Hilton Amex or Starwood Amex? The Choice Just Became Harder
Hilton HHonors recently announced that it was allowing award redemption without blackout dates for all of its members. Previously this benefit, which guarantees that any standard room can be reserved with points as long as it is available, was only provided to its Diamond and Gold-level members.
As a consequence, this move makes the Hilton Amex an even stronger competitor with the Starwood Amex for hotel award redemptions. For transfers to airline programs, the SPG card is still far superior to Hilton’s, but there are many arguments to be made in favor of Hilton when it comes to hotel awards.
By lifting its restrictions on blackout dates, Hilton matches one of SPG’s major selling points. And with more than 2,900 Hilton Family hotels worldwide, compared with Starwood’s 860 or so, there are more than three times as many places where your points can be redeemed. The Hilton Amex also offers bonus points on everyday purchases, awarding 5 points for each dollar spent at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, and dining establishments, and 3 points everywhere else. In addition, it does not carry an annual fee, while the SPG Amex charges $45 after the first year.
All in all, there are points to be made in each card’s favor and much of it comes down to personal preference. For maximum flexibility, you could carry both cards, which is what I actually plan to do.
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Thanks for this post. Are you able to post a rough comparison on how many points/dollars the various rewards end up costing?
Regards,
Jonathan
It’s difficult to compare rewards directly since a) there are so many different redemption options that you can select from and b) not all hotels are alike either in amenities or location.
The simplistic answer to your question is that with Hilton, you can redeem as few as 7,500 points for one free night at a Category Opportunity hotel. With SPG, as little as 2,000 Starpoints can get you a free weekend night at a category 1 hotel. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it costs 160,000 HHonors points to stay at the Qasr Al Sharq in an executive suite for a night, or up to 35,000 Starpoints per night to stay at the Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa in the high season. (You can see redemption charts here and here).
The HHonors program also has point stretcher, GLON/GLONP and AXON awards that discount the number of points needed for certain rewards. Similarly, Starwood gives you the fifth night free if you book an award stay of at least four nights. Both programs also offer cash and points alternatives. These are just some of the options that complicate any detailed analysis. It’s important to take these into account, however, since they often are the best values.