Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Hilton American Express Card Changes

It looks like it’s official. The Hilton HHonors American Express card has changed its reward ratios. The new terms offer “6 points for Hilton Family Hotels, Supermarkets, Drug Stores, Gas Stations, Home & Wireless Phone, Cable & Satellite TV, and Internet Service Providers.” 3 points for other purchases. This is up from 5 points previously in several categories, but Restaurants and the Post Office have been eliminated from the higher reward tier.

This doesn’t seem like a big deal to us. We still think the Hilton Amex is one of the best reward cards available, and an extra reward point is always a nice thing. The big unfortunate change is the elimination of restaurants from the top 6-point tier. It’s getting harder to find reward credit cards offering more than 1% for restaurant purchases. (The Costco Amex and the Chase Business card both still seem to offer 3% at restaurants.)