With the coming changes to the lineup of American Express Hilton cards, there is a limited-time offer for the existing Surpass card between now and the date of the conversion to the new card, which is January 17, 2018.
The normal offer for the Hilton Surpass card is 75,000 points. This has jumped to 100,000 points, but it has never before reached the 125,000 point level, making this the highest bonus ever seen for this card. The details of the offer are:
- 100,000 Honors points after $3,000 in spend on the card in the first 3 months
- An additional 25,000 points after another $1,000 in spend within the first 6 months
- $75 annual fee is not waived the first year.
This Hilton Surpass Amex 125,000-point offer is exclusively available through The Points Guy.
Conversion of the Surpass into a Ascend
Assuming you pull the trigger on this offer, your brand new Surpass card will be turned into the new Hilton Ascend American Express card come January. Given Amex’s once-per-lifetime rule on card bonuses, this will make you ineligible for a future bonus.
Before you think that you can apply for the Surpass, get the bonus, and then downgrade, consider that American Express has new language explicitly calling out gaming of rewards. Be a good customer to the banks. This is a great offer in its own right, and your card will be even better in January.
What can you do with 125,000 Honors points?
Some people rip on Hilton Honors as the Delta of hotel loyalty programs, as their points aren’t worth much. A “typical” Starwood hotel might run you 10,000 SPG points, while the Hilton counterpart might cost 50,000 Honors points. However, the more I use the program, the more I realize that the earning and burning rates aren’t bad. They’re just different.
We’ve previously tackled the best uses of Honors points. I will argue that stretching your points for several nights at a low level property might be the best thing to do. The 125,000 bonus will get you a full week at a hotel that costs 20,000 points, as the fifth night will be free. You could also do a 5 night stay at a place that costs 30,000 points per night. If you’re looking for luxury, 125,000 points is more than enough at one of Hilton’s top-tier properties around the world, such as the Conrad Maldives.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to add to your Hilton point balance, this limited-time offer could be the one for you. Your card will gain even more perks in January, such as the ability to earn an annual free night, 10 PriorityPass lounge passes each year, and no foreign transaction fees.
Featured image courtesy of hilton.com.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
If I get this card and already have the Hilton Citi Reserve, what will happen to it in January? Will it also change to Ascend meaning I will have 2 Ascend cards?
I believe that the Citi Hilton cards are being converted to the no-fee Amex card
I recently got the HH Amex Surpass for the 100K bonus points… Do you want if I can contact them to see if I can spend the extra $1k to get the addl 25K bonus points? Trying to reach them through Chat… the link just keeps spinning…
Never hurts to try! Just call the number on the back of your card. Let us know if you are successful!
Thanks Dan. We called and even asked for the supervisor. These script-readers refused to budge! Oh well…
From the blog on Nov 4th. https://www.pointswithacrew.com/say-goodbye-citi-hilton-card-hello-amex/
Where do you find these deals? It’s costing me 80,000 points for two nights in Murphreesboro Tennessee, December 30 and 31st at the Embassy suites. I have been a gold member for many years and never been able to stay in a really nice Hilton for the points you promote. One night in New York City is over 100,000.
The first issue here is that you’re looking on New Year’s Eve, which are often peak dates. If you’re fine traveling on off-peak times, there are plenty of deals to be had.
The other issue is being willing to stay at Hampton Inns and HGIs instead of Hiltons or other more upscale places. I’ve been able to price out a 5 night stay in NYC for 130,000 Honors points.
Please give me the best option for NYC..
Just some examples for a long weekend (random weekend in off season – 2/1/18 through 2/6/18):
Hilton Garden Inn south of Times – 38,000 points per night
Hampton Inn Times Square North – 36,000 points per night
Bunch of other Hamptons, DoubleTrees, and HGIs right around 40,000 points per night
Including the 5th night free, a 40,000 point per night place would only be 32,000 points per night (i.e. 130,000 points for five nights).
I can’t speak to the quality. These are all acceptable mid-scale in my opinion.
Traveler’s Triangle – Price, location, time – you get to pick two, at most.
These are great ideas, thank you.
This has no mention of anther of American Express’s rules and that is if you have ever had one or several of its cards before and cancelled the card or cards at some past point, you cannot get any bonus being offered when applying for any of those cards. Yes, it will approve the card but you will not get the bonus offer as you have had the card before.
That is correct and a good point