The rumors of a new Hyatt small business card are true, there’s a new World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. I use The World Of Hyatt Credit Card quite a lot, so I was looking forward to seeing what they developed for a small business card.

The Hyatt program is smaller than many of Chase’s co-brand partners, but it hits above its weight because it’s a good program and members know it. A small business card is going to be a small slice of the smaller program pie. But Chase has been willing to do smaller portfolios – we’ll be seeing the Air Canada U.S. credit card soon, they are introducing an Instacart card.

By narrowcasting it’s possible to really target what a small group of consumers want, delivering things that group values without spending to build a card that delivers well for everyone. In other words it should be possible to deliver greater subjective value at lower cost. That was my frame as I walked into an event Chase and Hyatt hosted to announce the card.

Hyatt Senior Vice President Amy Weinberg and Chase President of Co-Brand Cards Ed Olebe

Hyatt Small Business Card Initial Bonus

The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card has the biggest points-based initial bonus offer I’ve seen for a Hyatt card: 75,000 points after $7500 spend within 3 three months from account opening.

In addition cardmembers who apply by December 31, 2021 receive a complimentary one-year Headspace mindfulness and meditation subscription ($69.99/yr value). Not my thing (I last closed by eyes and just sat for a few minutes in September 1996) but will be valuable to some.

Small business cards often have bigger up front bonuses – with bigger up front spend requirements to earn those bonuses – because businesses do often spend more, and acquiring a business that uses the card is valuable and worth the up front investment. And 75,000 points is similar to the Chase offer on the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card.

Hyatt Small Business Card Points-Earning

The card offers 4 points per dollar on Hyatt spend, 2 points for fitness club and gym memberships, and an “adaptive accelerator” where additional 2 point categories change each quarter to match where you’re spending the most.

Through December 31, 2022 the card will earn 2 points per dollar in the top 3 of 8 categories you spend the most in each quarter: dining; airline tickets purchased directly with the airline; car rental agencies; local transit and commuting; gas stations; internet, cable and phone services; social media and search engine advertising; and shipping.

Starting in 2023 the card will award 2 points per dollar in the top 2 of those 8 categories. So you might think of the third bonus category as part of the initial bonus category, or additional up front investment they’re making to build out the customer base from zero. Hyatt Senior Vice President Amy Weinberg mentioned we might expect them to layer additional promotions later as the third bonus category falls away.

The Hyatt small business card earns just two points per dollar in these categories versus four points with Amex, but doesn’t cap earning (Amex awards bonus points on the first $150,000 in eligible spend).

Elite Status

The card does not come with any elite nights automatically. However it does come with the first tier of status in World of Hyatt (Discoverist) as well as the ability to gift up to 5 Discoverist statuses (status recipients do not need to be authorized cardmembers on the account).

Discoverist status primarily gets you a 10% bonus on points-earning with Hyatt; MGM M Life Pearl status match (free self-parking, buffet line); 2 p.m. late checkout outside of resorts. One of Hyatt’s two major weaknesses in my view is that, while top tier Globalist is the best broadly-available hotel elite status, its levels below that aren’t competitive. Discoverist really just means modestly late check out.

Spending on the card for elite status is more lucrative than with The World Of Hyatt Credit Card, though (which earns 2 elite night credits for each $5000 spent): the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card earns 5 elite qualifying nights with each $10,000 in spend on the card in a calendar year. That’s 25% more elite credit per $10,000 spent, though of course you may strand more spend reaching for it than when elite nights are awarded in $5000 spend increments.

Additional Key Benefits

Each anniversary year cardmembers receive $100 in Hyatt credit in the form of two $50 statement credits (spend $50+ at a Hyatt property and receive a $50 statement credit up to two times each anniversary year).

Spending $50,000 or more on the card in a calendar year entitles cardmembers to receive a 10% rebate on points redeemed for the rest of that calendar year. I asked Amy Weinberg how this rebate will play with the unofficial annual redemption rebate offers Hyatt has run for the past half dozen years, and they’ll stack. Moreover don’t expect this to replace those as she offered we’d “continue to see annual points back offers.”

This is going to really incentivizing putting spend on the card early in the year, whereas it often makes sense to put spend for elite status on a card later (once you know how many elite nights you’re short for status). That’s because only stays consumed after your $50,000 spend posts, but before the end of the year, are entitled to the rebate, up to 20,000 points per year.

The Hyatt Leverage program is a small business room discount program that provides legitimate savings on stays (can be cheaper than member advance purchase rate or AAA rate without advance purchase), and its terms say you need to credit 50 nights a year to remain in the program so having the card is a great way to access it at lower volume since the 50 night requirement is waived for cardmembers.

Unlike many Citi and Barclays products, premium Chase cards still come with strong protections and this one has:

• Primary rental car collision damage waiver and complimentary roadside dispatch
  
• Purchase protection and extended warranty protection
  
• Trip cancellation/travel interruption insurance, travel and emergency assistance services

Naturally there are no foreign transaction fees. Chase learned a long time ago that travelers go abroad and don’t use cards with foreign transaction fees. Then when consumers return to the U.S. those cards tend not to return to top of wallet.

Is The Hyatt Small Business Card Worth It?

This is a well-rounded small business card with a lot of value. And of course there’s no question the card is worth getting, the initial bonus offer alone is surely worth $1000.

Although I like to think in terms of for whom is this the best possible product choice and that is going to be someone looking to use credit card spend to earn Hyatt status, since the card earns elite nights faster than the consumer co-brand does.

The card has a $199 annual fee. There are no annual category 1-4 free nights to make the card worth keeping on their own. But for a Hyatt customer the $100 in statement credits each anniversary year goes about halfway towards covering the second year’s fee and beyond. Those spending for status will also likely earn the 10% rebate on redemptions, and if you redeem 71,000 Hyatt points and get 7100 points back you cover the other half based on my last valuation of Hyatt points.

Staying in the Leverage program alone can drive real savings to small businesses that use Hyatt. For overall points-earning though Chase’s own Ultimate Rewards cards will frequently generate more points for your spend, and points from their premium cards can be transferred to Hyatt or other program partners.

Expect Chase only to approve folks who have had fewer than 5 new cards in the past 24 months but that getting approved for this card shouldn’t add to your “5/24” total.