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Anyone who successfully applied for the World of Hyatt credit card between 16 October and 31 December 2020 was given a choice of two good welcome offers and was promised 10 elite night credits for 2020 and a further 10 elite night credits in 2021 (double the usual number of elite night credits that the card offers). The 2021 bonus elite night credits are now posting.
The standard 5 elite night credits that card_name (review) gives cardholders every year posted on (or around) January 3rd but at the time there was no sign of the additional 5 bonus nights due to anyone who had successfully applied for the card between the middle of October and the end of 2020.
Now, however, it looks like the remaining 5 nights have posted…
…so if you’re one of the many people chasing Hyatt Globalist status courtesy of the incredibly generous promotion that Hyatt is currently running, this may well have just pushed you over the top (congratulations!) or it may have just given you a significant boost towards your goal.
My nice surprise
I applied for card_name shortly before the welcome offer was improved (to give all successful applicants 10 elite night credits instead of 5) and, as I explained back in November, when I called Chase to see if I could be matched to the improved offer, I was quickly told no. I didn’t really have an issue with this so I didn’t give it any more thought.
The 5 elite night credits that I expected to post in 2020 appeared in my account just a few days after my successful application…
… and then, very mysteriously, a further 5 elite night credits posted a few weeks later.
At first, I made the mistake of thinking that perhaps these were bonus elite nights from a 5-night stay that I had recently made, but in hindsight, that wasn’t a sensible thought as the bonus nights I was expecting were for the 2021 qualification year so the nights that had just posted to my account could not possibly be them.
I then assumed that this was just an error and I spent the rest of 2020 waiting for these elite nights to be clawed back (the credit card nights credited in 2020 were always going to be inconsequential to me so I didn’t really care if Hyatt clawed them back). The claw back never materialized.
Now, in 2021, take a look at what my account activity is showing:
I have 10 Elite Qualifying Nights and all 10 are courtesy of World of Hyatt credit card.
I have no idea how this has happened, but it would appear that although I applied for card_name a few days before the welcome offer was improved, and although a Chase phone agent told me (very clearly) that my welcome offer could not be improved, I’ve somehow been given the improved welcome offer. That’s the only explanation that fits the evidence. Thank you, Chase! 👍
As I’m in the middle of a mammoth mattress run to not only secure top-tier Globalist status, but to also lock in 4 suite night awards, these extra (and unexpected) 5 elite nights will come in very useful and will probably save me around $100.
That’s not really a significant sum of money (in the grand scheme of things), but it’s still a very welcome saving and makes my decision to mattress run all the way to 60 elite nights look even better.
Bottom Line
The bonus elite night credits that card_name (review) owes anyone who successfully applied for the card between mid-October and the end of 2020 should now have posted.
With Hyatt also promising to post the bonus elite nights from its fantastic Bonus Journey’s Promotion a lot sooner than originally planned (nights earned through January 4th should post in the next few days), a lot of people may be about to get Globalist elite status earlier than they expected.
I have experienced the opposite having applied for the World of Hyatt credit card at midday the last day of their offer to award new members 10 elite qualifying nights through to August 31st, 2020. Because my application was not approved until September 1st, 2020, however, they will not award me the additional 5 elite qualifying nights I had expected — despite my calling in and inquiring about the discrepancy multiple times. I really wish I had waited until the fall rather than trying to apply the last day of the offer.
Chase has been horrible. I applied, got a “pending decision” email. I waited a week, no response so I called. I was told I had no application pending. Reapplied, approved instantly. no card shows up. They make me wait 10 days and then overnight a new card to me. I get an email from Chase that I have been selected for the 10% offer and need to add it to my card. No offer is in my account to add. Chase knows nothing. Hyatt knows nothing.
[…] 10 elite night credits came my way courtesy of my World of Hyatt credit card which costs $95/year. 5 elite night credits were part of the card’s annual benefits and the other 5 were from the welcome bonus that was available in the latter months of 2020. […]