NOTE: The offer for two free nights is no longer available. Clicking on the link will take you to the current public offer.
News started to filter out this week that Chase was going to change the sign up bonus for the Hyatt Credit Card. The current offer is:
Earn 2 free nights at any Hyatt hotel or resort worldwide after you spend $2,000 on purchases with the Hyatt Credit Card in the first 3 months from account opening.
Before applying, remember the following disclaimer:
This product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this credit card within the last 24 months.
This sign up bonus is extremely valuable because it’s good at any Hyatt. You can read posts online of how people have stayed at the Park Hyatt in Sydney (it overlooks the Sydney Opera House), or the Park Hyatt Tokyo (it was featured in the film “Lost in Translation”) or the mega-Instagrammable Park Hyatt Maldives. You know, that place with those bungalows that stretch out into the never-ending blue sea.
If you were dreaming of a trip like that, you need to act NOW!!!!
I didn’t stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney, a Hyatt Category 7 hotel, but I did bicycle ride past it and this is the view from just outside the hotel.
Park Hyatt Maldives Overwater Bungalow, a Hyatt category 6 hotel. Note: these overwater rooms will cost you an extra $500 even with your “free” room certificate.
View from the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, a Hyatt category 6 hotel
On June 29th, Chase is going to change the sign up bonus so instead of the two free nights, you will get 40,000 Hyatt points after $2,000 of spending in the first three months after account opening.
I’ll put this in perspective for you. Hyatt has a decent award chart, with seven categories. Redemptions go from 5,000 points a night for a category 1 hotel to 30,000 for a category 7 hotel. Nicer rooms or suites are also available for additional points.
I’ve read many websites that have said this change is a huge devaluation of the Hyatt Credit Card and you should apply right away before this change goes into effect. However, the only reason you really need to apply now is if you were planning on (or dreaming about) staying for two nights in a swanky Hyatt hotel.
For 40,000 points you can stay for two nights in a Category 5 Hyatt hotel, like the Andaz West Hollywood. We stayed there last year and it was a great location right on Sunset Blvd.
View from the Andaz West Hollywood, a Hyatt Category 5 hotel
You could also stay for two nights at the Park Hyatt Washington D.C. We stayed here in 2015 and it was quite a thrill to have them drive us from the hotel to the Smithsonian in the hotel’s Mercedes Benz sedan.
Park Hyatt Washington D.C. Lobby, a Hyatt Category 5 hotel
With the new sign up bonus, you can also stretch your points to last for more than two nights. You would be able to stay for eight nights at the Hyatt Place in Raleigh, NC with those 40,000 points.
Hyatt Place Raleigh, NC, a Category 1 Hyatt Hotel (5,000 points a night)
Personally, I was holding off on applying for this card until we were headed back to Sydney in a few years. I really wanted to stay at the Park Hyatt there and using these free nights would have been a way to do so. The one problem is the certificate is only good for one year from when you earn it and we’re not going back to Australia next year.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The “two free nights at any Hyatt” sign up bonus for the Hyatt Card was one of the aspirational award redemptions. You could always dream of staying in one of these fantastic hotels.
If you have a specific redemption in mind for two nights at a Hyatt Category 6 or 7 hotel within the next year, then you need to get moving and apply for the Chase Hyatt Card before the offer goes away forever on June 29th. If not, I wouldn’t rush to apply just because the sign up bonus is changing. You’ll still be able to get plenty of value out of 40,000 Hyatt Points. After all, they’re not Hilton Honors points.
Are you going to sign up for the Chase Hyatt Card now because of the changes or will you wait until the new bonus takes effect? Let me know what you think in the comments.
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