Amex Starwood Preferred Guest vs Hilton Honors Surpass

[Denny33142]

Finally after years of hard work my last baddie is due for removal in July (Bank of America Charge Off), My Experian Fico is currently sitting at 680 and i expect it to jump considerably in July once the BoFa CO is removed.

I am looking for a travel rewards card to use as my primary spender, I have had the regular no AF Hilton Honors card for about 6 months (with a low 1K Limit) and was going to pull the trigger on the Surpass but then the SPG cought my attention when i was browsing through the AMEX Site.

I am pretty familier with the Hilton Honors Surpass and what i like about it is the Complimintary Gold Status which gives you free breakfast among other things, I also know that the Citi Hilton card has been discountinued which leaves Amex as the exclusive hilton card brand, I don't know if this will end up being a good thing or not.

Can anyone give me a quick description on the SPG card? How do the points redemption compare to the Hilton and which one gives you better rewards per dollar spent? I will be putting somewhere around 20K-30K a year on the card, Also does the SPG give you an upgraded membership benifit with the hotels similar to the Gold Status from Hilton?

Also does anyone know how to force amex to pull a new credit report? I know that the previous times i have applied they have pulled an older report from a prior softpull.

Thanks in advance!

[GeorgiaBulldog]

$30k spent on the SPG card will get you gold status.  Points are harder to accrue than Hilton, but they're worth a whole lot more... I think most folks say 2.5 cpp minimum, and there's way higher potential value in redemption.  Also, SPG transfers to tons of airlines at a 1:1.25 rate in blocks of 20k miles (as in, transfer 20k points, get 25k miles).  

Cat 1 and Cat 2 redemptions are very reasonable... 3k and 4k a night, and on weekends, cat 1 and cat 2 are only 2k and 3k a night.  And there's actually a pretty good number of Cat 2 properties out there.

Since SPG was acquired by Marriott, earning SPG gold will also get you Marriott Gold.  SPG points also transfer at a 1:3 rate to Marriott.

The only caveat:  After the Marriott acquisition, the future of SPG remains uncertain.  The program is supposed to change sometime in the latter part of 2018.  Who knows if it'll be a viable program at that point?  And AMEX may lose the SPG portfolio altogether like JetBlue and Costco.

I've got both the SPG and regular Hilton card, and I prefer SPG, but if you have any sort of loyalty/preference for Hilton, you can really rack up the points rapidly with their cards.

[Denny33142]

Thanks for the reply,

I did some further research based on your comment and i am definitely turned off by the uncertainty surrounding the SPG card, Not only that but Marriot still has the rewards program broken up into 3 seperate entities which only adds to the confusion, I would have thought that by now they would have merged the rewards program into one.

Probably the Hilton Surpass would be the best choice as a longterm card, Especially since Hilton didn't renew their contract with Citi leaving Amex as the exlusive Hilton Honors card.

[Anonymous]

The only catch is that Hilton points are worth such a low amount per point.   A lot of people value them at 0.4 cents per point.   The best way to get a good return on this card is to stay at Hilton a lot.  If you don't do that, you may be disappointed by the earning and redeeming structures.  

[Loquat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The only catch is that Hilton points are worth such a low amount per point.   A lot of people value them at 0.4 cents per point.   The best way to get a good return on this card is to stay at Hilton a lot.  If you don't do that, you may be disappointed by the earning and redeeming structures.  

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+1  Hilton points aren't worth much at all.  A weekend night a Homewood or Embassy Suite will set you back almost 30k+ points on a good day. 

[NRB525]

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@Denny33142 wrote:

Thanks for the reply,

I did some further research based on your comment and i am definitely turned off by the uncertainty surrounding the SPG card, Not only that but Marriot still has the rewards program broken up into 3 seperate entities which only adds to the confusion, I would have thought that by now they would have merged the rewards program into one.

Probably the Hilton Surpass would be the best choice as a longterm card, Especially since Hilton didn't renew their contract with Citi leaving Amex as the exlusive Hilton Honors card.

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The terms "certainty" and "credit cards" cannot be used in the same sentence. 

If you have had an AMEX for 6 months, you are likely looked at better for this next card. You only get one sign up bonus per card. The SPG has no AF the first year. If part of the resolution of the merger with Marriott is that the SPG AMEX goes away, and you don't get a bonus, we'll, you won't ever get an SPG bonus. 

[Anonymous]

I personally like my SPG card but I would wait for the 35k bonus after 5k spend in 3 months again if it comes up. I got 5 nights at a Sheradon for 40k in points that would have cost $272/night including tax. I ended up with $1,360 worth of value out of my points. You will not get that out of 100k Hilton points.