Our Verdict

Our Verdict

A generous welcome bonus on The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (Terms apply. See rates & fees) makes this card worth a close look, where you’ll find there’s a lot to like. The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card comes with compelling benefits including Hilton Gold status. Plus, you can spend your way to top-tier elite status. It’s even got an eye-popping welcome bonus worth several free nights. All of this for a $195 annual fee.

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The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
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On American Express's Website
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4.8
Our ratings take into account the card’s rewards, fees, rates along with the card’s category. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Welcome Bonus
Earn 175,000 points
Annual Fee
$195
Regular APR
20.99% - 29.99% Variable
Credit Score
Good,Excellent

Pros

  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status
  • Generous welcome bonus
  • Long list of bonus spending categories

Cons

  • No intro APR offer
  • Points have a low redemption value
  • Points transfer rate to partners is a poor value

Highlights

  • Limited Time Offer: Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within the first six months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 6/5.
  • Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on eligible Hilton purchases.
  • ENHANCED: Earn 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 thereafter.
  • NEW: Enjoy up to $240 back each year for eligible purchases made directly with Hilton.
  • Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold Status with your Hilton Honors Business Card. With Hilton Honors Gold status, you can enjoy benefits at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Portfolio. As a Gold member, earn an 80% Bonus on all Base Points you earn on every stay getting you to free nights faster.
  • You may receive an upgrade to Hilton Honors Diamond status if the total eligible purchases on your Card Account during a calendar year reach $40,000 or more.
  • NEW: Enjoy complimentary National Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® status. Enrollment in the complimentary Emerald Club® program is required. Terms apply.
  • Terms apply.
More Highlights
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within the first six months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 6/5.

Introduction

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card is one of four Hilton cards offered by American Express, but it’s the only Hilton small business card. It currently offers a welcome bonus: 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after spending $8,000 in purchases on the card within the first six months of card membership, offer ends 6/5. That’s a generous incentive for a card with just a $195 annual fee.

Plus, this card really rewards spending. Cardholders will earn 12 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per dollar on eligible purchases at participating hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio and 5 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per dollar spent on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3 points thereafter.

In addition to the card’s bonus categories, cardholders can earn valuable benefits for hitting spending thresholds. Cardholders get automatic mid-tier Hilton Gold status. This elite status grants members 80% bonus points on stays, room upgrades and a food and beverage credit in the U.S. and free breakfast overseas. This sets Hilton apart as other hotel chains do not offer dining benefits with their mid-tier status. You can upgrade your elite status to top-tier Diamond by spending $40,000 in a calendar year. It also comes with several travel and purchase insurances and protections¹.

Why you can trust Forbes Advisor

Our editors are committed to bringing you unbiased ratings and information. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and companies, so all are measured equally. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and the credit card methodology for the ratings below.

  • 210 Credit Cards Ranked
  • 28,000 Data Points Collected
  • 5 Levels of Fact-Checking
  • 95 Categories Considered


Quick Facts

  • Earn 12 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per dollar on eligible purchases at participating hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio and 5 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per dollar spent on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3 points thereafter
  • Welcome bonus: 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after spending $8,000 in purchases on the card within the first six months of card membership, offer ends 6/5
  • $195 annual fee
  • Complimentary Hilton Gold status, which grants bonus points, upgrades, dining benefits and a fifth night free on award bookings
  • No foreign transaction fees

Hilton Honors American Express Business Card Rewards

Earning Rewards

Cardholders will earn Hilton Honors points at the following rates: 12 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per dollar on eligible purchases at participating hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio and 5 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per dollar spent on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3 points thereafter.

New cardholders are also eligible for the following welcome bonus: 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after spending $8,000 in purchases on the card within the first six months of card membership, offer ends 6/5.

Hilton Business cardmembers get mid-tier Hilton Gold status—which includes valuable benefits like a food and beverage credit in the U.S. and breakfast at international locations, 80% bonus points and room upgrades. In addition, cardholders can earn top-tier Diamond elite status by spending $40,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year. The status upgrade will be valid through the end of the calendar year it was earned and the subsequent calendar year.

Redeeming Rewards

The most straightforward and cost-effective use of Hilton points is for stays at one of Hilton’s over 7,000 properties. Hilton Honors will allow you to use points for any available room. However, the points price for a night can vary depending on demand. That said, most reward programs have blackout dates, so it’s nice to have the opportunity to redeem points even for peak dates.

Standard Room Rewards are the cheapest award option but Hilton Honors members also have the option to redeem for Premium Room Rewards and even suites.

You can get an idea of how many points you’ll need to redeem for a Standard Room Reward by using Hilton’s Points Explorer tool. After entering your points budget and your destination, Hilton will show you a list of matching hotels. You can further filter the results by hotel brand:

As a Hilton Gold member through the Hilton Business Card, you’ll get a fifth night free when you redeem points for a standard room reward stay of five or more nights.

Hilton stays are generally going to provide the best value for redeeming Hilton points. However, there are some additional redemption options.

Through Hilton’s partnership with Lyft, you can redeem Hilton points for Lyft credits—4,500 points are enough for a $10 credit. That’s a redemption rate of just over 0.22 cents per point, which is a very poor use of points.

You can also redeem Hilton points for Amazon purchases. But again, it’s not a great redemption rate. A $100 purchase would set you back 50,000 Hilton points. That’s a redemption rate of just 0.2 cents per point.

Hilton also lets members redeem Hilton points for rental car reservations. From a few sample searches, we found the redemption rate is between 0.1 and 0.3 cents per point.

You can also convert your Hilton points to airline miles with a long list of airline transfer partners, but the transfer rate is quite low. For example, 10,000 Hilton points will only get you 1,000 Delta SkyMiles.

Rewards Potential

The Hilton Business Card earns bonus points on purchases at Hilton properties, U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations and on flights booked directly with the airline or Amex Travel, car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and U.S. purchases for shipping on eligible purchases through June 30, 2024.

That means your business’ spending in these categories is going to have a direct impact on the number of points your small business will earn. To show you how rewarding the Hilton Business Card may be, let’s work with some example numbers.

For consumer credit cards, Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies in order to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage-earning households bring in $116,000 annually and are able to charge $36,177 to credit cards each year. For consistency, we estimate that a sole proprietor will have expenses in the same range.

Based on this estimate, a household spends $2,015 on hotels, $3,856 at restaurants, $2,479 on gas, $2,443 on flights, $1,586 on other travel and $1,583 on cellphone services.

If all $2,015 in hotel spending was spent at a Hilton property and charged to the Hilton Business Card, you’d earn 24,180 points from credit card spending. You would also earn an 80% points bonus for the Gold status that comes with the card or 16,120 points.

You’d earn another 71,682 Hilton points if the combined $11,947 in purchases from restaurants, gas stations, airlines, cellphone providers, rental car companies and shipping providers were made at eligible merchants. That leaves $22,215 in non-bonus spending⁠—which would earn 66,645 points.

In total, a small business with these spending patterns would earn 162,507 Hilton points from credit card spending each year. That’s before factoring in the first-year welcome bonus. Altogether, you could earn enough points during the first year for a five-night stay in just about any major city when using the fifth night free perk.


Other Hilton Honors American Express Business Card Benefits

  • Complimentary Hilton Gold status: Get 80% bonus points, a food and beverage credit in the U.S. or free breakfast internationally and room upgrades on Hilton stays.
  • Baggage insurance plan¹: Provides coverage for eligible lost, damaged or stolen baggage⁠—up to $1,250 for carry-on and up to $500 on checked bags. Terms Apply.
  • Car rental loss and damage insurance²: When you use your card to pay for a rental vehicle and decline the collision damage waiver at the rental counter, you may receive secondary auto coverage in an eligible territory.
  • Extended warranty³: Get up to one additional year of warranty on manufacturer’s warranties of five years or less on eligible products when you pay with your card.
  • Purchase protection⁴: Covers eligible purchases from damage, loss or theft for up to 90 days for up to $1,000 per item and $50,000 per year when you pay with your card.
  • 10 complimentary Priority Pass visits: Receive 10 complimentary lounge visits each year, valid at over 1,200 airport lounges worldwide, after enrolling in a Priority Pass Select Membership (must enroll by June 30, 2024).
  • Amex Offers: Cardholders can earn cash back or bonus points on purchases after enrolling in targeted offers.

Fine Print

Interest Rates

  • Regular APR: 20.99% - 29.99% Variable
  • Purchase intro APR: N/A
  • Balance transfer intro APR: N/A

Fees

  • Annual fee: $195
  • Balance transfer fee: N/A
  • Foreign purchase transaction fee: None

How the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card Stacks Up

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card vs. Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

In addition to the Hilton Business Card, American Express also issues a Marriott business card that small businesses may want to consider. The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card has a lower $125 annual fee (Terms apply. See rates & fees) compared with the Hilton Business Card’s $195 annual fee. The rewards potential is also significantly lower on this card, although that gap narrows when you consider the difference in point values. You’ll earn 6 points per dollar on eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program, 4 points per dollar at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping and 2 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

The main benefit of the Marriott Business Card over the Hilton Business Card is the anniversary Free Night Award each year after your card renewal month. Marriott Business cardholders receive a free night redeemable at a property costing 35,000 points or less just as a benefit for holding the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card. That potentially makes this free night award worth more than the $125 annual fee.

Both cards come with Gold status in their respective loyalty programs, but Hilton Gold status is more valuable than Marriott Gold. However, the annual Free Night Award on the Marriott Bonvoy Business may make it worth holding despite the lack of other benefits, as long as you use it.

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card vs. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

If you run a small business and aren’t loyal to Hilton, you may want to consider a general travel rewards card like the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. Like the Hilton Honors Business Card, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a $95 annual fee.
Instead of earning Hilton points, Ink Business Preferred cardholders earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. These points can be transferred to multiple airline and hotel partners. Alternatively, you can redeem points at a rate of 1.25 cents per point toward airfare, lodging, car rentals and other travel directly through the Chase Travel Portal. Just keep in mind that hotel stays booked through the travel portal are considered third-party bookings and are unlikely to earn points or let you utilize your status benefits.

Plus, you’ll earn 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. While that’s a much lower earning rate than the Hilton Business Card, Ultimate Rewards points are a lot more valuable than Hilton points.

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card vs. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

There are no other business cards that earn Hilton points directly. However, you can indirectly earn Hilton points through an American Express Business Card that earns Membership Rewards points. That’s because Membership Rewards points transfer to Hilton Honors points at a rate of 1 Membership Reward point to 2 Hilton Honors points. There are periodic transfer bonuses that bump the transfer rate even higher.

While there are many great business Amex cards, The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Terms apply. See rates & fees) stands out for its simplicity in earning points. Cardholders earn 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners up to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, then 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.

Thanks to the 1:2 transfer ratio, this is equivalent to earning 4 Hilton points per dollar spent on the first $50,000 in purchases. That’s better than the Hilton Business Card’s earning rate of 3 Hilton points per dollar spent on non-bonus purchases. Plus, The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express has no annual fee. However, you won’t get Hilton elite status or the bonus categories found on the Hilton Business Card.

Read more: Best Business Credit Cards Of 2024


Compare Hilton Honors Business Card With Other Cards

Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Partner OfferMarriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® CardApply Now →
On American Express's Website
Welcome Bonus
Earn Three Bonus Free Night Awards
Annual Fee
$125
Credit Score
Good,Excellent
Regular APR
20.99% - 29.99% Variable
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Earn 3 Free Night Awards after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Each Free Night Award has a redemption level up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points, for a total potential value of up to 150,000 points, at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees. Terms apply.
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
On Chase Bank USA, NA's Website
Welcome Bonus
Earn 100,000 bonus points
Annual Fee
$95
Credit Score
Excellent, Good
Regular APR
21.24%-26.24% Variable
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Is the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card for You?

The Hilton Honors Business Card offers solid benefits for a card with just a $195 annual fee. The card’s value really shines for those that can maximize its rewards.

However, the travel benefits are only valuable to those who can use them. So, this card isn’t going to be worth the modest annual fee for those who don’t at least periodically stay in Hilton properties.

To view rates and fees for the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, please visit this page.

¹Baggage Insurance Plan coverage can be in effect for Eligible Persons for eligible lost, damaged, or stolen Baggage during their travel on a Common Carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus) when the entire fare for a Common Carrier Vehicle ticket for the trip (one-way or round-trip) is charged to an eligible Account. Coverage can be provided for up to $1,250 for carry-on Baggage and up to $500 for checked Baggage, in excess of coverage provided by the Common Carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus). For New York State residents, there is a $10,000 aggregate maximum limit for all Covered Persons per Covered Trip. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

²Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

³When an American Express® Card Member charges a Covered Purchase to an Eligible Card, Extended Warranty§ can provide up to one extra year added to the Original Manufacturer’s Warranty. Applies to warranties of five (5) years or less. Coverage is up to the actual amount charged to your Card for the item up to a maximum of $10,000; not to exceed $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

When an American Express® Card Member charges a Covered Purchase with their Eligible Card, Purchase Protection can help protect their Covered Purchases for up to 90 days from the Covered Purchase date if it is stolen or accidentally damaged. The coverage is limited up to $1,000 per occurrence, up to $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.


Methodology

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors, including:

  • Annual fees
  • Welcome bonus offers
  • Ongoing earning rates
  • Value of individual points or miles
  • Included travel or merchant credits
  • Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards