
This is significantly below the 1 cent per point/mile valuation offered by most general-use rewards cards. It also means you’ll need roughly 50,000 Hilton Honors points to book a rewards night at the average Hilton hotel, according to WalletHub research. However, Hilton’s credit cards provide up to 12 points per $1 spent at Hilton properties, which tilts the value proposition in a cardholder’s favor if they regularly patron the chain.
Best Hilton Credit Cards Comparison
Credit Card | Best For | Annual Fee |
Hilton Honors American Express Card | No Annual Fee | $0 |
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card | Business | $95 |
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card | Bonus Points | $95 |
Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card | Diamond Status | $450 |
United℠ Explorer Card | Hilton Rewards Partner | $0 intro 1st yr, $95 after |
Chase Sapphire Reserve® | Any Hotel | $550 |
Hilton Honors Rewards Program Summary
Unlike Hilton’s credit cards, the overall Hilton Honors loyalty program is beneficial only to those who regularly stay at Hilton properties. In other words, while the right Hilton Honors credit card could provide significant initial value, allowing you to stay at a Hilton property without ever stepping foot in one before, there are no sign-up bonuses for joining the program absent of a credit card and most of its perks are provided proportionally to your stay frequency.
With that being said, opening a Hilton Honors credit card is an excellent way for a newly brand-loyal guest to expedite worthwhile perks. That’s because it’s far more cost effective to garner Hilton status by opening one of the company’s co-branded cards – even if it has an annual fee – than by qualifying based on how often you stay at Hilton properties each year.
Methodology for Selecting the Best Hilton Credit Card
WalletHub’s editors regularly update and review our comprehensive database of 1,500+ credit cards, including all available Hilton credit cards, offers from Hilton’s alliance partners, and other cards with general travel rewards. We compare the latest rewards, rates, fees, approval requirements, initial bonuses and secondary benefits such as free nights, anniversary bonuses and hotel credits to select the best options.
Ultimately, we rank the cards based on two-year cost (the lower the better). Most people want the card that will save them the most money.
How Two-Year Cost Is Calculated
Two-year cost is used to approximate the monetary value of cards for better comparison and is calculated by combining annual and monthly membership fees over two years, adding any one-time fees or other fees (like balance transfer fees), adding any interest costs, and subtracting rewards. Negative amounts indicate savings. When fees or other terms are presented as a range, we use the midpoint for scoring purposes.
Rewards bonuses and credits have been taken into account for two-year cost calculations. However, bonuses applicable to only a very small portion of cardholders are not considered. For example, credits and bonuses awarded for spending or redeeming rewards through a company portal with non-co-branded cards have not been taken into account. Similarly, bonuses and credits related to spending with specific merchants using a non-co-branded card have not been taken into account (for example, if Card A offers credits with DoorDash, this feature would not be factored into calculations because it is hard to assess how many cardholders would use the benefit or exactly how much value they'd get from it).
Cardholder Spending Profiles
Given that different users have different goals and are likely to use their credit cards differently, we identified spending profiles that are representative of different users’ financial priorities and behaviors. For each cardholder type, we have assumed a specific amount of monthly spending by purchase type (e.g., groceries, gas, etc.), as well as an average balance, balance transfer amount, amount spent on large purchases and average monthly payment. Spending assumptions are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for consumers and PEX data for businesses.