I've been hammering away at Marriott points for the last two years and Ive got a pretty good amount of points and free rooms socked away. In some instances, Hilton makes a little more sense for my travel needs so I'm entertaining a Hilton rewards credit card. Credit is on point and I think I'm good for another 50-60 nights above and beyond what I average with Marriott.

So, with that said, point whores, which card are we using to hustle the rewards points? The front runner right now is the Hilton Honors business card. 130,000 bonus points and 12x for every dollar spent. Are there any other off the radar Hilton cards I should be looking at?

I have the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card. Get's diamond status and a free weekend night each year along with other benefits. I've had mine for several years.

According to the Million Mile Secrets blog, they tout the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from AmEx and the Hilton Honors AmEx Surpass Card.

Whatever card you settle on, just make sure to do all your reservations through Hotels.com so you can double dip. Pick up the nights on Hotels.com earning you free stays for each 10 nights reserved, and also the Hilton points when you pay at the property. You can also cross maximize with Hilton partners. This article touches on some of this...How to earn and redeem points with Hilton Honors partners

Hilton AMEX Surpass costs less than $100 a year and you get automatic gold status plus a few other things. I am Diamond now from actual days in 2019.

For international travel, Gold makes a big difference - executive room upgrades and lounges and various perks. Diamond gets you better upgrades and more personal service. In the US it doesn't make a big difference. 60 days a year in your case is enough to get Diamond.

You get the Hilton points regardless of how you pay, so you can use whatever card you like. For general use I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve which is usually neck and neck with the AMEX Platinum for best travel card. I keep the Hilton card and a United Explorer card so points never expire and I get access to things like better award flight itineraries, plus minimum Gold in Hilton if I don't make the cut on actual days.

I've had gold or platinum in Mariott for a decade complimentary from United status (Global Services or 1K for all of the last decade except maybe a year. They just told me I need 200 more lifetime days and I'm gold for life or something like that.

And while I like the points guy, I book directly with the hotel, or through the corporate travel agent I have to use for work. Third party booking usually adds restrictions and other stuff that complicates things.

I can't really make a recommendation regarding a good travel card other than I use the Venture card. I will say you might look at running your online purchases through the American Airlines eShopping portal. Points go directly to your American Advantage account...assuming you have one. Here's the link to their available travel accommodations partners but there are a whole host of other vendors.

https://www.aadvantageeshoppin...dations/bc_53___.htm