American Express is working on a refresh of their Hilton Business card. It appears that – like other recent card product changes – that they are testing an annual fee increase and more coupons.
Annual fees range from $195 to $395, the card could come with more Hilton statement credits, a possible $150 business category credit, and (most importantly) a return of Free Night certificate earned from spending that they eliminated in 2024.
The current card is fairly straightforward with a $195 annual fee, 12x earning at Hilton and 5x on other spend up to $100,000 per year and up to $240 Hilton credit, Gold status and Diamond after $40,000 spend. I consider it basically an expensive 2% back card that earns Hilton points instead of cash and that comes with Gold status for a small food and beverage credit on most stays. It’s not super-compelling.
A refreshed card could be good for small business-eligible members who do stay at Hiltons, especially with a return of the free night award and a bonus for making bookings through Hilton for Business. However, it may earn less for spending along with a higher fee.
| Benefit | Current card | Surveyed Options | ||
| Annual fee | $195 | $195 / $245 / $295 / $345 / $395 | ||
| Hilton earn | 12X | 10X / 11X / 12X / 13X | ||
| Other earn | 5X first $100K, then 3X | 3X all; 5X first $100K; 4X first $150K; 6X gas + 3X; 6X office supplies + 3X | ||
| Hilton credit | Up to $240/year, apparently quarterly today | $240 / $280 / $300 / $320 | ||
| Business expense credit | N/A | None or $150 for AI, ads, shipping, accounting/tax, software/cloud | ||
| Status | Gold; Diamond after $40K spend | Same | ||
| Free Night Reward | N/A | None / $15K / $60K / $15K + additional at $60K | ||
| Annual room upgrade | N/A | Included in some options, one stay up to two nights | ||
| Hilton lounge access | N/A | Included in some options | ||
| Hilton for Business incentive | None | After 7 Hilton For Business stays: $100 credit / 200K points / 50% annual-fee rebate / none |
Amex HH Business card refresh coming?
by
u/SpartanScribe in
Hilton
The current card’s biggest problem is that they stripped the annual spend free night milestone from the card in 2024 while not really offering offsetting value.
What’s really negative here in potential changes, besides a higher annual fee, is potentially replacing 5x earning on general spend with 3x plus some 6x categories (or flat 4x earning).
The Hilton credit may rise, but going from $240 ($60 per quarter) to $280 – $320 isn’t that significant. The $150 business credit (coupons) match what they’ve done on other products with specific merchants and their own internal business acquisitions, for instance Business Platinum and Gold cnow get up to $300 per year on U.S. ChatGPT Business purchases. That covers about half the cost, but there have been regular coupons that cover the difference.
A Hilton for Business integration make sense, with a “7 stays through Hilton for Business” benefit pushing cardholders into the direct small business channel rather than online travel agencies and unmanaged bookings.
Don’t expect the survey’s richest combinations. They start at the current annual fee for comparison purposes. 13X Hilton, $320 Hilton credit, $150 business credit, $15,000 spend free night award, room upgrade and 200,000 Honors points for business stays will not all make it into the final product – these are bundles meant to measure tradeoffs between potential benefits.
For big unbonused spenders on the card (which I wouldn’t be, to begin with) thiis is likely to be a reduction – higher annual fee for lower return on spend.
For someone that will book through Hilton for Business, it’s potentially much better. I don’t actually expect 200,000 bonus points after 7 qualifying stays – but something here could be valuable.
Perhaps the biggest broad benefit they could bring back is the free night earned with spend – though if I had to guess it would be earned at closer to $60,000 spend than the old $15,000.
Providing lounge access would be nice, though so few Hilton properties have lounges these days. It is odd to see a card refresh surveyed so soon after the last one, which suggests to me that taking away that free night certificate hurt them more than they’re likely to let on (although it was surprising at the time that they didn’t lean more into couponing).
I dropped my business Hilton card when they eliminated the FNC options. I spent my way up to diamond so I certainly used the card but back then it offered value. If Amex brings back the FNC under reasonable terms then I’d be willing to try again.