The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card Review

For small business owners, everything comes down to numbers. When you’re building a business, you need the numbers coming in to be good enough to keep you moving forward — and the numbers going out to be small enough to stay afloat.

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card from American Express, a Credit Cards House advertiser, is designed for small- to mid-sized businesses. This card has opportunities to earn points everywhere you turn. It is especially attractive to anyone who works with the Hilton brand, as you can easily earn points at a 12x rate (see benefit terms).

Note: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit AmericanExpress.com to learn more.

Card Overview

With this card, you can earn 130,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 in your first three months of card membership (see offer terms). Hilton Honors points can be used to reserve stays at Hilton hotels — but also for shopping online and things like concert tickets. See a more detailed list of what you can redeem points for here.

With this card, you earn 12x points when you stay at a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio. The card also offers 6x points on select business and travel purchases, and 3x points on all other eligible purchases (see benefit terms).

Here’s a list of the business and travel services where you can earn 6x points:

• at U.S. gas stations.
• on wireless telephone services purchases directly from U.S. service providers.
• on U.S. purchases for shipping.
• at U.S. restaurants.
• on flights booked directly with airlines or with AmexTravel.com.
• on car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies.

You also have access to Amex perks with this card, such as rental car insurance when you use the card to book the reservation (once you register with the American Express Premium Car Rental Protection program).

With the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, you have the opportunity to earn not only 130,000 Hilton Honors points, but perks ranging from money management tools to free hotel stays.

Travel

When you spend $15,000 in one calendar year on your card, you receive a free night reward from Hilton (see benefit terms). Spend an additional $45,000 on your card in that same year and get another free night. This is a great deal, as you can redeem this for nights at almost any Hilton hotel in the world.

Cardholders get 10 free priority pass visits to over 1,300 airport lounges within a year (enrollment required). There are no foreign transaction fees with this card (see rates and fees). You also automatically earn Hilton Honors Gold status, which includes late checkout, free breakfast at most Hilton hotels and a 80% bonus on all the Hilton base points you earn.

Money Management

Cardmembers have access to expense management tools: You can connect your card to QuickBooks (enrollment required) or the American Express app^®, which allows you to add notes or receipts online to your transactions (enrollment required).

Drawbacks

The bulk of the rewards for this card are Hilton Honors points. If you don’t need or use those points, the card is much less attractive. Be sure to read your credit card terms, as some points benefits can be limited or may change in the course of having your card.

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card has a $95 annual fee, with no $0 introductory annual fee for the first year (see rates and fees). For very small or very new businesses without a lot of overhead, it might not make sense to pay this fee each year.

And while the 130,000-point and free night reward limited time offer in generous, it might be tough for very small businesses to meet the spending requirements.

Bottom Line

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card is a competitive new business credit card. It comes with a wide range of where you can earn points and a similarly wide range of where you can redeem points. For business owners who work with Hilton hotels or frequently buy from U.S.-based online suppliers, it’s an especially attractive card. The benefits from both Hilton and Amex make this a very attractive credit card.

_{For rates and fees of The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, click here.}

_{Note: This content is not provided by American Express. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express.}

First published February 6, 2018, last updated December 22, 2022

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Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.

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