There have been some changes to the Hyatt Visa in the past month.
- The $75 annual fee is now waived the first year.
- The two free nights worldwide after $1000 spend within three months is now stsandard for all members who apply. Diamond members do not get the added bonus of having their two nights in a suite, and existing Platinum members do bot get an extra bonus of suite upgrades on paid stays.
Since the product was first introduced about three years ago they added an annual free night benefit (up to redemption category 4) as well as double points on restaurant spend, air fare, and rental cars as well as credit towards elite status based on spending.
In fact I made what turned out to be a strategic blunder — I put $40,000 of spend on my Hyatt Visa early in the year earning 5 stays and 10 nights towards status. It turns out I don’t need those night and stay credits to requalify for my Diamond status. Not even close.
There have been lots of ideas surveyed in the past about other changes they might make to the card. Perhaps will see other changes in the future as well.
Even though they now have set the annual fee at $0 for the first year, it’s still possible to get the card with a statement credit by walking through the process of making a room reservation at Hyatt.com.
You just search for a hotel, choose the property, and select a rate and room type. On the page where you would enter your personal information, if you just scroll down towards the bottom you should see a graphic on the right side of the page (that even incorporates the price of the hotel room you’re looking at into the pitch):
They’ve offered bigger statement credits in the past, but it’s nice to see the statement credit now that the first year annual fee is also waived.
Note: there are no referral links in this post, I do not receive any credit if you apply for a Hyatt Visa.
The annual Cat 4 free night is a nice benefit of the Hyatt credit card. However, the reduction in benefits for current elites opening the card is indicative of the general trend of the Gold Passport program: to continue reducing earnings and benefits. Gone are the best aspects of Gold Passport: Faster Free Nights and the Gx bonus offers. Platinums earning their way to Diamond are no longer offered Platinum bonus points. Instead, there are quarterly promo offers to earn some bonus points which are actually very similar to the past Gx bonus offers.
Marriott has a much better promo offering the ability to earn up to two free nights at their hotels with 2 stays earning one free night. Hilton is offering quadruple points for stays of more than 4 nights from Oct 10 through January 31, 2014. It is disappointing to see Hyatt’s Gold Passport program loose its place as offering the best hotel loyalty promotions. Hyatt has far fewer locations than Marriott and Hilton, and their nightly rates often command a 20 to 50 percent nightly premium.
For those of us who got this card 18 months ago, would it now be a different enough card where we could apply again, get the card again, and receive the bonus again (without having closed the first one?
I applied in August, a few weeks before the current fee-waived offer surfaced. I send SM to Chase, and after the $75 fee posted to my account they were able to credit it back to me.
Glad I got in on it while the suite upgrades were still part of the deal.
Hi there! Similar question as Bill above. Closed card 2 years ago. Will it be possible to get the bonus again if I reapply? Thank you!
Thanks for this information. Glad I got card last year as a Plat, and did Diamond Trail Challenge this year. Now a Diamond.
Good to know, thanks! Bill and SP: I’m not an authority on this, but some say that if a Chase card has been closed 2 years, you can reapply and get the bonus again. No Bill, the Hyatt card from 18 months ago and the current card are considered by Chase to be the same card.
Is there any way you can still get the suite upgrades for being a plat?
How long do you have to use the 2 free nights? 6 months or 1 year?
the free nights are good for 1 year.
I assume you still get platinum status for holding the card?
I got the Hyatt visa a month ago, and will hit the spend requirement with this months statement. I’m a Diamond member, so I was hoping to the get 2 free nights in a suite. Does this change apply to me, or only to accounts opened after the change was made?
@Adrian – if you applied when this was offered you should get the nights in a suite
So do existing card members get the free night yearly on renewal, and do we get platinum each year for keeping the card.
@DJP_707 – the card comes with both plat status and with an annual free night.
Woohoo! I sent a secure message to Chase today and received a $75 statement credit to offset my annual fee. I applied for the card in June of this year.
FYI-Phony. Platinum status = no status at all,