Hilton Aspire Card: Is it worth it?



So in 2022, I decided to do a trial run of the Hilton Aspire card ($450 fee per yr) to see if the value would be worth it to me. 

Here's what I used it for:
  • 1 upgrade at a DoubleTree in Breckenridge (though they only had an available upgrade 1 out of the 3 nights we stayed) & we maybe only used 1 day's credit for f&b on bottled water ($5.17). 
  • 1 airport lounge visit for 2 in Cancun (for a total of 20 minutes, so 1 drink each, no snacks, Value = $35 x 2 = $70)
  • Stayed at Hilton Home2Suites in Orlando, but no upgrades available, free bfast already included, no f&b credit.
  • 1 airport lounge visit for 2 in Orlando, full bfast was had by both. (Value = $47.93 x 2 = $95.86) 
  • 1 airport lounge visit for 2 in Cleveland, 1 drink each, food was no longer being served due to lounge closing time approaching. (Value = $50 x 2 = $100)
  • Stayed at DoubleTree in Tampa, bfast credit only covered 1 person, and we didn't think it was a worthwhile meal to pay the outlandish price for a 2nd person, so it was only used once. No upgrades available during this stay. (I'll call this value a WASH, as they charged me an additional $50 for 'late checkout' because they wouldn't honor the 4pm late checkout that I was supposed to have access to as a Diamond Status member... which was total bs)
  • Stayed at a Hampton Inn in Denver -- bfast was free here anyway, so credit was used for bottled water only... it's dry out west! No upgrades available. ($5.51)
  • 1 airport lounge visit for 2 in Baltimore -- our longest layover lounge visit yet, we had 3 drinks & a full meal each, however getting to the lounge was a HASSLE, so we didn't visit again on the returning flight back (Value = $50 x 2 = $100)
  • Used 1 free night/yr (awarded from card = 60,000 points value) and 2 nights booked on points at the Hilton Boston airport (120,000 points value) (Monetary Value = roughly $660) 
    • Also used the f&b credits here for 3 mornings (total = $72)
While I believe we certainly got the value back from the $450/year annual fee for this card (We utilized approx $1,108.54 in "freebies") I'm trying to determine if this "overall value" was worth it to me personally. I was left with 206,840 Hilton points going into 2023 so that, in my eyes, is likely the greatest value here: about 5 free nights at something like a Home2 Suites or Hampton Inn equivalent. I certainly got the largest value (in my opinion) from that free hotel stay at the Hilton Boston Airport.

The airport lounges... well... those are less valuable in my opinion and let me tell you why:
They are 100% overpriced for entry, and I don't think we ever 'got out the value that was put in' on these. The avg value for 2 people per lounge was about $100, and each time, neither of us got even CLOSE to $100 worth of f&b. I'd say we probably averaged maybe $20-25 per person worth of f&b each time we went. Also, our home base airport is ATL and they had an HOUR LONG LINE to the Priority Pass lounge any time we tried to go! We literally haven't even been able to utilize this one a single time. Also, multiple airports we frequent don't even HAVE a lounge: Nashville, Houston Hobby, & Denver, I'm looking at you! Not to mention how difficult and time consuming it is to get to certain ones: ATL and MCO are on different concourses that require a train ride from the concourse Southwest utilizes (which is the only airline I fly) and BWI requires you to EXIT security, (walk like, 15 min) RE-ENTER another concourse through its own security, and then EXIT and RE-ENTER again (and walk 15 min) to go back to your original concourse... complete clusterf*ck. I think the ONLY lounge that was worthwhile and easy to get in/out of from my usual concourse is the lounge in New Orleans... and even that was tempting to skip considering there was a Cafe du Monde directly under it. 

Honestly, the hotel breakfast credits weren't used enough to make much of a dent. The hotel where we did use them the most (Hilton Boston Airport) we somehow overspent on breakfast the first day by $77.16!! (we were more careful not to go overboard the next 2 days) but that was basically a wash as well.  And out of the 14 or so nights we stayed at Hilton properties this year, I was only given ONE night's upgrade to a nicer room. 

So essentially the only true "value" we got were from some free nights earned. Seeing as how we book most hotels through Southwest to earn the companion pass, I think that might be what I continue to do in 2023 vs using a hotel-branded card. Consider this card *CANCELLED* 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Earn the Companion Pass on Southwest Air

Image
(some details of this article have been updated as of 2025) Ok so people ask me all the time how I've earned the Companion Pass on Southwest Airlines SO many times... Here's an overview.  What it is: Southwest Airlines Companion Pass allows you to designate one person to fly for free with you EVERY SINGLE TIME you fly (yes, you heard it right, there's no limit, no cap, no "one time per year"... if you take 30 flights that year, your companion can come along for free* with you on ALL flights) *you are still responsible for taxes and fees. Domestic flights = $11.60 roundtrip in taxes and fees. This (INCLUDES HAWAII & PUERTO RICO!) International flights = varies... Puerto Vallarta might be $112.37 for taxes/fees. Belize might be $83.77 for taxes/fees. Etc. You are also allowed to change your companion up to 3x in a calendar year. You are also allowed to book YOUR flight on points (and just pay taxes & fees) and then add on your companion for "free" ...
Read more

Earning the Companion Pass Pt. 2: Making the Points Make Sense

Image
So we're coming up on the end of 2022 and I'm looking at how to keep my Companion Pass for 2023. I have used my Southwest Credit Card for nearly all purchases this year, registered for a couple of the Promotions that Southwest runs on their site (like this one pictured below):  And I am still about 48,313 points shy of earning the Companion Pass for next year: What's a girl to do? I'm not gonna lie, I've had a very difficult time this year finding hotel stays that will either give me enough points for the money spent, or make sense to stay in for the trip (location-wise, budget-wise, or quality-wise). I've booked approximately 3 hotels out of the 9 hotel stays I've done this year on the Southwest website to earn points off of... and even still those only got me maybe 1,000 points here, or 2,000 points there (not much to speak of). I've got 3 trips left on the calendar for the rest of the year, and 2 of them already have hotels booked (both done through ...
Read more

How I do Disney on a Budget

Image
  Ah Disney... they most magical place on earth. And also one of the more expensive.  I'm going to share my tips for how I budget for my Disney trips, and we'll start with the most expensive: The park tickets. Unfortunately Disney has gotten INCREDIBLY greedy (Thanks Bob Chapek  Edit as of Nov '22: Welcome back Bob Iger!!) and their prices for park tickets have gotten very expensive over the last few years. And not to mention that it's basically an extra dash of salt in the wound when you go to buy your tickets online and see this: "Oh look, tickets for $109." Think again. Most tickets for weekends and during "nice weather" average more like $139-154 BEFORE taxes. (Add on about $10 per ticket per day for taxes) So unfortunately the park tickets don't see really any discounts (and even for military, it's only a couple bucks for "weekend warriors") though they do offer better discounts for 4-day tickets with park hoppers:   vs the reg...
Read more