Still searching for the perfect card for your business? If you’re an avid business traveler who frequently stays at Hilton properties, you may want to check out this unique card.
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card offers 125,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases in the first 3 months of Card Membership. It does have a $95 annual fee (see Rates & Fees) but comes with exuberant benefits that make the annual fee seem like no problem.
Want to learn more? Take a look at our in depth review.
Hilton Honors Amex Business Card Summary
 The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card has a welcome offer of 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within the first six months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 1/8/2025. You'll earn: • Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on eligible Hilton purchases. • Earn 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other purchases made using the Hilton Honors Business Card on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3X points thereafter. • Enjoy up to $240 back each year (in the form of statement credit) for eligible purchases made directly with Hilton. • Enjoy complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive status. Enrollment in the complimentary Emerald Club program is required. Terms apply. • Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status with your Hilton Honors Business Card. With Hilton Honors Gold status, you can enjoy benefits at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Portfolio. As a Gold member, earn an 80% Bonus on all Base Points you earn on every stay getting you to free nights faster. In addition, you can enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status with your Hilton Honors Business Card. This card has a $195 annual fee. (See Rates & Fees) Terms & Limitations Apply. |
Hilton Honors Amex Business Card Benefits
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card is the go-to card for these reasons:
- A huge welcome offer bonus. Earn 125,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
- Tiered rewards. Earn 12x points at Hilton properties; 6x on wireless services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping, at U.S. restaurants, on flights booked directly with airlines and through Amex Travel and on car rentals booked directly through select rental car companies; and 3x on everything else.
- Free weekend nights. Earn one free weekend night after spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year and another after spending an additional $45,000 in the same year — a total of $60,000.
- Complimentary Gold Elite Status. Get late checkout, free breakfast at most Hilton hotels, complimentary upgrades, 5th night free, a 25% bonus on all the Hilton base points you earn, and more.
- Complimentary Priority Pass™ Select. Get 10 free visits to over 1,000 Priority Pass airport lounges every year with your card. Enrollment is required. Each guest you bring costs an additional free visit.
- No foreign transaction fees (see Rates & Fees) for purchases made outside the U.S.
- Amex Offers give you a series of targeted discounts or boosted earning rates across select merchants. Just check your account weekly and add your desired available offers to your card. Save hundreds of dollars and earn tons of extra Membership Rewards® points.
- Amex OPEN Savings program allows you to unlock higher earning rates or discounts at select merchants. Automatically receive 2 additional Membership Rewards® points for each eligible dollar spent or a 5% discount as a statement credit on eligible purchases with OPEN Savings partners when you use your Hilton Honors Amex Business Card.
Hilton Honors Amex Business Card Pitfalls
You may not like the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card due to these reasons:
- The annual fee. You’ll pay an annual fee of $95 (see Rates & Fees), and unfortunately, it is not waived your first year. These annual fees are common for rewards cards, such as the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®, but if you’re one of those cardholders who prefer credit cards that don’t have them at all or if you’re not a big spender to justify the annual fee, this may not be the best card for you. But if you do travel a lot, then consider this card since the benefits do outweigh the fee if you can make up for the loss.
- Bonus restrictions. American Express currently has a “one bonus per product per lifetime” policy. You’re only eligible for this bonus if you have not had this card before. American Express will only approve 1 credit card every 5 days. They will also only approve 2 credit cards in a rolling 90 day period. If you’ve recently applied for one or more American Express cards, these rules may come into play. Charge cards, such as the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express, aren’t affected, only credit cards.
- Hilton Honors partners only. You can only redeem your Hilton Honor points for properties affiliated with Hilton Honors, such as Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, and Hilton Grand Vacations hotels. For more flexibility, you may want to try another card.
Complimentary Gold Status
As mentioned previously, the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card awards Gold status with Hilton to all cardmembers. Normally, you would need to have 20 stays, 40 qualifying nights, or earn 75,000 Hilton Honors base points in a calendar year to get this benefit. The benefits of Gold status include:
- 25% boost to Hilton Honors base points earned
- Every standard-rate 5th night free on stays of five nights or more
- All lower tier benefits:
- Guaranteed discounted hotel rates
- Digital check-in to choose your room, and customize your stay from your mobile device up to 24 hours in advance
- Complimentary in-room and lobby standard internet access at most Hilton properties
- Quick reservations and check-ins based on your room preferences
- Late check-out
- Express check-out
- 2nd guest stays free
- Two complimentary bottles of water per stay at most Hilton properties
- Extra benefits at select Hilton properties, such as bonus points, upgrades, complimentary breakfast, snacks, and drinks
Earning Points
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card gives you 6 points per dollar spent at U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service producers, and U.S. purchases for shipping.
You’ll also receive 6 points per dollar spent at U.S. restaurants, flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, and car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies. Take advantage of these 6x earning categories. Quickly grow your points with those categories. Or, you can stay at select Hilton properties that grant you 100 – 1,000 bonus points per stay.
In addition, book and stay at your desired Hilton property to earn 12 points per dollar spent. Hilton has tons of opportunities throughout the year for you to earn more bonus points for your stay when you visit the Hilton Honors website. For everything else, you’ll get 3 points per dollar.
Redeeming Rewards
There are a few ways you can redeem your points with your Hilton Honors American Express Business Card.
The most popular way is to use your points to pay for your hotel room or claim free nights at any of Hilton’s participating hotels. When you use your Hilton Honors points to book your stay, points are deducted immediately from your account. Also use your points for experiences, like concerts and travel, or on-property rewards, like vacation packages, all-inclusive resorts, and golf rewards.
Other options include earning airline/rail miles, car rentals, and cruise certificates, online shopping rewards, exchanging points with airline/rail and credit card rewards programs, and donating to charities and non-profits. You can even pool your points with up to 10 friends and family each year to ease booking expensive awards.
More Flexibility Than Hilton Honors?
Here’s how the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card stacks up against the Chase Ink Business PreferredSM Card another highly recommended small business credit card.
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card has a welcome offer of 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within the first six months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 1/8/2025. You'll earn: • Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on eligible Hilton purchases. • Earn 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other purchases made using the Hilton Honors Business Card on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3X points thereafter. • Enjoy up to $240 back each year (in the form of statement credit) for eligible purchases made directly with Hilton. • Enjoy complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive status. Enrollment in the complimentary Emerald Club program is required. Terms apply. • Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status with your Hilton Honors Business Card. With Hilton Honors Gold status, you can enjoy benefits at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Portfolio. As a Gold member, earn an 80% Bonus on all Base Points you earn on every stay getting you to free nights faster. In addition, you can enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status with your Hilton Honors Business Card. This card has a $195 annual fee. (See Rates & Fees) Terms & Limitations Apply. |
 The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 cash back or $1,125 toward travel when redeemed through Chase TravelSM. You'll earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year; 1 point per $1 on all other purchases - with no limit to the amount you can earn. Furthermore, points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase TravelSM. This card does come with a $95 annual fee but does not have any foreign transaction fees. |
The Ink Business PreferredSM Card is better for small business owners who value flexibility above all else. You can’t transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hilton. Instead, the points you earn can be used to book travel through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal or transferred to different airline and hotel programs at a 1:1 ratio. If you’re not particularly loyal to the Hilton brand, it’s best to get the Ink Business PreferredSM Card instead of the Hilton Honors Amex Business Card.
Bottom Line
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card offers a great welcome bonus, a rewarding earning structure, and terrific perks, like complimentary Gold Elite status and Priority Pass airport lounge visits. With all these added benefits, the $95 annual fee is very reasonable.
Earn a generous welcome offer after meeting tiered minimum spending requirements. Book a long vacation at one of Hilton’s more inexpensive hotels or stay a night at one of their top-tier hotels with your bonus.
Business owners who frequently stay or have employees who stay with Hilton, this card is great to apply for. If you’re after a more versatile credit card, consider other options. Remember, as with all cards, terms and limitations apply.
For rates and fees of the The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, please click here.