Are Premium Hotel Cards Worth It?
Tl;dr: Hilton’s premium card might make sense for some people.
Edit: Hilton recently revamped its card lineup; we will discuss the changes in a future post.
Recently, I talked about hotel hotel co-branded credit cards. Most of those cards carry a fee of around $100 per year, but that is mostly, if not entirely, offset by benefits like a free night stay each year, elite perks, and high earning rates when booking with the hotel chain in question. Today, I’m going to briefly talk about the premium hotel card space. These cards carry much higher fees–$250-$650–but also come with greater benefits. Are the added perks worth that extra cost?
Generally, no. There are only four premium hotel cards that I’m aware of: three from Marriott and one from Hilton. Each carries a hefty fee and, for the average person, comparatively paltry benefits. You can check out the details for yourself here with our handy spreadsheet, or read on for my two cents.
Marriott offers the Brilliant and Bevy from Amex, as well as the Ritz-Carlton Card from Chase (available only via a product change from one of Chase’s other Marriott cards).
The $250-fee Bevy has the most manageable annual fee, but doesn’t even offer a free night each year for that fee, something the $100 Boundless does. The Gold status it confers doesn’t offer much in the way of concrete additional perks beyond the Silver status that comes with the Boundless (the opportunity–not guaranteed–for a room upgrade and higher priority for late checkout). Even if you wanted Gold status, an Amex platinum card is probably a better way to get it, as that card’s benefits are more likely to offset its annual fee.
The $650-fee Brilliant does offer a free night, along with $300 in statement credits for spending at restaurants. It also offers a priority pass membership, although with that access so easily attainable with cards that should make their way into your wallet first, like the Capital One Venture X, that might not offer any additional value. Because the free night can be redeemed at properties charging up to 85k points per night, it could easily represent several hundred dollars in “value,” but unless you actually pay those types of cash prices, that value is fairly illusory. For me, I’d call the free night worth $100-150, meaning it would still cost $200 per year to hold the card. Is the Platinum status conferred by the card and it’s mildly higher earning rates on Marriott stays worth that kind of price? I don’t think so, but your mileage may vary.
The $450-fee Ritz-Carlton card offers a free night–also up to 85k points–and $300 in statement credits for airline incidental fees. Even estimating $100-150 for the value of that room again, that’s $450 in benefits and credits against a $450 fee. Not bad. Except, I never pay airline incidental fees (seat upgrades, baggage fees, lounge access, etc.). So I would be paying $450 per year to get one night in a hotel and some flight upgrades that I would never spend money on otherwise. A nonstarter for me, but it could be a good deal for those who do regularly pay for nights in expensive hotels or incur incidental expenses while flying.
Which brings us to the $450-fee Hilton Aspire card from Amex. This card is not for me, because the card’s credits don’t work for me. There’s a $250 credit for purchases at Hilton Resorts, but I never stay at resorts (because they tend to be so expensive, you’re likely to have to spend extra money to take advantage of that credit). And there’s a $300 airline incidental fee credit, but, like I mentioned above, I never pay for incidental airline fees. Amex also limits you to just one airline for the year, so you’ll have to accurately predict in advance which airline is most likely to give you value from that credit. I’m also just not a fan of Hilton Honors generally, as the earning rates are similar to Marriott and IHG but the redemption rates tend to be much worse.
That said, the Aspire has some superpowers that make it worthy of consideration for the right person. Its Priority Pass access could be valuable for someone who, for some reason, does not have access via a premium card like the Venture X. The card confers Diamond status, giving cardholders instant access to the highest tier of Hilton benefits. And, most importantly, the free night award that comes with this card can be used virtually anywhere, including $800+/night ski-in-ski-out or 5-star midtown manhattan properties. While a single night in a ski-in-ski-out hotel doesn’t make much sense, if your partner also has the card you can book back-to-back nights and ask the property to use the same room for both, resulting in a “free” two-night stay at some of these ultra-high end properties. Is all that worth $450 per person? Again, not for me, but for some people it will represent real value.
Conclusion
Personally, I like the value of a great low-fee hotel card like the IHG Premier, but but the big hotel spenders out there could potentially benefit from adding a premium hotel card to their wallet.