by American Express has announced changes to the Hilton business card and they are overwhelming negative. Changes are as follows:
- Annual fee will increase from $95 to $195. Applies to anybody that applies from today and for existing cardholders it’ll go into effect for card renewals on July 1, 2024
- New $240 Hilton credit. Get up to $60 per quarter on purchases made at Hilton properties (including bookings and incidentals)
- Removal of Hilton Honors Free Night Rewards benefit (previously required $15,000 in spend in a calendar year). Eligible purchases made through June 30, 2024 will count towards this certificate
- Removal of Priority Pass select. If you enrolled in the Priority Pass Select program on or before June 30, 2023, your Priority Pass membership will continue through June 30, 2024 and will be cancelled as of July 1, 2024. If you enrolled in the Priority Pass Select program between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, your membership will continue through March 31, 2025 and will be cancelled as of April 1, 2025. Any unused lounge visits will be forfeited at the time of cancellation.
- National Emerald Executive status
- Changes to earning rates:
- 5x on all purchases for the first $100,000 in spend per calendar year, then 3x
- Removal of the 6x categories:
- 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service producers and U.S. purchases for shipping
- 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on U.S. restaurants, flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, and car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies
- Sign up bonus of 175,000 points after $8,000 in spend within the first three months
Our Verdict
I’m actually not 100% sure that the free night benefit removal is legal in it’s current form as cardholders will have made purchases on the expectation that they have until the calendar year to meet the spend requirement. I suspect only being able to get it through June 30, 2024 is only for new cardholders that apply now and that hasn’t been communicated properly.
Overall the changes are negative for people wanting to keep the card long term, I know some people met the $15,000 annual spend for the free night certificate. I guess if you’re a Hilton regular then the $240 split up in quarterly credits will offset the annual fee but other than that the card itself doesn’t really offer anything enticing. The sign up bonus isn’t an all time high either, we have seen 180,000 points or 130,000 points + a free night certificate.
