the coupon booking intensifies
New AF $550
-$250 Airline credit
+$200 Airline credit split to $50 quarterly and has the terms of "To be eligible for this benefit, an airfare purchase must be for a scheduled flight on a passenger carrier and purchased directly from the airline or through amextravel.com" aka no more travelbank or gift cardd
-$250 Resort credit
+$400 resort credit($200 from Jan-June and $200 July-Dec)
+$189 Clear credit
-Priority Pass select
+Cell phone protection.
It seems like the surpass is the better card now.
I remember hearing the rumors a few months back about possible changes to the Aspire, but now we know, these are fairly substantial and affect both the Aspire and Surpass cards:
From Frequent Miler and several other sites:
Aspire Changes:
- $550 annual fee (up from $450)
- $400 resort credit: $200 twice per year (up from $250 per year). This change begins 1/1/24.
- $200 flight credit: $50 per quarter. Not just incidental airline fees, but actual airfare counts. (changed from $250 per year airline fee credits). For those approved before October 19 2023, the old $250 airline fee credit is available through the end of 2023. You should be able to double-dip this quarter.
- Free Night Reward with $30K spend (this part is new) and again at $60K total calendar year spend (as before)
- No more Priority Pass as of February 1, 2024
- Annual $189 CLEAR reimbursement
- National Executive status
- Cell phone protection ($50 deductible, max $800 per claim)
- Will this be a metal card now?
Surpass Changes:
- $150 annual fee (up from $95)
- $200 Hilton credit: $50 per quarter (unlike the Aspire credits, this is not limited to resorts)
- Earn 12X Hilton spend; 6X U.S. restaurants, US Supermarkets, and US gas stations; 4X on U.S. Online Retail Purchases (this is new), and 3X on all other eligible purchases
- No more Priority Pass as of February 1, 2024
- National Executive status
Curious as to thoughts about these changes. This will definitely make me reconsider the multiple Aspire strategy I had planned, as it will be much more difficult to maximize value with these semi-annual/quarterly credits.
Also seeing some comments indicating that if you’ve already used the Aspire's $250 airline fee credit for the year, you can possible use the new $50 quarterly flight credit immediately (for Q4 2023), which is a nice little double dip. Will wait on DP's to see if this is confirmed.
Also seeing this language in the terms:
Basic Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card Members can receive up to a total of $50 in statement credits each calendar quarter (January through March, April through June, July through September, and October through December), for up to $200 annually for eligible purchases of airfare made directly with an airline or through amextravel.com. To be eligible for this benefit, an airfare purchase must be for a scheduled flight on a passenger carrier and purchased directly from the airline or through amextravel.com.
Hoping UA Travelbank will continue to work with this benefit.
I currently use the Surpass and I'll likely still keep it since we personally stay at a Hilton usually once or twice a year, and then my wife uses her AU card when she books Hilton for business. Since we usually do at least 1 personal stay, a single $50 credit will offset the increase, and if any of her random work trips are in other quarters, I might be able to take full advantage of the $200.
@PullingMeSoftly wrote:Curious as to thoughts about these changes. This will definitely make me reconsider the multiple Aspire strategy I had planned, as it will be much more difficult to maximize value with these semi-annual/quarterly credits.
Personally speaking, I am a big fan of the changes to the Surpass in particular. While many dislike credits being divvied up, P2 and I have stayed at Hilton's 4 out of 4 quarters in 2023 and 3 out of 4 quarters in 2022. Part of this is due to the closest hotel to my family being a Homewood Suites, which we reliably stay at several times per year. Part of this is due to us being brand agnostic in general, with a Hilton often winning out as being the best paid option out of all those available.
In the past, the Surpass was only worth holding if I could reach the $15k spend required for the free night certificate. 3X HP + FNC, even when adjusted for the $95 annual fee being a total loss, still worked out to over 3% return on non-category spend. The tricky part was that if I didn't hit the spend - such as this year, where I went ham on new cards and SUBs - then the card was a loss.
Now, given that we stay at Hiltons 3-4 quarters per year in general, the card is either effectively a $0 annual fee or a $50 gain, with no spend required - that is outside of Hilton stays of course, but using a Hilton card at Hiltons is what I'd want to do anyways, and 32X (20X from Diamond + 12X from Surpass) combined with the FNC (which we value at $300, thus $300 value on $15k spend adds another 2% return) beats out the 34X we get from Aspire, since we value HP right around .6cpp.
I too was considering multiple Aspires previously, and since I went ham on new cards and SUBs this year, I downgraded my Surpass to the base Hilton Honors card. I'll still wait to see if Amex tosses me an upgrade offer (with points) to the Surpass, making more sense to wait until closer to 2024 for the $15k spend timer to reset, but now I'll upgrade the no AF card to Surpass no matter what.
I'm less thrilled about the changes to Aspire, but it is still a net gain. As per above, we will still see $300 in value from the free night certificate. $250 in United Travel Bank will now be $200, and with all the micromanaging I do, even with this now being quarterly it will still be easy for me to hit. (Edit: Re-reading everything, United Travel Bank may no longer work. I will see how others fare but if it is confirmed to no longer work, the Aspire will 100% be closed upon second annual fee.) We've only used (or would have been able to use) the $250 resort credit once in two years, so I will still peg that at $100. The extra CLEAR credit is nice as I was planning on paying the $60 for P2's given new structure there, so now that I have two cards with the credit, paying more but being fully reimbursed will make more sense here.
The old Aspire structure had me at $650 value for $450 annual fee, a $200 net positive. The new structure has me at $660 value for $550 annual fee, a $110 net positive. I'll keep the card for now, but it is not the clear winner it was before - and that is for me, as people who stay at Hilton resorts more regularly will see a gain. (Edit: As above, if United Travel Bank no longer works, then we're talking $460 value for $550 annual fee, in which case I will close it for sure.)
All in all, I am a fan of the changes to the Surpass and am OK with the changes to the Aspire, still being worth holding despite nerfing my personal gains. For those who dislike divvied up credits, this is even more of a reason to stay away, and I totally understand the sentiment. But we already stay at Hiltons regularly, so the changes to the Surpass in particular are very welcome.
P2 
P2 Future 
Chopping Block 
I wonder if Amex will retroactively apply the statement credit. I have the Surpass and stayed at a Hilton property in August and September. It would be nice if I could get the Q3 statement credit. I know it's wishful thinking.....