As we’ve mentioned many times before, signing up for credit cards and getting the associated signup bonuses can be one of the strongest ways to get a lot of points. It’s hard to top earning 10, 20 or even more miles and points per dollar you spend, which is fairly common when you’re trying to earn a signup bonus on a card.
Having said that, allow me to repeat my oft-spoken mantra – DO NOT SIGN UP FOR CARDS BECAUSE SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET SAID THAT YOU SHOULD! Figure out what works for you and only go as fast as you understand and feel comfortable.
100,000 Hilton points plus a free weekend night
The highest offer for the Hilton Honors™ Surpass® Card from American Express was for 100,000 Hilton points plus a free weekend night after the card’s first anniversary! It was previously offer this spring after Amex bought the exclusive contract with Hilton and Citi lost out. But the offer ended on May 30. And now the offer is back, and stays through October 4, 2017. The card carries a $75 annual fee which is not waived the first year.
As a reminder, American Express will currently only give you one signup bonus per card per lifetime, so you want to make sure to do it when the signup bonus is at an all-time high.
What to do with all those Hilton points
Hilton points get a bit of a bad rap, and it’s true that Hilton point is worth much less than other points (like Hyatt or Starwood), but I would say it’s comparable with IHG, Marriott or Choice points. Here’s an idea of some of the 5 best uses for Hilton points that we came up with
- Stretch your points at low level hotels (PwaC stayed at a Doubletree for 10,000 points that was AMAZING!)
- High-end hotels like the Grand Wailea in Maui and Conrad Maldive
- Expensive destinations.
- Special events (Super Bowl, College football weekends, Times Square at New Year’s, etc)
- Don’t forget – 5th night free!
If you are looking for a Hawaii vacation, 100,000 points is enough for two nights at some Hilton properties on Waikiki or the Big Island (Hilton Waikoloa Village costs just 50,000 points a night). A new Hilton Garden Inn on Kauai cost just 37,000 points a night.
We also wrote a post talking about 5 Hilton hotels where you might want to use your free weekend certificate, should you sign up for and be approved for the card. I recently used my free weekend certificate at the Hilton Garden Inn Central Park South in New York, awesome location with walking distance to both Time Squares and Central Park. I am hoping to use my remaining free weekend certificate at the Embassy Suites Napa Valley and bring the family to the wine country for harvest this fall!
Where to get the card
You can apply for this card along with many other top hotel cards here. If you are approved for either of those cards through PWaC link, PwaC will receive a commission. If you’d rather give that commission to someone else, I’d imagine most of your friendly neighborhood bloggers have similar links. Or, if you’d rather Amex just keeps the money, you can probably find these offers at americanexpress.com 🙂
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I don’t think this is correct; “a free weekend night every year”.
Sorry, my mistake. It is fixed.
Your post still says a free weekend night every year. This has not been corrected.
It seems to me the terms are stating only 1 free weekend night on the first anniversary of the card, not every year. Am I reading in incorrectly?
Really sloppy post…. even the “glitter” is fact-lacking.
What, no mention of the annual fee — or telling us why it’s really “worth it” — or comparing it to whatever the current point promo is on the no-annual fee version?
Even when discussing the fact that Hilton really does get a “bad rap” for hyper over-inflated point charges per night, you give us lots of drivel, but few actual examples of good values. (apart from links to more vague listings)
I didn’t mention the no-fee card because its current offer isn’t the highest. Surpass’s 100K plus a free weekend night can add up to 180K points if used correctly. As to finding value, like any other point programs, Hilton has its hidden value. There are many times I found $600 room for just 70K points a night (ie Napa Valley), or $500 room for 50K points per night on a college football weekend. It takes work to find them for your own use. We can only give examples and can’t possibly cover all uses.