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130,000 points
$95
20.74% - 29.74% Variable
Good to Excellent (670-850)
An excellent high-earning Hilton credit card that comes with perks like Hilton Honors Gold status and Priority Pass lounge access.
(at Amex's secure site)
If you’re someone who loves traveling and loves staying in Hilton hotels, adding a co-branded Hilton hotel card to your wallet is almost a no-brainer. From automatic Hilton elite status, to airport lounge access, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card can be a great fit for Hilton loyalists looking to up their travel game.
If you’re someone that often stays at Hilton hotels, then the Hilton Surpass card would likely be worth it for you.
For starters, the card will help you earn significantly more points on your Hilton stays thanks to the 12x points per $1 on Hilton stays that the card earns, plus, thanks to your complimentary Gold elite status you’ll also get an 80% point bonus on your Hilton stays.
Additional perks of your Gold status are complimentary room upgrades, a daily food and beverage credit (U.S. hotels) or continental breakfast (non-U.S. hotels), and late checkout.
By far the best perk of the Hilton Surpass card is that all cardholders get automatic Gold elite status, which usually requires you to spend 40 nights a year in Hilton hotels!
Gold is the second-highest elite tier in the Hilton Honors program, and with your new Gold status, you’ll receive the following benefits:
Daily free breakfast and complimentary room upgrades can offer travelers great value during their Hilton stays, not to mention that the 80% bonus in points earned bumps you up to 18 Hilton Honors points per $1 on Hilton stays.
Hot Tip: When you combine your 80% bonus from your Hilton Gold status with the 12x points you earn with your Hilton Surpass card, you’ll be earning a total of 30x points per $1 — representing a return of 12% on your Hilton stays.
Another great benefit of the Hilton Surpass card is that it gives you 10 free visits to Priority Pass lounges each year. The Priority Pass lounge network includes over 1,300+ lounges worldwide, so you’ll almost always find one in whatever airport you’re flying in to, or out of.
Those that spend $15,000 on purchases in a calendar year will earn a free weekend night reward that can be redeemed at nearly any Hilton hotel worldwide!
The Hilton Surpass card gives you quite a few bonus category options to help you earn more Hilton Honors points, but fortunately, that isn’t the only way to earn Hilton Honors points! In fact, there are tons of great ways to earn Hilton Honors points that don’t involve staying at a Hilton hotel or using your Hilton card.
Hilton offers some really fantastic hotels throughout the world where you can redeem your Hilton Honors points for a fantastic value. The downside is that Hilton no longer publishes an award chart, so it can be difficult at times to know how many points you will need for a specific stay. However, you can use the Hilton Honors Points Explorer tool to help give you an estimate of how much you will need for a given stay.
If you’re not committed to the Hilton Honors program and prefer the Marriott Bonvoy program instead, then the Marriott Boundless card is worth your consideration.
With the Marriott Boundless card, you’ll receive automatic Marriott Silver Elite status, a free night certificate each year on your account anniversary, plus 15 Elite Night credits each year to help you reach a higher elite status level like Gold Elite or Platinum Elite.
Another hotel credit card that is a fan favorite among frequent travelers is the World of Hyatt card. With the World of Hyatt card, you’ll receive automatic Discoverist status, a free night certificate on your account anniversary, and 5 annual Elite Night credits, plus a way to spend yourself to high elite status levels.
Hot Tip: We’ve also compared the Hilton Surpass card to the other Hilton co-branded credit cards in our post: Amex Hilton Honors Credit Cards: Comparing the Benefits and Perks.
The information regarding The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding The World of Hyatt Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.
Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
8 comments
chris wright
January 03, 2021
I am looking at the Surpass card and I see that it comes with 10 free visits for Priority Pass. Is that only for the cardholder or can you use one free visit for the holder and one for the guest each time, which essentially giving you 5 free visits? Thank you.
Christine Krzyszton
January 03, 2021
Hi Chris. The Surpass card comes with 10 free Priority Pass one-time-use passes. You are correct in that the cardholder must use 1 pass and then another pass must be used for the guest.
Ted
April 27, 2022
Hi Jarrod, my wife just applied for this card. Does the Priority Pass card come with the welcoming package?
Jarrod West
April 28, 2022
Hi Ted,
You will have to activate your Priority Pass benefits from your account benefits page on the Amex website once your card arrives in the mail.
Jeanette
March 04, 2023
Is priority pass still a feature on this card? I’m not seeing it listed on the website.
Christine Krzyszton
March 04, 2023
Hi Jeanette. Yes, the card comes with 10 Priority Pass visits. You’ll see the benefit under All Benefits, then Travel on the website.
Jordan
March 15, 2023
I’m looking for a credit card that offers priority pass. Can I use this as an European, travelling in Europe or is this only for US citizens? Also is there an minimal limit for this credit card, or can one also just make use of the priority pass?
Jarrod West
March 21, 2023
Hi Jordan,
Here are some of the best cards that give you priority pass access, and as long as you are eligible to apply for U.S. credit cards then you are able to get one, but this usually requires a Social Security Number or ITIN.
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