Continuing my trend of updating the hotel credit card posts, we now bring ourselves to the World of Hyatt card! This low annual fee credit card competes with the Hilton Surpass, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, and IHG Premier cards. Marriott is my preferred hotel chain because of its breakfast benefit and huge global footprint, but I recently went to a Thompson by Hyatt in DC, and so Hyatt has been more on my radar recently.
Hyatt is the smallest of the major hotel chains and generally considered to have the most valuable rewards program, both in terms of elite benefits and points redemption opportunities
This blog is for entertainment purposes only and is not financial advice. I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card. The information on this page has been collected independently, and all information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.
Welcome Offer
At the time of posting, the World of Hyatt credit card has a two-tiered welcome offer. You can earn 30 000 bonus (i.e. non-status) points after you spend $3 000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. On top of these points, you earn 2 bonus points total (1 additional bonus point) on all non-bonused spend (see ‘Earnings’), on up to $15 000 spent in the first 6 months. Chase advertises this bonus as being up to 60 000 Bonus Points, but my reading of it is that it might actually only be 45 000 more points than you would otherwise be getting without the welcome offer. Hyatt points have a much higher value than other hotel points (1.5 ¢/pt compared to 0.7 ¢/pt for Marriott points). 45 000 Hyatt points is, therefore, worth around $675 and could reasonably be redeemed for 1 – 3 nights at a hotel.
Earnings
The World of Hyatt card has two bonus categories that are typical for a Chase co-branded card: 4x points/$ at Hyatt hotels and 2x points/$ at restaurants, on airline tickets (directly purchased from the airline), local transit and commuting (e.g. metro, tolls), and fitness/gym memberships. These categories are solid for a <$100 annual fee co-branded card, especially when taking into account the value of Hyatt points. All other purchases earn 1x point/$.
For travel and restaurants, however, it’s still probably better to use a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve for dining because these cards offer 3x UR points/$, and the Sapphire Preferred offers 2x UR points/$ on travel. UR points can be transferred for free at a 1:1 ratio to Hyatt.
Benefits
This card offers two types of benefits, like most hotel credit cards: free nights and status perks. The card offers 1 free night award per year automatically, which can be used at a category 1-4 hotel. A second free night award can be unlocked after spending $15 000 on the card in a calendar year.
As for the status perks, the card offers Discoverist (entry level) status and 5 qualifying night credits towards a higher tier just for holding the card. In addition, you can earn 2 additional qualifying night credits for every $5 000 you spend on the card. So, at $15 000 of spend, you’d get an extra free night and 6 qualifying night credits.
How to use the points
The main use for Hyatt points is to redeem them for stays at Hyatt hotels. They don’t have as large a footprint as Marriott or Hilton, but they still have an award chart. Award charts are great because you can sometimes get outsized value for the points, but it also means that often redemption options are not available for any price. No availability is still a problem sometimes for programs with dynamic pricing, but it’s somewhat more pronounced when an award chart is involved.
Examples of using the card
These examples assume you spend all your hotel budget at Hyatt.
Spend per month
| Example A | Example B | Example C | Example D | |||||
| Groceries (1x) | $300 | 300 | $200 | 200 | $600 | 600 | $400 | 400 |
| Gas (1x) | $0 | 0 | $100 | 100 | $200 | 200 | $100 | 100 |
| Airfare (2x) | $700 | 1400 | $200 | 400 | $0 | 0 | $400 | 800 |
| Hotels (4x) | $1 000 | 4 000 | $200 | 800 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 1 200 |
| Gen Travel (2x) | $400 | 800 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 600 | $100 | 200 |
| Dining (2x) | $600 | 1 200 | $300 | 600 | $300 | 600 | $0 | 0 |
| General (1x) | $1 000 | 1 000 | $500 | 500 | $500 | 500 | $400 | 400 |
| Total | $4 000 | 8 700 | $1 500 | 2 600 | $1 700 | 2 500 | $1 700 | 3 100 |
| Average points/$ | 2.18 | 1.73 | 1.47 | 1.82 |
The Hyatt card’s bonus categories means that the average points earned is 1.47 – 2.18 points/$, which is worth 2.2 – 3.3 ¢/$, with the valuation of 1.5 ¢/point. The high value of Hyatt points means that this card offers a very strong earn rate, given the potentially comparatively low number of points.
Specific examples
These examples include the bonus points earned from getting Hilton Diamond status from the card.
| Card | American Airlines Economy Class ($750) (% return) | Hyatt Hotel night ($230/night) | Points values (AA/Hotel) |
| No rewards card | 3 500 AA miles (7%) | 1 000 HP (6.5%) | $52.50 / $15.00 |
| General 2% cashback card | 3 500 AA miles + $15 (9%) | 1 000 HP + $4.60 (8.5%) | $67.50 / $19.60 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 3 500 AA miles + 1 500 UR points (10%) | 1 000 HP + 460 UR points (9.5%) | $75.00 / $21.90 |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve | 3 500 AA miles + 3 000 Hilton points (8.5%) | 1 000 HP + 920 UR points (12.5%) | $63.75 / $28.80 |
| World of Hyatt Card | 3 500 AA miles + 1 500 Hyatt points (10%) | 1 920 HP (12.5%) | $75.00 / $28.80 |
Is this credit card right for you?
Like a lot of hotel credit cards, if you can make use of the free night certificate, this credit card is worth holding onto in the long run because, if you don’t spend any money on the card, you’re basically just prepaying $95 for a night at a Hyatt hotel. If you never stay at Hyatt hotels, then this card has little use for you.
I think this card has substantial value, but it’s uncommon that a Hyatt hotel makes sense for me to seek out when there are always so many Marriott hotels nearby! But if you’re wanting to hit Hyatt Globalist status, this card is a great place to start!
