SPECIAL OFFER: Get a 50% discount and improved bonus terms on the Hilton Debit Card

Back in September 2024, Hilton Honors launched two new Mastercard payment cards.

Very interestingly, they were DEBIT cards and not credit cards.

As well as earning points, the cards come with Hilton Honors status, either Gold Elite (free breakfast!) or Silver Elite.

You can see full details of the new Hilton Honors debit cards, and apply, by clicking here.

Even if you have the (closed to new applicants) Hilton Honors Barclaycard or another debit card issued by Currensea, which is behind this card, you can still apply for these new Hilton Honors debit cards and receive the sign-up bonus.

A special deal just launched

Hilton has launched a special offer on the basic card. This is the one which gives you Hilton Honors Silver Elite status for as long as you keep the card.

Until 30th April:

• the annual fee is halved from £60 to £30 for your first year

• you can trigger the 2,500 Hilton Honors points sign-up bonus with £1,000 of spending either in the UK or abroad – the requirement to do all of the spending abroad has been removed

There is no change to the Debit Plus card. You may still find this attractive, despite the £150 annual fee, because it comes with Hilton Honors Gold Elite status (free breakfast) as well as 0% FX fees, a higher sign-up bonus and a higher points earning rate.

The two Hilton debit cards in a nutshell ….

• You can choose between the Hilton Honors Debit Card (£30 annual fee until 30th April, usually £60) and the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card (£150 annual fee)

• The cards are linked to your existing current account – virtually all UK banks participate – and transactions are charged to it in the same way as if you used your normal bank debit card

• The basic card comes with a sign-up bonus of 2,500 Hilton Honors points for spending £1,000 in the UK or abroad within three months

• The Plus card comes with a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Hilton Honors points for spending £2,500 outside the UK within six months

• Both cards come with instant Hilton Honors status – Silver Elite for the £30 card and Gold Elite for the £150 card. Your Hilton Honors account is upgraded INSTANTLY when you activate your debit card.

• Status is NOT a one year offer – you will retain your Hilton Honors elite status for as long as you retain your debit card

• These cards are aimed at foreign spending and have far better FX rates than all travel rewards credit cards – 0.5% FX fee on the £30 card and 0% FX fee on the £150 card

• You earn points on both domestic and foreign currency spend, with a far higher rate for FX spending and Hilton spending

• Because the cards are debit cards, you will be accepted irrespective of the number of credit cards you hold or your income or employment status – these cards are for everyone. You will need to hold a UK current account with a participating bank and pass a ‘soft’ credit check for ID purposes.

Let’s look at the two cards in detail.

The basic card – Hilton Honors Debit Card (special offer)

Unlike most of our card content, I don’t need to quote an APR interest rate because there isn’t one. This is a debit card, with the money taken straight from your existing bank current account.

As you can see from the picture above, it’s a minimalist design – although in reality it is vertical rather than horizontal as we show. All of your personal information is on the back.

This is what you get (full details are on the application website here):

• £30 annual fee (special offer to 30th April 2025 for your first year)
• Silver Elite status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card
• 0.5% FX fees when spending in foreign currency
• 1 Hilton Honors point per £1 spent in the UK
• 2 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in Hilton properties in the UK
• 2 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in foreign currency
• 3 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in Hilton properties outside the UK

There is a sign-up bonus of 2,500 Hilton Honors points. You need to spend £1,000 in the UK or abroad in your first three months to receive the bonus.

You can apply for the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

The premium card – Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card

There is no special offer running on this card.

Unlike most of our card content, I don’t need to quote an APR interest rate because there isn’t one. This is a debit card, with the money taken straight from your existing bank current account.

This is what you get (full details are on the application website here):

• £150 annual fee
• Gold Elite status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card
• 0% FX fees when spending in foreign currency
• 1.5 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in the UK
• 3 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in Hilton properties in the UK
• 3 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in foreign currency
• 4.5 Hilton Honors points per £1 spent in Hilton properties outside the UK

There is a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Hilton Honors points. You need to spend £2,500 in foreign currency in your first six months to receive the bonus.

You can apply for the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here.

What benefits do I get with the elite status I receive?

Hilton Honors covers 8,000+ hotels globally under 24 main brands – Waldorf Astoria, LXR, Conrad, Hilton, Hilton Grand Vacation, Embassy Suites, DoubleTree, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn, Canopy, Curio, Tru, Tapestry Collection and Home2Suites.  New brands include Signia (convention focused), Tempo, Spark (economy), LivSmart (budget extended stay) and Motto (group focused).

There are three levels of elite status in the Hilton Honors programme. Of the two status levels which you can receive from taking out a Hilton Honors debit card:

Gold Elite

• Comes with the £150 per year Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card

• Status is kept for as long as you hold the debit card

• Gold Elite usually requires 20 stays or 40 nights or $7,500 of pre-tax spending in a calendar year

• Key benefits are an 80% bonus on base points on every stay, ‘preferred’ room of some sort (often just a higher floor or better view, not necessarily next category up), free breakfast for two people (or a cash credit towards any food or drink spend in the US)

Silver Elite

• Comes with the £30 per year (special offer for your first year) Hilton Honors Debit Card

• Status is kept for as long as you hold the debit card

• Silver Elite usually requires 4 stays or 10 nights in a calendar year

• Key benefits are a 20% bonus on base points on every stay, free bottled water at most Hilton brands and eligibility for ‘5 nights for the points of 4’ when redeeming

For clarity, you are given the status directly and do NOT receive the equivalent number of elite nights.

This means that if you receive Silver Elite status you will still need to do the full 20 stays or 40 nights or $7,500 of pre-tax spending to become Gold.

Similarly, if you receive Gold Elite status you will still need to do the full 30 stays or 60 nights or $12,000 of pre-tax spending to become Diamond Elite.

The Plus Debit Card lets you ‘buy’ Hilton Gold Elite status

If you are wondering which card would work best for you, there is one group for whom the Plus Debit Card is a slam dunk: those who are happy to pay £150 per year for Hilton Honors Gold Elite status.

Hilton Honors Gold Elite is generally seen as the best mid-tier hotel status to have. This is mainly because of the free breakfast benefit, covering two people per room. In the United States, this is replaced by a cash credit which can be used against ANY food or drink purchase, although often it is not enough to pay for a full breakfast.

If you and your partner are doing 5+ nights per year in Hilton Honors hotels, paying £150 for Gold Elite to get free breakfast on your stays is a good deal.

This is before you factor in the value of the 80% points bonus on each stay and any upgrades you may receive.

Silver Elite status with the basic Debit Card is less valuable

Whilst the £30 (special offer for your first year) Debit Card comes with Hilton Honors Silver Elite status, this is less valuable. There’s nothing to get excited about in terms of benefits, although it is clearly better than having no status at all.

The only exception would be if you were planning a 5-night Hilton Honors points redemption. Silver Elite status activates ‘5 nights for the points of 4’ (all Silver, Gold and Diamond members get this) which could lead to a substantial saving on your booking.

Conclusion

If you had been interested in trying the new Hilton Honors Debit Cards, you may be tempted by the special offer on the base card.

With the annual fee halved to £30 for your first year and the rules eased on how you trigger the 2,500 Hilton Honors points sign-up bonus, you are paying very little for your first 12 months.

That said, if you can see clear value from having Hilton Honors Gold Elite status then the £150 fee for the Hilton Honors Debit Plus card is a bargain, even though it isn’t on special offer.

(If you currently pay £650 per year for the American Express Platinum card partially to get Hilton Honors Gold Elite status, you may now decide to switch and save.)

The other group who should look carefully at one of these cards are people with a lot of overseas spend who are still paying 3% FX fees on their existing credit or debit card.

These new cards will also be of interest to people who have a 0% FX credit card which doesn’t give any rewards. Switching to a Hilton Honors debit card may be worthwhile.

It may also be of interest to people who have a rarely used 0% FX credit card and would like to free up some credit by replacing it with a Hilton Honors 0% or 0.5% FX fee debit card.

It will also be of interest to people who don’t meet the income requirements for some of the travel rewards cards we cover. Students, the retired and other groups may not have the £20,000 income required for an American Express card for example.

If you don’t fall clearly into one of these groups, you need to weigh up:

• how much you spend each year in the UK and abroad
• how much you spend in Hilton properties and
• whether you value Hilton Honors status

The 50% fee discount and the ‘easier to earn’ sign-up bonus on the base Hilton Honors Debit Card runs until 30th April.

You can apply for, or find out more about, the new Hilton Honors debit cards here.