Upgrade Offer for the American Express Surpass Card
American Express has been sending out emails to upgrade the no annual fee Amex Hilton card to the Amex Surpass. It is also showing up in the Amex Offers section for the American Express Hilton card. In the past you have had to carry the no fee Hilton Honors card for at least a year before getting Surpass upgrade offers. The offer ends on 10/4/17 but they have pulled upgrade offers early in the past.
American Express Surpass Upgrade Offer Details
The offer comes with 100,000 Hilton Honors points after $3,000 in spend within the first 3 months. It is very similar to the public offer for the Surpass card but does not include the free night after your first year. Since it is an upgrade offer it will not require a hard pull.
Differences Between the Surpass and Regular Hilton Card
The American Express Surpass card comes with some nice perks that are not a part of the standard Hilton Honors Amex card. They are as follows:
- 12 points per dollar at Hilton Hotels instead of only 7
- 6 points per dollar at US gas stations, US restaurants, and US grocery stores versus 5 with the no annual fee version
- The American Express Surpass comes with Hilton Honors Gold status versus Silver status for the no fee version.
- Reach Diamond status after $40,000 in spend in a calendar year versus Gold status after $20,000 in spend for the no fee version.
Related: American Express Hilton Honors Surpass Review
American Express Surpass Fees
There are a few fees to consider with the card:
- The American Express Surpass card has a $75 annual fee (prorated according to your current Hilton cardmember year).
- The American Express Surpass card has foreign transaction fees – (same as the Hilton Amex card)
Upgrade Offer Value $400 ($325 net)
Hilton Honors points are worth $.004 a piece so 100,000 points are worth $400. You will need to pay a $75 annual fee (remember it is prorated so will most likely be less) leaving a minimum net value of $325.
Once Per Lifetime Language
With past upgrade offers it has been possible to get the American Express Surpass upgrade offer even if you have carried the card previously. Some have even done it multiple times.
Upgrade or Welcome Offer
If you have previously had the Surpass card then taking the upgrade offer is a no-brainer.
If you have never received the welcome offer for the American Express Surpass card then you would be better off signing up for the public welcome offer. It comes with the same amount of points for the same amount of spend but also has a free night after the first year. Also, if you upgraded to the Amex Surpass card then you would not be eligible for the welcome offer on this card in the future.
Conclusion
This is a very nice offer that requires no hard inquiry. If you have previously had the American Express Surpass card, and you are looking to boost your Hilton points stash, then I suggest jumping on this offer ASAP. The Amex Surpass offers a nice earning structure, good perks, and a reasonable annual fee.
If you have never had the American Express Surpass card before then I would suggest going with the public sign up offer instead. That offer comes with a free night on top of 100,000 Hilton Honors points.
Did you get receive the offer via email or Amex Offers? Are you going to pull the trigger?
All information about American Express cards in this post has been collected independently by Miles to Memories. Some offers mentioned in this post have expired.
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Hey Mark, i upgraded back in October & got the points, but now my full $75 fee is due. Can I just downgrade back to the no-fee version to avoid the fee? Thanks!
There is always a risk of upsetting Amex since you didn’t hold the card for a full year but I think you would be fine
Thank you so much Mark for this post. I upgraded my card last summer and when I called to inquire in Nov on the 100K points AE treated me like I was making the whole thing up. I was very frustrated cause I was pretty sure the offer was made available while logged in to my account but after getting no where with my inquire I had given up until I find this post. I wasn’t crazy after all . I called them today and finally they did the right thing and honored their offer adding the 100K point to my HHonors account. Yay! Thanks again!
Awesome – glad to hear it all worked out!
[…] term is the opportunity to upgrade the card to the American Express Surpass. American Express rolls out upgrade offers which enable you to get a large bonus even if you have previously had the Surpass […]
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If you upgrade does this count towards the 5/24 rule with chase
It shouldn’t since it should only be a soft inquiry
Any data points out there on this? I received an upgrade offer for Surpass, but am over Chase 5/24 for another 3 months, and don’t want to blow an opportunity to apply for a Chase in 3 months. Thx.
The offer goes until 10/4 I believe but if it is a true upgrade offer then it will not count towards Chase’s 5/24. But make sure it is an offer to upgrade your no fee Hilton to the surpass and not just a regular surpass sign up bonus.
It is definitely an upgrade offer for an existing no-fee Hilton card, not the regular Surpass sign-up bonus. I understand that it should be a soft inquiry, but how can I be certain Chase won’t still see it as a ‘new card’?
I know there are data points of Chase saying PC don’t count but I can not give you a 100% answer on that since I have never had to deal with it. If it was me I would go ahead and do it but the 100k upgrades come around often so it all depends on your risk tolerance.
Sorry…what does “PC” mean?
Sorry – PC stands for product change.
For those who have a soon to be disappearing Citi Hilton Reserve card and want to migrate to an AE Hilton Surpass card and are also worried about Chase’s 5/24 rule, would you recommend they go for the public AE sign up bonus offer now or wait for a possible targeted AE offer for Citi Hilton Reserve card holders?
I don’t think Amex will be sending any targeted offers better then the current public offer honestly. If you are afraid of going over 5/24 I would get chase cards first though. This card is not as valuable as some of the chase offers. I am pretty sure the 100k Surpass offer will be back in 3-4 months or so.
Thanks for feedback. By the way, I was able to call in and get Citi Hilton Reserve card annual fee waived in August by pointing out that card was scheduled to be discontinued and when they initially declined, asking them to discuss with supervisor.
Nice…it is always good to use bad news to your benefit!
One thing that has bothered me with these offers. What does the cc do to retain there cardholders ( other than AF reduced or credited back). Loyalty goes both ways
Amex actually has been one of the few card issuers to send out big time spending offers to current members. They just sent out a lot of offers for adding an AU – I got on for 10k and one for 5k in points. Most don’t though.
I received the 100K + free night offer yesterday via email. I do not see any language about previously having the card. Funny thing is I already have the Surpass card.
I am not sure how it would work if you already have one. I would think with Amex being stingy they would deny the bonus. Probably could close the Surpass and then apply a few days later for the upgrade if you wanted.
I previously had this card but downgraded to the free one several years back. I don’t remember seeing any targeted offers, but I logged in to my AMEX account and then searched for this card in their catalog of travel cards and the upgrade offer option was there. Approval took 15 seconds.
Nice – Congrats!!!
I don’t see bonus points upgrading this way.
You should have gotten an email or it should be in your amex offers. If you don’t see the 100k offer when you click to upgrade then you may not have been targeted for the offer. Have you had the no fee card for more then a year?