10 Benefits of the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card
Brand loyalty isn’t easy to do when you’re on the budget, but there’s one brand that rewards its loyal guests well—Citi. When it comes to travel, there’s another brand that rewards loyalty even more, and that’s Hilton. You might think that the two together on a credit card might just be too good to be true, but it’s real. The Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card is everything that a Hilton Honors member could ever hope for. If you happen to be part of the Hilton Honors program, this is a card that should always be in your wallet. If you aren’t a part of the program yet, here are 10 benefits to the Citi credit card that might make you want to always stay at Hilton while you’re away.
1. Bonus points
One of the biggest benefits of the Citi Hilton Honors Visa Signature Card is its introductory bonus. According to Wallethub.com, you could get up to 40,000 Hilton Honors points if you spend just $1,000 within the first 3 months of getting your credit card. That’s an easy weekend away at a Waldorf Astoria or a long weekend at a nice Hilton close by. This $1,000 is a low spending threshold compared to other cards.
2. Rewards
Once you receive your introductory bonus points, you can begin to earn even more points for simply using your card. The return rate for this Citi credit card is quite unbelievable. You get 6x points for every dollar you spend for a Hilton stay. Considering that Hilton has so many different kinds of properties, you’ll never get tired of your hotel stays. In addition, you can also earn 3x points for supermarket, drugstore, and pharmacy purchases. For other general purchases, you can earn 2x the points.
3. No expiration
This is one benefit that just keeps on giving. As long as you use your credit card once every year, your points will never expire. That’s right. There’s absolutely no expiration date for your points. That means that you can stack your points up year after year to save up for that expensive hotel stay in Hawaii. If Hawaii isn’t your cup of tea, you can save up your points to use for a nice European vacation. The point is you can add up your points without worrying about expiration. You’ll never be forced to sign up for magazines you’ll never read—ever.
4. Redeeming
Speaking of redeeming points, you can use your points for more than just paying for your hotel room. You can also use your points to book flights, get car rentals, and so much more. Creditcards.com also lists shopping, dining, on-property rewards, and even charity as ways you can redeem your points. The options are just plentiful.
5. Annual fee
There’s a drawback to owning rewards cards, and that drawback mostly comes in the form of an annual fee. Some fees are exorbitantly high. We’ve seen rewards cards that charge anywhere from $200 to $500 annually. It’s a great thing that this particular Hilton Honors credit card does not have an annual fee whatsoever—zero. The fee that would’ve normally come out of your card will go nowhere unless you use it to purchase something you actually want to pay for.
6. APR
It’s normal for a rewards credit card to have a high APR. We’ve seen ones that go up to approximately 21% to 24%. Those amounts are ridiculous for any credit card whatsoever, but they do exist. Fortunately, this Citi card only has a variable rate of 15.99% to 19.99%. While those rates aren’t that much lower, they’re still lower compared to other similar cards. If you don’t typically look at APRs when dealing with credit cards, you absolutely should. You’ll keep more money in your pocket if you have a credit card that has a low APR, and the Citi card can help.
7. Upgrades
One great benefit of owning the Citi Hilton Honors Visa Signature card is the possibility of upgrades. According to this article, you can use your points to get an upgrade at any Hilton property. There are contingencies on this benefit, so make sure you first contact the hotel where you’re staying at before you expect an upgrade. If anything, it lets you know if they have any upgrade rooms available at all. If you happen to be a Gold and Diamond Hilton member, you get complimentary room upgrades already (per availability). But using the card can get you there faster than you normally would.
8. Elite Status
And that leads us to our next benefit. This Citi credit card can fast track your way to a Gold or Diamond member status for Hilton Honors. Owning the card alone gives you an automatic Silver member status. If you stay at 4 Hilton properties (no matter the length of stay) within 90 days of receiving your credit card, you automatically get Gold member status. That status would normally require a total of 20 hotel stays per year.
9. Visa Signature
It isn’t enough that this credit card caters to Citi and Hilton benefits; it also happens to be a Visa Signature cards. Visa Signature is a brand all on its own, and owning one affords you a host of extra benefits. Being a Visa Signature cardholder gives you access to all the benefits of that program. You can get a discount to events, access to museums, and so many more. You’d just have to go to the Visa Signature page to see what they currently have.
10. No ceiling
Earlier we mentioned that the points you accumulate have no expiration date. You should also know that there’s no limit to the number of points you can acquire. You can literally just keep earning points without using them. You can save them for a big event in your life later on. Apart from not having a limit, you can also choose to use your points partially. You can use partial points to pay for something. That’s an option that might definitely come in handy for you at some point. You just never know.