The Hilton co-branded credit card stay offer is back after nearly half a year. 

Lately, starting with Hyatt, the value of hotel points has been dropping dramatically, hasn't it?

There was a time when Hilton Points were considered the least valuable among hotel loyalty programs—even earning nicknames like “Hilton X”—but thanks to the fact that they’ve maintained their tier-free night certificates, their value is rising by the day. (The night certificates are great, but the points themselves are still a bit underwhelming.)

In today’s post, I’ve briefly summarized 1) the key features of this offer, 2) the value of the hotel stay, 3) the pros and cons of each card, and 4) points to keep in mind.

1. Offer highlights: Free Night Reward

There are 4 Hilton credit cards issued by Amex: 3 personal credit cards and 1 business credit card.

Each of these cards is considered a different product, so you can get the welcome bonus once for each.

Of these four cards, these two personal cards are now available with a Free Night Reward (FNR).

• Hilton Honors American Express Card, which doesn't have any annual fee.
• Mid-range personal card Surpass card (Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card)
• Business cards (The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card)

These are the three types of cards.

It's worth noting that even the Aspire card, the highest tier of the personal cards, comes with a free night in the first year, but this isn't a new promotion, it's a standard feature of the card.

There are two main features of this limited time offer that ends on 4/29/2025.

1) A lodging voucher with no grade restrictions and no day-of-the-week restrictions

The best part of this offer is that in addition to a set number of points, you also get one Free Night Reward as a welcome bonus.

A few years ago, Hilton nights were severely restricted to weekends only, but the rules have changed since the pandemic, and now we're able to use them for Any day a STANDARD ROOM is available for booking with points, regardless of the day of the week. 

And as I'll explain in more detail below, Since there are no tier restrictions on this stay certificate, you can get more than $1,000 worth of value from a single certificate.

2) Good spending and long spending periods (for personal cards)

Additionally, this offer doesn't have a very high spend requirement. It also has a long spend period.

• No annual fee personal card (Hilton Honors American Express Card) can get you 70,000 points + 1 night after spending $2,000 in 6 months.
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: $150 annual fee + 130,000 points + 1 FNR after spending $3,000 in 6 months.

Considering that most cards these days have a $4,000 minimum spend and a 3-month spending period, this offer is within reach of even those who don't put much spending on their credit cards.

Business cardsIn this case, while the spending period is also 6 months, please note that the spending requirement is quite high at $8,000.

2. The value of the Free Night Reward

The key to calculating the value of these offers is how much value can be redeemed for one Free Night Reward.

There are only three conditions for redeeming nights.

• Can only be used for standard rooms that can be booked with points
• Cannot be used on around 50+ properties that Hilton have designated as "Distinctive Properties"
• Free Night Reward is valid for one year from the date of issue

In other words, unlike Marriott Bonvoy co-branded cards or IHG cards, which have a set points cap, Hilton stay credits do not have a specific numerical limit. The only requirement is that the reservation be for a Standard room.

And when Hilton significantly raised the point redemption requirements in 2025, the value of the stay certificates paradoxically increased. In the past, the maximum number of points required to book a standard room was 150,000, but now it can be as high as 200,000.

In addition, as hotel prices have risen across the board, the value of a single room reservation now easily exceeds $1,000. 

Let me give you a few examples.

1) Grand Wailea, Maui, A Waldorf Astoria

A few years ago at a bulletin board event, we asked for your most memorable travel destination, and Hawaii was the overwhelming choice.

I also had a really great time staying at Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria (Maui) using Hilton FNR.

When I searched for June 2027, the results showed that a standard room costs between 130,000 and 155,000 points per night. You can use a stay certificate as long as the booking appears as a “Standard Room Reward,” regardless of the number of points deducted.

Therefore, the dates I’ve highlighted in green are days when a high point deduction of 155,000 is required for point stays, but you can stay on those dates without any additional point deduction when using a stay certificate. From that perspective, you can stay on almost every day in June of next year, with the exception of about five days.

How much is one night's stay if I pay in cash? Wow, it's almost $1,000 before taxes. Once taxes are added, it'll be well over $1,000, right?

2) Roku in Kyoto 

For those who say they’d rather go to Korea than Hawaii, it might be a good idea to take some time to stop by Kyoto, Japan. In Kyoto, Roku Hotel, part of the Hilton groupfor example.

Wow, this place is really great. There have been a lot of positive reviews on the message board for quite some time now. While there isn’t much to do around the hotel, I think it’s a great spot for people who just want to relax and enjoy a staycation without doing anything at all.

This place has been quite popular lately, but perhaps because it's not exactly in a tourist area, Park Hyatt KyotoCompared to that, making a reservation is a piece of cake.

When I searched for June of next year, it showed that accommodations were available every single day without exception.

Looking at the cash price (the amount converted from yen to dollars), the pre-tax rate comes out to about $700 per night. Given the current exchange rate of the yen, that’s actually more than 100,000 yen.

3) The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills in Los Angeles

If Korea and Japan are too far away and you're looking for a destination closer to the mainland, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills in LAis a hotel with a lot of good reviews.

When I searched for this hotel for June of next year, it shows that standard rooms are available every single day without exception.

The amount deducted from your points is surprising, isn't it?

The cash deposit is a non-refundable amount of $1,000 before tax.

With tax included, it comes to about $1,200.

To sum it up, it's not that hard to get $1,000 worth of value out of a single lodging voucher.

Of course, there’s the challenge of having to travel to a place where you can get your money’s worth out of the hotel voucher, but given the value it offers, I’d say there’s more than enough reason to plan a ‘voucher-driven trip.”.

3. Compare the pros and cons of individual cards 

As mentioned earlier, this limited-time offer applies to two personal cards and a business card.

For personal cards, there's the basic card, which has no annual fee, and the Surpass card, which is the middle tier.

1) Basic personal card (Hilton Honors American Express Card)

The default personal card is

• No annual fee
• If your spending is as low as $2,000 and you're on the low end of the
• Because there are no international usage fees

If you're just starting to build your credit history in the U.S. and are looking for a solid first card, this is a great option. 

The downside to this card is that the Hilton Silver Elite status that comes with it doesn't offer any real perks, so you can't expect to see much in the way of benefits when you stay at hotels.

2) Surpass Card (Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card)

The Passport Card has an annual fee of $150 for the first year.

But there are enough benefits to more than offset the annual fee.

• I get a $50 quarterly Hilton credit, so that alone covers the annual fee and is a $50 profit.
• You'll automatically get Hilton Gold status (which is becoming less valuable these days, but still better than nothing), and you'll get
• You can earn another night after spending $15,000 within a calendar year, making it a great card to use beyond spending.

A single hotel room voucher can be worth $500 if redeemed poorly, or $1,000 if redeemed well, so it's not an exaggeration to say that the cashback rate on a $15,000 spend ranges from 3% to 6%.

Therefore, If you're planning a trip to Hilton, we think the Passport Card could be a good option for youin the file.

4. Things to note

Like any other credit card offer, there are things to consider before applying through this limited time offer.

1) The validity of FNR

First, pay attention to the timing and expiration date of the FNR.

The terms say that the FNR will be emailed to you within 16 weeks after you've fulfilled your spending requirement (although I don't think it will actually take full 16 weeks.)

Once issued, the FNR is valid for one year.

Therefore, it's a good idea to think carefully about your travel plans for the next year before applying for either of these personal credit card, and only apply when you're certain that you'll be able to make good use of your FNR.

If used wisely, a hotel voucher can be worth as much as $1,000, but if you’re not careful, you might end up having to use it at a hotel that costs $100–$200 when paying with cash. In the worst-case scenario, you might not be able to use it at all and end up wasting it. If you can’t use it at all, its value is obviously $0.  

2) Check award availability beforehand

That's why it's a good idea to check room availability at hotels you've always wanted to stay at before applying for the card - just because there's room now doesn't mean there will be in the future, but you'll get a good idea of the overall trend.

Luckily, Hilton makes it easy to figure this out, as you can check standard room availability on a monthly basis.

3) Things to watch out for when applying for an Amex card

These cards are issued by American Express, so many of the same caveats that apply to applying for any other American Express credit cards apply.

• You can only have a maximum of four to five Amex credit cards per person at the same time (this doesn't include so-called "hybrid cards," such as Amex® Platinum Card, which used to require the pay off of the entire balance each month, but now have other payment options.)
• The welcome bonus on Amex cards is essentially a "once in a lifetime" offer, so if you've had the same card in the past, it's practically impossible to get a new welcome bonus again.
• The so-called Amex pop-ups also prevent applicants from getting the welcome bonus.
• According to offer terms, "You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors."

and so on.

 4) You can also apply for higher tier cards first 

For Delta cards, the family rule applies, so you'll need to apply for the lower tier card first.

The Hilton card doesn't have a family policy yet.

Therefore, it's okay to apply for the Passport card before the regular card.

Let's wrap up today's post. 

It's safe to say that the Hilton hotel stay offer is practically the ultimate in the world of hotel credit cards.

Lastly, even the best offers aren't 100% for everyone, so you'll want to think carefully about whether these cards are a must-have for you.