Review: Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum Visa credit card
By Chris C., September 8 2017
Disclaimer
Executive Traveller may receive a commission when you apply for these credit cards via our links.
The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.
Notes
The Good
- No annual fee or points cap
- Low minimum income threshold
- Quadruple points on Hilton hotel charges
The Bad
- Reward points earned are less valuable than frequent flyer points
Added Value
- Get ongoing Hilton Honors Gold status, and upgrade that to Diamond if you spend $40,000/year
Introduction
Offering uncapped Hilton Honors points on your everyday spends, yearly Hilton Honors Gold status, and quadruple points on hotel folio charges at Hilton Worldwide properties, the Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum Visa credit card is dressed to impress the frequent traveller.
However, the relatively low value of a Hilton Honors point compared to the value of one airline frequent flyer point makes this card more so about perks than about points.
Australian Business Traveller takes a look at Australia's only direct-earning Hilton Honors credit card.
Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum Visa credit card: fast facts
- Grade/tier: Platinum
- Card type: Visa
- Loyalty program: Hilton Honors
- Hilton Honors points earned per A$1 spent (everyday purchases): 1
- Hilton Honors points earned per A$1 spent (eligible hotel spend): 4
- Points capping/tiering: None
- Supported tech: Apple Pay
Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum Visa credit card: fees, charges and interest
- Annual fee: $0 (current special offer)
- Additional/supplementary cardholder fee: $0 (current special offer)
- Interest rate on purchases: 20.70% p.a.
- Interest-free days on purchases: Up to 55
- Interest rate on cash advances: 21.95% p.a.
- International transaction fee: 3.0%
- Minimum income requirement: $30,000 p.a.
- Minimum credit limit: $6,000
Earning points for free hotel nights:
Because you're earning hotel loyalty points rather than airline frequent flyer points, the best way to spend these points is on a hotel stay: although the number of points you'll need varies from hotel to hotel and from night to night.
For instance, an overnight stay at the Hilton Sydney in late October and early November requires between 52,000 and 70,000 Honors points – earned from $52,000-70,000 of spend on the card – whereas a night at the DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur can instead be had for just 10,000 Honors points (from $10,000 of spend) on most dates.
Even at the lower end, that's a fair amount of cash you'll need to splash for just one hotel stay: whereas you could spend the same on the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black Visa and have more than enough Qantas Points for a near-free Sydney-Melbourne flight, or spend $60,000 via the ANZ card and have enough points for a one-way Qantas business class flight to Asia: of far more value than a simple overnight stay in Sydney.
Being the only direct-earning Hilton Honors card in Australia, it's hard to compare this with other local products on a like-for-like-basis – but when pitted against the direct-earning Hilton Honors Surpass credit card in the United States which earns up to six times as many points per dollar spent, it's hard to consider the Australian equivalent 'competitive'.
Airport lounge access:
Access to airport lounges isn't a benefit included with the Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum Visa.
Hilton hotel benefits:
To kick things off, primary cardholders receive complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they keep their Macquarie Platinum credit card, offering perks such as hotel room upgrades and daily breakfast when staying at Hilton Hotels and related brands such as Conrad and DoubleTree by Hilton.
Spend $40,000 or more on the card in a single year (measured as the 12 months from the date you opened the account and every consecutive 12 months thereafter) and you'll find that boosted to Hilton Honors Diamond: providing guaranteed hotel executive lounge access (where available), and many other niceties that can vary from hotel to hotel.
Plus, spend $2,000 on the card within the first three months of opening the account to enjoy a complimentary weekend hotel stay – and a second certificate each year when you spend at least $12,000 on the card.
Complimentary travel insurance:
Overseas travel insurance is provided for cardholders who use their Hilton Honors credit card to pay for the cost of their return international travel ticket (such as flights or a cruise) on trips of up to 90 days, with that cover extended to a spouse and children when travelling with the primary cardholder on the same itinerary.
Coverage is also available when converting Hilton Honors points into airline frequent flyer points and then using those frequent flyer points to book the journey, but with Hilton's airline conversion rates particularly poor value – sometimes as low as 10:1 – savvy spenders should instead purchase their flights the old-fashioned way, and save those points for a hotel stay at the destination.
Interestingly, the insurer's definition of 'overseas' also covers journeys between mainland Australia and Tasmania, Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Lord Howe Island and Cocos Island: but with limited medical and hospital coverage for expenses usually covered by Medicare.
Extended warranty cover, transit accident insurance, purchase security cover, interstate flight inconvenience insurance and global hire car excess waiver cover are included as well: but as with travel insurance, check the T&Cs to ensure you qualify and the coverage is adequate for your needs.
Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum Visa credit card: the verdict
As the only direct-earning Hilton Honors credit card in Australia, we'd expect the product to be the best of its kind – and for Visa/Mastercard spend, that may well be true – but if you shop where AMEX is accepted, you can actually earn the equivalent of two Hilton Honors points per dollar spent on everyday purchases with the American Express Explorer credit card: double the earning rate of the Macquarie card.
That's achieved by earning two Membership Rewards Gateway points per dollar spent on most transactions, which can be converted into Hilton Honors points on a 1:1 basis as needed
Accordingly, this makes the benefits of the Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum card of more attraction than points: and with 'lifetime' Hilton Honors Gold status under your wing (provided you don't cancel the card), the opportunity to upgrade that to Hilton Honors Diamond each year and a yearly free hotel night, it's hard to ask for more from a no-annual-fee credit card!
Disclaimer
Executive Traveller may receive a commission when you apply for these credit cards via our links.
The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Nov 2014
Total posts 357
Isn't there also the benefit of earning free weekend night certificate?
As a bonus offer, earn an additional reward weekend night certificate when you spend $2,000 in the first three months."
How much that's worth depends on each individual I guess.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2431
As covered in the review under 'Hilton hotel benefits'.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
18 May 2015
Total posts 2
As a card holder and regular Hilton traveller the key advantage to this card is the qualification for Diamond status and the 'perks' as you put it. To achieve Diamond status any other way requires 50 nights and is nearly impossible and definitely undesirable. However by being a card holder and spending $40k p/a on the card you can travel the world staying in some excellent properties and save a fortune through free breakfasts (I value this at $120 per day), free drinks in the lounge (I value this at up to $200 per day depending on where you are in the world) and less monetary benefits such as room upgrades and access to 'suite' facilities like private pools (Bali). This is a must have card for regular family travellers and corporate 'exec' frequent flyers.
10 Sep 2017
Total posts 1
What's the best VISA or MasterCard for earning hotel points, Chris, having regard to the value of those points. Is there anything better than Diners Club Mastercard Starwood 0.625 points per $1? This card seems expensive for points given how little Hilton points are worth (although some great benefits as arwsales points out).
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2431
Hi Seth, we're not in a position to provide readers with personal financial advice, but you can certainly ask your question in the credit card section of our Community area for some 'peer support' from fellow AusBT readers.
Cathay Pacific - The Marco Polo Club
20 Jun 2013
Total posts 63
The real advantage here is the Gold status, as this can also be used for status match with other Hotel clubs. Other than that the actual points gained compared to Qantas Points on Macquarie's other card (but with an annual fee) hard to compare if you prefer Airline points. Having said that, I feel long term I receive more benefit from my AMEX Charge Platinum as one receives Hilton and Starwood/Marriott Gold etc with this anyway. While the fee is higher I just off set this with points anyway. So each to their own I guess, but finally nice to have a Hotel link with a Credit Card as an option in OZ.
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