The
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is a good credit card to consider if you’re a big-spender with a
good credit who travels a lot. This card is worth its
$550 annual fee if you can comfortably qualify for its big initial bonus offer and take advantage of the hundreds of dollars in annual credits that are available.
Earning bonus rewards on travel purchases goes a long way, too, especially when you redeem them for Hilton nights. You also need to pay the bill in full every month, as a fairly high APR will cost you otherwise.
What I Like About the Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card
Big initial bonus offer
The
Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card offers
175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after spending $6,000 in purchases in the first 6 months (offer ends 1/14/2026). This trounces the market averages (
37,069 points), and puts the Aspire Card in the conversation with the
best initial bonuses.
Bonus rewards on travel purchases
Cardholders earn
14 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per $1 spent directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 7 points per $1 spent on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel, car rentals purchased directly from select car rental companies, and purchases at U.S. restaurants, and 3 points per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases. It’s best to use this card mainly for bonus-category purchases, as you’ll have a real edge on the average rewards card there. The minimum rewards rate is good but not great.
Up to $400 in Hilton Resort Credits each year
If you use this card to make eligible purchases directly from Hilton Resorts, you’ll get statement credits to cover the first $200 spent in the first half of the year and the first $200 spent in the second half of the year. This effectively reduces the card’s annual fee to a very reasonable level for loyal Hilton guests.
Up to $200 in flight credits each year
You can get up to $50 in statement credits per quarter for flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com. The fact that you can’t use the full $200 on a single flight is a bit of a bummer, but being able to repeatedly save $50 on airfare isn’t a bad consolation prize.
Free night(s) each year
Cardholders automatically receive one free night reward each year. You’ll receive a redemption code via email 8-14 weeks after you open or renew your account. You can also earn another free night reward by charging at least $30,000 to the card in a year, then get an additional night reward if you cross the $60,000 threshold in the same year.
What I Don’t Like About the Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card
$550 annual fee
This is about 20 times higher than the average annual fee among credit card offers available right now, according to
our research. The initial bonus may cover this the first year, but you’ll need to take advantage of the annual credits and make a lot of purchases to earn points if you want to break even, let alone save money, moving forward.
19.74% - 28.74% (V) APR
The exact rate you’re assigned depends on how creditworthy you are when you apply. But –spoiler alert – you’re very likely to get an APR that’s higher than average. The market average is
22.76% right now, according to our research.
Even if you get the lowest rate in the Hilton Aspire Card’s range, it’s still not a good idea to carry a balance from month to month. That would just make it harder to break even, and you can avoid interest charges altogether if you pay your bill in full every month.
Balance transfers aren’t allowed
The
Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card is a travel rewards card, so we can’t hold its lack of balance transfer functionality against it too much. But it would be better to at least have the option.
Good credit required
You typically need
good credit or better to have a shot at getting approved for the
Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card. You can get
your free credit score right here on WalletHub to assess your chances.
If you’re not quite sold on the
Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card, you can compare the rest of
Hilton’s credit card offers as well as our editors’ picks for the
best hotel credit cards.
Note: This review is not provided, commissioned or endorsed by any issuer. Opinions and ratings are our own.
