The Hilton Surpass Card is a good credit card to apply for if you have a good credit score and you spend a lot of money at Hilton hotels and resorts, as well as restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations in the U.S. It is worth paying the Surpass Card’s annual fee of
$150 if you can take advantage of its bonus rewards. Not only do you earn bonus rewards for purchases in those popular spending categories, but you can also earn a big initial bonus and quarterly Hilton credits.
Rewards are the star of the Amex Hilton Surpass show, as there aren’t any low introductory interest rates. There’s just a high regular APR, so you should plan to pay your bill in full monthly to avoid losing money to interest charges.
All in all, the Hilton Honors Surpass Card is the best value among the
Hilton credit cards available right now. You can learn more below.
What I Like About the Hilton Honors Surpass Card
Bonus offer: 155,000 points
You will earn
155,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points for spending $3,000 in the first 6 months (offer ends 1/14/2026). This is a great deal. The average initial bonus on a travel rewards card is
37,069 points/miles.
12 points per $1 spent directly through Hilton
That towers over the average earn rate among credit cards with rewards and can save frequent travelers a boatload.
4 - 6 points per $1 on bonus category purchases
You will earn 6 points per $1 spent at U.S. gas stations, U.S. supermarkets and U.S. restaurants. Plus, you can get 4 points per $1 spent on U.S. online retail purchases. That is 2-3X what the average card will give you.
3 points per $1 on non-bonus category purchases
This earning rate is a bit higher than the base return for a rewards card (
1.19 on average, according to our research). But many other types of credit card rewards are far more flexible than Hilton Honors points, which only get you decent value when you redeem for Hilton stays. So it might make sense to get a card offering 2% back on all purchases to use when you won’t get bonus rewards from Surpass.
Free night reward for spending $15,000 each year
You can earn this bonus every year. It applies to all Hilton properties except
these. You’ll get a free night reward code via email within 8-12 weeks of meeting the spending requirement.
Hilton Honors Diamond status for spending $40,000 in a year
Your status lasts for a year after you meet the spending requirement. Diamond status gets you things like executive lounge access and a 48-hour room guarantee.
No foreign transaction fee
You won’t pay extra for purchases processed outside the United States. This is the norm for travel rewards credit cards.
Instant use is possible
You might get an instant card number if American Express is able to instantly verify your identity when they approve you. This will allow you to make purchases most places Amex is accepted before your card arrives in the mail.
What I Don’t Like About the Hilton Surpass Card
$150 annual fee
The
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card's annual fee is about six times the average (
$26.75). It can still be worth paying, though.
19.99% - 28.99% (V) APR
The average credit card offer has a
22.76% APR, according to
WalletHub research, and credit cards for good credit charge an average of
23.93%. You could end up paying much more than that with the Surpass Card, so you probably don’t want to carry a balance from month to month.
Good credit or better recommended
The Hilton Honors Surpass Card is a very good hotel rewards credit card, so it should come as no surprise that you need good credit or better to be eligible for it. It would be even better if more people could qualify, though.
You can
check your latest credit score for free here on WalletHub to get a sense of your approval odds.
Note: This review is not provided, commissioned or endorsed by any issuer. Opinions and ratings are our own.
