Hilton Honors Surpass Review: Big Perks and Rewards for a Manageable Annual Fee

Hilton Honors Surpass Benefits

Elite Status

As a Hilton Surpass cardholder, you’ll get automatic Hilton Honors Gold elite status. This comes with a food and beverage credit or free breakfast at most Hilton properties worldwide, upgrades at check in if there’s space available and more.

If you use the card a lot and rack up $40,000 a year in spending, or a little over $3,300 a month, you’ll earn Diamond status for the rest of the year and the next year. Diamond status gives you executive lounge access, priority access to room upgrades including suites and a 100% bonus on your earned points.

Free Night Reward

For spending $15,000 a year on the card, you’ll unlock one of the best free night certificates on the market. Hilton’s free night reward certificate is one of the most flexible and useful, as it’s valid at nearly every property in the Hilton portfolio. So long as there’s a standard room available, you can redeem your free night reward. Plus you can still use your elite benefits like lounge access, suite upgrades and more.

I used two free night certificates for a stay at the Grand Wailea in Maui, which would have set me back around $1,000 a night. When we arrived at the hotel, we were given an upgrade to a one-bedroom oceanview suite, access to their lounge for all-day food and drinks, and enjoyed free breakfast both days. It even waived the resort fee. Not a bad value for a $150 annual fee!

Useful Bonus Categories

While most co-branded credit cards offer bonus categories for their own brand (Hilton for Hilton spend, Marriott for Marriott spend, etc), it can be difficult to earn bonus rewards for other categories.

This card checks off almost every box for someone looking to give their loyalty to Hilton. On top of the 12x points you’ll earn for using your card to book with Hilton, you’ll also earn:

• 6x points at U.S. restaurants (including takeout and delivery)
• 6x at U.S. supermarkets
• 6x points at U.S. gas stations
• 4x points on U.S. online retail purchases
• 3x points everywhere else

The most unique category, in my opinion, is the 4x points earned on U.S. online purchases. This has the potential to build up your balances quickly.

I tend to buy a lot online. A perfect example is when I shop at Best Buy. Instead of earning 3x points for going to the store, I buy it online for in-store pickup and earn 4x points. It’s just an easy way to earn even more Hilton points for your next vacation.

Statement Credits

Each quarter, you’ll have access to a statement credit of up to $50 when you use your Hilton Surpass at any Hilton worldwide. You can maximize this benefit by using the card at a Hilton hotel every three months to earn up to $200 back per year, more than covering the $150 annual fee.

When I don’t have a reservation booked for a certain quarter, I’ve called hotels and asked for a credit card authorization form so that the hotel can charge my card ahead of time. This way, the hotel charges my card, and I get the credit. However, if you have to cancel the reservation, some hotels won’t give you a refund.

Hilton Honors Surpass Drawbacks

High Spend for a Free Night

For the casual user, the $15,000 spending requirement to earn a free night reward seems hard to do — especially since some mid-tier hotel cards, including the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card and The World of Hyatt Credit Card, offer a free night as a benefit for holding the card each year.

Inflexible Rewards

The Hilton Surpass Card only earns Hilton points. If you’re looking to use your points earned for free hotel stays at Hilton properties then you’re going to love this card. But if you like the freedom to decide to use your points for flights or even hotel stays at other properties, then this card isn’t the right option for you.

Instead, consider a flexible travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Citi Strata Premier® Card (an advertising partner) to earn points that have a multitude of redemption options.

Hilton Has No Fixed Award Chart

Hilton changes the number of points needed for a free night at their properties based on demand and the current cash price. This dynamic pricing isn’t unique to Hilton, but it definitely does make knowing how many points you need for a free night more of a challenge.

Some programs, like Wyndham Rewards and World of Hyatt, still have award charts, so you’ll have a general idea of how many points it’ll take to stay for free any given night of the year.

The points needed for premium rooms can go from mundane to absolutely absurd. I have a trip planned to New York City in October, and I was interested in staying at the new Waldorf Astoria. Then, I saw that a free night required nearly 1,000,000 points.

Who Is the Hilton Surpass Card Best For?

The Hilton Surpass is best for people who have a casual relationship with Hilton, and wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the benefits offered from premium credit cards. The mid-tier elite status is great for most users, since you’ll have access to two benefits most hotel guests value: breakfast and upgrades.

The up to $200 in Hilton statement credits can help justify the $150 annual fee. Plus, they’re easy to earn since the only requirement is to use your card at a Hilton hotel once every three months.

I’m a big fan of the dining and grocery store bonus categories, as those two categories are where I spend the most every month.

If you spent $1,000 each month at U.S. supermarkets and U.S. restaurants, you’d earn 6,000 points a month, or 72,000 points a year. Check out some of the pricing for your favorite locations and see how many free hotel nights you can get for those points. You might find that just from your normal day-to-day spending, a free vacation is closer than you might think.

Is It the Right Card for You?

I see the Hilton Surpass Card as a trusted friend: It’s there when you need it, it comes with useful benefits and you know you can rely on getting great value out of it without demanding a lot in return. Consider adding this card to your wallet if:

• You find that you’re coming across a lot of Hilton hotels in your travels
• You want a great mid-tier elite status that doesn’t require any extra spending
• You spend enough on gas, groceries and dining to take advantage of the bonus categories
• You don’t need great credit card travel insurance (this card doesn’t offer a ton)

Alternatives to the Hilton Surpass

If you’re a Hilton loyalist trying to choose the right hotel credit card, there are two other personal American Express cards co-branded with Hilton, and each of them offers a very distinct portfolio of benefits:

• Hilton Honors American Express Card: This no-annual-fee travel card is lighter on benefits. The bonus categories have some overlap with the Hilton Surpass, but you’ll earn fewer points — for example, instead of 12x points at Hilton hotels, you’ll earn 7x points. The card’s automatic Silver status gets you a handful of perks, like free bottled water, and also unlocks the fifth night free on award stays.
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: At $550 per year, this is the crown jewel in the Hilton credit card portfolio, offering top-tier Diamond status just for holding the card. It earns a huge 14x points per dollar at Hilton properties and comes with an annual free night reward, up to $400 in Hilton Resort credits each year, and up to $200 per year in airline credits.