Compare the Features and Benefits of Hilton Honors American Express Card and
United Quest℠ Credit Card

The Hilton Honors American Express Card is the entry level Hilton card in a family of three Hilton credit cards for individuals including this one, the Hilton Honors Surpass® Credit Card ($150 annual fee), and the Hilton Aspire® credit card ($550 annual fee).

(All information about the Hilton Honors Aspire® Credit Card ahas been collected independently by Your Best Credit Cards.)

If you stay with Hilton frequently and simply aren’t willing to pay an annual fee, this isn’t a bad card. With 7X earned at Hilton portfolio properties (we value that at 3.5% worth of points back since we value Hilton points at 0.5 cents each), you’ll certainly do well when you pay with this card at Hilton family hotels and resorts.

5X Hilton Honors points at US restaurants, US gas stations, and US supermarkets on a no-annual fee card isn’t bad either, with a 2.5% effective return on spend assuming a value of 0.5 cents per Hilton point).

However, if you do step up to the annual fee cards, you do get more. The Surpass comes with automatic Hilton Gold status instead of Hilton Honors Silver status, which adds a breakfast or meal voucher credit to your benefits along with room upgrades and gives you the opportunity to earn a Free Night Reward valid on any Standard Night Reward after $15,000 in spend on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.

And the Aspire, despite its heft annual fee, provides come crazy benefits like Diamond elite status.

However, you are probably reading about this card because you want a no annual fee Hilton credit card and this one is pretty strong for a new annual fee hotel card. Not to mention the shopping protections like Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection as well as no foreign transaction fees.

Rates and Fees for the Hilton Honors Credit Card from American Express

The United Quest Card is a fantastic option for United flyers that travel with the airline at least several times per year. There are also a number of unique perks that you don’t see on other airline credit cards. Let’s take a closer look.

First, $200 in United® TravelBank cash after account opening and annually on your account anniversary, is easy to use since it’s sitting in your TravelBank account waiting for you to use it! You’ll also automatically get 10,000 United miles back into your account after you redeem United miles for an award flight once per year.

Finally, this card also benefits those that overpack when they travel — the Quest card provides not one, but two free checked bags for the primary card holder and one companion traveling on the same reservation. That’s a potential luggage reimbursement savings of up to $320 per round trip.

Two of the perks, the $200 United credit and up to 10,000 mileage reimbursement, already go far in making the $350 annual fee worth it, especially since these are unique benefits that aren’t duplicated on other United credit cards.

In addition to offering a generous United Quest Card bonus, the card also includes a 25% discount on food and beverages on United operated flights and a wide array of travel and purchase protections. On the bonus category front, there’s a wide array including the ability to earn 3X miles on United Airlines purchases (after the $200 United credit is applied), 2X miles on the broad category of travel, 2X miles on dining, including eligible delivery services, and 2X miles on select streaming services.

There are also a huge range of both Unique Card Benefits and Annual Statement credits as described in the sections above, like up to $100 in credits on rideshare purchases annually, up to $80 in Avis/Budget credits annually, up to $150 in JSX statement credits annually, and up to $180 of Instacart credits annually.

And don’t forget the ability to earn PQPs towards elite status from spend. Earn up to 18,000 Premier qualifying points per calendar year (1 PQP for every $20 you spend on purchases) plus the bonus 1,000 Card Bonus PQP each qualification year, starting in 2026.

More frequent United Airlines flyers may want to consider the $695-per-year United Club Infinite card, a more premium card that offers airport lounge access. Meanwhile, those United travelers who travel a bit less frequently may want to consider the $150-per-year United Explorer card.