Credit Card	Best For	Annual Fee
Hilton Honors American Express Card	No Annual Fee	$0
Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card	Diamond Status	$450
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card	Any Hotel	$95
Virgin Atlantic Credit Card	Hilton Rewards Partner	$90
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card	Initial Bonus	$95
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card	Business	$95

Hilton Amex cards require at least good credit for approval. If you don’t know how good your credit is, you can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub.

Other Hilton Credit Cards

Citi® Hilton Honors™ Reserve Card

Quick Take: Citibank is no longer accepting new applications for this card, as of June 2017.

The Details: You’ll earn 10 points per $1 spent through Hilton, 5 points per $1 on car rental and airfare purchases, and 3 points per $1 on everything else.

While cardholders also get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status and do not have to worry about foreign transaction fees, this card does charge a $95 annual fee that could alter its value proposition depending on your spending habits. However, this can be partially offset by those who qualify for a free weekend night by spending at least $10,000 on purchases each year.

Citi® Hilton Honors™ Visa Signature® Card

Quick Take: Citibank is no longer accepting new applications for this card, as of June 2017.

The Details: You’ll receive 6 points per $1 spent with Hilton, 3 points per $1 spent at supermarkets, gas stations and drug stores, and 2 points per $1 on everything else. Cardholders also automatically earn Hilton Honors Silver status and receive a 10,000-point bonus each year they spend at least $1,000 at Hilton properties.

It does not have an annual fee but does charge a 3% foreign transaction fee. What’s more, it’s important to note that Visa Signature cards have a feature known as No Preset Spending Limit (NPSL). That means your spending limit is determined on a monthly basis and you’ll never really know how much available credit is left at your disposal. It also complicates credit reporting and may lead to underserved credit score damage.

You also have to recognize the possibility that the best credit card for saving money on hotel stays might not bear the Hilton brand name. That means you should check out what other hotel rewards credit cards have to offer if you want to be really thorough.

Methodology for Selecting the Best Hilton Credit Card

There are seven factors to consider when comparing Hilton credit cards in search of the best offer for your particular needs:

Minimum credit score required
Annual fee
Initial bonus
Earning rate on Hilton purchases
Earning rates on other purchases (if you plan to use the card for non-Hilton spending)
Starting Honors status level
Foreign transaction fee (if you plan to travel abroad)

As you can see, interest rates and balance transfer fees aren’t on the list. That’s because rewards cards should only be used for expenses that you can pay off in full by your monthly due date. Rewards cards tend to charge high interest rates, which means carrying a balance would significantly diminish the value of your earnings.

How Much are Hilton Honors Points Worth?

One Hilton Honors point is worth a bit more than half of one cent, on average, when redeemed for free nights. Hilton points are worth even less when redeemed for merchandise and gift cards.

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.

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.