How Hyatt credit card elite night credits work & key differences in how they’re earned

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Chase issues two Hyatt co-branded credit cards (a consumer card and a business card), and both offer cardholders a path to earning World of Hyatt elite night credits. The way these elite nights are earned, however, differs slightly depending on which card you hold so here’s a look are exactly what those differences look like.

World of Hyatt credit card elite night credits

The World of Hyatt credit card comes with an annual fee of $95 among the various benefits that this card offers (read this review for more details), are two benefits which can really help a cardholder earn or maintain Hyatt elite status.

• Towards the beginning of every calendar year, holders of the World of Hyatt credit card have 5 bonus elite night credits deposited into their accounts.
• The card offers cardholders 2 elite night credits for every $5,000 of eligible spending that they put on their card (net of returns).

There’s no limit to the number of elite nights that a cardholder can earn in a calendar year and all the credits earned count towards World of Hyatt elite status and the World of Hyatt Milestone Awards.

Hyatt will tell you that the elite night credits earned from spending on the World of Hyatt credit card will post to a cardholder’s World of Hyatt account “up to 8 weeks from the last day of the calendar month when [they] qualify, for World of Hyatt Tier-Qualifying Night credits to be added to [their] World of Hyatt account”.

In practice, however, we find that any elite qualifying credits we’re owed post a lot quicker than that.

There are two further key things that you should know about these elite night credits:

• The counter that tracks a credit card holder’s spending towards elite night credits is continuous and doesn’t reset at the end of the calendar year.

This means that holders of the World of Hyatt credit card don’t miss out if they fail to complete the spending needed to hit their next $5,000 milestone by the end of a calendar year and, as you’ll see a little later, this is a key difference between the World of Hyatt credit card and the World of Hyatt Business credit card.

• Elite night credits earned through spending on the World of Hyatt credit card are always credited to the calendar year in which the spending occurred.

What this means is that if you cross a $5,000 spending marker in December 2024, the 2 elite night credits earned will count toward your elite status earnings in 2024 even though they will not appear in your account until January 2025.

The World of Hyatt Business credit card elite night credits

The World of Hyatt Business credit card comes with an annual fee of $195 and alongside benefits like two easy-to-use $50 Hyatt credits (which can help to reduce the net cost of holding this card), it offers cardholders a chance to boost their progress to elite status through credit card spending. Specifically…

• The World of Hyatt Business credit card offers cardholders 5 elite night credits for every $10,000 of eligible spending that they put on their card (net of returns).

Unlike the consumer card, the World of Hyatt Business credit card doesn’t offer cardholders any elite night credits at the beginning of the year.

It does, however, offer more elite night credits per $1,000 of spending than the consumer card and like the consumer card, it doesn’t put a cap on the number of elite nights that a cardholder can earn in a calendar year.

Also like the consumer card, all the elite night credits earned from spending put on the World of Hyatt Business credit card count towards World of Hyatt elite status and the World of Hyatt Milestone Awards.

The card’s terms and conditions say that the elite night credits earned from spending on the World of Hyatt Business credit card will post to a cardholders World of Hyatt account “up to 8 weeks from the last day of the calendar month when [they] qualify, for World of Hyatt Tier-Qualifying Night credits to be added to [their] World of Hyatt account” but in practice, we find that the credits post a lot quicker than that.

There are two further key things that you should know about these elite night credits:

• Unlike what we’ve seen with the consumer card, the counter that tracks the spending put on the World of Hyatt Business credit card will reset at the end of the calendar year.

This can feel a little harsh for cardholders that find themselves falling just a little short of a $10,000 spending marker a the end of a calendar year, and this is one of the key differences between the consumer and business card.

• Elite night credits earned through spending on the World of Hyatt Business credit card are credited to the calendar year in which the spending occurred.

What this means is that if a $10,000 spend marker is crossed in December 2024 (for example), the 5 elite night credits earned will count towards a World of Hyatt member’s 2024 elite qualification year even though they will not appear in their account until January 2025).

In summary

Both the World of Hyatt credit card and the World of Hyatt Business credit card offer cardholders a chance to earn elite night credits without having to set foot in a hotel. The key thing to remember is that each card has its own way of awarding Hyatt elite night credits and it’s these differences that can make a significant difference when it comes to deciding which of the cards would work best for you.