Hyatt Credit Card – Two Free Nights Offer Changing to 40,000 Points on 6/29

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The Hyatt Credit Card is changing their sign-up bonus on 6/29/17. For now, you can get two free night awards after spending $2,000 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, no resort fees, but expire within one year of issuance. You can also get 5,000 Hyatt points after adding an authorized user and having them make a first purchase in the first 3 months from account opening. This alternate link adds a $50 statement credit but says nothing about an authorized user bonus. Take your pick.

The new offer is supposed to be 40,000 Hyatt points after spending $2,000 within your first 3 months of cardmembership. The question is then:

What is better: Two free nights at any Hyatt hotel or 40,000 Hyatt points?

The overall answer is you should apply for the current offer if you have an aspirational hotel you want to stay at within the next year or so. Here is a screenshot of their award chart:

hyattchart

As you can see, the best Hyatt hotels cost more than 20,000 Hyatt points per night, with a cash cost of $500+ per night. Some examples of these Category 6 and 7 properties:

There are about 50 hotels worldwide that at Cat 6 and Cat 7. If you don’t want to stay at one of those, then you should take the flexibility of the 40,000 Hyatt points. You don’t need to use them within a year, and you can also use Points + Cash redemptions if you want.

If you have any problems booking your award nights, I would first try using the phone and calling. If that doesn’t work, use the power of social media and contact their Gold Passport “Concierges” @hyattconcierge on Twitter.

Card highlights.

  • $75 annual fee. Not waived the first year.
  • Free Category 1-4 award night upon renewal. Upon annual fee renewal, you will also receive a free night certificate valid for Category 1-4 hotels. Category 3-4 hotels can easily run $200 to $300 per night.
  • Free Discoverist member status. Automatic as long as your card is open. This gets you minor room upgrades when available, premium internet access, and late 2pm checkout.
  • Explorist status after you spend $50,000 or more on purchases in a calendar year. Perks include guaranteed room availability up to 72 hours in advance, 4 Club lounge access awards and more.
  • 3 Bonus Points per $1 spent at all Hyatt hotels and resorts. 2 Bonus Points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airline and at car rental agencies. 1 Bonus Point per $1 spent on all other purchases made with your card.
  • No foreign transaction fees.

Restrictions. This Chase Hyatt card is not subject to “5/24” restrictions, although it will count as an opened card for other 5/24 cards. Our strategy is to have one person apply for Chase 5/24 cards, and the other person applies for everything else like these. However, there is this language:

This product is available if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.

Bottom line. I enjoy using hotel awards to stay at luxurious places where I would balk at paying the full cash cost. Nights-based awards are nice for such aspirational stays. You can get $1,000+ value out of two free unrestricted night awards. The award certificates do expire after a year though, so you might prefer to wait for a points award with additional flexibility. I might even wait for an improved limited-time offer or something. But if you’ve been waiting on this bonus, you need to make a decision soon.

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Comments

  1. 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.

  2. @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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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?

  5. @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:

    You will qualify for and receive one Hyatt Gold Passport® Free Night Award after your first purchase. You will qualify for and receive an additional Hyatt Gold Passport® Free Night Award if you make purchases totaling $1,000 or more within 3 months of account opening. Purchases do not include using your account for balance transfers or cash advances, or using any checks that access your account. Each Free Night Award is valid for use for one (1) night in any available standard room within one year from issuance at any Hyatt Hotel or Resort worldwide. Awards are not transferable. After qualifying, please allow 10 days for your Free Night Award(s) to post to your Hyatt Gold Passport account.

  6. 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!

  7. 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?

  8. I understand the Cat5 initial cert expires in a year. How long until the renewed Cat4 cert expires? Marriott allows 6 months.
    Thx

  9. Troy Brown says

    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?

  10. @TK – Check this post out:

    https://www.mymoneyblog.com/how-opening-and-closing-credit-card-accounts-affects-your-credit-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.

  11. 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

  12. @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!

  13. 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?

  14. 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?

  15. Are the free award nights good for double occupancy? family? Does not seem to be mentioned in the card details.

  16. My husband and i both got the Hyatt card last July, met the minimum spend, and then spent 4 free nights at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos, which is an all-inclusive. Free upscale hotel PLUS food, drinks, coffee bar, KidzClub, etc – absolutely amazing. I highly recommend checking out the all inclusives, which are great for families (and there are adult-only all inclusives run by Hyatt as well). I think the whole family would cost >45,000 points per night, so definitely a sad change for us! We were hoping to do it again!

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