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Hilton Amex Card: 7 Years
May. 30th, 2023 09:02 amRecently my Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card passed its anniversary. I've had this card, in varying forms, for now 7 years. With this anniversary came the annual fee: a whopping $450. Is it worth it to keep for another year?
First, let's check the score on the past 12 months.
A $450 annual fee (AF) is steep. It's the most I've ever paid for a card. But this card does come with some significant benefits. The biggest are a $250 annual credit for ancillary charges from one chosen airline and a $250 annual credit for spend at Hilton resorts. I maxed out both these credits over the past year— the airline, by choosing Southwest, which is my carrier of choice; and the hotel credit, on a very nice stay in Sedona last May. In addition to these I snagged $56 of credits from special incentives American Express offered at specific merchants. Altogether that's $556 of credits, already more than the $450 AF.
What about points? Oh yes, there were points. I spent $5,650 on this card over the past 12 months and earned nearly 63,000 points. I value Hilton Honors points at $.005 (half a cent) apiece, so this haul has a gross value of $315. As always, though, I'm careful to calculate the net value. That's because I could have charged the same $5,650 of purchases to a card with no annual fee that pays 2% cash back. This $113 (2% of $5650) is the opportunity cost of using this card instead of another. But still, that leaves a net of $202, which is darn good for a card after its initial signup bonus. Together with the $556 of statement credits I'm already sitting on a net win of $301. ($556 + $202 - $450 = $308.)
But wait, there's more! This card comes with an annual free night award. I redeemed it for one of the nights we spent at the splishy-splashy hotel in Phoenix in early April. I value that award at $300. Now I'm up to a $608 net win on this card. And I'm not even done!
One more fringe benefit worth counting is the dining credit. The card confers Diamond Elite status, and one of the benefits of Diamond is a food and beverage credit of $15 or $30 a night at full-service Hilton properties. I was able to use that on three of my stays over the past year. I estimate I saved $150 with it. That brings my total net win to $758.
A net of $758 is fantastic for a card after its first year. It's even more fantastic considering that's the win over and above the big $450 AF. So, what's next?
Amex, like most big credit card issuers nowadays, has anti-churning language in its T&Cs. You can't get a signup bonus for a card if you've ever had it before. But it's known among churners that a) Amex's three HH cards count as different products and b) upgrades and downgrades within a product family don't count. Because I've never opened a new card of this type I was able to get the bonus. My application was approved instantly online, and the bonus is 70,000 Hilton Honors points plus a free night certificate after $1,000 spend in 3 months.
Getting that card still didn't answer the question of whether to Keep, Downgrade, or Cancel the existing card. Ordinarily I'd just cancel since I already have a new card coming. That's the basic pattern of churning. But this card has just been worth so much even with its $450 AF. I called up Amex and asked about retention bonuses— and got an offer of 15,000 Hilton Honors points after $1k spend. So soon I'll be working two offers at the same time, one for each Hilton card.
So, this card plays for another year. Maybe a year from now I'll cancel it— if my new card has an upgrade offer by then!
First, let's check the score on the past 12 months.
Big Annual Fee, Big Benefits
A $450 annual fee (AF) is steep. It's the most I've ever paid for a card. But this card does come with some significant benefits. The biggest are a $250 annual credit for ancillary charges from one chosen airline and a $250 annual credit for spend at Hilton resorts. I maxed out both these credits over the past year— the airline, by choosing Southwest, which is my carrier of choice; and the hotel credit, on a very nice stay in Sedona last May. In addition to these I snagged $56 of credits from special incentives American Express offered at specific merchants. Altogether that's $556 of credits, already more than the $450 AF.What about points? Oh yes, there were points. I spent $5,650 on this card over the past 12 months and earned nearly 63,000 points. I value Hilton Honors points at $.005 (half a cent) apiece, so this haul has a gross value of $315. As always, though, I'm careful to calculate the net value. That's because I could have charged the same $5,650 of purchases to a card with no annual fee that pays 2% cash back. This $113 (2% of $5650) is the opportunity cost of using this card instead of another. But still, that leaves a net of $202, which is darn good for a card after its initial signup bonus. Together with the $556 of statement credits I'm already sitting on a net win of $301. ($556 + $202 - $450 = $308.)
But wait, there's more! This card comes with an annual free night award. I redeemed it for one of the nights we spent at the splishy-splashy hotel in Phoenix in early April. I value that award at $300. Now I'm up to a $608 net win on this card. And I'm not even done!
One more fringe benefit worth counting is the dining credit. The card confers Diamond Elite status, and one of the benefits of Diamond is a food and beverage credit of $15 or $30 a night at full-service Hilton properties. I was able to use that on three of my stays over the past year. I estimate I saved $150 with it. That brings my total net win to $758.
A net of $758 is fantastic for a card after its first year. It's even more fantastic considering that's the win over and above the big $450 AF. So, what's next?
Keep, Downgrade, or Cancel? Working the System.
When it comes time to pay an annual fee on a credit card there are a few tricks we churning pros can use. Three I considered here were 1) Hit up Amex for a retention bonus, 2) Downgrade this card to a no-fee version with lower benefits and wait for an upgrade offer with a juicy bonus in 10-12 months, and 3) Cancel it and start over with a new, basic card with a juicy signup bonus. The optimal answer is figuring out how to do two at the same time!Amex, like most big credit card issuers nowadays, has anti-churning language in its T&Cs. You can't get a signup bonus for a card if you've ever had it before. But it's known among churners that a) Amex's three HH cards count as different products and b) upgrades and downgrades within a product family don't count. Because I've never opened a new card of this type I was able to get the bonus. My application was approved instantly online, and the bonus is 70,000 Hilton Honors points plus a free night certificate after $1,000 spend in 3 months.
Getting that card still didn't answer the question of whether to Keep, Downgrade, or Cancel the existing card. Ordinarily I'd just cancel since I already have a new card coming. That's the basic pattern of churning. But this card has just been worth so much even with its $450 AF. I called up Amex and asked about retention bonuses— and got an offer of 15,000 Hilton Honors points after $1k spend. So soon I'll be working two offers at the same time, one for each Hilton card.
So, this card plays for another year. Maybe a year from now I'll cancel it— if my new card has an upgrade offer by then!
