50,000-Point Sign-up Bonus for Citi Hilton Visa Signature

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Citi is a TPG advertising partner

Travel rewards cards are always evolving, as both benefits and sign-up bonus offers come and go. Today, TPG Senior Points & Miles Correspondent Nick Ewen examines a new offer for one of Citi's co-branded Hilton HHonors cards.

The Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card tends to get a lot of hype. Apart from the card's valuable free night certificates and Honors elite status benefits, you can also get good value from the points you earn. However, you may not realize that Citi also issues another Hilton credit card: the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card.

This week, Citi announced an increased sign-up bonus of 50,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first four months of card membership plus a $50 statement credit after spending $50 on your first stay at any hotel within the Hilton Portfolio during the first 3 months of account opening. In this post, I'll evaluate how this new offer stacks up to previous ones, and help you decide whether this card is worth adding to your wallet.

Let's start with the sign-up bonus. It's currently 25% higher than the standard offer of 40,000 bonus points. Once you meet the spending requirements, the 50,000 Hilton Honors points you'll earn are worth $250 based on TPG's most recent valuations plus you'll earn a $50 statement credit getting you a total of $300 in value. However, you can get even more value by redeeming for the program's top low-tier properties (or putting the points toward stays at top-tier locations).

Here are the other benefits of the card:

• Limited Time: Earn a $50 statement credit after spending $50 on your first stay at any hotel within the Hilton Portfolio during the first 3 months of account opening*
• Earn 50,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points after making $1,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening*
• Earn 6 HHonors Bonus Points for each $1 spent at any participating hotel within the Hilton Portfolio.*
• Earn 3 HHonors Bonus Points for each $1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations.*
• Earn 2 HHonors Bonus Points for each $1 spent on all other purchases.*
• Enjoy the benefits of HHonors Silver status as long as you are a cardmember*
• No annual fee.*

Unfortunately, these benefits generally pale in comparison to the other Hilton credit cards out there. The two premium cards — the Citi Hilton Reserve and the Hilton Honors Surpass Card from American Express — both offer automatic Gold status and higher earning rates for stays, though they do come with annual fees. A fairer comparison is between the Citi Hilton Visa Signature card and the regular Hilton Honors Card from American Express, as both are fee-free. The chart below compares the benefits of each card:

As you can see, the Citi Hilton Visa only comes out on top in three categories. The first one is the current sign-up bonus, as you'll earn an extra 10,000 points with this new offer. The second involves elite status. Both cards offer automatic Silver status in the Hilton Honors program and an upgrade to Gold status if you spend $20,000 in a calendar year. However, the Citi Hilton Visa also gives you a fast track option by awarding you Gold status with four stays in the first 90 days after opening the account. If you have several upcoming Hilton stays already planned, this can be a nice way to earn a pretty valuable tier of elite status.

The third (and final) category where this card shines above the regular Hilton Amex is the new anniversary bonus, which awards you 10,000 Hilton Honors bonus points for spending at least $1,000 on Hilton stays in a calendar year. That's an easy $50 of value without too much trouble.

If you hit that threshold exactly, you'd have an extra 16,000 Hilton points between the bonus and your regular earning rate. This essentially increases your earning rate at Hilton properties to 16 points per dollar, for a return of 8%! This puts it ahead of both the Hilton Surpass Amex and Citi Hilton Reserve. In fact, to match your earnings on those purchases with the other Hilton cards, you'd need to spend the following amounts at Hilton properties:

• Citi Hilton Reserve: $1,666.67
• Hilton Surpass Amex: $2,500
• Hilton Amex: $10,000

What Does This Mean for You?

I'm a firm believer that everyone should have at least one Hilton credit card for the free status alone. The category bonuses at restaurants and supermarkets are nice, but Hilton Honors is the only program that restricts its fifth night free benefit to elite members. Even if you only stay in a Hilton property once a year (or even less frequently), having any Hilton credit card is a no-brainer.

As far as this card goes, personally I'm still on the fence. I'm a long-time holder of both the regular Hilton Amex and Citi Hilton Reserve, and the everyday earning rates on this card don't compare to either of those two cards. However, the new anniversary bonus is very intriguing, and in my opinion completely changes the calculus for those of you who are casual Hilton travelers. If you typically spend just over $1,000 at Hilton properties in the US each calendar year, this card is now worth considering. This is especially true if you have at least four stays coming up in the next 90 days, as the fast track offer would give you Gold status through the end of 2016.

The other big benefit is the sign-up bonus, which should make this an appealing card for those of you who have other Hilton credit cards. 50,000 bonus points with a single credit card application is a respectable haul, and these points alone could get you the following:

• 6 nights in a Category 2 property like the Doubletree Kuala Lumpur (this includes the fifth night free)
• 2 nights in a Category 3 property
• 1 night in a Category 8 or 9 property in low season

After earning the sign-up bonus, you'd probably only want to use the card for your first $1,000 in Hilton stays each calendar year. However, keeping it open can improve your credit score by increasing the average age of your accounts, which is one of my favorite features of credit cards with no annual fees.

Citi typically requires you to wait at least 8 days between credit card applications, and only allows two applications for personal cards every 65 days. Keep this in mind if you're also interested in applying for cards like the Citi Premier® Card or the Citi Prestige Card.

Bottom Line

This new sign-up bonus plus the recently-added anniversary bonus have definitely made this card more valuable. While it isn't as rewarding for everyday spending as the other Hilton credit cards, it can be a great option for boosting your Hilton Honors account balances and enjoying automatic elite status for no annual fee.

What are your thoughts on the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature card?