The Hilton HHonors Surpass Card is the higher end version of the 2 Hilton credit cards available. In my opinion, this is one of the better hotel rewards credit cards out there in the market. Let’s look at it in closer detail.

Reward Formula – With this card, you can earn 9 HHonors bonus points for every eligible dollar spent at participating Hilton Family hotels. You can also earn 6 HHonors bonus points per dollar on everyday purchases at gas stations, drugstores, and more. Plus, earn 3 HHonors bonus points for every eligible dollar charged everywhere else.

This is an improvement over the regular hilton credit card, which only allows you to earn 6 points for every dollar you spend at Hilton Hotels.

Sign Up Bonuses – The Hiilton HHonors Surpass Card allows you to earn up to 40,000 bonus points. Here is how it works. To earn up to 40,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points, you must make your first eligible purchase with the Hilton HHonors Surpass Card within one year of Card issuance. Only one first purchase bonus per Card Account. Only first-time Hilton HHonors Surpass Cardmembers will earn up to 40,000 HHonors bonus points. Cardmembers who have previously earned a first purchase bonus from any Hilton HHonors Card from American Express earn the incremental difference of up to 40,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points.

Additional Bonus – In your first 18 months of Cardmembership, you can earn 2,500 HHonors bonus points for each of your first eight stays at Hilton Family hotels when you charge $100 or more to your Hilton HHonors Surpass Card for each of those eight stays.

Hilton HHonors Gold and Silver VIP Status – For your first year as a card member , you are automatically given a complimentary HHonors Gold VIP status. You can receive a 25% bonus credit on all HHonors Base points earned and upgraded accommodations when available. You can maintain your Gold VIP status after the first year if your total eligible spend reaches $20,000 during each calendar year.

You can also get an automatic upgrade to HHonors Diamond VIP status when your total eligible spend reaches $40,000 or more during a calendar year. With Diamond VIP status you may enjoy:

Silver VIP status is complimentary as long as you are a Cardmember.

Priority Pass Membership – Cardmembers get a complimentary Priority PassSM membership (valued at $99). This membership grants you:

But there is small catch here : When you use your Priority Pass membership, there’s a fee of $27 per visit per person at participating airport lounges, which will be automatically charged to your Hilton HHonors Surpass Card!

Discounts with EmpireCLS Chauffeured Services – Cardmembers can also call EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services if they need a ride from the airport. Empire offers door-to-door service in over 650 cities around the globe.

As a Hilton HHonors Surpass Cardmember, you can:

Use less points for awards – As a Surpass Card member, you can use less points than usual to redeem for Hilton Stays. Here are a couple of examples:

Fees and Rates – The annual fee is $75 which in my opinion is very reasonable for the perks that you get. New cardholders get a 2.90% APR for balance transfers for six months. The normal APR is prime rate plus 9.99% (which is the standard rate for most reward cards).

Verdict – This card is clearly targeted at frequent guest members of the Hilton Honors program. If you are on the road often and stay a lot at Hilton HHonors hotels, then I would highly recommend this card.