Highest Ever Sign-up Bonuses on 2 Hilton Credit Cards, and Why You May Want to Wait

Two Hilton co-branded credit cards have the largest sign-up points bonus ever offered on these two cards:

• Amex Hilton HHonors Surpass card - 100,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points after $3,000 in purchases during the first 3 months of cardmembership.
• Citi HHonors Visa Signature card - 75,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points after $2,000 in purchases during the first 3 months of cardmembership

Why You May Not Want to Sign-up Right Away for the Amex Card

Two days ago, Amex posted links to two of their Hilton credit cards with even higher bonuses:

• 125,000 points for the HHonors Surpass ($3k spend in first 3 months; $75 annual fee).  Current offer is 100k
• 100,000 points for the regular version of the card which has no annual fee ($1,000 spend in first 3 months).  Current offer is 75k

These links were taken down quickly, but it is likely that Amex will post these as public offers in the near future.

Fine Print for Amex HHonors Surpass

• Limited time offer: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card within your first 3 months of card membership. Offer ends 11/30/2016.
• Enjoy complimentary Hilton HHonors Gold status with your card.
• Earn 12x bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with a participating hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio.
• $75 annual fee

Bottom Line

• My recommendation is sign up now for the Citi HHonors Visa Signature and wait a week or two to find out if the Amex HHonors cards go public with the higher offers that were briefly available recently.  Offers are valid thru 11/30/2016, so there's time to wait and see
• After meeting the minimum spend on the Citi card, you'll have around 80,000 HHonors points.  80k HHonors points can get you 2 nights at a fairly nice Hilton property, or 4-8 nights at less expensive properties in certain locations.
• Hilton HHonors Gold status can be very useful, as it includes free breakfast for 2 people at all properties in the Hilton portfolio and also provides higher points earning rates on paid stays.
• Get the Citi card for the sign-up bonus and no annual fee, but use the Amex card for longer-term spending as it offers superior points earning vs. the Citi card in all categories

Links to Apply

• Citi 75k link (The Points Guy)
• Amex 100k link (direct on Amex website)

Fine Print for Amex HHonors Surpass

• 12 HHonors bonus points per $1 spent at any participating hotel within the Hilton portfolio
• 6 HHonors bonus points per $1 spent at restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations in the U.S.
• 3 HHonors bonus points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
• HHonors Gold status as long as you are a cardmember.
• $75 Annual Fee

Fine Print for Citi HHonors Visa Signature

• 6 HHonors bonus points for each $1 spent at any participating hotel within the Hilton portfolio.
• 3 HHonors bonus points for each $1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations.
• 2 HHonors bonus points for each $1 spent on all other purchases.
• HHonors Silver status as long as you are a cardmember.
• No annual fee

Further Reading

• Good summary from The Points Guy LINK
• More info on the higher Amex Hilton card bonuses at Danny Deal Guru LINK
• This landing page on Hilton website has links to all of the current public offers from both Citi and American Express http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/earn-use-points/credit-cards/index.html.  (NOTE:  the Citi HHonors Visa Signature offer is only 40k points on this page.)