Amex Platinum appears to have dropped Hilton Gold as a benefit

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The American Express Platinum charge card has a lot to offer the regular traveller. Yes, there is a fairly bonkers £450 annual fee, but you can get 50,000 Avios for signing up and the benefits are not bad. (I will write more on this in a couple of days.)

Cardholders will know that Amex did a big relaunch for the card in mid 2012. This followed a) an increase in the annual fee from £300 to £450 and b) a cut-back in the value of the travel insurance benefit.

However, we all got a big glossy brochure in the post which aimed to reassure us about the great value that Platinum offers.

This brochure attracted a lot of criticism because it implied that the Cathay Pacific Gold card (which gives you most of the benefits of a British Airways Silver card, including lounge access) was a permanent benefit. It isn’t. It is meant to be a one-off for 1 year, although Cathay is currently rolling over memberships for people.

The brochure also implied that the Hilton HHonors Gold card offered to American Express Platinum cardholders was a permanent benefit. We all knew that was not true – it was a ‘one off’ for a year.

Now, the free Hilton HHonors Gold card has disappeared from the Amex website.

It has gone from the main promotional site from the card

It has gone from the private Amex Platinum website

It has gone from the online application form for the hotel and Cathay cards

Gone, with no notice. Which is very poor form (again).

This is especially poor form because – as the Hilton card was a genuine ‘one year only’ deal – a lot of people had delayed signing up for it until they knew they would have a Hilton stay coming up. If Amex had given a few weeks notice, everyone who had not had this offer yet could have signed up.

This is especially annoying as Hilton Gold is the best mid-tier hotel status to have. You get a guaranteed upgrade, free breakfast (except at Waldorf-Astoria’s) and free internet, plus a 50% points bonus. For the leisure traveller, these are all benefits that offer real value.

There is a way of getting Hilton Gold status with just four Hilton stays, which I will post about in a few days. That is still nowhere near as good as getting the card just for filling in a form, though – especially if you only wanted it for a couple of stays.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (December 2021)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card? It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status. We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with American Express Gold (20,000 bonus points), the American Express Rewards Credit Card (5,000 bonus points) and – for small business owners – American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus points) and Business Platinum (40,000 bonus points).

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points.

(Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)