American Express Hilton Ascend Card Full Review - New Hilton Card - Doctor Of Credit (2023)

This was originally a speculative post about a possible new Hilton Ascend card.This card has already been confirmedand will be released on January 18, 2017 along with theHilton Honors Aspire&new business card. Current American Express Hilton Surpass cardholders will have their card "upgraded" and receive this new Ascend card instead.I don't think it's considered a new product.Therefore, if you have, or have had in the past, the Surpass, it is unlikely that you will receive the sign-up bonus for this card.

Map Overview

• $95 annual fee
• Card won at the following rates:
  • 12 Hilton Honors bonus points at hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio worldwide
  • 6 Hilton Honors bonus points at US grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations.
  • 3x Hilton Honors bonus points on all other eligible purchases
• 10 free Priority Pass lounge passes
• Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status. Earn Diamond status after spending $40,000 in purchases in a calendar year
• One weekend night award at a hotel or resort in the Hilton portfolio after spending $15,000 on card purchases in a calendar year
• No foreign transaction fees

card benefits

Free weekend nights with spending requirement

This card allows you to earn two free weekend nights each calendar year. You must meet the following requirements:

• Spend $15,000 or more within a calendar year and receive a weekend night reward
• Spend an additional $45,000 ($60,000 total) in the same calendar year and receive an additional weekend night award

Weekend nights will be issued as a redeemable code and sent to your Hilton Honors account email within 8-12 weeks of meeting spend requirements and will expire one year after issuance. You must call Hilton Honors (1-800-446-6677) to redeem these weekend night awards. Each weekend night coupon is redeemable for one weekend night in standard double occupancy accommodations, subject to availability. It is valid at all hotels in the Hilton portfolio, except those listed at HiltonHonors.com/weekendreward (no errors at this time).

A weekend night is defined as a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night. Includes all applicable taxes, but you may have to pay mandatory resort fees. You can combine these free night vouchers with other Hilton promotions or free night promotions. Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest, cash advances, traveler's check purchases, prepaid card purchases or reloads, gift card purchases, person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents.

Hilton State

This card has complimentary Gold status as long as you are a card member and typically requires 20 stays or 40 nights or 75,000 Hilton Base Points in a calendar year. You can also earn Diamond status by spending $40,000 or more in a calendar year.

golden state

Gold status gives you the following benefits:

• 25% Elite Status Bonus
• 5th night free (also available for Silver members)
• Guaranteed Discount: A discounted, refundable and modifiable rate is available exclusively to Hilton HHonors members.
• digital billing: Choose your room and personalize your stay from your mobile device up to 24 hours in advance.
• Complimentary premium Internet access in the room and lobby when staying at Waldorf Astoria™ Hotels & Resorts, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton™, Canopy™ by Hilton , Embassy Suites Hotels™ , Hilton Garden Inn®, Hampton Inn & Suites®, Homewood Suites by Hilton®, Home2 Suites by Hilton® and Hilton Grand Vacations™. High speed Internet may not be available at all hotels.
• Fast bookings and check-ins based onyour space preferences
• late check out²
• quick check
• 2^{North Dakota}Guest stays free³
• Free access to gyms and health clubs.⁴
• Two complimentary bottles of water per stay (at Waldorf Astoria™ Hotels & Resorts, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton™, Embassy Suites Hotels™, Hilton Garden Inn™ and Hilton hotels Grand Vacations™)
• Full list of other benefits here

Diamant-State

Diamond status gives you the following benefits:

• 50% Elite Status Bonus
• 48 hour room guarantee
• 5th night free (also available for Silver and Gold members)
• Guaranteed Discount: A discounted, refundable and modifiable rate is available exclusively to Hilton HHonors members.
• digital billing: Choose your room and personalize your stay from your mobile device up to 24 hours in advance.
• Complimentary premium Internet access in the room and lobby when staying at Waldorf Astoria™ Hotels & Resorts, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton™, Canopy™ by Hilton , Embassy Suites Hotels™ , Hilton Garden Inn®, Hampton Inn & Suites®, Homewood Suites by Hilton®, Home2 Suites by Hilton® and Hilton Grand Vacations™. High speed Internet may not be available at all hotels.
• Fast bookings and check-ins based onyour space preferences
• late check out²
• quick check
• 2^{North Dakota}Guest stays free³
• Free access to gyms and health clubs.⁴
• Two complimentary bottles of water per stay (at Waldorf Astoria™ Hotels & Resorts, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Curio – A Collection by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton™, Embassy Suites Hotels™, Hilton Garden Inn™ and Hilton hotels Grand Vacations™)
• Full list of other benefits here

10 Priority Pass lounge passes

This card grants you 10 passes that can be used to access airport loungesRed Priority Pass.

our verdict

This map is basically the same as the onevisiting card, same annual fee and card benefits. The only difference is that this card earns 6 Hilton points in different categories and is available to non-business people. The difference in the 6x categories is as follows:

• Calling Card wins 6x on: US Gas Station, US Restaurants, Wireless Phone Service purchased directly from US Service Providers, US Purchases for Shipping, Flights Booked Directly with Airlines or amextravel.com, and car rentals booked directly with select car rental companies
• This card wins 6 times at: US Restaurants, US Gas Stations, and US Grocery

In my opinion, the categories on this card are more useful, but that really depends on what your spending habits are. Still, in most cases, there are other cards that earn at higher rates than this card (when you consider how much Hilton points are actually worth). Here are some links to those posts:

• The best credit cards for restaurants
• The best supermarket credit cards
• The best credit cards for gas stations

I think the main attraction of this map will be the signup bonus.Since we've seen bonuses of 100,000 points and a free night certificate for the anniversary of the cardYalso 125,000 direct pointsI hope to see something similar when this card is released.

old post

• American Express registered a trademark for "Ascend" on July 18, 2017 (serial number: 87532331). Hat tip to the reader bradfomj

• A normally reliable inside source at American Express said they signed nondisclosure agreements and "take this however you want."
• TravelinPoints has reported that the card is genuineand it will be available in January 2018. I have no idea how reliable they are at all, but they also report card details like:
  • $95 annual fee
  • Card won at the following rates:
    • 12x en Hilton
    • 6x at US supermarkets, US gas stations and US restaurants.
    • 3x on all other purchases
  • Complimentary Hilton Gold Status. Diamond status after spending over $40,000
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Priority Pass with 10 free visits
  • Free weekend night after spending more than $15,000 in a calendar year
• reading floydI spoke to American Express and asked them how they can apply for the Hilton Honors Ascend card and they said, “Sorry, the card has not been released yet. It is expected to launch soon and when it does, you will be notified." Chat staff are usually not very knowledgeable, so take this with a grain of salt.
• American Express also has a KrisFlyer Ascend card in Singapore.

Below is our full original post.

Two random bits of information from American Express that could mean absolutely nothing.

1. It is rumored that American Express will make an announcement on October 5. I believe this was originally discussed on the Frequent Miler Facebook group,also some discussion about it here.
2. Flyertalk user Christianj requested the American Express Hilton Surpass with 100,000 points + anniversary free night. They received an email that said (bolded by me) “Hi Christian. How Hilton Honors American ExpressRising upCardholders receive Gold status. Your new status is valid as long as you are Hilton Honors American ExpressRising upCard holders.

Obviously these could be related to each other.A survey was sent out last year about a new American Express Hilton Diamond Card and other changes to existing cards.. An Ascend card would also have something to do with it.American Express becomes the sole issuer of Hilton cards in 2018and Ascend could be the new name American Express gives to one of the legacy Hilton cards when they buy the back book.

Another possibility is that the two items are not related at all and American Express is announcing the launch of a new card on the 5th similar to the oneThe Cobalt card just launched in Canada. After all, there is a chance that both points are wrong and nothing will change at the moment. I've contacted my sources at American Express and haven't heard anything. I'll update this post if I hear anything. If you do something, please let us know in the comments (or email will@doctorofcredit.com).

If you don't like these kinds of posts, I'm sorry! Hopefully I made it clear enough in the title that this was just wild speculation. In fact, I enjoy writing these kinds of speculative posts, so I'm sorry that some readers seem to hate them.

Hat tip to the reader@vuwildcat07for letting me know about Ascend information and@stackpointsfor the information of October 5.