by Daniel | Last Updated December 3rd, 2022
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In this article, I’m going to talk you through 3 of the best hotel reward credit cards that are available today and why you might want to consider getting one if you spend a fair amount of time traveling each year and staying at hotels.
I’ll also be comparing which card offers the most value and then giving you my opinon of which card is the best at the end of the article
Who Are These Cards Good For?
Basically, if you spend a fair amount of time traveling each year and like to stay at either Hilton Properties or Marriott Bonvoy properties, any of the cards in this review are going to offer you a ton of extra value.
It really just depends on where you prefer to stay and how much you want to spend on a credit card each year
Two of the cards cost $450 a year and the other card costs $650, which is not exactly cheap.
But to be fair it is relatively easy to cover the cost of the annual fee for each of the cards and be left with a ton of nice benefits and user perks.
Annual Fee
Now when it comes to the annual fee of these cards they are all relatively expensive seeing that they are top-tier credit cards.
But don’t let that concern you as it is quite easy to make up for this just by taking advantage of some of the many perks and benefits that come with each card.
So starting first with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card, the annual fee is currently $450, which works out to be $$37.50 each month.
The Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card also carries an annual fee of $450, and considering all of the benefits that come with the card, it is really quite good value.
Now finally the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card has the highest annual fee by quite a lot, currently, it is $650 to maintain the card each year, which is $200 more than both of the other cards.
Winner
So in terms of cost per year, both the Hilton Honors Amex Aspire card and the Chase Ritz-Carlton Card are quite a bit cheaper than the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.
Although this doesn’t mean that they are better value, we now need to go over what the current sign-up bonus is for each card, and which cards present the most value.
Sign-up Bonus
Now the sign-up bonus for all of these cards can change quite often throughout the year depending on if the card issuers are running a special deal or not, so it can make sense to sometimes wait until there is an increased sign-up bonus offer with the card you are interested in, as you may well receive quite a lot more value.
So starting first with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card it is currently possible to earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening the account.
Now seeing that Hilton Honors points are worth 0.5 cents per point, this sign-up bonus is worth $750.
Next up, with the Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card there isn’t actually a signup bonus, as this card can only be obtained by first owing one of the following cards for at least 12 months:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold credit card (Annual Fee $0)
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card (Annual Fee $95)
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful credit card (Card Annual Fee $250)
Then once you have had one of these cards for 12 months, you can contact Chase to request a product change.
Now finally, with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card, it is currently possible to earn 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy Bonus Points if you manage to spend the required $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of card ownership.
And with Marriott Bonvoy points being worth 0.8 cents per point, this sign-up bonus is worth $1,200.
So in terms of all-out value from the sign-up bonus, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card offers $450 more in value than the Aspire card, which is quite a decent amount of money.
And unfortunately, the Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card comes in last for this section seeing that it doesn’t offer a sign-up bonus.
Points Earning Potential
So all of these cards offer pretty generous points earning potential, with the highest earnings available from hotel bookings.
Starting first with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card, any purchases that are made at Hilton properties will earn 14x points.
Then dining in the US and select travel that is booked through amextravel.com will earn 7x points.
And all other purchases that are made on the card will earn 3x points per dollar spent.
Now with the Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card, any booking made at hotels that fall under Marriott Bonvoy will earn 6x points.
Purchases made on either dining, car rentals, or airlines will earn 3x points.
Then all other purchases will earn 2x points per dollar spent.
Now finally, with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card, the points-earning potential is almost identical to the Ritz Carlton Card.
So there are the same 6x points for bookings made at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy.
Then it is possible to earn 3x points on dining worldwide and flights that are booked directly with airlines.
All other purchases that are made on the card will earn 2x points per dollar spent.
Winner
So for this section, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card has the edge as it offers more value from its higher points earning potential than the other two cards.
Benefits And User Perks
Now all of these cards are packed with great benefits and user perks, so let’s take a deeper look into what each card actually offers.
Starting first with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card there is a $250 Hilton Resort Statement Credit.
Then there is a $250 Airline Fee Credit that covers incidental fees that are charged by an airline.
Another nice benefit is a Priority Pass Select Membership that is worth $429.
There is a $100 property credit for booking of 2 nights or made that are made at either the Waldorf Astoria or any Conrad hotels.
And finally, there is Hilton Honors Diamond Status.
And all of these benefits are worth approximately $1,029.
Now with the Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card, there is a $300 Annual Travel Credit.
Then there is a Free Night Award with a redemption level of up to 85,000 points, which based on points being worth 0.8 cents per point, is worth about $680.
There is a complimentary Priority Pass Select Membership that is worth $429.
And unlike most other cards that have this offer, it is actually possible to bring an unlimited amount of guests into the lounge you are visiting.
Each year there is access to the Ritz-Carlton Club Level which is provided to you in the form of 3 e-certificates.
And if you check out this article here, I show you how it can be worth over $1,000.
When making a booking at either the Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis hotels for 2 or more nights there is a $100 hotel credit that can be used at the hotel during our stay.
There is a $100 Credit for use on Global Entry.
And finally, there is guaranteed Gold Elite Status with Marriott Bonvoy.
So all of these benefits are worth approximately $2,609, which is unbelievable value!
Finally, with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card, the benefits are similar to the Ritz Carlton card.
So there is a $300 Dining Statement credit, a Free Night Award with a redemption level of 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points which is worth about $680.
There is the same Priority Pass Select membership that is worth $429, and the same $100 Marriott Bonvoy Property Credit for use at either the Ritz Carlton or St Regis hotel for bookings of 2 nights or more.
Also, there is a $100 credit for use on either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
And finally, it is possible to receive Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Status.
Now all of these benefits are worth approximately $1,609, which again is great value.
Winner
So in terms of all-out value when it comes to the benefits that are on offer, the Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card comes out on top as it offers quite a lot more potential value than the other two cards.
Insurance Coverage
Now as you would expect, all of these cards offer quite a lot of insurance-related coverage.
And this can come in handy if anything does go wrong when you are traveling or if you happen to lose your cell phone.
So let’s compare all of the cards to see which one offers the most coverage.
Starting first with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card there is Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance that covers up to $75,000.
There is Purchase Protection that provides you with 90 days of coverage against damage or theft of a new purchase, and this covers up to $10,000 per item and a total of $50,000 per card per year.
Similar to this is Return Protection which also provides you with 90 days of coverage for items that a merchant won’t take back.
And this covers up to $300 per time and a total of $1,000 per car per year.
There is a Baggage Insurance Plan that provides coverage of up to $3,000 in total for checked and carry-on luggage that gets damaged, lost, or stolen.
And finally, there is an Extended Warranty that provides you with 1 extra year of coverage on warranties that are 5 years or less, with coverage of up to $10,000 per item and a total of $50,000 per card per year.
Now with the Ritz Carlton Credit card from Chase, there is also a ton of insurance coverage to be had.
So there is $75,000 of coverage with their Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.
And along with this comes Roadside Assistance of up to $50 which can be claimed up to 4 times In a calendar year.
There is similar Purchase protection to the Aspire card but you get 120 days of coverage compared to just 90 days with the Amex card.
And this covers the same $10,000 per claim and a total of $50,000 per year.
Again there is similar Return Protection to the Aspire card but the Chase card offers coverage up to $500 per item compared to the Amex cards $300 per item, but the total per year is the same at $1,000 and the length of coverage is the same at 90 days.
The Lost Luggage Reimbursement is pretty much identical to the Aspire cards Baggage Insurance Plan.
Basically, it covers up to $3,000 per passenger if your luggage is lost damaged, or stolen.
Now an additional benefit that comes with the Ritz Carlton card is Baggage Delay insurance which provides up to $100 a day for up to 5 days if your luggage is delayed by more than 6 hours.
Another benefit that only comes with this card is Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance, which covers up to $10,000 per person and a total of $20,000 per trip.
One more benefit that comes with this card is Emergency Medical and Dental Coverage which covers up to $2,500 in the event of a medical emergency that happens more than 100 miles from your home.
And finally, there is Extended Warranty protection that provides you with 1 extra year of coverage on US warranties that are 3 years or less.
Now with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card, you get exactly the same coverage as the Aspire card, the only added benefit is Cell Phone Protection which covers up to $800 per claim and allows for up to 2 claims per 12-month period.
Winner
So for this section, the Ritz Carlton Credit card from Chase offers the most insurance coverage of the three cards.
APR
Last but not least, let’s just go over what the current APR is for each card and what fees are charged for making a late payment.
So starting with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire the APR for purchases is currently between 19.49% to 28.49%.
The APR for a Cash advance is slightly higher at 28.99%, and will also incur a fee of either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, basically whichever amount ends up being more.
There is a Penalty APR of 29.99% if you make one or more late payments to the card or you have a payment returned by your bank.
Either one of these penalties will incur a fee of up to $40 each.
Now with the Ritz Carlton Credit, there isn’t any direct information on what the current APR is but I would assume it is similar to both of the other cards.
And finally, with Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card the APR and fees that come with the card are exactly the same as the Aspire card.
Final Thoughts
So that covers pretty much everything there is to know about these three cards.
And as you can see from this review, all of the cards offer a ton of value.
Now as I mentioned earlier in the video, the Chase Ritz Carton Credit card is only available if you have already held either the Marriott Bonvoy Bold, Boundless, or Bountiful credit card for at least 12 months.
So this makes it somewhat difficult to compare to the other two cards in this review.
But it does offer a ton of value and would be my number-one choice if it were a bit easier to acquire.
Seeing that this isn’t the case, my next option would have to be the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card,
as it has very similar benefits to the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex card but is $200 less on an annual basis.
It also has the ability to earn more points value which can really add up over time, especially if you spend a fair amount on your credit card each year.
So now that you’ve seen the best hotel rewards credit cards for 2023, why not check out this article here where I talk about the best overall top-tier credit cards that are available now.