Hyatt is easily one of the best major hotel chains, so go figure we also consider The World of Hyatt Credit Card to be one of the best hotel credit cards out there.
And starting today, Jan. 29, 2021, you can now earn up to 60,000 points with the World of Hyatt Credit Card. It's a tiered bonus: You'll earn 30,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of card membership. Then, you can earn another 30,000 points over the first six months of opening your card with a 2x points bonus on up to $15,000 in spending.
That's up from the standard 50,000-point sign-up bonus on this card. And considering Hyatt's reasonable redemption rates, another 10,000 Hyatt points can go a long way. With free nights starting at just 5,000 points, this new bonus is enough to book up to 12 free nights!
But this card offers other great benefits that can easily make it worth its $95 annual fee.
Click Here to learn more about the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
The World of Hyatt Credit Card Benefits
Sign Up Bonus of 60,000 World of Hyatt Points
Earn 30,000 points after you spend $3,000 on the card in the first three months of card membership. You'll also earn 2x points on every dollar you spend on up to $15,000 in the first six months of card membership. That gives adds up to a total of 60,000 World of Hyatt points.
Annual Free Night Certificate
In my opinion, this is the best perk offered by the World of Hyatt Credit Card. It easily makes the $95 annual fee worth it.
Each year of card membership on your account anniversary, you will be given a free night certificate that is valid at any Hyatt category 1-4 property. There are no blackout dates, and as long as a room is available at the hotel, you should be able to redeem the certificate. Your free night will even count towards elite status!
Get One Additional Free Night
You'll earn an additional free night certificate at any category 1-4 Hyatt property if you spend $15,000 during your cardmember anniversary year.
There are a number of great category 4 properties where the certificate can be used. See our post on the best uses of the free Hyatt Anniversary night. For a full listing of Hyatt properties by category, visit here. Many of these hotels cost north of $250 a night.
Category Spending Bonuses
You will earn 9x points total per dollar spent at Hyatt – 4 bonus points per $1 when you use your card at Hyatt Hotels and 5 base points per $1 you can earn as a World of Hyatt member.
You will also earn 2x bonus points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting, and on fitness club and gym memberships.
You'll earn 1x point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Get 5 Elite Qualifying Night Credits
Get 5 elite night credits towards World of Hyatt Elite Status each year. You will earn 2 additional elite qualifying night credits for each $5,000 you spend on the card. There is no limit on how many additional elite night credits you can earn.
Hyatt is making it easier than ever to earn status in 2021. You'll only need 30 nights to reach their top-tier Globalist status (normally 60 nights required).
Hyatt Discoverist Status
You will receive Hyatt's Discoverist status for as long as you have the card. Discoverist status gets you:
- A preferred room within the category booked
- A 10% points bonus
- Complimentary bottle of water
- Free Premium Internet
- Priority check-in
- 2 p.m. late check-out
See the World of Hyatt website for a full breakdown of Hyatt's elite status tiers.
The Hyatt Card Makes it Easy to Earn Top Hyatt Status
Hyatt automatically extended current members’ status earlier this year: Anyone with status as of March 31, 2020, will carry that same elite status all the way through Feb. 28, 2022.
Better yet, Hyatt has halved the requirements for earning status this year. That means you'll only need to hit half of the elite qualifying nights to earn status and keep it all the way into early 2023.
That provides an easy avenue to climb the status ladder from Hyatt Discoverist to Explorist to Globalist – one of the best status levels in the world of hotels thanks to suite upgrade certificates, free lounge access, waived resort fees, and two free night stays a year. Here’s how it looks for earning Hyatt status next year:
- Discoverist: Stay five tier-qualifying nights OR earn 12,500 base points
- Explorist: Stay 15 tier-qualifying nights OR earn 25,000 base points
- Globalist: Stay 30 tier-qualifying nights or earn 50,000 base points
But here's why the World of Hyatt Credit Card is worth a hard look: Earning status gets even easier. New cardholders will get 5 of those tier-qualifying nights.
This is a big reason why we think now is the best time to open the card. Just for opening it, you'll have 5 out of 30 required nights for earning their top-tier Globalist status. If you are already a World of Hyatt Credit cardholder, you'll automatically get five elite night credits in 2021, and every year you hold the card.
Not to mention, you'll earn up to 30,000 Hyatt points after spending $3,000 within the first six months, and the ability to earn 2x points on all purchases for the first 6 months (up to $15,000) for 30,000 more points. You'll get automatic Discoverist status, and more.
Click Here to get more information about the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
Transfer Partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards
The World of Hyatt program is a 1:1 transfer partner of the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program. This means you can transfer points earned on cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® to bolster your Hyatt points balance and extend your award stays.
We feel that booking Hyatt stays is the best way to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book hotels.
Read our master guide to earning and burning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points.
The Chase 5/24 Rule
As with all Chase credit cards, the World of Hyatt Credit Card is impacted by the Chase 5/24 rule so you may not be able to get this card depending on your credit history.
Here’s what it boils down to:
- If you have opened five or more credit cards in the past 24 months from any bank (not just Chase cards), you will not be approved for Chase credit cards, regardless of your credit score or history with Chase bank.
- The rule does not count credit inquiries, but rather card products you have applied and been approved for.
Learn more about the Chase 5/24 rule by watching our YouTube video.
Annual Fee
The World of Hyatt Credit Card has an annual fee of $95, and it is not waived for the first year.
But thanks to the free anniversary nights and other benefits, this is a small price to pay. You should have no issues getting more than $95 dollars in value out of this card each and every year you hold it.
Click Here to get more information about the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
Great Companion Card to Chase Sapphire Cards
Because Hyatt is a 1:1 transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards points, the World of Hyatt Credit Card makes a great companion card to either the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Transferring from Chase into Hyatt is an easy way to replenish your Hyatt points balance to book award stays, and we think it's the best way to use Chase points to book hotels.
Click Here to learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
Click Here to learn more about the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Using World of Hyatt Points
The World of Hyatt program has some of the best rates to book nightly stays using points of any hotel program.
While Hyatt's footprint is smaller than the likes of Hilton and Marriott, that is slowly changing. And thanks to partnerships with luxury and boutique brands, they have some amazing properties scattered all around the world that you can book using Hyatt points. Even top resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and private island escapes in Southeast Asia make the cut.
You can easily transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt, making them great tandem credit cards: Every Chase point gets you 1 Hyatt point, and these transfers are instantaneous.
But be warned: These transfers are a one-way street. Like all transfer partners, once you send Chase points to Hyatt, you can't get them back to your Chase account. So be sure you've got your Hyatt redemption lined up before transferring points.
You'll just need a World of Hyatt loyalty program account before you make the transfer. If you don't have one, you can sign up for one here.
Read our guide on how to transfer Chase points to partner programs here.
Hyatt award nights start at just 5,000 points per night for Hyatt Category 1 properties, and up to 30,000 points for Category 7 hotels like top-tier Park Hyatt locations in New York or Tokyo. A handful of small luxury resorts around the world are considered Category 8, which cost 40,000 points per night.
Here's a look at Hyatt's full award chart below. Keep in mind that Hyatt plans to implement peak- and off-peak pricing sometime in 2021, so in the future, your next stay could cost you more (or fewer) points than these standard rates.
| Hotel Category | Standard Room Points Per Night | Standard Suite Points Per Night | Premium Suite Points Per Night |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 8,000 | 13,000 | 16,000 |
| 3 | 12,000 | 20,000 | 24,000 |
| 4 | 15,000 | 24,000 | 30,000 |
| 5 | 20,000 | 32,000 | 40,000 |
| 6 | 25,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
| 7 | 30,000 | 48,000 | 60,000 |
| 8 | 40,000 | - | - |
Hyatt has a ton of amazing values in its portfolio of properties that you can use points to book. This includes some of our favorites, the Hyatt Ziva and Zilara all-inclusive resorts that are scattered throughout Mexico and the Caribbean. If all-inclusive properties are your thing, these are some of the only resorts in the world that can be booked with points.
Additionally, thanks to Hyatt's partnership with MGM hotels, you can use Hyatt points to book many of the properties located on the Las Vegas strip. Of course, the top-of-the-line Park Hyatt hotels scattered throughout the world are a favorite as well, starting as low as 12,000 points per night depending on the location. See our review of the Park Hyatt New York City here.
Hyatt also recently rolled out the ability to book suites online using points, which opens up some massive value. For example, you can book this massive three-bedroom suite called the “Royal Residence” at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar for just 30,000 points per night. This massive suite typically costs nearly $3,000 a night!
Bottom Line
New World of Hyatt Credit Cardholders can earn up to 60,000 points and five tier-qualifying nights in 2021.
But the World of Hyatt Credit Card is also worth holding onto long-term for the annual free night certificate it offers. You can easily cover your annual fee with just this benefit alone.
Click Here to learn more about the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
Seems like a great deal on this card. My question: Why didn’t this card make your list for top Credit Card offers for December?
Hey Nadeem, it is a great deal and should absolutely be on that list. I published that before getting into the details of this card. I’ll make sure to add. 😊
Thanks Nick. I am thinking of applying for this card. Do I need to sign up and create a World of Hyatt loyalty account first? Also, I was on the card registration website and didn’t read anything about the “New cardholders will get 10 of those tier-qualifying nights in 2021”
Hey Nadeem. I would recommend creating your World of Hyatt account before you apply. That way you will have your number to use on the application. If you don’t they will automatically create one for you, and it can be a pain to track it down and get logged into your account.
Very interesting, I am looking at the application and I too don’t see any mention of the 10 free nights for 2021 any longer. The blue banner I used above in the post was directly from the application last week. This may be worth a call to Chase/Hyatt to see if this is still being offered.
I just signed up for this card but only noticed 5 nights credit, did I miss something? Are they issued after the new year? I was not a Hyatt member prior to signing up for the card.
Thanks
Hi Freddy. The 10 nights will be applied for 2021, which should be reflected in your account after the start of the year.