Benefits of the (closed) Hilton credit card

[Carlos]

Also makes sense to keep the HH card and use GBIT if you found a better scheme

[The Savage Squirrel]

BJ wrote:

I think everybody is overanalysing this and cannot see the wood for the trees. The facts are simple: regardless of whether you want to earn Hilton points or get Hilton status then amex MR cards trump Honors visa provided you take out amex Platinum at some point for at least one month (and apply for Hilton Gold via it) and hold any amex MR card at all other times. The only sensible reason to keep Honors visa would be if you did not want, or could not get, the amex cards.

Quite a lot of points that contradict this view:

1) the overall card and opportunities landscape may change at any time; if you let the HH card go then you’re never getting it back.
2) And it costs nothing to hold; so why would you dump it – a decision you may regret later when things change.
3) Not everywhere accepts Amex – far from it.
4) Even for the places that do, lots of people will want to put their first tranche of Amex spend they do make through BAPP to get the 2-for-1.
5) Lots more people don’t want to always hold an MR-earning card as they’re re-setting the clock on bonuses.
6) You can do “things” with HH that you can do with very few other cards…

[Harrier25]

Very well articulated and spot on @The Savage Squirrel.

[NorthernLass]

Granted, but it also stops you getting a SUB on the avios BC and I seem to have run out of things to do with it since Creation and Che unfriended us!

[Harrier25]

NorthernLass wrote:

Granted, but it also stops you getting a SUB on the avios BC and I seem to have run out of things to do with it since Creation and Che unfriended us!

Of course the Avios Barclaycard has a smooth application track record…not!

[BJ]

The Savage Squirrel wrote:

BJ wrote:

I think everybody is overanalysing this and cannot see the wood for the trees. The facts are simple: regardless of whether you want to earn Hilton points or get Hilton status then amex MR cards trump Honors visa provided you take out amex Platinum at some point for at least one month (and apply for Hilton Gold via it) and hold any amex MR card at all other times. The only sensible reason to keep Honors visa would be if you did not want, or could not get, the amex cards.

Quite a lot of points that contradict this view:

1) the overall card and opportunities landscape may change at any time; if you let the HH card go then you’re never getting it back.
2) And it costs nothing to hold; so why would you dump it – a decision you may regret later when things change.
3) Not everywhere accepts Amex – far from it.
4) Even for the places that do, lots of people will want to put their first tranche of Amex spend they do make through BAPP to get the 2-for-1.
5) Lots more people don’t want to always hold an MR-earning card as they’re re-setting the clock on bonuses.
6) You can do “things” with HH that you can do with very few other cards…

1. I think Honors visa more likely to disappear than amex MR cards. Granted Hilton could disappear as amex transfer partner but I think it unlikely.
2. ARCC, and PRG in first year, cost nothing to hold. The reason gor sll tge sngst about dumping it here is because many who have it also want Barcs avios plus and cannot make up their minds
3.! True but do you want X Honors points from Honors visa or Y avios from Barcs avios? Tge return on dpebd from the latter is better and other better routes to both Honirs points and sratus exist as I pointed out in my initial comments.
4. I think that the HFP survey suggested that a significant number of HFP readers run both BAPP and amex MR cards.
5. That may be so but what is being discussed is which Barcs card people want to hold, they cannot have both that they want and some are clearly struggling with their decision.
6. Yes, but there are other ways…

Ignoring 6 and being the good people we all are here on HfP, the rewards to spend raio of the Barcs avios card is better than that of the Barcs Honors card. I think most get thant and want the card but are simply looking for ways to talk themselves out of ditching the Honnors card. Clearly the decision is dependent on ones spending power and to a lesser extent spending behaiour, but where these are not reasonably limitting then the logical unsentimental choice to maximise return on spend is Barcs avios not Barcs Honors.

[Harrier25]

BJ wrote:

Clearly the decision is dependent on ones spending power and to a lesser extent spending behaiour, but where these are not reasonably limitting then the logical unsentimental choice to maximise return on spend is Barcs avios not Barcs Honors.

Fantasic if you want to collect Avios points…but you may be suprised to hear that not all of us do!

[DevonDiamond]

Yes one benefit for me of Hilton points is that I don’t really have any interest in travelling abroad for a while whereas there are Hilton’s in lots of places that I might want to visit in this country.

[BJ]

@Harrier, not surprised at all! But unless I’m mistaken the main driver of this thread is some readers dilemna over ditching Barcs Honors for Barcs Avios hence the comparison. Obviously if one had no interest in avios and currently held the Honors card and were active in Hilton it would be very sensible to retain it as it’s a great card. I had the Hilton card and as much as I valued it, I valued the avios card more so I dutched Hilton last month.

[AJA]

@BJ Are you waiting 6 months before applying for the Barc Avios card in order to get the SUB? If so you must be fairly confident that you will be accepted for the Avios card. The horror stories of the stupidly low credit limits puts me off this approach. I value a decent credit limit more than the Avios I might get. Also are you going to apply for the paid for card or just the free one? I am not sure the free Barc Avios card is that much better than the Hilton one but I also don’t think the paid for Avios card is worth it.

[The Urbanite]

The Savage Squirrel wrote:

6) You can do “things” with HH that you can do with very few other cards…

Part of the fun of the game is to find the unique enchanting qualities of each issuers cards!

Remember when the Hilton and IHG cards paid directly into NS&I…

[andiron]

There also was a £20 (or £10) Amazon voucher when Amazon wanted to ban Visa credit cards 🙂

The only reason why I still have it is the thought that I won’t be able to get it back 🙂

UK Hiltons are rubbish – especially the Hampton ones, and many abroad are quite pricey with points.

Don’t know any good ways to earn “free” points these days..

[BJ]

@AJA, yes, waiting 6 months + to pick the right time to apply for paid card. No confidence at all, just hoping for the best 🙂 My dad has had a trouble-free experience but my partner had everything go wrong that could have. Personally, I can live without either card so will not be losing sleep over this.

[bungalow]

Just a quick update for anyone expecting the imminent demise of the Hilton Barclaycard, my new card just arrived this morning… with a 07/27 expiry date!

[RussellH]

bungalow wrote:

Just a quick update for anyone expecting the imminent demise of the Hilton Barclaycard, my new card just arrived this morning… with a 07/27 expiry date!

Got my new one a month ago, but “only” 04/27 as exp date.
🙂

More useful is the second £50 compensation this year for their seriously bad CS and ongoing points delays.

Since Feb 2017 I have had £175 compensation on my HH Barclaycard.
Before that, when Barclays did the IHG card as well, between Dec 2014 and March 2016 I got £375 compensation for their inability to get the number of points right.

I would have hoped that paying out compensation would persuade them to train their CS staff better.
The problem, it would seem to be from what I was told last week by one of Barclaycard’s Specialist Claims Handlers is that while CS people have access to all the info they need on their computers, they seem not to use it. Probably they are under time pressure which stops them doing so.

I shall be keeping my HH Barclaycard, along with my Marriott and IHG MasterCards from Creation, as long as they survive. Hotel points are far more useful to us than avios.

[John]

RussellH wrote:

bungalow wrote:

Just a quick update for anyone expecting the imminent demise of the Hilton Barclaycard, my new card just arrived this morning… with a 07/27 expiry date!

Got my new one a month ago, but “only” 04/27 as exp date.
🙂

More useful is the second £50 compensation this year for their seriously bad CS and ongoing points delays.

Since Feb 2017 I have had £175 compensation on my HH Barclaycard.
Before that, when Barclays did the IHG card as well, between Dec 2014 and March 2016 I got £375 compensation for their inability to get the number of points right.

I would have hoped that paying out compensation would persuade them to train their CS staff better.
The problem, it would seem to be from what I was told last week by one of Barclaycard’s Specialist Claims Handlers is that while CS people have access to all the info they need on their computers, they seem not to use it. Probably they are under time pressure which stops them doing so.

I shall be keeping my HH Barclaycard, along with my Marriott and IHG MasterCards from Creation, as long as they survive. Hotel points are far more useful to us than avios.

Had the funniest ever response from Barclays CS recently. They credited me the right amount of points eventually and then said “please let me know if this is satisfactory and I will close the case. If you do not respond by xx/xx/2022 I will credit you £25”. Guess what I did

[Luca M]

I am one of the “lucky” one grandfathered with two Barclaycards, one of which is the HH.

Just to note on the latest comments that Expiration date on the card does not mean that the product will not be discontinued, far from it. My main Barclaycard account is from the late 1990’s and various times they have sent me new card products whilst the previous one was discontinued but the card itself was still in date (as it can be verified on the credit file, the underlining account is the same, the card version associated to it may change over time).

Similarly, Lloyds Avios card were re-issued when still in date after they had to drop Amex, and then again when they switched it to A Cashback product.

[mark2]

My wife has just received a letter reducing her limit on this card from £4500 to £100 i.e. effectively cancelling it. The web site says that it will not be increased under any circumstances. She rarely uses it, but there is currently a statement credit offer on Laithwaites for 25% if spending £110+!
Has anyone else had this?

[The Urbanite]

mark2 wrote:

My wife has just received a letter reducing her limit on this card from £4500 to £100 i.e. effectively cancelling it. The web site says that it will not be increased under any circumstances. She rarely uses it, but there is currently a statement credit offer on Laithwaites for 25% if spending £110+!
Has anyone else had this?

I’m surprised the banks don’t do this sort of thing more often for very unprofitable cards. That said, they are known to slash limits on rarely used cards occasionally.

[Youllnever]

The Urbanite wrote:

mark2 wrote:

My wife has just received a letter reducing her limit on this card from £4500 to £100 i.e. effectively cancelling it. The web site says that it will not be increased under any circumstances. She rarely uses it, but there is currently a statement credit offer on Laithwaites for 25% if spending £110+!
Has anyone else had this?

I’m surprised the banks don’t do this sort of thing more often for very unprofitable cards. That said, they are known to slash limits on rarely used cards occasionally.

Why would they when they can just cancel them?

[DanGK]

The Urbanite wrote:

mark2 wrote:

My wife has just received a letter reducing her limit on this card from £4500 to £100 i.e. effectively cancelling it. The web site says that it will not be increased under any circumstances. She rarely uses it, but there is currently a statement credit offer on Laithwaites for 25% if spending £110+!
Has anyone else had this?

I’m surprised the banks don’t do this sort of thing more often for very unprofitable cards. That said, they are known to slash limits on rarely used cards occasionally.

Pay £10 in from your bank account. You can then spend £110.

[Harrier25]

mark2 wrote:

there is currently a statement credit offer on Laithwaites for 25% if spending £110+!

Same offer is also available on the Virgin Atlantic credit cards too!

[WillPS]

Youllnever wrote:

The Urbanite wrote:

mark2 wrote:

My wife has just received a letter reducing her limit on this card from £4500 to £100 i.e. effectively cancelling it. The web site says that it will not be increased under any circumstances. She rarely uses it, but there is currently a statement credit offer on Laithwaites for 25% if spending £110+!
Has anyone else had this?

I’m surprised the banks don’t do this sort of thing more often for very unprofitable cards. That said, they are known to slash limits on rarely used cards occasionally.

Why would they when they can just cancel them?

PR. Mass closures would be more likely to generate publicity, and the publicity itself would be worse than reducing customer limits.

There’s also the opportunity to potentially ‘rebuild’ which Barclaycard are leaving the door open to.

DanGK wrote:

The Urbanite wrote:

mark2 wrote:

My wife has just received a letter reducing her limit on this card from £4500 to £100 i.e. effectively cancelling it. The web site says that it will not be increased under any circumstances. She rarely uses it, but there is currently a statement credit offer on Laithwaites for 25% if spending £110+!
Has anyone else had this?

I’m surprised the banks don’t do this sort of thing more often for very unprofitable cards. That said, they are known to slash limits on rarely used cards occasionally.

Pay £10 in from your bank account. You can then spend £110.

I wouldn’t advise anybody deliberately puts a credit card in credit. Playing with fire.

bungalow wrote:

Just a quick update for anyone expecting the imminent demise of the Hilton Barclaycard, my new card just arrived this morning… with a 07/27 expiry date!

I wouldn’t read in to expiration dates as meaning anything. There were JLFS (HSBC) cardholders who were receiving replacement cards with 3 years of expiration on last month. Doesn’t make them any more valid today than one which expired in October.

When the Hilton Barclaycard scheme inevitably finally closes Barclaycard will just move customers en-masse to a different Visa product in their range, probably Platinum.

[Carlos]

Or BC remove the visa as a partner all together and move you to their MC products

[The Urbanite]

Youllnever wrote:

The Urbanite wrote:

mark2 wrote:

My wife has just received a letter reducing her limit on this card from £4500 to £100 i.e. effectively cancelling it. The web site says that it will not be increased under any circumstances. She rarely uses it, but there is currently a statement credit offer on Laithwaites for 25% if spending £110+!
Has anyone else had this?

I’m surprised the banks don’t do this sort of thing more often for very unprofitable cards. That said, they are known to slash limits on rarely used cards occasionally.

Why would they when they can just cancel them?

I don’t know but sometimes they do it. It happened to me with the TSB Avios Mastercard – I sockdrawed it when the Avios element was withdrawn and a couple of years later they slashed the limit to £500 due to lack of use.