There are lots of reasons to apply for credit cards. Some are worth getting for their great sign-up bonuses, others are worth getting for the return they offer on everyday spend, and others are worth getting for the great long term perks they offer. Some cards even excel in a couple or all of those categories.
One of the all around best hotel credit cards is The Hyatt Credit Card, which is a card I’ve had had for years, and highly recommend. In this post I wanted to look at some of the benefits of the card in more details.
Hyatt Credit Card sign-up bonus
The Hyatt Credit Card offers a fantastic sign-up bonus, as follows:
- Two free nights at any Hyatt hotel in the world after spending $2,000 within three months
- 5,000 bonus points after you add an authorized user and they make a purchase within three months
The two free Hyatt nights are really that straightforward. You can redeem them at any category Hyatt hotel, and as long as a standard room is available, you should be able to redeem them.
This includes several hotels that often go for over $1,000 per night, like the Park Hyatt Maldives…
…and Park Hyatt Sydney.
World of Hyatt is transfer partners with Chase Ultimate Rewards, meaning you can transfer points earned on cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card to extend your stay, if you’d like.
Park Hyatt Maldives
Hyatt Credit Card bonus eligibility
The sign-up bonus on The Hyatt Credit Card is only available to those who don’t have this card, and those who have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.
Furthermore, anecdotally this card isn’t subjected to Chase’s 5/24 rule, meaning that you should be eligible for the card even if you’ve opened more than five new card accounts in the past 24 moths.
In other words, a lot of people should be eligible for this bonus.
Hyatt Credit Card annual fee
The annual fee on The Hyatt Credit Card is $75, and the fee isn’t waived for the first year. As a point of comparison to other hotel credit cards:
- The IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card has a $49 annual fee, though it’s waived the first year
- The Hilton Honors™ Surpass® Card from American Express has a $75 annual fee
- The Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card has an $85 annual fee
- The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express has a $95 annual fee, though it’s waived the first year
As you can see, the annual fee on the Hyatt Card is somewhere in the middle.
Hyatt Credit Card return on spend
The Hyatt Credit Card offers the following spend bonuses:
- 3x points per dollar spent at Hyatt hotels
- 2x points per dollar spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from airlines, and on car rentals
- 1x point per dollar spent on everything else
So the card has a decent rewards structure, though personally I wouldn’t put much spend on it, unless you’re going for Explorist status (as I’ll explain below). Keep in mind that Ultimate Rewards points can be converted into Hyatt points, and have bonus on earnings as well, while giving you more flexibility with your points:
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card offers triple points on dining and travel
- The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers double points on dining and travel
- The Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card offers triple points on the first $150,000 spent in select categories annually, including restaurants
Hyatt Credit Card annual free night
In my opinion the single best perk of The Hyatt Credit Card is that it offers an annual free night certificate valid at any Category 1-4 Hyatt property. As long as a standard room is available you should be able to redeem the certificate there. Furthermore, you’ll receive any elite benefits you’d usually receive through the card, so as a Globalist member you’d get a room upgrade, free breakfast, lounge access, etc.
If you’re curious what hotels this includes, you can see a listing of all Hyatt properties by category on this page. There are seven categories of Hyatt hotels, so Category 1-4 covers most of them. There are many great Category 4 properties, ranging from the Hyatt Olive 8 Seattle, to the Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi.
Hyatt Olive 8 Seattle
Hyatt Credit Card status benefits
Having The Hyatt Credit Card can help you with earning Discoverist and Explorist status with Hyatt:
- You receive Discoverist status for as long as you have the card
- You receive Globalist status when you spend $50,000 or more on purchases on the card in a calendar year
Discoverist status gets you the following perks:
- A 10% points bonus
- Premium internet
- A complimentary bottle of water
- Priority check-in
- 2PM late check-out
- A preferred room within the category booked
Explorist status gets you the following incremental perks:
- A 20% points bonus
- 4PM late check-out
- Upgrade to the best available room, excluding suites
- Four club lounge passes annually, valid for a stay of up to seven nights on eligible rates or when redeeming points for free night awards
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong club lounge
Unfortunately the credit card no longer gets you any incremental benefit if you’re going for top tier status. Still, having some status with Hyatt just for having the credit card is better than nothing, and some may find it worthwhile to put spend on the card to earn mid-tier status.
Bottom line
The way I see it, The Hyatt Credit Card has a fantastic sign-up bonus and is worth holding onto long term for the annual free night certificate it offers, which more than justifies the annual fee. Furthermore, this card is fairly easy to be approved for, as long as you don’t have the card and haven’t gotten a bonus in the past 24 months. Fortunately this card also isn’t subjected to Chase’s 5/24 rule.
If you don’t yet have the Hyatt Card, it’s absolutely worth acquiring, in my opinion.
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