06

Personally, I will fulfill the $10K purchase with my Citi Reserve before it becomes an Amex Asend card. Then work on the 2nd night free later.

I had a Fairmont Chase card, and I also did this it and it worked out fine. I got the free night; then cancelled the card that replaced it (there was no new Fairmont card in this case).

Pam
Pam (@guest_520214)
November 20, 2017 17:22

The Fairmont card transfer was an example of no bonus UR points awarded/attainable upon transfer to the CSP. It was the same bank, however – maybe a transfer to a different bank might work differently (where the same bank isn’t awarding 2 sets of bonus points for the same account)?

Pam
Pam (@guest_520339)
November 20, 2017 20:08

I have already met the $10k spend on my Reserve card, my anniv date is August. I guess I could keep the card after the Ascend transfer long enough to eek out another free night & then see what AMEX offers in the way of a product change. It just doesn’t seem likely that any MR products will be available for that. I have a Reserve & hope to upgrade it to an Aspire so I don’t feel I need the Ascend, too.

What I want to know from somebody is if a bank has ever offered a bonus when a card transferred over? No mention in AMEX’s letter to Citi cardholders about a bonus, but then again no mention of ANY bonuses has yet been made by AMEX about their new lineup. Have you ever had a card that the new issuer offered a sign-up bonus on a transfer either with the same, or different, lender?

Pam
Pam (@guest_520341)
November 20, 2017 20:09

Meant I hope to upgrade my SURPASS to an Aspire.

COLLEy
COLLEy (@guest_520006)
November 20, 2017 12:55

Any sign up bonus for citi product?

Bill
Bill (@guest_518600)
November 18, 2017 15:41

Signed up for the Hilton Surpass with the free weekend night on the anniversary. Will that still be honored? Do you think you are better off cancelling and waiting for a good sign up offer on the Aspire instead of just getting upgraded to it and loosing your chance of getting a sign up bonus. /

Pam
Pam (@guest_520021)
November 20, 2017 13:08

AMEX bonus offers remain the great unknown for now. I have not, however, ever had 1 card that transferred AND gave a goodwill bonus (by meeting certain spend). Has anyone else had success with these situations?

iahphx
iahphx (@guest_551543)
January 17, 2018 13:09

Right — I recall getting that offer last summer for switching from the regular blue card to a Hilton Surpass card. I also downgraded a Surpass card to a blue. And now I have the Citi conversion. It’s almost dizzying. 🙂 I am obviously looking for as many free weekend anniversary certs that I can get. Otherwise, is there any value in keeping all these AMEX Hilton cards at this point (other than access to more AMEX offers)?

Brett
Brett (@guest_517726)
November 17, 2017 11:04

Thanks for the information! Am I correct in thinking that I should stop using my Fidelity or SPG cards for everyday spend and use my Surpass/future Ascend for the time being at least?

Hadley V. Baxendale
Hadley V. Baxendale (@guest_517757)
November 17, 2017 11:41

Only you can decide that. However, at least with respect to the Fidelity, that is 2 cents/point whereas the Ascend will be 1.2 cents/point due to 3 HHonors points for non-bonus spend and I calculate each point to be .004 cents.

Therefore, in chasing the free night, you are only losing at most 8/10 cents per dollar use of the Ascend card in lieu of the Fidelity card — acceptable in my book.

Spg is harder — people rate them very highly due to air miles convertability — I don’t so that is a personal issue.

Hadley V. Baxendale
Hadley V. Baxendale (@guest_517758)
November 17, 2017 11:42

Brett, per my comments above, I would not start using a Citi Reserve card until it has become an Ascend card — after January 30, 2018, so you can double dip your way to 2 weekend nights.

Chad
Chad (@guest_517719)
November 17, 2017 10:45

I have a slightly different scenario than most. I have two citi reserves and one surpass (was upgraded from no fee version three months ago and I just received my 100K hilton bonus points). I have I do nothing, I’ll have three ascends in January 2018. I have over $10K spend on one reserve and about $5K spend on the other.

I’m thinking of going the route of this article and trying to double dip the free nights on my two reserves that are being converted. My concern with the surpass conversion is that I just recently upgraded my no fee AMEX Hilton to it. Would AMEX frown upon downgrading it next year or any thoughts on me getting a bonus upgrading to the Aspire?

Any advice on what to do with my three soon to be Ascends?

Chad
Chad (@guest_518139)
November 17, 2017 20:23

No issue downgrading or cancelling the surpass in such a short timeframe after getting the 100K upgrade bonus?

Floyd
Floyd (@guest_517529)
November 17, 2017 01:39

This is awesome! Great find, Rob and Will !! Now I know which card to start paying my rent on again 😀