Link: Apply now for the Hilton American Express Surpass Card
Hotel credit cards are often underrated, given the huge welcome bonuses and valuable perks that they can offer. The Hilton Surpass Card is Hilton’s popular mid-range personal credit card, which has a reasonable annual fee and useful perks.
While you can read a full review of the Hilton Surpass Card here, in this post I wanted to share seven reasons you should consider applying for the card. In no particular order…
Welcome Bonus Of 150,000 Honors Points
For applications through April 5, 2023, the Hilton Surpass Card has a limited time welcome offer of 150,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $3,000 within the first six months. I value Hilton Honors points at ~0.5 cents each, meaning that the 150,000 Honors points are worth ~$750 to me. That’s a solid bonus for a card that will potentially offer lots of long term value.

Hilton Honors Gold status
Arguably the best ongoing perk of the Hilton Surpass Card is the hotel elite status that it offers. Specifically, you receive Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as you have the card. This is in my opinion the most valuable mid-tier hotel status out there, as it offers perks like complimentary breakfast, a daily food & beverage credit, and/or executive lounge access, plus bonus points, room upgrades, and much more.

Free night certificate with spending
Not only is the Hilton Surpass Card worth holding onto for the perks, but it’s also worth spending money on. When you spend $15,000 on the Hilton Surpass Card in a calendar year you receive a Hilton free night reward. This can be used for a stay at nearly any Hilton-family property in the world, which could otherwise retail for up to 150,000 Hilton Honors points per night.
If you have this card and are in a position where you can complete that amount of spending, it’s absolutely worth it. To me, spending $15,000 on the card annually is a sweet spot.

10 Priority Pass visits per year
The Hilton Surpass Card offers 10 free Priority Pass visits per year. While this isn’t quite a membership that gets you unlimited free lounge visits, the reality is that for most peoples’ travel patterns, this should more than cover lounge needs. It’s rare to see a card with an annual fee of under $100 that offers a lounge perk like this.

12x Honors points on Hilton stays
The Hilton Surpass Card can be a great card to use for spending at Hilton-family properties, as you earn 12x Honors points per dollar spent. Based on my valuation of 0.5 cents per Hilton Honors points, that’s like a 6% return on Hilton spending, in addition to the points you usually earn for your stay.

6x Honors points on gas, groceries, and dining
The Hilton Surpass Card has some of the most well-rounded bonus categories of any hotel credit card. The card offers 6x Honors points on:
- Dining at U.S. restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Gas at U.S. gas stations
- Groceries at U.S. supermarkets
There aren’t many cards offering bonus points on restaurants, gas, and groceries, so that makes this card very well-rounded. Ideally, you could spend $15,000 per year in these categories on the card, so that you’d earn 90,000 Honors points plus a free night certificate.

Amex Offers
You can never underestimate the value of the Amex Offers program, which offers savings for purchases with select retailers. The Amex Offers program saves me hundreds of dollars per year, and for many cards the program alone more than justifies the annual fee I pay. The more Amex cards you have, the more Amex Offers you’ll have access to.
Looking for a business card instead?
If you’ve had the Hilton Surpass Card and/or are simply looking for a business card, consider the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card. There’s a lot of overlap between the two cards, and you’re potentially eligible for the bonuses and perks of both cards.
You can read a full review of the Hilton Business Card here, and you can read a comparison of the Hilton Surpass Card and Hilton Business Card here.
Bottom line
The Hilton Surpass Card is one of the most useful mid-range hotel credit cards out there, and it’s also particularly well-rounded, given that it has an excellent welcome bonus, features great perks just for having the card, and also offers solid incentives to spend money on the card.
If you have the Hilton Surpass Card, what has your experience been with the card?
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