Hilton Honors Amex Ascend Reverting Its Name Back to Surpass

Just over a year after it was rebranded as part of a roll-out of changes, the Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card is reverting to its roots with another name change — back to the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card.

Don’t worry, though. It’s just the name that’s changing.

Originally introduced as the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card in February 2009, the card ran for a little over 10 years until a slew of changes rolled out for the Amex-Hilton credit card portfolio in January 2018 — adding new credit cards and updating others. Rebranded as the Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card, it also picked up a handful of new, exciting benefits.

American Express announced that effective July 28, 2019, the Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card will once again be known as the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card.

All of the key features of the card will remain untouched, according to an American Express spokesperson, along with the $95 annual fee (terms apply).

Cardmembers will still enjoy the following features:

• Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months

• 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar spent directly with eligible hotels or resorts

• 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on purchases at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations

• 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases

• A Free Night Reward after spending $15,000 on purchases in a calendar year

• Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status. Plus, spend $40,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year and you can earn Hilton Honors Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.

• 10 complimentary visits to Priority Pass Select lounges every year once enrolled (enrollment required)

• No foreign transaction fee

Whether or not the card will get a new look is still unclear, but the current design doesn’t include the name Ascend on it.

Aside from the name change, there will also be a minor tweak made to the terms and conditions of the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card. Cardmembers will still be able to use the $250 annual Hilton resort credit on eligible properties, but as of August 1, 2019, it no longer applies when booking an Advance Purchase rate. Since advanced purchase rates for properties in the U.S. were already excluded, this change should only affect a small number of cardmembers.

Bottom line

Having two American Express credit cards with such close names — Ascend and Aspire — may be the driver behind this upcoming change, but cardmembers can rejoice knowing it’s only the name that’s getting an overhaul this time around.