I love hotel credit cards that have perks like annual free nights that easily offset the annual fee. But I really love hotel cards that also offer great upfront value in the form of a strong welcome bonus and that give you solid elite status benefits.
The World of Hyatt Card is definitely one of the great travel cards that offers value in several different forms. In this article, I will walk you through everything you need to know about this card if you are considering getting it. I will cover things like the welcome bonuses, benefits, and also free nights.
Table of Contents
World of Hyatt Card intro
The World of Hyatt Card is great for people looking for an easy way to get free hotel stays. It is also a fantastic option for Hyatt loyalists who want to climb up the elite status ladder and earn a lot of points on Hyatt stays. Keep reading below for more details on this card.
Related: The full list of the best hotel credit cards!
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Welcome Bonus
Typically, the World of Hyatt Card will offer a welcome bonus ranging from 50,000 to 60,000 points. The welcome bonus is usually structured in a way that offers you a bonus for a lower spend amount and then requires you to spend more money within a six-month period to get the full bonus.
For example, check out two welcome bonuses that we have seen on this card below:
60,000 point offer
- Earn 40,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- Plus, earn an additional 20,000 Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 total on purchases within the first 6 months of account opening
50,000 point offer
- Earn 25,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- Plus, earn an additional 25,000 Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 total on purchases within the first 6 months of account opening.
As you can tell, you can sometimes earn a bonus for $3,000 worth of spend but will need to spend an additional $3,000 to get the full amount. This is a common trend we’ve seen for credit cards over the past couple of years and we will likely only see more of it in the future.
While I would prefer to get the 60,000 Hyatt point offer (whenever it is available), I think that “settling” for the 50,000 point offer can also make a lot of sense. This is because 50,000 Hyatt points can still cover some great hotels. Here is a look at the Hyatt award chart:
| Hotel category | Standard room points per night | Regency/Grand Club points per night | Standard suite points per night | Premium suite points per night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5,000 | 7,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 8,000 | 12,000 | 13,000 | 16,000 |
| 3 | 12,000 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 24,000 |
| 4 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 24,000 | 30,000 |
| 5 | 20,000 | 27,000 | 32,000 | 40,000 |
| 6 | 25,000 | 33,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
| 7 | 30,000 | 39,000 | 48,000 | 60,000 |
| 8 | 40,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
As you can tell, you could cover two nights at a category five property and still have 10,000 Hyatt points leftover.
Category five properties can be very nice like the all-inclusive Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos I just stayed at where rooms go for 20,000 points or $300 per night. This means that your welcome bonus could be worth well over $700 in many cases.
That’s a lot of value for a welcome bonus and why I think that the 50,000 bonus is actually quite strong.
The only drawback with Hyatt is that there are fewer properties compared to brands like Marriott and Hilton, so finding a Hyatt property in your desired location is sometimes a little bit of a challenge.
Eligibility
This card is subject to the Chase 5/24 Rule and also the Chase 2/30 Rule and 24 month rule. Basically if you have opened up five or more accounts in the past 24 months or two Chase cards in the last 30 days you will not be eligible for this card.
Also if you have received a welcome bonus for any Hyatt card in the last 24 months or currently hold any Hyatt card (like the old Hyatt credit card) you are not be eligible. Here’s exactly what the rule states:
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
If you are not familiar with these rules or find them confusing you are not alone and it is one of the reasons why I am creating WalletFlo, so you don’t have to worry about these rules anymore.
Bonus categories
- 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
A quick reminder
When it comes to earning points with your Hyatt card you always have to remember that Hyatt is a 1:1 transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards.
This means that you could use a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and earn 3X points on those travel and dining categories and then transfer your Chase points to Hyatt if you would like.
Even if you had a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and you only earned 2X on those categories, you could still transfer your points to various travel partners making those points more valuable.
So always consider that you could be earning better bonus earnings with various Chase cards.
With that in mind, I will breakdown the bonus categories.
4X at Hyatt
I really like that you can earn 4X the points on Hyatt purchases with the World of Hyatt Card. (This card used to only offer 3X points on Hyatt purchases.) If you value Hyatt points at 1.5 cents per point, that’s like getting 6% back which is great!
This is by far the best bonus category for this card and it is even better than cards like Chase Sapphire Reserve, which only earn 3X on Hyatt (hotel) purchases.
If you consider the additional points you will earn with Hyatt Discoverist status you will be earning 9.5 points per dollar spent which comes out to about 14.9% back which is pretty solid!
2X on local transit
Getting 2X on local transit and commuting, including taxis, mass transit, tolls and ride-share services is okay but not the best you can do. For example, you could use a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and earn 3X points on these or use some co-branded cards that offer up to 5X.
2X at select dining
Getting 2X at restaurants, cafes and coffee shops is another average category. Once again, it is not difficult to find a card that earns 3X+ on dining. Personally, I stick to using the American Express Gold Card for all of my dining purchases since it earns a whopping 4X!
2X on airline tickets
Getting 2X on airline tickets purchased directly from the airline is unfortunately yet another mediocre category. You can do much better than to ask by putting airfare on cards like the American Express Platinum Card that earns 5X on airfare.
2X on gyms
Earning 2X on gym memberships is cool because not many (if any) other cards offer that as a bonus category (though most people probably don’t spend that much money each month on gym memberships).
1X on everyday spend
You will earn 1X on every other non-bonused category. Because of this, you likely will want to use a better every day card also known as a “daily driver.”
A great option for this would be to go for the Chase Freedom Unlimited. That card earns 1.5X on all purchases and also has no annual fee. If you have a premium card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can transfer your points over to Hyatt.
Tip: When thinking about everyday spend, you also have to consider the free night you can get with $15,000 worth spend and elite night credits. But more on that stuff below.
Free anniversary 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
Free anniversary night
The World of Hyatt Card is one of those hotel credit cards that you probably want to keep for the free anniversary night.
Each year, you will get a free night at a category one through four Hyatt property. (You will only get the free night after you have had your card for one year.) You will have 12 months to use this free night so always keep in mind that it will expire.
There are some solid properties that you can use your free night at and you can find a list of some of the best properties to use your free night at here.
In the past, I have received close to $200 or more in value from this benefit so that easily offsets the $95 annual fee. But you could find properties where you could receive $300+ in value for the free night if you looked hard enough.
Annual free night with spend
Something interesting about this card is that it also offers you a free anniversary night after only $15,000 in spend. Spending $15,000 in a year is not very difficult for a lot of people so this is a very easy way to get two free nights each year.
This is what I was referring to above. In some cases you may not want to optimize every day spend on a card like the Freedom Unlimited and instead choose to put spend on this card to pursue that free night.
It is also nice that you will also get elite night credits for your spend as I discuss below.
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Elite status
- 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
Automatic elite status
The World of Hyatt Card will grant you automatic Hyatt Discoverist status.
This is the bottom level of elite status for Hyatt and honestly it really does not offer much. It has allowed me to get some upgrades and things like premium internet and late check out (even 4pm) in the past so it is not worthless but just don’t go expecting too much from it. You can read more about this elite status here.
5 Elite night credits
The World of Hyatt Card also offers you qualifying night credits towards the status. You will automatically receive five qualifying night credits each year just for having the card.
Your five elite night credits should hit shortly after you open the card and then at the beginning of a calendar year in subsequent years.
Elite night credits via spend
You can also earn two additional night credits each time you spend $5,000 on your card.
The spend credits are huge because it means that this is one of the few hotel credit cards that you can climb your way up in elite status with spend. Yes, it would require a lot of spend to get up to the top elite levels but for a high spender that is actually achievable.
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)
A more manageable plan would probably be to offset something like half of the qualifying night requirements for the level of status you are gunning for but it all depends on your spending preferences. If you did happen to make it to the top elite status level here are the benefits to be looking at:
- 30% Bonus Points
- Premium internet
- Late check-out
- Upgrade to best room, up to standard suites
- Club Lounge Access
- Priority access to available rooms when checking in early
- Complimentary parking
- 48 hours guarantee
- Status with M life Rewards
- Guest of Honor
Travel and purchase protections
The World of Hyatt Card offers some decent travel and purchase protections but there are much better options out there. Below I will highlight some of the key protections you can get with this card.
Purchase protection
This card will cover your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account. Personally, I like to use cards that offer up to $10,000 per claim in purchase protection like the Chase Sapphire eserve.
Baggage delay insurance
You can get reimbursed for essential purchases for delays six hours or longer. Your coverage will be $100 per day for up to five days.
This is a pretty solid perk because it kicks in after only six hours and allows coverage for up to five days versus some other cards that limit you to three days or have longer periods that you have to wait.
Lost luggage
You can get reimbursed for a lost luggage up to $3,000.
Trip cancellation and interruption
You can get reimbursed up to $5,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels. It is possible to get coverage for up to $10,000 per trip with premium cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve so consider that.
Annual fee
The annual fee for this card is $95. As mentioned above, it is pretty easy to offset this annual fee with the free night certificate.
For that reason, I believe that this is a keeper credit card, meaning that this is a card that you usually don’t have a reason to cancel related to paying the annual fee.
Also, this card has no foreign transaction fees.
Final word
Overall, I am a huge fan of the World of Hyatt Card. For people interested in staying loyal to Hyatt this is just a fantastic card. It starts you off with the good welcome bonus, offers solid bonus earnings at Hyatt properties, and has a lot of good perks to help you climb your way up the elite status ladder. And then there are the free nights which allow you to easily offset your annual fee.
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.