New Hyatt Card Benefits on Oct. 1.

Posted by Noob Master on Sep 25, 2012 in Chase Bank, Credit Cards, Hyatt, Uncategorized | 5 comments

When I was in Europe, Hyatt announced that they will be adding some new benefits to their Visa rewards cards. This piqued my interest since I already hold the Hyatt Visa and like it as it is, but there’s always room for improvements.

If you hold the card too, then you will automatically get the new features on Oct. 1. You don’t have to register or update your card.

Here are the new features on the Hyatt Credit Card.

Earn 2 Hyatt Gold Passport Points per $1

You will now be able to earn 2x points per $1 at restaurants, on airline tickets (when purchased directly from the airline), and at car rental agencies. You will still earn 1 Gold Passport point per $1 on everything else and 3 points per $1 at Hyatt properties.

It’s nice to see Hyatt increasing the points earning potential of the card. However, I will still be using my Chase Sapphire Preferred® for meals and travel. It gives me 2x points as well, and Ultimate Rewards are a little more flexible. I can transfer them to Hyatt if I want (and I do), but it gives me other options as well. My Sapphire Preferred also gives me a 7% annual dividend too, so it’s actually more than 2x points per $1- it’s 2.14 points per $1 for travel and dining.

Since I applied for the American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card during my last app party, I’ve been using it for airfare because it gives me 3x Membership Rewards points per $1, and I like to diversify. If I booked through Amex travel, I would get 4x Membership Rewards points per $1.

Credit towards Diamond Status

I was anxious about this one, but soon became a little frustrated. If you spend $20,000 annually, you will get 2 stay/ 5 night credits to Diamond Status; if you spend $40,000 annually you will receive an additional 3 stay/ 5 nights credits. Boo.

Diamond status is achieved by 25 stays or 50 nights at a Hyatt property each calendar year. That’s a lot of cash to put on one card and not much pay off. The new Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card comes with the perk of achieving their highest level of status by spending $40,000 in a calendar year. I was hoping for more from Hyatt on this feature, since even the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card comes with 2 stays/ 5 night benefits for cardholders and you don’t have to spend a dime. 

Holding the Hyatt Visa gives you instant Platinum status. This is a great feature of the card and I’m glad it’s staying the same. I just had my breakfast comped at the Park Hyatt Vendome for being a Platinum member and it being my first stay at the Vendome. The breakfast would’ve cost us over $120! Having status at hotels is a huge perk- it can help you save money and make your stay more enjoyable. It’s the little things in life I appreciate, like free wi-fi and late check out.

Final Touches

I was hoping for a little more when I heard they were adding some new features, but I can’t complain about the card. I used the two free night certificates I received for applying for the card at the Park Hyatt Vendome a couple of weeks ago. It was a great stay made even better with my Hyatt Visa. Also, there aren’t too many cards that don’t have minimum spends to meet anymore, so adding the Hyatt Visa to your next app party is a smart move. It’s also a great card for international travel too, because it doesn’t have foreign transaction fees and it’s equipped with smart chip technology. Plus, it’s a card definitely worth holding onto, because you will receive a free night annually at a category 1-4 hotel.

In the end, the Hyatt Visa is a solid card and it’s nice to see Hyatt trying to make improvements.

Disclaimer: I do receive a referral credit for the credit cards listed in the post. Thank you for the support if you decide to apply through them.

— Noob Master