When I apply it will be for the citi version. Love the gold status which is worth it. Wouldn't want a foreign transaction fee due to international travel. Hilton was soo heavily devalued that points aren't all that great now, which gives another edge to citi.
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Citi without a doubt. It's funny because I was so excited to get Amex and now that I have a few I rarely use the cards for anything. Esp. with the FTF the Amex carries Citi was be the easy choice for me.
@CreditScholar wrote:The only time I can see the Amex version winning out is is you have a large amount of domestic Hilton spending. The higher your spending at actual Hilton properties, the more the 12 vs. 10 points will be worth.
The other thing is that the Amex gives a 500 point bonus per online booking. If you have 100 stays in a year, that's 50,000 points in additional to the 12 vs. 10. At that point, the Amex may pull ahead.
Most people won't be in this scenario, and those who are already know it and don't have to ask.
+1 good analysis. The key word is "domestic" Hilton spending. If someone is going to travel overseas than the foreign transaction fee is a major disadvantage of the amex. Both cards give gold status but the initial bonus for the amex is 60,000 points this is good if you are staying at cat 3 or lower hiltons because you can get three free nights. However, the citi initial bonus is two free weekend certificates which can be used at most Hiltons (with some exceptions), but you can use them at many high end hiltons which are a huge value. So if you are interested in redemptions for cat 3 and lower domestic hiltons then amex is the way to go, but for most people I think the citi is better.
I have two Hilton cards. Citi is easily the better one. The free room for $10k in spend plus automatic Gold status is why I prefer it.
The Amex version I have is the no fee version. I got it because I wanted a personal Amex for backdating with no AF. The sign up bonus was worth it. I hardly use it.
Start (Sept 2011): low-mid 600s. NOW: TU FICO: 801, EQ FICO 808, EX FICO 798 (PSECU). Goal: Achieved! Now Maintain!
Yes, CreditScholar.
I cringe at the thought of calling Citi. Low grade people, low grade quality. Amex is infinitely better on that front. But the Citi Reserve is still the better card for me.
