Huge changes to Amex Hilton Honors Business Card (No more free night, higher annual fee, and more)

Quick Summary of Changes

I'll share more detailed analysis below, but here's a quick summary of the changes to the Hilton Honors Business Credit Card:

Annual fee:

• Now $195 (previously $95)

Gone:

• Free night after $15K, $60K spend (purchases will count for these through June 30, 2024 — after that, this benefit ends)
• 10 free Priority Pass lounge visits per calendar year
• 6X on Select Business & Travel Purchases (purchases made through June 30, 2024 still earn this category bonus, then this bonus ends)

Unchanged:

• Free Gold status. Diamond status w/ $40K spend
• 12x Hilton spend

New:

• 5x everywhere, up to $100K calendar year (then 3x)
• $240 Hilton Credit: $60 quarterly
• National Rental Car Executive Status

Quick Thoughts

More bonus points on the welcome offer will be a welcome sight for those who are primarily motivated by an introductory bonus. The required spend in order to earn that bonus has increased substantially, but so has the time period in which to meet that spend and the return on spend for otherwise unbonused purchases.

But that's where the good news mostly ends.

For starters, the annual fee has increased by a hundred dollars to $195 per year. That might not seem like an awful trade at first glance since the card now offers up to $240 in statement credits annually for eligible Hilton purchases ($60 per quarter). If you stay at Hilton hotels at least quarterly, that change likely would have felt like a net win.

However, the card loses its existing 6x bonus categories after June 30, 2024. That is somewhat offset by the fact that the card now offers 5x on all eligible purchases on up to $100K in purchases per calendar year (3x thereafter).

Regardless of how you feel about category bonuses or lack thereof, the more important change is that this card loses what was arguably its most valuable benefit: cardholders will no longer earn a Hilton Free Night Award after $15,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year after June 30, 2024 (nor will they earn the additional free night award at $60K in purchases). In a perplexing move that I can't quite understand, Amex is taking away this benefit mid-year. Purchases made through June 30, 2024 will count toward earning a Free Night Award, but then the benefit ends.

The card also loses its 10 free Priority Pass lounge visits per calendar year, although that happens on a more reasonable schedule:

• If you enrolled in the Priority Pass Select program on or before June 30, 2023, your Priority Pass membership will continue through June 30, 2024 and will be cancelled as of July 1, 2024
• If you enrolled in the Priority Pass Select program between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, your membership will continue through March 31, 2025 and will be cancelled as of April 1, 2025.
• Unused lounge visits will be forfeited at the time of cancellation

That's more reasonable in my opinion: The precedent for credit card benefit changes had long been that they would be announced far in advance of the actual change — and I assumed that was because banks did not want to run afoul of rules about making changes to the advertised card details within the first 12 months for a new cardholder. While it stinks that this card is losing Priority Pass, the schedule they are using to phase that program out seems reasonable even if disappointing.

But I don't understand how they can change a key benefit like the Hilton Free Night Award after $15K in calendar year spend in the middle of the year, particularly for people who have recently opened the card. I just don't see how they can make a substantial change like that overnight while some cardholders are still in their first 12 months with the card. As they have written the terms, you could have opened your card yesterday thinking that you had until December 31, 2024 to make eligible purchases toward a Free Night Award (and the opportunity to earn another one in 2025!) and Amex is now saying that you only have until June 30, 2024 to earn free night awards through spend. That is beyond disappointing and I imagine they will face some complaints over it.

Long-term, maybe this card will work for someone who has a lot of otherwise unbonused spend and who stays at Hilton properties in every quarter of the year. If you aren't staying at a Hilton property in every quarter, I just don't think it will be worth paying the $195 annual fee for the small bump on the first $100K in annual purchases.

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