World of Hyatt Credit Card Benefits & Review for 2024

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The World of Hyatt Credit Card offers exciting Hyatt travel benefits to maximize one of the best hotel loyalty programs. It’s possible to get up to two free night certificates annually and World of Hyatt Discoverist status plus other perks.

Learn How to Apply Here or keep reading for a closer look at the World of Hyatt Credit Card.

Who is the World of Hyatt Credit Card For?

The World of Hyatt Credit Card is an ideal travel credit card for people staying at Hyatt hotels and resorts at least once per year. Travelers who are also looking to earn some of the most valuable hotel points should consider this card.

While the card has an affordable $95 annual fee, the free anniversary night certificate can easily offset this fee as most hotel nights cost more than $100. The other hotel benefits help you save money and improve the quality of your Hyatt stays. 

While there are many Hyatt properties across the United States and the world, it’s not the largest hotel portfolio. Competing brands like Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, and IHG One Rewards are more likely to have rooms along interstate exits and in smaller towns.

If you have several new credit cards, you will want to make sure you are not subject to the Chase 5/24 rule before applying. Chase will most likely reject your application if you are the primary or authorized user on 5 or more credit cards opened in the last 24 months.

Featured World of Hyatt Credit Card Benefits

This card offers several travel benefits. As you might imagine, the best ones focus on getting more value from Hyatt hotel and resort stays.

60,000 Bonus Points Signup Bonus

The current signup bonus is worth up to 60,000 World of Hyatt points. You will need to complete two spending milestones to earn the full bonus.

• Step 1 is spending $3,000 in the first 3 months to earn the first 30,000 points. This portion of the signup bonus is easy to qualify for.
• To earn the remaining 30,000 points, you will need to spend up to $15,000 during the first 6 months on non-bonus expenses that normally earn 1x points. These purchases will earn 2 points per $1 up to $15,000 in the promotion period and then 1 point per $1. 

Standard reward nights start at 5,000 points making the full bonus worth up to 12 nights.

This bonus isn’t available to previous cardmembers that received a signup bonus for this card in the last 24 months.

4x Points on Hyatt Purchases

Cardholders will earn up to 9 points per $1 on World of Hyatt purchases. The credit card awards 4x points for Hyatt purchases.

You earn the remaining 5 points per $1 by being a member of the World of Hyatt loyalty program. If you pay for Hyatt purchases using a different card, you only earn 5x points.

Further Reading: World of Hyatt Loyalty Program Benefits

2x Points Bonus Categories

Several rewards categories earn unlimited 2 points per $1:

• Restaurants
• Airline tickets purchased directly from the airline
• Local transit and commuting
• Fitness club and gym memberships

All non-bonus purchases earn 1 point per $1.

Free Night Awards

Receive a free night award for each card anniversary. This certificate is valid at category 1-4 Hyatt hotels and resorts for a standard room that costs 40,000 points or less.

Making at least $15,000 in purchases per calendar year gives you a second single-night award. 

This perk is a common feature for hotel credit cards with an annual fee. As most Hyatt nights cost more than $100 if you pay with cash, this benefit alone is worth more than the annual fee. 

You may decide to keep this card just for this benefit and the complimentary Discoverist status even if you only stay at Hyatt properties one or two nights each year.

World of Hyatt Discoverist Status

You get complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status which is the second level on the five-tier loyalty program.

Discoverist status benefits include:

• Premium on-site internet
• Free bottled water
• 2:00 PM late checkout
• No resort fees on free night awards 
• Preferred room upgrades at check-in (when available)  
• Earn 1 Hyatt point per $1 on American Airlines purchases

Unlike other co-branded hotel credit cards, making a certain amount of card purchases in a year won’t upgrade your loyalty status to the next tier.

To achieve Explorist status, you will need to earn either 30 nights, 50,000 base points, or 10 meetings and events.

Additional World of Hyatt Credit Card Benefits

Here are some of the other travel and retail benefits that can add additional value.

5 Tier-Qualifying Night Credits

The primary cardmember starts each year with 5 World of Hyatt Tier-Qualifying Night Credits. Every $5,000 in card purchases earns 2 more credits that help you get closer to upgrading your loyalty status level.

You must accumulate at least 30 credits to get Explorist status. Your card purchases and completed Hyatt nights help you earn the necessary number of credits.

Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance

Receive up to $5,000 per person and up to $10,000 per trip for prepaid, non-refundable travel purchases when your trip is canceled or shortened due to covered reasons. Some examples include personal illness and severe weather.

Further reading: Best Credit Cards Offering Travel Insurance

Baggage Insurance

There are two different coverage options for carry-on and checked baggage:

• Baggage Delay Insurance: Up to $100 a day for 5 days for essential purchases
• Lost Luggage Reimbursement: Up to $3,000 per passenger for lost or damaged baggage

Purchase Protection

Eligible purchases have up to 120 days of purchase protection. Coverage amounts are up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

No Foreign Transaction Fee

You won’t pay any foreign transaction fee making this card a great option for international travel.

Free DoorDash Membership

Cardholders can get 12 months of complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership. This perk usually costs $9.99 per month ($120/year) and helps you save money on DoorDash and Caviar delivery orders.

DashPass benefits include:

• $0 delivery fees
• Reduced service fees on minimum $12 orders

You must activate this member benefit by Activate by 12/31/24. Chase may provide other merchant offers in the future.

Redeeming World of Hyatt Points

Here are the ways you can redeem World of Hyatt points.

Award Nights

The best way to redeem your points is for award nights at Hyatt hotels and resorts. Thankfully, Hyatt points consistently have some of the highest redemption values for hotel points.

Many Hyatt award redemptions can be between 1 and 2 cents per point. The average credit card redemption value is 1 cent potentially making Hyatt points worth more than your typical rewards card.

Standard room award nights start at 5,000 points for a category 1 property. The most expensive nights in a category 8 property cost 40,000 points. Most award nights cost 20,000 points or less which is fewer points than competing hotel programs.

You can also redeem your points for luxury stays at these properties:

• Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara all-inclusive resorts (12,000 points+)
• Miraval Resorts (12,000 points+)
• MGM Resorts (12,000 points+)
• Miraval Resorts (45,000 points+)

It’s also possible to use your points for room upgrades and on-property experiences like dining and spa treatments.

Non-Hyatt Travel Rewards

There are a few redemption options to redeem your points for travel outside of Hyatt. Unfortunately, the redemption value is relatively low.

One option is converting your points to airlines miles for over 25 airlines. The redemption value is 5,000 points to 2,000 miles for most frequent flyer clubs.

Another redemption option is redeeming Hyatt points for Avis rental cars. Redemptions start at 6,000 points per rental day.

Card Fees

Below is a summary of the World of Hyatt Credit Cards fees and rates:

• Annual Fee: $95
• Additional Cards: $0
• Foreign Transaction Fee: 0%
• Late Payment: Up to $40
• Return Payment: Up to $40

World of Hyatt Credit Card Compared to Similar Cards

Other credit cards can help you enjoy Hyatt travel rewards. 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card:

The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns a minimum of 2x Ultimate Rewards points on travel purchases. 

There are two ways you can redeem Sapphire Preferred points for Hyatt stays.

• One option is booking award travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. Each point is worth 25% more than the standard redemption value (1.25 cents instead of 1.00 cents).
• The second option is transferring your points in 1,000-point increments at a 1:1 ratio to your linked World of Hyatt account. Other transfer partners include Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Marriott Bonvoy, and IHG. 

The Sapphire Preferred also has impressive travel insurance benefits, including primary car rental collision damage waiver.

This card is also offering an impressive signup bonus. These points can be worth 2 cents per point or more if you transfer them directly to Hyatt.

The annual fee is $95 and there is no foreign transaction fee. Like the World of Hyatt Credit Card, the Chase 5/24 application guidelines apply.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®:

You can also consider a premium travel credit card to maximize luxury travel or to also get air travel benefits. The Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the best premium travel cards.

Some of the cards best benefits include:

• Earn 3x Ultimate Rewards on travel (after spending $300) and dining purchases
• Points are worth 50% more (1.5 cents) for award travel
• 1:1 point transfers to airlines and hotels
• $300 annual travel statement credit
• Priority Pass Select airport lounge access (see the best credit cards for airport lounge access)
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit (see the best credit cards for Global Entry and TSA Precheck)

New cardmembers can also earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards signup bonus points by spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.

The annual fee is $550 for the primary card and $75 for each authorized user. There is no foreign transaction fee.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card:

The Capital One Venture Rewards can be one of the best options if you prefer redeeming miles as a travel statement credit for recent purchases. However, you won’t be able to transfer miles to your Hyatt account like the Chase Sapphire Preferred that has a similar annual fee.

You earn 2 miles per $1 on every card purchase and miles point is worth 1 cent each when you redeem them for a statement credit on recent travel purchases. You can also earn 5 miles per $1 for hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One.

It’s also possible to redeem your miles for upcoming travel with the same redemption value. There are several airline and hotel transfer partners but World of Hyatt isn’t a Capital One transfer partner.

One additional benefit of note is a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit.

The annual fee is $95 and there is no foreign transaction fee.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card:

If you’re comfortable with not staying at Hyatt properties consider the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card. Marriott has a larger portfolio and is more likely to have a hotel at your travel destinations or stopovers on a long-distance road trip.

This premium hotel credit card offers more perks than the World of Hyatt Credit Card. It can be worth it if you stay at Marriott properties several times per year, prefer luxury resorts, or also want a hotel credit card with air travel perks.

Some of the best benefits include:

• Earn 6x Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy™ program
• Annual $300 Marriott Bonvoy statement credit (up to $25 per month) at each card renewal for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide.
• Annual $100 Marriott Bonvoy property credit (on 2+ night stays booked direct at The Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis)
• Annual Free Night Award each card anniversary (85,000 points or less)
• Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status
• Priority Pass Select airport lounge access
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit

The annual fee is $650 (See Rates & Fees) for the primary card and $0 for secondary cards. There is no foreign transaction fee.

The Vacationer’s Final Thoughts

World of Hyatt is an impressive hotel loyalty program with valuable point redemptions and high-quality hotels and resorts. If you book Hyatt stays at least once per year, the World of Hyatt Credit Card benefits are worth the $95 annual fee for most people.

However, this card may not be a good option if Hyatt properties are not present at your travel destinations. You might also prefer a travel credit card that offers more redemption options or premium travel benefits.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.