- Amex Canada launched the Hilton Honors American Express® Card on October 29, 2026. It costs $150 a year and is the first Hilton credit card in Canada.
- The welcome offer is 60,000 points and a Free Night Reward after $3,000 in 3 months, plus 10,000 points after $500 in month 13, for applications by January 11, 2027.
- It comes with Hilton Honors Gold, an upgrade to Diamond after $40,000 in a calendar year, and 50,000 bonus points after $12,000 in a calendar year.
- It earns 6x at Hilton, 4x on dining, groceries, and gas in Canada, and 2x on everything else. There's no yearly free night, no Hilton credit, and no foreign transaction fee waiver.
Amex Canada and Hilton just launched the Hilton Honors American Express® Card, the first Hilton credit card ever offered in Canada. Long overdue, if you ask me. I applied the morning it launched and was approved the same day.
It's no secret that it feels lukewarm next to the Hilton cards in the US. But it's still better than nothing, so let's dive into the details and see whether it deserves a slot in your wallet.
The welcome offer
The welcome offer comes in two parts and adds up to 70,000 points plus a Free Night Reward:
- 60,000 points and a Free Night Reward after you spend $3,000 in your first 3 months
- 10,000 more points after you spend $500 in your 13th month
It's for applications received by January 11, 2027, and only for new Hilton Honors American Express® Cardmembers. The card launched on October 29, so for now that's everyone.
I don't put a big number on Hilton points. In Hilton's sale this month, my own cart came to 0.64 Canadian cents a point.
So I value them a bit below that, at 0.6 cents per point (cpp).
At 0.6 cpp, the 70,000 points are worth about $420. That's almost three years of annual fees, before you even count the free night.
The Free Night Reward
The Free Night Reward is the better half of this offer, in my opinion. It's one night in a standard room at almost any Hilton property, any night of the week, and the taxes and resort fees on that night are included.
So I'd save it for a city where hotel rates hurt, like London or New York. (An airport Hampton Inn works too, but that feels like a waste.)
A few catches from the fine print:
- Hilton emails it as a code up to 16 weeks after you hit the $3,000.
- It expires 12 months after it's issued.
- You have to call Hilton at 1-800-446-6677 to redeem it.
Yes, a phone call, in 2026 🥲
Gold status, and a path to Diamond
The card comes with complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status. Gold gets you an 80% bonus on base points, space-available upgrades, and a breakfast or food and beverage credit, depending on the brand.
Nice, but not new. I hold The Platinum Card® from American Express, which already gives Hilton Gold after a one-time enrolment.
The difference is the road to Diamond. Spend $40,000 on the card in a calendar year and Amex upgrades you to Diamond for the rest of that year and all of the next.
Diamond adds executive lounge access, a 48-hour room guarantee, and a 100% bonus on the points you earn from stays. I'm a Diamond myself, and the suite upgrades (when available) and the lounges are what I enjoy most.
It's still not as good as Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite, though. Hilton doesn't guarantee late checkout for Diamonds, and that's the perk I value the most.
Because the count runs January to December, hitting $40,000 early in 2027 would keep you Diamond until the end of 2028. Supplementary cards count toward it too.
$40,000 is a lot of spending, and most people won't get near it. But having the option doesn't hurt.
Earn rates (and the FX fee)
| Where you spend | Points per $1 | Return at 0.6 cpp |
|---|---|---|
| Hilton hotels and resorts | 6x | 3.6% |
| Restaurants, groceries, gas, and food delivery in Canada | 4x | 2.4% |
| Everything else | 2x | 1.2% |
For comparison, the US Hilton Honors Card, which has no annual fee, earns 7x at Hilton, 5x at US restaurants, gas stations, and supermarkets, and 3x on everything else. So Canada's $150 card earns less than the free US card in every single category.
Welcome to Canadian credit cards 😂
It doesn't even win on Hilton points. The American Express Cobalt® Card earns 5x on food in Canada (up to $2,500 a month), and Membership Rewards points transfer to Hilton at 1:1. That's five Hilton points per dollar against this card's four.
Then there's the foreign transaction fee. Nothing on the card's pages waives it, and Amex Canada charges 2.5% on its other cards, so I'd expect the same here.
And those purchases only earn 2x.
The best part: pay for a Hilton in Tokyo with it, and you earn 6x, about 3.6% back. Then you hand 2.5% straight back to Amex for the currency conversion.
A hotel card that punishes you for travelling. Only in Canada.
How it compares to the US, Korea, and Mexico
Canada isn't the only country with a Hilton card, so I looked at the closest one in each of the three. The US card is issued by Amex, Korea's by Lotte Card under an Amex licence, and Mexico's by INVEX Banco on Mastercard.
| Canada | US (Surpass®) | Korea (Lotte) | Mexico (INVEX Premium) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $150 | US$150 (about $211) | ₩250,000 (about $261) | Free in year 1 (later fee not listed) |
| Status | Gold | Gold | Silver | Gold |
| Diamond | After $40,000 a year | After US$40,000 a year | Premium card only | After MXN 300,000 a year (about $22,600) |
| Yearly free night | None | After US$15,000 a year | 1 weekend night after ₩12M (about $12,500) | After MXN 200,000 a year (about $15,000) |
| Yearly bonus points | 50,000 after $12,000 | None | None listed | None listed |
| Hilton credit | None | US$200 a year | None listed | None listed |
Conversions use the Bank of Canada rates for October 28, 2026.
United States
The US version at the same fee is the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. Its welcome offer is 130,000 points and a Free Night Reward after US$3,000 in 6 months, and it has no foreign transaction fees.
It also gives up to US$200 a year in Hilton credits (US$50 a quarter) and a Free Night Reward every year you spend US$15,000. Even the no-fee US card matches Canada's headline offer: 70,000 points and a Free Night Reward, after US$2,000 in 6 months.
Korea
Lotte Card's Hilton Honors Amex starts at Silver, not Gold, so Canada wins that one. But spend ₩12M (about $12,500) in a card year and you get a free weekend night at any Hilton in the world, every year.
That's about the same spending Canada asks for its 50,000 bonus points. The Korean card also earns its top rate on purchases abroad, the opposite of ours.
The Premium version (₩500,000, about $523) starts at Gold and gives Diamond plus two free weekend nights once you spend ₩24M (about $25,000) in a year.
Mexico
Mexico's cards are Mastercards from INVEX Banco, launched in May 2026. The Hilton Honors INVEX Premium comes with Gold, a free night every year once you spend MXN 200,000 (about $15,000), and four airport lounge visits a year.
Diamond kicks in at MXN 300,000 (about $22,600), a lower bar than Canada's $40,000.
The closest card in each of the other three countries comes with a yearly free night. Ours doesn't.
My take
I think the card should have come with a yearly Free Night Reward, even with a spending requirement attached. Every version above has one, and so does Amex Canada's own Marriott Bonvoy® American Express® Card: a free night every card anniversary, for $120 a year and no spending at all.
If not a free night, then some sort of Hilton credit, even a small one. And if not that, at least no foreign transaction fees.
To be fair, there's the 50,000-point bonus once you spend $12,000 in a calendar year. At 0.6 cpp that's $300, twice the $150 fee.
But $12,000 is $1,000 every month on a card that earns 2x on most things. That same spending earns more on other cards, so I don't see the bonus as a reason to keep it on its own.
Without it, year two looks like this: Gold status (which my Platinum already gives me), and 10,000 points for spending $500 in month 13. That month-13 bonus lands right around when the second annual fee posts, which I'm sure is a coincidence.
So with the current structure, the incentive to keep this card beyond year two is very, very small.
Final Thoughts
For what it's worth, I still applied on launch day and got approved. The welcome bonus and the Free Night Reward are worth well over the first $150, and I'll re-evaluate when the second annual fee comes around.
Maybe Amex and Hilton will have sweetened it by then (fingers crossed). If you're a Hilton regular, my Hilton promotions page tracks the current offers.
Are you applying, or holding out for a better version? Let me know in the comments!
Hilton Honors American Express® Card
Up to 70,000 points and a Free Night Reward, for applications by January 11, 2027.
Checked Oct 29, 2026 · Sources: American Express Canada: Hilton Honors American Express® Card offer and terms · American Express Canada: Hilton Honors American Express® Card · Hilton: Hilton Honors credit card (Canada) · American Express and Hilton launch Canada's first Hilton Honors credit card (October 29, 2026) · Hilton: Hilton Honors credit cards (US) · American Express US: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card · Hilton: Hilton Honors credit cards (Korea, Lotte Card) · Hilton: Hilton, INVEX Banco and Mastercard launch Hilton Honors cards in Mexico (May 6, 2026)
