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Calculating Rewards & Finance Charges

Hilton HHonors Surpass from American Express
American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass Credit Card

Net Annual Rewards
$421
of Hilton Honors Points
Reward Rate
1.50%
Annual Fee
$75
Signing Promo
40,000 Hilton Honors Points Bonus
APR, variable
Min Apr:
15.24%
Default:
27.24%
Cash Adv:
25.24%
Intro APR Promotions
Purchase:
2.9% for 6 mos
Transfer:
2.9% for 6 mos
Reward Summary
  • Earn 3 points per $1 spent on purchases
  • NerdWallet estimates Hilton HHonors Points are worth 0.5 cents based on our analysis of point redemption options at hotels around the world
  • 6 points per $1 at Hilton, Gas, Groceries, Drug stores, Cable/internet/wireless bills
  • 3 points elsewhere
  • 25% bonus for points with complimentary Gold Status

NerdWallet Credit Card Review: Hilton HHonors Surpass from American Express


The key to understanding the Hilton HHonors cards is understanding what a Hilton Point is worth. If each point had similar value to other point programs, the card would be very attractive, because you earn in excess of 3 points per $1 spent. However, this is not the case.

NerdWallet estimates Hilton points are worth 1/2 of a cent, about 1/2 the value of other point programs.

Our methodology:

  • Waldorf Hotel: 50,000-60,000 points per night versus retail of $250 per night. Point value, about 1/2 of a cent.
  • Hilton Casino Gaming Chip: 40,000 points versus face value of $100. Point value, about 2.5/10 of a cent.
  • Carnival Cruise Gift Certificate: 480,000 points versus face value of $1000. Point value, about 2.1/10 of a cent.
  • American Airlines Gift Certificate: 25,000 points versus face value of $50. Point value, 2/10 of a cent.

    • The exchange rate is even less favorable when you exchange Hilton points for airline miles or buy points directly:

  • You can exchange 10,000 Hilton points for 1,500 airline miles, which is about a $15 value. Participating partners include American Airlines, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Mexicana Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Qantas Airways, South African Airways, and Virgin Atlantic Airways
  • You can purchase points for 1 cent each when you buy more than 10,000 at a time.

    • If you’re confident you can consume all of your Hilton points at Hilton/Waldorf hotels, assume more rewards than NerdWallet’s estimate. If you never stay at Hilton/Waldorf hotels, assume fewer rewards than our estimate.
    Also, before you take the leap with HHonors, we’d recommend considering the American Express Blue Cash and Blue Sky, the Discover Escape with 2% rewards on all purchases, and the American Express Costco Card with 3% on gas/groceries and 2% on travel.
    How to decide between the Hilton HHonors, the Hilton HHonors Surpass, and the Citibank Hilton HHonors card?

  • The Citibank card only offers a base reward rate of 2 Hilton points per $1 spent, so unless you really need a Visa card, it is a poor choice.
  • The Surpass has difficult to value fringe benefits, such as airport lounge access. Excluding these benefits, the main tradeoff is that the Surpass card has an annual fee of $75 but earns points slightly faster, so we’d use our Credit Card Finder to calculate which card is a better deal based on your spending habits. Roughly speaking, you have to earn an EXTRA 25,000 points each year to offset the $75 annual fee, which translates to ~$80,000 per year in spending.

    • Rewards Type: Hilton Honors Points

    Signing Promotion
    ($200=40,000 points)/2 yrs
    $100
    Estimated Annual Rewards
    $396
    Annual Fee, 2 yr avg
    $75
    Annual Rewards (Rewards less Fees)
    $421

    Finance Charge Calculator

    Use the sliders to the left to calculate balance transfer interest and APR interest for this particular card.

    Finance Charge, Balance Transfer of $10,000*
    Balance Transfer Fee, 3.0%
    $300
    Promo APR, First 6 months
    $150
    APR, 18 months
    $2,665
    Total
    $3,115

    *Effective Annual Rate for Balance Transfers of 14.5% includes transfer fees and APR promotions. See our breakdown of EARs vs APRs.
    Effective Annual Rate, Purchases
    Promo EAR, 6 months
    2.94%
    Ongoing EAR, 18 months
    16.35%
    Total EAR, 24 months
    12.84%

    APR Rankings

    APR
    15.24%
    ranks #373 out of 459 cards.
    Average is 13.26%.
    Balance Transfer Fee
    3%
    ranks #43 out of 418 cards.
    Average is 3.26%.
    Cash Advance APR
    25.24%
    ranks #397 out of 445 cards.
    Average is 22.36%.

    Rewards Rankings

    Annual Fee
    $75
    ranks #438 out of 493 cards.
    Average is $24.
    Base Reward Rate
    1.5%
    ranks #16 out of 383 cards.
    Average is 0.98%.
    Effective Reward Rate
    1.83%
    ranks #16 out of 383 cards.
    Average is 1.06%.
    Sign-up Bonus
    $200
    ranks #26 out of 475 cards.
    Average is $84.

    { 2 comments… read them below or add one }

    Ric Garrido September 3, 2010 at 4:43 pm

    You state HHonors points are worth 1/2 cent, but you show the reward rate at 1.5% or 1.5 cents?

    Please explain.

    Reply

    nerdwallet September 3, 2010 at 9:15 pm

    Hi Ric, you earn 3 points for every dollar spent, so if each of those points is worth 1/2 cent, the reward rate comes out to 1.5%.

    Glad someone is keeping us on our game though, keep the feedback coming! It's hard work keeping all these numbers accurate ;-)

    Reply

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