Improved Bonus Offer on Amex Hilton Honors Ascend: Worth It?

As many of you know, right now the offers on all four Amex Hilton cards are increased. See more details here Most normal people will probably be interested in Ascend version, details below if you apply via personal referral link:

• Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points with the Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• Earn a Weekend Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
• Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio.
• Earn 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations.
• Earn 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
• Spend $40,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year and you can earn Hilton Honors Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.
• $95 annual fee.

What’s odd here is that the affiliate offer is for only 125,000 points. Nancy and I each have personal referral links for Ascend that will give you 150,000 points.

Leana’s personal referral link for Hilton Ascend card

Nancy’s personal referral link

In the past this offer came with 100,000 points bonus and a free weekend night upon renewal. It’s impossible to say whether it will ever return, but I think the current bonus is superior for most folks. Well, unless you were planning on redeeming the free night certificate in Maldives or Tahiti where properties cost 80,000- 95,000 points per night.

After all, you would have to pay $95 renewal fee in order to get the “free” weekend night, and you would miss out on 50,000 Hilton points. With this offer you can cancel after one year and avoid $95 fee. Regardless, this is the best offer on Ascend at the moment, and I do think that for some  it’s definitely worth considering.

Should you pull the trigger  on current Ascend offer? 

It depends. If you’ve been thinking about applying for Ascend card (personal or business), now is as good a time as any. This is the best-ever offer on this particular product, and chances are, it won’t increase in the future. But who knows? It really comes down to your plans and how much you like Hilton chain.

Even though “150K points” sounds impressive, Hilton currency isn’t all that valuable. To me, Chase  Marriott offer is far superior, unless you absolutely love Hilton and can’t imagine staying anywhere else.  Plus, don’t forget that there is also an Aspire Hilton card which will be a better overall fit for many people.

I did apply for identical version of the offer back when it was called Surpass, and have no regrets. I was able to utilize the points for my upcoming trip to South Pacific

Nancy and I have written a number of posts on Hilton program, so rather than rehash all the info, let me link to them instead:

Five tips on squeezing the most value out of Hilton Honors program

Hilton hotels for families of five or more

Using Hilton points for Disney World on-site resort benefits

All increased Amex Hilton offers pay us commission. Thanks if you choose to support the blog!

Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses