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Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card Review: Quality Perks For A Reasonable Fee

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card overview

The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card provides solid earnings at Hilton properties and automatic Hilton Gold elite status, which offers many useful benefits when staying with Hilton. The status perk alone may make it easy to justify the card’s annual fee. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐½

*Card rating is based on the opinion of TPG’s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.

The Hilton Surpass is an ideal choice for those who stay at Hilton properties often and want a cobranded credit card with a modest annual fee and valuable perks. It comes with a $150 annual fee (see rates and fees).

Benefits included with the card’s automatic Hilton Gold status include complimentary breakfast or daily food and beverage credit, increased earnings and space-available upgrades when you stay at Hilton properties.

Applicants should have a credit score of 670 or higher to be eligible for this card.

You might wonder whether the Hilton Surpass card is a good addition to your wallet. Here are the details and other cards to consider as you decide.

Hilton Surpass pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Reasonable annual fee Annual Hilton credit each calendar year Hilton Honors Gold status Opportunity to earn Diamond status No foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees) Enrollment is required for select benefits; terms apply	Hilton Honors points not valued highly Dynamic award pricing

Hilton Surpass welcome offer

New applicants for the Hilton Surpass can earn 130,000 bonus points plus a free night reward after spending $3,000 on purchases in their first six months of card membership. Offer ends April 29.

According to TPG’s February 2025 valuations, this points portion of the bonus is worth $780. And if you value free night certificates highly, this bonus’s free night reward could make it the card’s best-ever offer.

THE POINTS GUY

Having most other Hilton credit cards doesn’t make you ineligible for the welcome bonus, but remember that Amex has a “once per lifetime” rule on card bonuses. Amex also has these terms for the welcome offer:

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Hilton Honors Amex Ascend Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors.

Luckily, Amex will inform you before submitting your application if you’re not eligible for the bonus. If you get this message, you can proceed without the welcome offer or withdraw your application before Amex performs a hard pull on your credit report.

Hilton Surpass benefits

The welcome offer on the Hilton Surpass card is attractive, but the card’s ongoing perks provide long-term value for semi-regular Hilton guests.

ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

The following are some of the perks the Hilton Surpass has to offer:

Hilton Honors Gold status: Complimentary Gold Elite status, which includes an 80% points bonus on paid stays, space-available room upgrades, elite rollover nights, a fifth night free when you book a stay with points and a daily breakfast or food and beverage credit. Spending $40,000 on the card in a calendar year will earn you top-tier Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.
Up to $200 in Hilton statement credits: Earn up to $200 back every calendar year on eligible Hilton purchases (up to $50 in statement credits each quarter).
Rental car elite status: Receive complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive status after enrollment in the Emerald Club program

Enrollment is required for select benefits; terms apply.

The Hilton Surpass offers other benefits, too, including no foreign transaction fees when traveling outside the U.S., Send & Split to divide bills with friends — such as a group dinner — and secondary rental car insurance**.

** Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered, and geographic restrictions apply. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

Earning points with the Hilton Surpass

The Hilton Surpass card is a great way to earn Hilton points.

You’ll earn 12 points per dollar at Hilton Hotels and Resorts — a 7.2% return on spending, based on TPG’s February 2025 valuations. This is better than you’d get with most of the best credit cards for booking hotels.

You’ll also earn 6 Hilton points per dollar spent on dining at U.S. restaurants (including takeout and delivery), U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations, giving you a return of 3.6% on these purchases.

BILL FINK/THE POINTS GUY

The Hilton Surpass also earns 4 points per dollar on U.S. online retail purchases, which can be maximized when clicking through shopping portals. That’s a return of 2.4%.

Finally, you’ll get 3 points per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases — a return of 1.8%.

These returns on non-Hilton spending aren’t spectacular compared to general travel rewards cards. But, if you want to boost your Hilton points balance, the Hilton Surpass card provides a decent return even for purchases outside the Hilton Honors program.

Redeeming points with the Hilton Surpass

Regarding the Hilton Honors program, your best bet is to redeem your Hilton points for free nights.

Unfortunately, Hilton doesn’t publish an award chart; instead, it uses dynamic pricing, where the number of points needed for a redemption fluctuates based on factors such as the cash cost of the hotel, holidays and peak travel periods.

KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY

One of my favorite options is to focus on properties that cost relatively few points but provide great value. Thanks to Hilton’s dynamic award charts, these can be hard to find, but with a little patience and effort, you can score some fantastic deals.

Hilton’s Points & Money option allows you to pay more cash (and fewer points) when making a reservation. This can be useful when you don’t have enough points for a full booking but don’t want to pay the full cost of the hotel room.

Finally, remember that Hilton allows you to pool your points with up to 10 other members. If you want to combine balances with a friend or family member to put an even more luxurious award stay within reach, you can.

Which cards compete with the Hilton Surpass?

For those looking to earn and redeem points with Hilton, natural competitors of the Hilton Surpass card will be other Hilton credit cards. But it’s also worth considering cards that earn points you can use at Hilton in addition to other redemption options.

If you don’t want to pay an annual fee: The Hilton Honors American Express Card also earns points you can redeem with Hilton for complimentary hotel stays. As a card with no annual fee (see rates and fees), you’ll earn at lower rates and receive fewer perks, as you may expect. To learn more, see our full review of the Amex Hilton Honors card.
If you want more perks: The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is Hilton’s premium card, offering top-tier Diamond status as an automatic benefit for a $550 annual fee. You’ll receive a free night reward on each account anniversary and multiple valuable statement credits. Enrollment is required; terms apply. To learn more, see our full review of the Amex Hilton Aspire card.
If you aren’t partial to Hilton: The American Express® Gold Card earns rewards in popular bonus categories, such as dining at restaurants and groceries at U.S. supermarkets. The Amex Gold earns American Express Membership Rewards points, which you can transfer to Hilton for hotel redemptions and valuable airline and hotel partners. To learn more, see our full review of the Amex Gold card.

For additional options, check out our picks for the best travel cards.

The information for the Hilton Amex Aspire Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

While the Hilton Surpass doesn’t offer the flexibility of a card like the Amex Gold or the elite perks of the Hilton Aspire, it could still be just what you need to make your next stay with the Hilton Honors program even more rewarding.

If you’re looking for the benefits of Gold Elite status and multiple valuable statement credits for a reasonable annual fee, the Hilton Surpass could be a good option for you.

Apply here: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card

For rates and fees of the Hilton Surpass Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Amex Card, click here.

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