UPDATE: While this post is still up-to-date, we’ve put together additional comprehensive ways and tricks to use and maximize Amex Hilton Aspire Resort Credit. See this post.
Amex Hilton Aspire Credit Card is one of my favorite hotel’s premium credit card. The card has a high annual fee of $450. However, every year you receive $250 airline fee credits plus $250 resort credit when you stay at one of the Hilton’s worldwide resorts. If you are able to take advantage of these two benefits alone, it is a no brainer to keep holding on to this credit card because this card also has other great perks such as it gives you automatic Diamond status which is the highest tier level in Hilton Honors program plus one free weekend night during your card’s anniversary year.
Below is a compilation of Best Hilton Hotels To Use Amex Hilton Card Free Weekend Night Certificate.
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| Photo Credit: Hotel del Coronado, Curio Collection by Hilton |
Amex Hilton Aspire Resort Credit’s Challenge
Clearly for some card members, one of the challenges with holding this credit card every year is being able to use that $250 resort credit to justify the annual fee. This means that you have to come up with a Hilton resort to stay at every year in order to use that resort credit. But with some creativity and a little work, you can maximize the $250 resort credit quite easily as I mentioned in Two Awesome Tricks To Maximize Amex Hilton Aspire Resort Credit
Use It Or Lose It!
But what if you can’t get time off from work to travel and you are running out of time to use that $250 resort credit? It’s worth mentioning that the $250 resort credit is an annual benefit, it does not accumulate if you don’t use it in a year period. It’s a use it or lose it case. Today, I just learned a new trick on how to solve this problem as the last resort via FlyerTalk.
First of all, I learned that Las Vegas properties actually fall under resort classification according to Hilton. Most of the resort there charges one night refundable deposit at the time you make a reservation, even on a refundable/flexible rate.
Take a look at the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas for example. I randomly picked one night stay in August. Prior to finalizing the reservation, there’s a fine print that states below:
This reservation requires a credit card deposit of $278.80 USD which will be charged to your card. If you wish to cancel, please do so 5 days prior to arrival to avoid cancellation penalties.
So what this means is that you can make a refundable reservation with one of those properties and your Hilton Aspire credit card will be charged right away for the deposit. This will trigger the $250 resort credit because it’s charged directly by the eligible Hilton resort property. After awhile, if your trip is interrupted, you can cancel the reservation during the permitted time and get the deposit refunded back to your Aspire credit card.
What happens to unused credit?
Don’t get greedy, be reasonable! Do this trick only when you absolutely have no choice to use that resort credit and use it only as the last resort. This clearly is at the discretion of American Express. I think you are reading this blog because you enjoy leveraging miles and points to maximize traveling experience and if you can take advantage of that $250 resort credit every year for your Hilton resort’s stay you are going to have a great time on your trip. If you are just going to do this trick often, then do yourself a favor and just cancel the card and move on to a card that fits your travel style better.
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