6 reasons why I applied for the Amex Hilton Ascend

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Hilton Ascend
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With Hilton recently announcing four brand new cards to their portfolio, I decided to apply for the lesser American Express Hilton Ascend card. To my excitement, I was approved on spot!

For further context, my fiance and I decided to upgrade her engagement ring a bit. When we found the cost to be about $1,000, she turned to me and said, “We need to sign up for a new card for an initial spend bonus.” Yep, she’s a special one – haha!

American Express Hilton Ascend Credit Card Review

We both looked around and found the American Express Hilton Ascend. I just received my card in the mail and couldn’t be more excited. Here are all the great benefits of the Hilton Ascend to the AmEx family.

hilton ascend
The Hilton Ascend card is a great card for those who are avid travelers who love upgrades but don’t have large business-like expenses.

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The Hilton Ascend Card Perks & Benefits

Initial spend bonus

Spend $2,000 in the first 3 months for 75,000 Hilton Honors Points. Spend another $1,000 in the first 6 months for an extra 25,000 Hilton Honors Points.

Many value this bonus to be worth about $500 (point valuations are currently saying 1 Hilton Point is worth 0.5 cents or $0.005). If one were to spend that $3,000 on a 3x multiplier, that would add another 9,000 points, at a $45 value.

Point multipliers

12x points per dollar spent directly with Hilton properties. 6x points per dollar on Gas, Restaurants, and Supermarkets. 3x points on all other eligible purchases.

Complimentary Gold Status

Yay for upgrades! If you spend $40,000 in a calendar year, you will be upgraded to Hilton Diamond through the following year.

Weekend Night Reward

Spend $15,000 and you will receive a free weekend night. This certificate is good at almost ANY Hilton property anywhere in the world. There are a handful of exclusions, but don’t worry about them.

No foreign transaction fees!

Vacations can be expensive enough. The last you want is to be charged an additional 3% for the “convenience” of using your credit card while traveling internationally. This should be a standard benefit of any credit card you are considering applying for.

Check out these tips to save on airport parking, dining while traveling, and during holiday travel.

Priority Pass Select Membership

This one is my absolute favorite! You get 10 complimentary Priority Pass lounge visits. I just verified with AmEx that if the primary cardholder is present, up to 2 guests are free! Anything past that is $27/person.

The Bald Thoughts

At a $95 annual fee, this is a great card for the average spending traveler. The older brother of this card, the Hilton Honors Aspire is a great card as well but has a $450 annual fee. A great card for a heavy spender.

With over $800 in signup value, I highly recommend this card!

However, my largest gripe with the Hilton Honors Points is lack of value. This 100,000 points for average hotel spending will probably get me 2 free nights, 3 at max.

Check out our credit card marketplace for the latest credit card offers.


12 COMMENTS

  1. so if you were to go with your wife to a PP lounge, that only counts as 1 out of 10 visits? I always thought it counts per person per visit

  2. “point valuations are currently saying 1 Hilton Point is worth .005 cents.”

    By that, you probably meant each Hilton point is worth .005 dollars or .5 cents?

  3. 3x spend * $0.005= $0.015 or 1.5%
    6x spend *$0.005 = $0.03 or 3%

    If you spend an additional $12,000 spend after earning the bonus, you would get at least 36,000 points (non bonus spend) and a free weekend night. If your spend was split 50/50 between bonus (gas, restaurants & supermarkets) and non-bonus, you would earn 54,000 points and a free weekend night.

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