American Express - Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card Review

I look at a points card in terms of the dollar value of the reward received as a percent of spending necessary to obtain that reward.  On this, the Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card by American Express is the best that I have found.  More on the value towards the bottom.

This is the only credit card that I and my wife use.  We both carry other cards, primarily in the event that a vendor does not accept American Express.  Other than that rare instance, we don't use any other card.

First, the Hilton family of hotels are one of the truly premium, yet flexible, family of hotels in the world.  They own five star properties such as the Waldorf Astoria hotels in NY and London and some beautiful premier Hilton hotels throughout the world.  But they also own some very family friendly, affordable hotels such as the Hampton Inn and Embassy Suites.  This makes staying at a Hilton family hotel desireable and convenient regardless of your destination or type of accommodations.

Second, the Hilton HHonors program itself is a very good program.  There are no blackout dates, and I have never had any problem booking a room using points anywhere in the world.  And we have used points to stay in Italy, Greece, London, Chicago and Los Angeles.

This is not meant to be a review of Hilton hotels and their points program.  But if they are not any good, then it doesn't matter if the card is any good.  So, about the card itself.  You earn 3 points per dollar spent, and 5 on things such as groceries, gas and drug stores.  We typically average just under 4 points per dollar spent.

I generally only use the rewards for international travel.  When we went to Italy last year, for example, many of the hotels that we stayed in would have cost $400-500.  This is partly because of the high cost of hotels in Europe, and also due to the value of the dollar.  It required an average of 40,000 points per night at these hotels.  At 4 points per dollar spent, that is $10,000 in spending to obtain the points for one night at a high end hotel in Europe.  At $400-500 retail value, that is a 4-5% return on your spending dollars.

That is way above any of the cash back or other programs.