AMAZING Hilton Credit Card Offer with Free Nights (including on a NO annual fee

Now is the time to act on these incredible offers for Amex Hilton credit cards that now include Free Night Awards in the welcome bonus! It might be too good of a deal to pass on ~ so much so that I’m taking advantage of one as well!

As always, DISCLAIMER for credit cards is that you should only consider getting these cards if 1. you are able to pay off your balances every month – if you pay interest, those rates are so high that they will negate ALL rewards and 2. if you are not spending more money than you would otherwise. (Couple of posts that might be helpful: refresher on credit cards / get more in depth on credit card travel hacking). I did also link my referrals for these products (FULL DISCLOSURE if you use the link, I will receive referral credit – to sweeten the deal, I will also throw in a $40 credit towards baked goods)

What makes this such a great deal?

Simple – the welcome bonus offers include the Free Night Award (FNA) and the reason why Hilton FNA are really spectacular? They are valid for ANY day of the week and can be used for ANY standard reward night (even if the standard award night would cost 150K points!). To compare to other cards that offer a FNA – a Hyatt credit card offers a FNA for a category 1-4 hotel on your anniversary and a Marriott card offers a FNA worth up to 35K points. Before these AMEX Hilton cards offers, the only card that offered a FNA has a hefty $450 annual fee!

And this might be the first time that it is offered on a no annual fee card – Hilton Honors American Express Card. The offer for this card: Earn 70,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points + a Free Night Reward after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer expires 7/19/2023. While 70K Hilton points is worth roughly $420 – you could use the FNA for a night worth $500-$1000 and for NO ANNUAL FEE!

The offer for the Hilton Honors Surpass® Credit Card (Annual fee: $95): Earn 130,000 Bonus Points plus a Free Night Award after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 7/19/2023 Before this offer, a FNA would be rewarded only after spending $15,000 in a calendar year! This card does come with a few more perks: 10 Priority Pass lounge access passes each year (enrollment is required), another FNA after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year and complimentary Hilton Gold elite status.

The offer for the The Hilton Honors American Express Business (Annual fee: $95): Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points & a Free Night Award after spending $4,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 7/19/23. Before this offer, a FNA would be rewarded only after spending $15,000 in a calendar year! This card does come with a few more perks: 10 Priority Pass lounge access passes each year (enrollment is required), another FNA after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year (plus the ability to earn a second certificate by spending $60,000 total on eligible purchases in a calendar year) and complimentary Hilton Gold elite status.

Bonus for these deals, if that you’ll get a fifth night free on reward stays as a Hilton elite member — included with any Hilton Amex card!

What to consider before applying:

While these really are incredible deals – you should only get these card(s) if you are committed to using the Free Night Award within the next year or so. The FNA expire one year from date of issue and the stay must be completed BEFORE the expiry day – per Hilton, the FNA will be forfeited if not redeemed on or before the expiration date.

The welcome bonuses are given after you have met the minimum spend requirement.

Remember that Amex has a “one per lifetime” policy for earning welcome offers, but a pop-up window should let you know if you’re not eligible for a bonus before you submit your application. Thankfully, having one type of Hilton Amex card doesn’t prevent you from getting a different one as your needs change.

A few ways you could leverage these deals AKA a real life example for redemption:

The most aspirational redemption would be using Free Night Awards for a stay at either the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island (standard room: Beach Villa or Sunrise Water Villa – adults only for 120K/night with rates starting ~ $800) or Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi (standard room: King Reef Villa with Pool for 150K/night with rates starting ~ $2000). One thing I love about Hilton FNA is that taxes and fees (almost all) are waived! If you and a significant other teamed up (or if you get two of the cards), you could potentially stay on FNA and points for 4 nights just from the welcome bonuses! Be forewarned though that getting to the Maldives is a long journey and that you’ll have to pay for additional transport from the Male airport to these resorts and those start at $500+. Note that with FNA you will need to be able to find a standard night award and then call into Hilton to book that night. I would reach out to the hotel as soon as all the nights are booked to see if they would combine/link the reservations so that you aren’t put in the position of having to change rooms during your stay!

Another wonderful possibility for redemption would be the Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort since Maui is a bit more accessible for most than the Maldives. The standard room would be a Terrace View for 110K points/night with rates starting around $900! There was a lot of availability for January 2024 and March 2024 when I looked earlier and with flights starting from $552 flying round-trip from Denver!

Some other properties that provide especially great value would be the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, WA Beverly Hills, Conrad Bora Bora (FYI: another property that has an expensive transfer once you have landed in PPT in Tahiti) or WA Park City (but I was not seeing any availability yet for 2024- ski season).

How to apply (and reminder that if you use my link and get approved, I’ll give you $40 credit towards a cake or baked goods as well)

There is one more card from Amex: Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card that I didn’t touch on as it already had a FNA as part of the welcome bonus + 150K points. This is the premier Amex Hilton card and has a $450 annual fee to match but I think that it has outsized value with the credits negating the annual fee and the FNA being the icing on top of the cake since it’s an annual award! If you’re curious this is the card that I already had and the business card is the one that I just got with the current offers.)

• Hilton Honors Diamond status 
• Up to two reward nights — Receive one night at almost any Hilton property worldwide after opening your account and on your cardmember anniversary each year. Earn a second night when you spend $60,000 on the card in a calendar year.
• Up to $250 in Hilton resort statement credits — During each cardmember year (defined by when you opened the account), you’ll receive up to $250 in statement credits for incidentals charged to your card at participating Hilton resorts. That $250 can be used on dining, activities, spa treatments and even room rates and taxes — but it doesn’t apply on advance-purchase or nonrefundable rates.
• Up to $250 in annual airline fee credits — As with the airline fee credits on The Platinum Card® from American Express, you need to select an airline of your choice in order to receive up to $250 in statement credits for incidentals from that airline on your account each calendar year, including spending by authorized users. The credit is only for incidental fees, such as change or cancellation fees, checked bag fees or lounge passes.
• Up to $100 Hilton on-property credit — When you book at least a two-night paid stay at Waldorf Astoria or Conrad properties through HiltonHonors.com/aspirecard (or over the phone and quote booking code ZZAAP1), you’ll receive a credit of up to $100 for incidentals during your stay.
• Priority Pass membership — Unlimited Priority Pass lounge access for you and two guests. Additional guests will be charged $32 per lounge visit, though authorized users on the card do not receive a Priority Pass membership.

For rates and fees of the Amex Hilton Honors Surpass, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Hilton Honors Business, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Hilton Honors card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Hilton Honors Aspire, click here.

If you have been hunting for a way to have one of your bucket list vacations, these cards may be the answer that you are looking for! Where would you go with your free night award?