New Hilton Card that is better than Surpass

[SanjeevR]

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@crunching_numbers wrote:

The best thing about the Hyatt card is the sign on bonus. Any hotel, 2 nights.  I also like the no Forex part and the chip.  It pays for itself with the free night every year, so the AF is a wash.  I realize it is only up to a cat4, but alot of Hyatt House and Hyatt Place fall under cat4.  I would never consider it a go to card, but any Hyatt purchases would go on it for sure.

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I'm not sure if you're aware, but the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card also has no foreign exchange fee and also has an EMV chip.

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I like the Hilton Surpass, and most of my hotel stays are Hilton chains.  Combining the card points for dollars spent, plus $500 for booking online, plus Hhonors points for the stay, plus the silver/gold extra points, plus double dip, plus whatever the quarterly promo is at the time (2x, 3x right now) will really add up each stay.  Also, 6x for my cell bill and drug stores is nice.   

If Citi liked me more (maybe next year...) I might try the Citi card, and downgrade from the surpass to the regular card. It is something to mull over. 

Overall, I will benefit from the Hilton card more than Hyatt, unless I am out of the country.  Then no forex with the chip will be handy.  Hyatt will become a special use card.

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I'm in a similar situation since I have the Surpass. I use it all the time for Hilton stays. But, I have to say that Citi has blown the Surpass out of the water!I really think that this new Citi card is amazing. It's the best of all worlds:

1) Like I said before, those two free nights in category 1-7 (even including some Waldorf) offered on signup are amazing. I've seen European/Hawaii properties that exceed $1,000/night!

2) Free night every year just completely outdoes the meager 500 points (not dollars) booking bonus offered by the Surpass

3) No foreign exchange fee (Surpass is 2.7% fee)

4) Additional point for Hilton stays (I stay a lot at Hilton. These will really add up!)

5) Not that I carry a balance, but even the APR is better at 14.24% (compared to minimum 15.24% with Surpass)

6) As many have said, the Gold status alone is worth the annual fee! Gold status gives free internet, free breakfast, free room upgrades and a 25% bonus on points for Hilton stays.

7) I even really like the 5 points earned on airline and car rentals. (I'll be honest, my go to non-hotel stay card is the CSP. But, if I needed stack up Hilton points, this is a great option.)

8) EMV chip - a great added feature that is not available on any Amex card!

Just my two cents!