Hyatt credit card
$95
40,000
$2,000 initial spend
($670 net value, .34/$)
Signup Bonus Chart4x Hyatt Purchases (≈6.8%)
2x Restaurants (≈3.4%)
2x Airline Tickets and local transit (≈3.4%)
2x Fitness Club and Gym Memberships (≈3.4%)
1x Everywhere Else (≈1.7%)
No Foreign Transaction Fee
The Hyatt card has a nice signup bonus. In addition, many people may be interested in holding onto the card for the annual free night certificate (and automatic Hyatt low-level status), or spending $15,000 on the card every year to earn an additional free night certificate. While the certificates can only be used at Hyatt Category 1-4 hotels, these still includes many nice Hyatt hotels, in all but the most expensive locations. And the Hyatt card is not subject to the Chase 5/24 rule.
If you stay at Hyatt on a semi-frequent basis, the ability to use credit card spending to make it to a higher Hyatt elite status level can be indispensable.
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Hyatt Credit Card Options
Hyatt launched a revised version of the Hyatt credit card in 2018, but existing cardholders can stick to the older version of the card.
The old version of the card has a $75 fee (rather than $95). It doesn't give you the option of earning the second free night certificate, provide bonus points on fitness club or gym memberships (or local transit and commuting), or earn additional qualifying nights.
If you have the old card and are interested in spending $15,000 to earn an additional free night certificate, it is worth upgrading to the new card. Otherwise, you are better off keeping your existing card, and paying $20 less per year.
If you want to upgrade, you may be be better off cancelling your card and re-applying. However, you aren't entitled to earn the signup bonus if you have already received one from the older Hyatt card during the last two years, and there is no guarantee you will be reapproved.
So, if want to upgrade, and you've received your card fairly recently, you should upgrade it directly. Then after two years have passed, you can think about cancelling and reapplying. But, if you've had the card for awhile, you can cancel it, and try to get the new signup bonus. In any event, if you are near your anniversary date, you might want to wait, pay the annual fee, and receive your free night certificate, before restarting the clock.
Collecting the Signup Bonus
Our base value for Hyatt points is 1.7 cents per point. Hyatt points are so valuable because they require far fewer points for an award night, compared to other hotel programs (except SPG). For example, an award night at a comparable hotel would typically cost 15,000 Hyatt points, 50,000 Hilton points, or 35,000 Marriott points. The main drawback is that there are far fewer Hyatt hotels in the world, than hotels with the other major programs. How Much are Hotel Points Worth?
- It is worth signing up for this card, just to collect the signup bonus. After subtracting the annual fee and the opportunity cost of using the card for $point of spending, the calculated net value for the initial year is $40000 (Expression error: Unrecognized word "point". cents per dollar spent). You can get an additional 5,000 points, by adding an authorized cardholder.
- To launch the new version of the card, Chase is offering a 60,000 point signup bonus. You'll get 40,000 points with $3,000 initial spend, plus an additional 20,000 points if you spend a total of $6,000, during the first six months. You should still be able to get the authorized user bonus, but you may not be able to get the $50 statement credit that is typically available when you sign up as part of the online Hyatt reservation process. The net signup value is $960 (16 cents per dollar spent).
- This card is NOT affected by the Chase 5/24 rule. You can still get approved, even if you have acquired more than five new credit cards over the past two years.
- You can earn the signup bonus once every two years. You are eligible for a Chase signup bonus, if you haven't already earned one, from the same card, during the past two years.
After subtracting the annual fee, and the opportunity cost of using the card for $2,000 of spending, the calculated net value of the sign-up is $670 (34 cents per dollar spent). Your value may be higher or lower, depending on how much you value the points. How Much are Hotel Points Worth?
However, if you've been signing up for lots of credit cards, there is some risk to trying to get additional Chase cards. When Chase pulls your credit report for your application, they take a look at your overall number of accounts and recent inquiries. If you've been very active, there is a small chance that Chase will cancel all of your existing cards, due to screening procedures related to "breakout risk". If you don't want to risk losing access to your existing Chase cards, you might avoid signing up for any new Chase cards, once you've signed up for over 10 cards in the past two years. On the other hand, most people have been able to safely get new Chase cards even though they are well over that number.
Earning Elite Qualifying Nights
The Hyatt card comes with free Hyatt Discoverist (low level) status.
- But, you also receive 5 qualifying nights that can make it easier to earn higher-level status.
- Plus, for every $5,000 you spend on the card, you earn an additional 2 qualifying nights. So, if you spend $15,000 to earn the second free night certificate, you'll earn an additional 6 qualifying nights, for a total of 11. This can make it substantially easier to get to the 30 qualifying nights it takes to qualify for Explorist (mid-level) status, which entitles you to 4 club lounge access certificates, better room upgrades, and other benefits. Hyatt Status Benefits
- You can spend yourself all the way to the valuable Globalist elite status level, which comes with guaranteed suite upgrades, unlimited club lounge access, and other lucrative benefits. Globalist requires 60 nights to qualify, and 55 to re-qualify. So, you could get there simply by spending $140,000 on the Hyatt card. Of course, you are likely to earn at least some qualifying nights through paid or award stays, so you wouldn't need to spend this much.
- Most people aren't going to want to earn Hyatt status primarily through credit card spending. Every qualifying night ($2,500 of spending) has an opportunity cost of around $20 on everyday expenses, and even more on bonus categories. Similarly, the cost of using a bill payment service is around $20 more than the value of the Hyatt points you would earn. So, qualifying for Explorist strictly through spending would "cost" around $500, and qualifying for Globalist would cost around $1,100. And this is assuming you have some way to actually generate this level of spending.
- But, if you are already staying at Hyatt on a semi-frequent basis, the credit card can be a great way to get to the next status level. For example, if you are already spending 40 nights per year with Hyatt, you would "only" need to spend $45,000 with the card to qualify for "Globalist" status, which would have an opportunity cost of around $320. And you would only need to spend $25,000 to re-qualify. Some of the spending would be for Hyatt stays and not generate any opportunity costs. And the benefits you'd receive would accrue for all those nights, delivering a large amount of value.
Other Notable Benefits
- Annual free night certificate. Good for a free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel. You should be able to use this at many hotels with typical rates of up to about $250 per night. If you use your certificate during particularly expensive times of the year, you can receive much more value than that. It isn't hard to get enough value every year, to offset the card's $75 annual fee. Hyatt Free Night Certificates.
- A second annual free night certificate (with $15,000 of annual spending). Spending is based on your anniversary year (until the first statement after your anniversary date, and every 12 months from then). Because the reward rates for the card are decent, the opportunity cost is of this level of spending is around $100-150. Assuming you know you'll have the opportunity to use it, you should be able to receive more value than this, even if you can't use the extra 6 qualifying nights. During the first year, when you have already spend $6,000 to earn the full signup bonus, it is even a better deal.
- Automatic Hyatt Discoverist status. This normally requires staying for 10 nights. You'll get access to a preferred room (upon availability), late checkout, enhanced internet service, and a bottle of water. Unfortunately, the card doesn't provide any boost to the much more interesting Explorist and Globalist status levels. Hyatt Status Benefits.
- Access to the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. As with all Visa Signature cards, you'll get access to Visa's luxury hotel program. Whenever you book one of the 900+ participating hotels, you'll receive a set of valuable benefits, including free breakfast, late check-out, and a $25 food and beverage credit. The Visa program has slightly weaker benefits than the other luxury hotel programs, but includes a larger number of more affordable hotel options and a best price guarantee. Take Advantage of Luxury Hotel Programs for Valuable Extra Perks.
- Access to Visa Signature Offers. Your card entitles you to a set of special offers available from Visa.
Bonus Categories
- The Hyatt card earns the best possible rewards on Hyatt stays. 4x Hyatt points are probably more valuable than what you can earn with any other card. The Amex Platinum card can earn 5x Membership Reward points, but only for prepaid rooms that you purchase through Amex. It is usually a better deal to book directly at Hyatt using the Hyatt card. However, if you highly valuable premium cabin award travel and/or you prefer to earn more more flexible points, you might prefer to earn rewards with another card. Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
- There are better options for your restaurant, airfare, and car rental purchases. The bonus category rewards from Hyatt are more valuable than what you would earn from a good general-purpose reward card, but you can earn even more valuable rewards from other cards. Best Credit Cards for Restaurant Spending. Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
- The Hyatt card is one of the only cards to earn bonus points on fitness club and gym memberships. If you have this card, you should almost certainly use it for these payments. The only other options are some of the "choose your own category cards". Credit Cards that Offer Bonus Rewards on Less Common Categories.
- You don't want to use this card for your everyday spending. You'll earn higher rewards from a good general-purpose reward card. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.