At Hilton portfolio properties when you book direct with Hilton or the hotel. Otherwise, earn 3X points
U.S. dining, including takeout and delivery
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
I’ve long said at MilesTalk that I think the Hilton Aspire is the best hotel credit card on the market.
Setting aside the welcome bonus, here are your yearly benefits:
Hilton Resort Credits – $400: If you stay at Hilton resorts twice annually (although it must be one time January to June and one time July to December, this is as good as cash.
Airline credits – $200 ($50 per calendar quarter): Easy to use if you fly once per quarter
Hilton Honors Diamond status – $950: This could technically be worth a couple thousand if you stay frequently at Hilton properties (and a certain site I won’t name would say it’s worth over $3,000), but that would also likely mean you don’t need this card to earn it, since you’d earn it from nights stayed.
Even if you only stay 10 nights a year, the free breakfast or daily food credits and lounge access for two would be conservatively worth ~$70 a day. Room upgrades are never guaranteed, but they are frequent in my experience. Let’s call those ~$25 a stay even though that’s very light as a value given that some upgrades are likely to be suites. If you stay 10 nights a year, Diamond status is worth $950 using the calculations above.
Annual Free Night Certificates – $500: Valid any night of the week and good at any Hilton properties in the Hilton portfolio. with no points limit. It’s not going to be hard to pick and choose where to use that for maximum value and at any Conrad or Waldorf-Astoria at a busy time, $500 is easy. I recently redeemed my own for the Waldorf Astoria Pedregal in Cabo for a $1,500 night room!
I won’t value the potential free second or third weekend night since those do require $30,000 and $60,000 in spend.
I also won’t value the $189 CLEAR+ credit as that is available on so many other Amex cards.
Total Tangible Benefits from your $550 in annual spend? $2,050
I mean, that is NUTS. And I hope you can tell that if anything I tried to assign lower values to perks than they are probably worth! If anything, I undervalued them. The only thing is that you obviously need to stay at Hilton hotels or resorts a handful of times a year to enjoy the benefits. And really, if you don’t, then you likely don’t need a Hilton credit card.
Rates and Fees for the Hilton Honors Aspire® Credit Card
All information about the Hilton Honors Aspire® Credit Card has been collected independently by Your Best Credit Cards.
Earn a $250 statement credit after you make $3,000 in purchases on your Card in your first 3 months. Terms Apply.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
The American Express Blue Business Cash business credit card is a great card for those who are both not interested in points (prefer cash back) and do not want to keep track of bonus categories.
With a simple 2% cash back on all eligible purchases until you reach $50,000 in spend in a calendar year, it’s a perfectly suitable cash back card for those that spend under $50,000 in a calendar year for their business. Though the rate will drop to 1% on eligible purchases after you spend $50,000 in a calendar year, there is no limit to the amount of cash back that you can earn.
If you prefer American Express Membership Rewards points instead of cash, there is a nearly identical version of this credit card, called the American Express Blue Business Plus™ Card, which earns Membership Rewards points instead of cash at the same rate.
Keep in mind that this no-annual fee card does charge a 2.7% foreign transaction fee, so please make sure you have a separate credit card with no foreign transaction fees for your trips abroad.
If you spend more than $50,000 a year, however, and want straight cash back and expanded buying power, you should consider these two alternative business credit cards:
If you would like to have separate Blue Business Cash cards for your employees, you can do so with no fee.
Rates and Fees for the The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card