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Hilton Amex Aspire vs. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant: Battle of the top-tier hotel cards

Conrad Bora Bora — Featured image by SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

Benji StawskiContributor
Benji Stawski is a former reporter for the site, covering all things points, miles, credit cards, travel and aviation.
Chris NelsonCredit cards writer
Chris Nelson is a credit cards writer for TPG. He specializes in budget travel, hotels, earning elite status through minimal spending and redeeming points for maximum value.
also contributed to this story

March 19, 2025 • 12 min read

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Quick summary

The article compares two premium hotel credit cards, focusing on their perks, earning potential and redemption options.
Both cards provide automatic elite status, annual free night certificates and a variety of travel and shopping protections.
One card offers higher earning rates at its hotel chain and top-tier elite status, while the other features more flexible statement credits and a larger hotel portfolio for redemptions.
The choice between these cards depends largely on brand loyalty and which benefits align better with your travel habits.

What to consider

Statement credits and free night certificates can help offset the high fees, but enrollment may be required for select benefits.
Points from one program can be transferred to a wide range of airline partners at a more favorable ratio, while the other program's transfer ratio is less advantageous.
Redemption value and ease of use for benefits vary by card, with some perks requiring specific booking channels or minimum stays.

What you'll miss from the article

A detailed side-by-side comparison of perks, earning rates and redemption strategies to help determine which premium hotel card is the best fit for your travel style.

Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.

American Express offers two premium cobranded hotel credit cards: The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card.

Both cards carry pricey annual fees — $550 and $650, respectively (see Hilton Honors Aspire and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant ) and come with similar benefits, such as automatic elite status and annual free night certificates.

Is one card better than the other? Let’s look at them side-by-side to see which should earn a place in your wallet.

Hilton Amex Aspire vs. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant comparison

Here are the basics of each of these two cards in the major categories:

Perk/benefit	Hilton Amex Aspire	Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant
Annual fee	$550	$650

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Redeeming points on the Hilton Amex Aspire vs. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

With the Hilton Aspire, your Hilton points can be redeemed for Amazon purchases and transferred to airlines (at a roughly 10:1 ratio), but you’ll get the most value out of your points by sticking with hotel stays.

Since Hilton has dynamic pricing, you should get fairly consistent value from your points year-round. However, a property can suddenly increase its standard award price without warning.

An option worth considering when staying at top-tier properties is to use points to subsidize paid stays with the Points & Money option — this will get you an outstanding redemption value of up to 1 cent per point.

ANDREA ROTONDO ST. REGIS PUNTA MITA/THE POINTS GUY

As for the Bonvoy Brilliant, you can redeem points toward free stays at more than 9,000 properties across 30 brands in over 140 countries.

This is by far the best option for redeeming your points, but you can also use them for on-property purchases and transfers to airline partners. The ratio for transferring Marriott points to airlines is typically 3:1, which isn't favorable.

TPG credit cards writer Danyal Ahmed utilized his Bonvoy points and the program’s fifth free night perk to book a stay at the Ritz-Carlton DIFC in Dubai over the weekend spanning New Year’s Eve.

Winner: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. Marriott has a larger portfolio and various brands suited for all types of travelers. Marriott points are also worth more than Hilton points, according to TPG's valuations.

Transferring points on the Hilton Amex Aspire vs. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

Marriott points stand out from other hotel-points currencies because there’s also potential for great value when turning points into airline miles. Marriott points can be transferred to almost 40 frequent flyer programs. Points mostly transfer at a pretty solid 3:1 ratio, factoring in the 5,000-mile bonus given for every 60,000 points transferred.

Citron at JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes — Citron. ANDREA ROTONDO/THE POINTS GUY

Hilton Honors points can also be transferred to select airline partners. However, the ratio is poorer than Marriott’s (usually 10:1).

Generally speaking, we recommend using your hotel points for stays instead of transferring them to airlines. The only time transferring out to airlines can be a good idea is if you need to top off your balance for an award flight.

Winner: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. Whether you’re looking to redeem points for free stays or free flights, there are many ways to get tremendous value out of Marriott Bonvoy points.

Should I get the Hilton Amex Aspire or Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant?

The right card for you ultimately depends on which hotel chain you’re more loyal to. If you’re not loyal to either brand, we recommend picking the Hilton Aspire for better earning rates and benefits like top-tier elite status. However, it’s also easy to get value from the Bonvoy Brilliant thanks to its more flexible statement credits and annual free night certificate (certain hotels have resort fees). Enrollment is required for select benefits; terms apply.

Bottom line

Alternatively, given the automatic elite statuses and array of perks across the world’s two largest hotel loyalty programs, you could also make a case for carrying both cards. These cards make maximizing benefits easy and offer statement credits to help offset their high annual fees.

To learn more, read our full reviews of the Hilton Aspire and the Bonvoy Brilliant.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex, click .
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors Aspire Card, click .

Hilton Amex Aspire vs. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant comparison

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