The usual sign up bonus is 50K and I've seen 70K in the past. My Gold status expires in Feb, so it might be time to upgrade to the Surpass. https://www262.americanexpress.com/...ss-card/hhsc-024?wt.mc_id=CMEM_BUfyV3B89yK-nY
Don't "upgrade" your existing CITI Hh card because you won't get 80K. Do a new app. CITI Hh Reserve with 2 free weekend nights is still a better deal. You can stay at TOP Hiltons. 80K won't get you 2 nights at TOP Hiltons.
Thanks, I'll do the new app. Does that mean I'll have AMEX Hh Basic and Surpass? My plan is to go for the AMEX Surpass for the 80K, then get the Citi Hh Reserve when I know I can make max use out of the 2 free nights (e.g. Conrad Maldives), then drop the Surpass.
I am not sure you can have both the NF AMEX and the Surpass. Things are fuzzy and I might have requested an upgrade but it is also possible that I'd applied for the Surpass and was simply upgraded from the NF (the NF disappeared and the Surpass inherited the same account/CC number ). I did, however, receive a 50K bonus with the upgraded. Knowing what I know about the Citi Reserve visa, I would get the sign up bonus and then drop it instead of dropping the Surpass...
So keeping the same card number probably keeps my credit history with the card. The advantage of the Citi Reserve for me is no foreign transaction fees for overseas Hilton stays. Would be nice if AMEX waived foreign transaction fees for stays at the co-branded card hotel chains.
Agree on all counts, including the advantage of the Citi over the Surpass for overseas stays, which the overwhelming majority of mine usually are, except that I got tired of having to go after Citi for retro-credit because they consistently awarded me fewer points (3/$) for stays at Hilton properties than I earned as per T&C (10/$). Even after they had to credit me 50K points in retro-credit + 5K bonus points for getting it so wrong, things did not improve on that front. I was to keep the card and simply not use it again, except that on the 3rd anniversary of the card (just last month) they forgot to award me the one free weekend night that they promise they'd award if one spends at least $10K on the card (I spent $16K). That was it for me. I just dropped the Citi Reserve and am still fighting them to get the free night that they owe me... The Surpass is now my #1 card for stays at Hilton in the US or abroad. With the Surpass awarding 12 HH/$ and always crediting the correct number of points for stays at Hilton properties, that reliability is worth it to me more now than the foreign transaction fee.
I did use them in one stay. It was, in fact, during a reward stay that spilled into a weekend so it was split into stays, with 2 weekend nights covered with the two free weekend night certificates...
