SURPRISE: Chase Launches New Hyatt Credit Card…And It Looks Good

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I’ve never held the Hyatt credit card from Chase because, just as I was thinking it was time to sign up (previously I’d had a lot of other cards prioritized ahead on the Hyatt card) Chase devalued the sign-up bonus from 2 nights at any property to a meagre 40,000 points.

Add to that the fact that the changes to the Hyatt Loyalty program were not to my liking and the fact that the Hyatt credit card did nothing to boost my chances of top-tier status and you’ll probably understand why I haven’t considered the card for a while….but that may have just changed.

Chase has just announced a revamp to the Hyatt credit card and it’s a revamp that will make the card a lot more attractive to a lot of travelers.

Here’s what’s changed:

The New Sign-Up Bonus

The new sign-up bonus is actually divided in two:

• 40,000 Bonus Points if you make $3,000 in Purchases within 3 months of account opening.
• A further 20,000 Bonus Points if you make a total of $6,000 in Purchases within 6 months of account opening.

To clarify, you need to spend $6,000 within 6 months of account opening to earn the full 60,000 point bonus.

$6,000 isn’t a small amount of money to spend but the bonus is enough points to buy you 2 nights at any top Hyatt property worldwide…like the Park Hyatt Maldives….

…or 3 nights at a mid-tier property like the Andaz West Hollywood:

Changes To Bonus Categories & Earnings

The simplest way to look at what’s changed here is with the help of a table:

As you can see the new World of Hyatt credit card is now actually worth using at Hyatt properties (before the Chase Sapphire Reserve card was better) and Chase has introduced Gyms and local transit/taxis/tolls/ride sharing as two new bonus categories.

Chase has taken away the car rental bonus category but as there are many better card to use when renting a car that shouldn’t be a big loss.

Free Nights With The New Card

The old Hyatt credit card offered a certificate for a night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt property on the anniversary of card membership.

The new World of Hyatt credit card also offers a certificate for a Category 1-4 property on the anniversary of card membership but it also offers a second such certificate once you spend $15,000 on the card during the card member year (not calendar year).

The World of Hyatt Credit Card & World of Hyatt Status

As with the card it is replacing, the new World of Hyatt credit card gives the holder automatic Discoverist status which is kept for as long as the credit card is active.

Where things get interesting is that the new credit card also offers two more things:

1. 5 elite qualifying nights towards status every year.
2. 2 further elite qualifying night toward status every time you spend $5,000 on your card.

As a reminder here are the thresholds needed for World of Hyatt status:

• Discoverist – 10 elite qualifying nights
• Explorist – 30 elite qualifying nights
• Globalist – 60 elite qualifying nights (55 nights to re-qualify)

Essentially you can earn mid-tier Hyatt status by spending $65,000 and top-tier status by spending $140,000 on the new World of Hyatt credit card (don’t forget that you’ll get 5 elite nights just for having the credit card).

Spending your way to top-tier status may be a bit much but with 2 elite qualifying nights per $5,000 spent on the credit card and 5 elite nights for holding the card you can soon be well on your way to mid-tier status with just a few Hyatt stays.

Bad News For Existing Card Holders

• If you already hold the Chase Hyatt credit card you can upgrade to the new card but you’ll only be offered 2,000 points to do so.
• If you already hold the Chase Hyatt credit card you cannot apply for the World of Hyatt credit card.

Per Chase’s T&Cs:

The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Hyatt Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Hyatt Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months

Sorry. I wish I could be the bearer of better news but, if you already have the Chase Hyatt credit card you’ll either have to cancel your card and wait two years to get the bonus or accept the 2,000 points and upgrade.

Bottom Line

The new Chase World of Hyatt card is not a stunning new credit card but it’s a significantly better card than the one it replaces.

Yes, the annual fee goes up by $20 and you no longer earn bonus points on car rentals but…

• $20 is not a lot of cash in the grand scheme of things
• You shouldn’t have been booking car rentals with your Hyatt card anyway (Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi Prestige and Citi Premier are all much better options)

I like that you can earn elite nights with the new credit card and I like that you’re finally better off using a Hyatt credit card at Hyatt properties rather than an other Chase card (the Sapphire Reserve).

All in all, this revamp may be enough to get me to apply.

Featured image: Hyatt