The travel niche blogosphere was all a-twitter last week with the introduction of the new Hilton Reserve card from Citibank. It is a nice offer giving two free weekend nights, Gold status, big category earnings and an anniversary night when renewing at $95 per year. I saw at least ten posts on the new card from  bloggers in the affiliate space. I’ve waited to digest the new info and hopefully offer a different perspective:

Almost everybody is in bed with Hilton and we can take advantage big time.  Look at the list of credit cards you can get offering Hilton points:

• Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Visa Signature® Card (40K+)
• Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card (Two Weekend Nights+)
• American Express Hilton Card  (40K+)
• American Express Hilton Surpass Card (40K+)
• Bank of America Virgin Atlantic Card (transfers 1:2 to HHonors (100K+)
• Bank of Hawaii Hawaiian Airlines Card transfers 1:2 to HHonors (70K+)
• Bank of American Hawaiian Airlines Card transfers 1:2 to HHonors (70K+)

Did I miss any??????

This combination of seven different cards (across three card issuers) almost assures us of having one card each application cycle we can add to our Hilton account balance.  The cards listed above with transfer options have been applied for numerous time with repeated sign-up bonuses . Now we have two options for cards that grant (I repeat) grant Gold status with Hilton. Time your applications correctly and you will always have Gold status with Hilton (valuable in Europe for free 25+ Euro breakfasts & Internet). Target the Hilton Surpass card by Amex and the new Citi Hilton Reserve card for status. Other blogs have reported it takes a big spend on the Surpass card to earn Hilton Gold. I read the promo page to say you get the Gold status on approval for the first year of membership. Swap the two cards year after year for constant Gold status.

The other big thing to look at is the reduced points awards offered by the American Express Hilton base card with no annual fee. (keep this one). It allows you to book AXON awards with Hilton for 4 night stays at their high end hotels at significant savings. Normal four night stays at top categories for 145K instead of 200K – Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

As many of you know, I’ve been an SPG guy for years, but with all these new cards with multiple application possibilities, I’ve got to consider moving some if not all my business to Hilton.

If you are new to the game and want to develop a strategy for continual Hilton Gold status, availability to high level hotels at low level awards (AXON) and lots of continual low cost points, drop me an email; I’ll be glad to help you formulate a strategy to fit your individual needs.

For more information on earning and redeeming with Hilton HHonors take a look at the posts that Andy put together on Earning Hilton HHonors points and Top Hilton Redemptions.

Deal of the Day

For today’s Deal of the Day American Airlines AAdvantage® has provided 2500 AAdvantage® miles for the best deals, fares, promotions, anything related to American Airlines, their oneworld partners or AAdvantage® partners.  Add it to the comments section of this post or this afternoon’s Deal of the Day post (with your first name, last initial, and home airport) to be eligible to win.