Meet Randy | The Family Travel Guy

Travel Blog + Travel Agency

Interested in Two Free Nights at any Hyatt in the World?

Review: The Hyatt Credit Card from Chase Bank

Have a trip coming up soon and looking to save some money?  As I explained in a previous post about credit card rewards, there are some great travel deals to be had out there just by signing up for the right credit card at the right time.

The Hyatt Credit Card from Chase Bank currently offers a great sign-up bonus for two free nights at any Hyatt hotel after spending $1,000 within 3 months on the card.  With just the sign-up bonus alone, you could stay at a great luxury Hyatt hotel just for signing up for the card.  There are also great on-going benefits that make it worthwhile keeping this card among your other credit cards.  It is also a Visa Signature branded card with all of the benefits of that program I explained in a previous post


You could use these free nights at the most luxurious Hyatt hotels out there whenever a standard room is available.  Here are some examples of potential locations for your free nights in Paris, New York, San Francisco and Maui for September 2015 travel dates:


                        
                        Andaz Maui (Category 6)
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome (Category 7)
   
                         
                               Hyatt Regency SF (Category 4)
 
Park Hyatt New York (Category 7)
The two free nights alone can get you a benefit of anywhere from $750 to $1800 based on these examples.  You could possibly get an even greater benefit depending on when and where you redeem the two nights. 

Current Offer
There are promotions that come and go for the Hyatt credit card, but at the moment the best offer available that I have seen is shown below:
  • 2 free nights at any Hyatt hotel after $1,000 spend within 3 months
  • $50 statement credit when booking a stay
  • 5,000 Hyatt Gold Passport Bonus Points when adding an authorized user 

With the Hyatt credit card you earn Hyatt Gold Passport points:
  • 3 points per $1 spent at all Hyatt properties
  • 2 points per $1 at restaurants, airline tickets purchased directly with the airline and at car rental agencies
  • 1 point per $1 everywhere else
There is no limit to how many points you can earn and the points won't expire as long as you keep your credit card active or have some activity in the Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty program.   

Having the card also gives you mid-tier Platinum status in the Hyatt Gold Passport Loyalty program, that would typically require at least 5 qualifying stays or 15 nights within a calendar year.  Having Platinum status isn't all that lucrative, but you do get the following perks:

  • 15% bonus on Hyatt Gold Passport points for eligible spend at Hyatt properties
  • Preferred rooms on higher floors or larger rooms, based on availability
  • Premium Internet access
  • Late checkout until 2pm
It isn't until you get to the next level of status within the program, Diamond, that the nice perks start to kick in.  Having the card can also make it easier for you to earn and maintain diamond status by crediting you with stay/night credit for meeting certain spending thresholds on the credit card.

The card does have an annual fee of $75 that is waived the first year.  There is also an on-going bonus they give you after your one-year anniversary of having the card that consists of a free night award in a category 1-4 Hyatt property.  This award is given every cardmember anniversary.  There are 7 categories of Hyatt hotels with point redemption values for award nights increasing for every tier.



Hyatt Gold Passport Points Chart
My Experience
I signed up for the Hyatt credit card earlier this year and plan on using my two free nights by next year sometime either at the Andaz in Maui or the Park Hyatt in New York.  Based on the examples above I can look at getting a benefit of more than $1,000 depending on where I decide to use my two free nights.  I likely would never pay the room rates shown above in the examples, but getting free nights just for signing up for a credit card isn't a bad deal.

The Hyatt Gold Passport program is a great loyalty program and having the Hyatt and Chase co-branded credit card helps me earn points faster to use for upgrades, award nights and other perks within the loyalty program.  




Based on my experience, it’s easy to get anywhere from ~1.5 to 2 cents value per Hyatt Gold Passport point when you convert them to free nights at their hotels.  I didn't get into an in-depth review of the Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty program here, but I plan on reviewing my experience with it when I get a chance to write a post about it.  But even if you’re not familiar with the loyalty program, all you really need to know is that the points earned from the Chase Hyatt credit card at 1 point per $1, are generally worth 1 cent, but depending on how you redeem them you can get more value out of them.  Based on the room rates in the example I have above, you can get an idea of how valuable Hyatt points can be.

I don't necessarily use my Hyatt credit card for everyday spend since another Chase credit card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, gives me similar point earning potential and is more flexible in how those points can be redeemed.  I utilize the Sapphire as my primary card since I can always transfer those Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to the Hyatt Gold Passport program if I'd like, as Hyatt is one of the travel partners of Chase.


If the Chase Hyatt credit card sounds like something you would sign up for, where would you plan on using your two free nights?