Link: Apply now for the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card or Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
American Express and Hilton have a suite of four co-branded credit cards. As you’d expect, each card targets a different market segment. In this post, I want to compare the mid-range personal and business products, both of which are compelling, though for different reasons.
Comparing Hilton Surpass & Hilton Business credit cards
Amex and Hilton have two mid-range credit cards — one personal and one business — with annual fees that are closest to one another:
Since one is a personal card and the other is a business card, I’d like to compare the two in this post. The consumer version of the card has the advantage of having a $45 lower annual fee, but there are some other significant differences between the cards.
Comparing Hilton Amex welcome offers
At the moment, we’re seeing the following limited time welcome offers on these Hilton Amex cards:
- Through April 29, 2025, the Hilton Surpass Card has a limited time welcome offer of 130,000 Hilton Honors points plus a free night award after spending $3,000 within the first six months
- Through April 29 2025, the Hilton Business Card has a limited time welcome offer of 175,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $8,000 within the first six months
Comparing Hilton Amex return on spending
Both Hilton Amex cards have a potentially lucrative return on spending, though the rewards structures differ significantly.
The Hilton Surpass Amex offers:
The Hilton Business Amex offers:
- 12x Hilton Honors Bonus Points on eligible Hilton purchases
- 5x Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other purchases made using the Hilton Honors Business Card on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3x points after that
Both the Hilton Surpass (Rates & Fees) and Hilton Business (Rates & Fees) have no foreign transaction fees, making them good cards for purchases abroad.
As you can see, the Hilton Surpass is fantastic for the bonus categories that it offers, while the Hilton Business is great for having such a lucrative return on everyday spending. On balance I’d say the Hilton Business Amex has a better rewards structure, if you exclude the spending thresholds (which I’ll talk more about in a bit).
Comparing Hilton Honors elite status perks
Both the Hilton Surpass Card and Hilton Business Card are identical in terms of the opportunities to earn status:
Comparing Hilton Amex free night award certificates
The Hilton Surpass Card offers a free night reward when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year. This is a fantastic incentive to put spending on the card, as I think spending $15,000 on the card per year is a real sweet spot.
The free night reward has just a small list of excluded properties. The Hilton Business Card, does not offer the opportunity to earn a free night award.
Comparing Hilton Amex property credits
With refreshes to the cards, both cards offer an annual Hilton credit, which comes in the form of a credit every quarter:
- The Hilton Surpass Card offers up to $200 in Hilton credits per year; every quarter you get up to $50 in credits toward any eligible spending at Hilton properties worldwide
- The Hilton Business Amex offers up to $240 in Hilton credits per year; every quarter you get up to $60 in credits toward any eligible spending at Hilton properties worldwide
As long as you spend at least $50-60 per quarter at Hilton properties on these cards, those credits should more or less be worth face value. This makes these cards quite easy to justify for anyone who stays at Hiltons frequently.
Hilton Amex approval odds
For those with excellent credit, I find both of these cards to be pretty easy to be approved for. The major restriction is that Amex limits you to five credit cards per person, though this excludes charge cards and hybrid cards (though it doesn’t matter if the cards are personal or business).
Assuming you’re within that limit, you have good odds of approval. One advantage of the Hilton Business Card is that applying for an Amex small business card generally won’t count toward your total as far as the Chase 5/24 rule is concerned, in the event that’s something you’re trying to stay under.
Bottom line
The Hilton Surpass Card and Hilton Business Card are Hilton’s two mid-range credit cards. While the cards have some similarities, they also have quite a few differences.
Both cards offer Hilton Honors Gold status, 12x points on eligible Hilton purchases, and similar (but not identical) Hilton credits. However, beyond that, the cards have a lot of differences.
I’d say which card is more lucrative depends on how much you value the relative bonus categories of the two cards, and if you value the ability to spend your way to a free night certificate on the personal version of the card.
If you stay at Hilton properties at least once per quarter, the annual fees on these cards should more than pay for themselves.
Do you have either of these Hilton Amex cards, and if so, which do you prefer?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (Rates & Fees), and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees).
