The World of Hyatt Credit Card is one of the most lucrative travel rewards credit cards. One reason that it stands out is that it offers you the ability to climb up the elite status latter beginning with Hyatt Discoverist status.
There are a couple of different perks that will help you do this and in this article I will break down each of those.
I’ll first go into detail about the 5 World of Hyatt Tier-Qualifying Night Credits and then I will talk about the Tier-Qualifying Night Credits for every $5,000 in spend.
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World of Hyatt Card
The World of Hyatt Card is one of the best hotel credit cards available since it comes with a great sign-up bonus, strong bonus category earning, and the opportunity for free nights. It’s also one of the best hotel cards for climbing your way up the elite status tiers for Hyatt. You can read our full detailed review here.
- Welcome Bonus
- 30,000 Bonus Points after $3,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening
- Plus, 2 points total per $1 spent on purchases that earn 1 point, up to $15,000 in spend in the first 6 months of account opening
- Bonus earning:
- 4X spent with your card at Hyatt hotels, including participating restaurants and spas
- 2X on local transit and commuting, including taxis, mass transit, tolls and ride-share services
- 2X at restaurants, cafes and coffee shops
- 2X on airline tickets purchased directly from the airline
- 2X spent on fitness club and gym memberships
- Free nights:
- Receive one free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort every year after your cardmember anniversary
- Earn an extra free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort if you spend $15,000 during your cardmember anniversary year
- Elite status:
- Comes with Hyatt Discoverist status
- Receive 5 qualifying night credits toward your next tier status every year
- Earn 2 additional qualifying night credits toward your next tier status every time you spend $5,000 on your card
- $95 Annual Fee
5 World of Hyatt Tier-Qualifying Night Credits
If you hold the World of Hyatt Credit Card, every calendar year you will be issued 5 World of Hyatt Tier-Qualifying Night Credits.
If you just opened up the credit card, you will receive these credits shortly after your account open date.
After the first year, the terms and conditions state that you will receive these within eight weeks of January 1 but in reality these often hit much quicker.
You might even see them arrive in your Hyatt account a few days after the new year. This past year in 2021, my five qualifying night credits hit my account on January 12.
You can easily check to see if and when the elite night credits are hitting your account by logging into your Hyatt account. Go to “My Account” and then click on “Past Activity.”
If your credits have hit, you will see an entry for “Chase Credit Card Night Credits.”
These credits will be valid from the date that they arrive in your account until December 31 of the same calendar year. So if you received them in January 2021, they will count toward your elite status earned during the year of 2021.
These five elite night credits do not stack with your automatic Hyatt Discoverist status that you get with the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
For example, typically you would need 10 qualifying nights to get to Discoverist.
So you might think that these five elite night credits would start you off with 15 qualifying nights but that is not the case. Instead, you will simply have five qualifying nights but with all of the benefits of having Discoverist.
The good news is these five elite night credits are applied to milestones benefits.
These are special awards that you can earn as you complete more nights and the benefits include things like bonus points, suite upgrades, a free night award, a gift card, and club lounge access awards.
Tier-Qualifying Night Credits For Every $5,000 in spend
One of the most attractive perks of this credit card is the ability to earn two Tier-Qualifying Night credits for every $5,000 in spend.
The spend tracker does not reset at the end of the year and tracks from the original account open date. But you will receive the elite night credits in the calendar year in which the spend occurred.
For purposes of your elite status with Hyatt, the night credits are tied to the posting date of the transaction that triggered the credit.
So if you had purchases made and posted in December 2021, those purchases would count towards the elite status earned in 2021 even if the statement containing those purchases closed in January 2022.
One of the coolest things about this perk is that you can earn an unlimited amount of elite night credits.
Here is a look at the elite levels for Hyatt and how to qualify.
- Discoverist (10 qualifying nights, 25,000 Base Points, or holding 3 qualifying meetings/events per year.)
- Explorist (30 qualifying nights, 50,000 Base Points, or holding 10 qualifying meetings/events per year.)
- Globalist (60 qualifying nights, 100,000 Base Points, or holding 20 qualifying meetings/events per year.)
- Lifetime Globalist status (Earn 1,000,000 Base Points over the course of your program membership)
If you have the World of Hyatt Card, you can basically subtract five qualifying nights from the initial requirements.
- Explorist (25 qualifying nights)
- Globalist (55 qualifying nights)
You could then spend your way to these with these levels of spend:
- Explorist ($65,000 in spend)
- Globalist ($140,000 in spend)
So you can see why this perk is so valuable to high spenders. It grants them an annual shortcut to top level elite status.
Just like the five elite night credits above, these credits will also apply to milestones benefits.
Chase says that you should allow up to eight weeks from the last day of the calendar month when you qualify for the credits to be added to your Hyatt account.
So if you were to spend $5,000 on June 15, then you should allow up to eight weeks from the end of June for the credits to arrive. However, there are many reports of these credits appearing much quicker than eight weeks.
In many cases, you might receive the credits within a couple of days after the statement closes that contains the required spend. Just remember what I said above, for calculating your elite status the credits apply to the year that the spend was made and not the year that the statement containing the spend closes.
There are some excluded purchases that will not trigger this benefit in these include:
- Balance transfers
- Cash advances
- Travelers checks
- Foreign currency
- Money orders
- Wire transfers or similar cash-like transactions
- Lottery tickets
- Casino gaming chips,
- Race track wagers or similar betting transactions
- Any checks that access your account
- Interest
- Unauthorized or fraudulent charges
- Fees of any kind, including an annual fee
And finally, to receive the credits your account must be open and not in default.
FAQ
You will receive the elite night credits shortly after you open up your World of Hyatt Credit Card and then usually every January after your first year.
In order to qualify for the five elite night credits each January, your World of Hyatt Credit Card account must be open and not in default.
No, authorized users do not get the credits.
Yes, the purchases made by authorized users will count towards this spend requirement. However, the credits will only be issued to the primary cardholder.
No, you can earn an unlimited amount of elite night credits.
No, the annual fee does not qualify as spend for that benefit.
Final word
As you can tell, these perks are great ways to climb higher when earning elite status with Hyatt. It’s great that they start you off with five elite night credits and the two elite night credit you get with spend our extremely valuable, especially for high spenders.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.