Updated: Hyatt Credit Card – Two Free Hotel Nights at any Hyatt Hotel, $75 Annual Fee
The Hyatt Credit Card by Chase offers you Two Free Night Awards after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. The free nights are valid for a standard room at any Hyatt hotel worldwide, with no blackout dates, within one year of issuance. Award nights have no resort fees, no internet fees, and no redemption fees.
You also get free Hyatt Platinum member status as long as your card is open. This gets you room upgrades based on availability, free internet access, late checkout, and other perks.
If you are already Platinum, the two free nights come with two additional suite upgrades. I’m happy this card is back because I don’t have it yet, and I was afraid they would dilute the bonus a lot more. My sister signed up for the card and already used it for a two-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Orlando (Cat 5, $250 a night). I think I can do better. 
I just need to see if I can travel somewhere I can take advantage of this within the next year. There are also no foreign transaction fees for international purchases.
You also get 3 Hyatt Gold Passport points for every $1 spent with your Hyatt Card at all Hyatt properties, 2 Hyatt Gold Passport points for every $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly with the airline and at car rental agencies, and 1 Hyatt Gold Passport point for every $1 spent on purchases elsewhere.
There is a $75 annual fee that is not waived, so keep that in mind… Now for the fun part. By cross-referencing Condé Nast Traveler’s Top Hotels and Travel+Leisure’s Top 500 Hotels with their highest level Category 5 & 6 listings, I found these spots with sample rates from from $500-$900 a night. These also tend to be in prime locations for sightseeing.
- Park Hyatt Paris – $900 per night, TripAdvisor
- Park Hyatt Tokyo – $600 a night, TripAdvisor
- Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa
- Hyatt Regency Maui
- Hyatt Regency London
- Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
- Grand Hyatt New York
- Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
Also new: Upon renewing the card (for another $75) you will get another reward night at designated as Category 1 through 4. There are some nice Category 4 options for the renewal as well. These hotels definitely normally charge more than $75 a night, but only keep it if you can get the value out of it. Some of them charge up to $300 a night and are the poshest hotels in the area, like the Park Hyatt Saigon.
- Hyatt Regency Boston
- Hyatt Regency Chicago
- Hyatt Regency Orlando
- Hyatt Regency San Francisco
- Hyatt Regency Washington DC
- Park Hyatt Melbourne
- Grand Hyatt Beijing
- Grand Hyatt Shanghai
- Grand Hyatt Bangkok
- Park Hyatt Saigon
Ease of Award Redemption?
My sister was able to book her hotel with no issues, and most other experiences I have read about are positive. However, there were some issues discuess in this InsideFlyer interview with a Hyatt representative:
Garrido (Inside Flyer):In a recent Flyertalk discussion, members said that some hotels (e.g. Hyatt Maui) are setting aside standard room inventory as part of package deals, thereby making rooms unavailable for free nights in a stealthy move around no blackout dates. Any comment?
Zidell (Hyatt): When we relaunched the Hyatt Gold Passport program last year, we removed all blackout dates and/or capacity controls on award inventory for standard rooms. As long as the hotel is selling standard rooms then these rooms are available for award redemption. Occasionally, award inventory will not be available because all standard rooms are sold or the hotel is only selling packages, which cannot currently be booked with Hyatt Gold Passport points. Overall, we have received very positive feedback regarding the availability of our award inventory.
I’ve haven’t heard of any other specific hotels doing this, but there are sometimes glitches with their online booking. I would use the phone to book your award nights, and if you have any problems, use the power of social media. Hyatt has Gold Passport “Concierges” all around the internet, and you can contact them easily via @hyattconcierge on Twitter. They seem very vigilant and have done a good job of solving any issues that do come up.
By Jonathan Ping | Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 3/1/12, 1:52am
September 30th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
We stayed at the Park Hyatt Vendome Paris (which is now $1100 a night by the way) and it was fantastic. The only hitch when I booked the free nights online is I had to book each night in a separate reservation, the system wouldn’t let me book both nights at once, not sure why.
September 30th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
@J – I think I want to use this in the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome as well. Paris is so expensive, especially for a good location. Tokyo also sound fun, though, minus the radiation.
I’ve heard of others with your similar issue, kind of what I was referring to with online glitches. If you called, you could have combined your reservations, although I’m sure upon arrival they could have easily kept you in the same room for both nights.
September 30th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
I used it for the Highlands Inn, Carmel CA. I think it was about $400 a night, although it was way overpriced. I would not recomend staying there.
October 1st, 2011 at 4:02 pm
How soon after meeting the spend requirements are you eligible for the second free night? I’m planning a Europe trip in December-January, and am thinking of spending Dec 31 – Jan 2 in Paris. I’m just not sure if i’ll be eligible for the second free night by then. If I get the card in the next week, I’d be able to spend 1k within a few days. Any thoughts?
October 1st, 2011 at 8:18 pm
@RJ – It appears to be 10 days after “qualifying”. I would go conservative and assume that qualifying counts when the statement closes after reaching 1k. You might get lucky and qualifying counts when you actually spend $1k.
Fine print:
October 3rd, 2011 at 5:55 am
Hi,
Have you ever written a post about if its okay for your credit ratings if you cancel/subscribe to new credit cards? These deals you post look great. But what if we just do it for a year to get the free nights and then cancel our credit card? Would that hurt our credit ratings?
Thanks and keep up the good work!
March 1st, 2012 at 4:01 am
I might use this in Paris as well. But I just want to double check, is it really free? or are there taxes or other fees on the $900 a night room?
March 1st, 2012 at 4:24 am
I understand the Cat5 initial cert expires in a year. How long until the renewed Cat4 cert expires? Marriott allows 6 months.
Thx
March 1st, 2012 at 10:21 am
I read the offer details and don’t see any restriction about the offer being limited to one per household. Could my spouse and I both get this and then book 4 consecutive nights?
March 1st, 2012 at 1:49 pm
@TK – Check this post out:
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/how.....score.html
@piere – Award nights have no taxes, no resort fees, no internet fees, and no redemption fees. I think there might be parking fees if you choose to park your car there.
@Ack – The renewal award is also good for one year from issuance. “Award Night is good for one (1) night in any available standard room within 12 months from issuance at any Hyatt hotel or resorts designated as Category 1 through 4 under the Hyatt Gold Passport program.”
@Troy Brown – Credit cards are issued to individuals, so your plan should be fine assuming there is availability on all those days.
March 1st, 2012 at 7:32 pm
This is very tempting because I’m hoping to travel to Europe next year. However, actual travel plans in 2013 are likely more than 12 months away. Can I get the card and just not use it for 6 months, and then spend, and get the award?
Or, another option, how long will this offer last? (Based on the last time it was offered, if you happen to know.)
I’m just trying to extend the ‘one year to use’ on the free nights offered a few months.
thanks
March 2nd, 2012 at 3:16 pm
@Patrick – After re-reading the terms on the card, it would seem that your idea would work. The Free Night Awards are simply issued after first purchase, and there is no stated deadline for the first purchase. 6 months doesn’t seem unreasonable. The awards then expire 1 year after issuance.
I really have no idea how long this offer will last. It has been around but they tweak the offers all the time. It could go down to 1 free night at some point, or they could add back in spending requirements. Good luck!
March 4th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I signed up for this last year under my name and it worked out well for 2 skiing days at Beavercreek Ski Resort. 3 months later I cancelled the card.
I do have a question though…would it be possible for my wife now to sign up for the card and get the same 2 free night option?
March 21st, 2012 at 2:13 pm
thanks for this post – i signed up and got the card! planning on using the 2 free nights to hyatt regency maui later this year.
anyone ever had to stay longer than 2 nights? do you have to book separately? move to another room?
March 28th, 2012 at 7:24 am
Are the free award nights good for double occupancy? family? Does not seem to be mentioned in the card details.