I didn’t pay much attention to Hyatt before I started earning Chase Ultimate Rewards. When I could transfer points from Chase to Hyatt, I noticed that they had hotels with award space in locations I wanted to stay, such as Hollywood, Sedona, Key West, and Raleigh, N.C.
View from the Andaz West Hollywood
Once I discovered the usefulness of Hyatt points, I wanted to earn more of them.
We’ve since used World of Hyatt points to stay in New York City, New Orleans and Hawaii.
View from our balcony at the Grand Hyatt Kauai
Here’s a look at the World of Hyatt Card.
World of Hyatt Card from Chase
Annual Fee
$95 per year
Sign Up Benefits
This card currently offers a 30,000-point bonus if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening your account. You can earn an additional 30,000 points by earning 2 points per dollar in the first six months after opening your account, which is a good offer but not the best use of $15,000 of spending.
Spending Bonus Categories
The World of Hyatt card earns 4X points per $1 spent with Hyatt, including participating restaurants and Exhale locations.
The card also earns 2X bonus points in the following categories:
- Local transit and commuting, including taxis, mass transit, tolls and ride-share services
- Restaurants, cafes and coffee shops
- Airline tickets purchased directly from the airline
- Fitness club and gym memberships
This may be the only card that counts gym memberships as a bonus category. You can now earn bonus points when you go (or don’t go) to the gym. 🙂
I can confirm that the restaurant category bonus category counts charges from outside the U.S. I’d imagine the same counts for transit and commuting (I can’t confirm this because I use my Sapphire Reserve for all of these charges).
No Foreign Transaction Fees
As you would hope a card marketed to travelers would, the World of Hyatt card doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees.
Free Nights
With the World of Hyatt card, you receive a free night certificate good at any category 1-4 hotel every year after your cardmember anniversary.
You can also earn an additional free night at any category 1-4 hotel if you spend $15,000 during your cardmember anniversary year.
Automatic Status
World of Hyatt cardholders are upgraded to Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as they keep the card. I don’t put much value into this benefit besides giving free premium internet over the standard internet offered to all World of Hyatt members. You’ll also get free bottled water.
Fast Track To Status
One of the perks that some people love about this card is its ability to help you achieve high-level Hyatt status. Being a cardholder provides 5 qualifying night credits towards your next tier status every year.
Plus, every time you spend $5,000 on your card, you earn 2 additional qualifying night credits towards your next tier status.
Contactless Technology
I can’t even consider this as a benefit, but Chase insists on making a big deal about it. The World of Hyatt card can make contactless payments. Big whoop.
Limitations
Like almost all other Chase cards, the World of Hyatt card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule. That means if you’ve applied for more than 5 or more cards in the past 24 months, you won’t be approved for this card. Also, previous cardmembers who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months are not eligible for the signup bonus.
Final Thoughts
The World of Hyatt card has a decent sign-up bonus, which is worth several nights at a base-level Hyatt hotel or 1-2 nights at a top-tier Hyatt property. It’s also worth keeping for the free night certificate good at up to a category 4 hotel and additional spending might be worth it for the additional free night and credits towards status if that’s important to you.
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2 comments
Keep in mind the free night after 15000 spend expires sooner than the usual 1 year that comes with account anniversary…
I hadn’t realized my YMCA membership qualified for 2x points. I just checked and it does. Thanks for the heads up.