Best credit cards for Hyatt of November 2023

Hyatt points consistently offer some of the best redemption value of any hotel loyalty program in the business. And it all started back in 1957, when 35-year-old entrepreneur Jay Pritzker had an epiphany: as jet travel becomes more popular, an increasing number of travelers will want to stay in nice places near the airport. So he paid $2.2 million for an upscale motel called Hyatt House right by LAX, opened two more in San Francisco and Seattle, and the rest was history.

Today you can find more than 1,300 Hyatt properties in 76 countries, most of which are well beyond shouting distance of an airport. Despite Hyatt being relatively small compared to Hilton (7,000+ properties) and Marriott (nearly 8,700), the chain offers one of the most rewarding loyalty programs around. And, while there’s just one personal Hyatt co-branded card available as of this writing, there are multiple credit cards that let you transfer points to the Hyatt program.

Overview of the 4 best credit cards for Hyatt in 2024

Best overall: The World of Hyatt Credit Card

Applying for the World of Hyatt Credit Card is virtually a no-brainer for anyone looking to stay at a Hyatt property more than once this year.

Why we like this card: While Hilton offers three personal credit cards in 2024 and Marriott offers five — or really, four, considering that the Bevy and the Bountiful provide pretty much the same rewards and perks but one is issued by American Express and one is issued by Chase — Hyatt has just one, the aptly-named World of Hyatt Credit Card. But this isn’t a sign of weakness, laziness or a failure to keep up with market trends. Rather, it’s a flex, like Hyatt is saying “this is all you need.” 

And there may be a point to that flex, since the World of Hyatt Card offers a welcome bonus of 35,000 bonus points if you spend $3,000 in first 3 months (worth up to five free nights at a Category 2 property like Hyatt Place), plus up to 30,000 more bonus points, with 2X points spent on purchases that earn 1X point (up to $15,000 in the first 6 months).

Speaking of points, the World of Hyatt Card earns a total of 9X points per dollar spent on Hyatt purchases (an additional 4X on top of the 5X you’d earn just for being a world of Hyatt member), as well as 2X points on restaurants, directly purchased airfare, local transit, commuting and gym and fitness club memberships. 

If you think 9X sounds compared to the eye-popping 26X points per dollar you can earn with the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card card, remember that World of Hyatt points are some of the most valuable points in the business — with a Hyatt point you can often get anywhere from 1.5 cents to 3 cents each in value, whereas with IHG, you may be getting less than 1 cent per point.

Cardholders also enjoy instant Discoverist status, an annual free night at category 1-4 hotel (worth up to 15,000 points), an additional free night at category 1-4 hotel each year you spend $15,000, and five tier-qualifying nights to aid in your ascension to Explorist status. 

The World of Hyatt Card charges a $95 annual fee, but as long as you’re cashing in your free anniversary night, the card essentially pays for itself.

As much as we like this card, there are a few quirks and caveats to consider. First, your annual free night only works at a Category 1 through 4 resort, and you can’t just ask for points instead to apply toward a Category 5 through 8. Sure, there are plenty of nice properties at the Category 4 level (including Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach and Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York) but it’s still unfortunate Hyatt stiffs its luxury-minded clientele in this regard. 

In addition, instant Discoverist status isn’t quite as exciting as it sounds. On the plus side you’ll get Elite Check-In, 2 p.m. checkout as available and a preferred room upgrade (e.g. corner, better view) as available at check-in but you won’t get true upgrades until you reach the Explorist status at 30 nights or 50,000 Base Points. The World of Hyatt Card’s main rival — the IHG One Rewards Premier — offers Explorist-level status from the outset (Platinum Elite). 

Even after you spend your welcome bonus (worth approximately five nights by our estimate), you’ll be racking up more free nights/upgrades/spa treatments with that sweet 9X earnings rate. And even if your card collects dust in between Hyatt stays, you still have a free Category 4 night to look forward to. 

Check out our full review of the World of Hyatt Card. 

Best no-fee card: Bilt Mastercard

If you want to earn World of Hyatt points without paying an annual fee, the Bilt Card is for you. But that’s just scratching the surface of what this card can do.

Why we like this card: One of the “challenges” with hotel rewards cards is that they typically reward luxury living with, you guessed it, more luxury living. You generally earn the most points with these cards by dining out, flying on non-budget airlines and staying in upscale hotels. 

But what if you’re not traveling for work or pleasure all the time? What if you’re trying to generate hotel reward points while staying within budget? 

Enter the Bilt Mastercard, a card that charges no annual fee and actually awards points for paying rent. You’ll earn 1X for each on-time rent payment you make (up to 100,000 points each calendar year),  2X on travel, 3X on dining, and 1X on all other spending. Note that to earn points you must make at least five transactions on your card each statement period.

Some properties are part of the Bilt Alliance, making it especially easy to pay rent with the Bilt Mastercard. But even for those that aren’t, Bilt can send a physical check or set up an account number and routing number to let you pay through your landlord’s online portal. In all cases, Bilt helps you avoid the convenience fee landlords typically charge for paying rent by credit card.

If we assume a $2,000 rent payment each month, you could generate 24,000 Bilt Rewards points in a year. Then, since Bilt and Hyatt are partners, you could transfer points 1:1 to Hyatt — and if you manage to redeem them for Hyatt stays at a value of 2 cents per point, that’s nearly $500 worth of World of Hyatt points. You could likely book a two-night stay in a nice Category 4 Hyatt property that you didn’t have points for before, just for paying rent.

Ironically, the Bilt Mastercard still seems to market itself as a luxury lifestyle credit card. All non-rent spending earns double rewards on “Rent Day,” meaning the first of every month. That’s 6X on dining, 4X on travel, and 2X on everything else (up to a maximum of 10,000 bonus points). In other words, the card encourages you to dine out on the day rent is due. You can also earn even more bonus points throughout the year at restaurants in the Bilt Dining list.

But, as long as you remember to use your Bilt card at least five times per month, and set it as your default for paying rent, you can effortlessly generate plenty of extra World of Hyatt points. 

Check out our full review of the Bilt Mastercard. 

Best for general travel rewards: Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

If you like the idea of rapidly generating World of Hyatt points but you’re not quite brand-loyal enough to commit to the World of Hyatt Card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card may be the next best alternative for the same annual fee.

Why we like this card: There’s a reason the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card (or “CSP” as the cool kids call it) is beloved by travelers. This card has been a stalwart of travel rewards aficionados for years due to its generous welcome bonus 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening (that’s $750 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®), 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, a $50 annual hotel credit, 3x points on dining, 2x points on travel purchases and 25% more value on points redeemed for travel in the Chase portal.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred also makes for an excellent Hyatt card since Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer 1:1 to World of Hyatt. That means you could convert 60,000 Chase points to 60,000 World of Hyatt points — worth up to nine-ish free nights at a Category 2 property or even a weekend at a high-end Category 7 like The Polo Beach Club in Hawaii. 

So, while the World of Hyatt Card is still better to use long-term for Hyatt loyalists due to its free elite status and 9X earnings rate, the Chase Sapphire Preferred certainly offers more value right out of the gate. You can also use your $50 hotel statement credit towards your first non-reward stay (just note you have to book through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal to use the credit), and the 3x points on dining beats the World of Hyatt Card’s ho-hum 2X. 

Lastly, it’s worth pointing out the semi-obvious—the Chase Sapphire Preferred gives you much more flexibility than the World of Hyatt Card. When you use the latter, you’ll pretty much just be generating Hyatt points towards Hyatt stays. But with the CSP, you can convert Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt, Marriott, IHG or even cash back. 
Check out our full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Best premium rewards card: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Until Hyatt comes out with a powerhouse premium rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a more than capable substitute.

Why we like this card: If you’re truly dedicated to the Hyatt brand and you’re ready to shell out a $550 annual fee for the most premium card it has to offer, well, you might have to wait. Hyatt hasn’t unleashed such a beast yet, but given how rewarding the $95 World of Hyatt Card is, we’re definitely looking forward to it. 

In the meantime, the closest thing you have to a premium World of Hyatt Card may be the Chase Sapphire Reserve. As the Preferred card’s bigger brother, the Reserve charges a $550 annual fee but offers plenty in return, including a $300 annual travel credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year, 10x points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, access to over 1,300 airport lounge locations when you enroll in the complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, an up to $300 annual travel credit and roughly $1,200 worth of other partner benefits (e.g. Lyft Pink, Instacart and more). 

You’ll also get a 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, meaning the welcome bonus of 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months can balloon to $900 in value. 

All that said, we’d still recommend transferring your 60,000 points to World of Hyatt since you could get about $1,200 in value that way towards Hyatt bookings (if estimating 2 cents per point in redemption value for Hyat stays). And don’t forget about your $300 annual travel credit — meaning the Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with what we estimate to be $1,500 in Hyatt value during your first year. 

That’s enough for a nice long stay at a Hyatt property somewhere warm, where you can dip your toes in the sand. And even when it’s over, you have free Biscoff cookies waiting for you in the airport lounge on the way back. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Which credit card is associated with Hyatt? 

World of Hyatt currently offers two co-branded credit cards in partnership with Chase — the World of Hyatt Card and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. 

How much is 80,000 Hyatt points worth?

This is going to depend on the specifics of the award stay you choose to redeem your points for. World of Hyatt members often report being able to get a value of 1.5 cents per point or more, with some redemptions rising to an exceptional value of 3 cents per point. 

If we use 2 cents per point as the redemption value for our estimate here, then 80,000 World of Hyatt points are worth about $1,600 towards Hyatt stays and upgrades. 

Is it hard to get approved for a Hyatt card? 

Chase does not advertise a specific FICO Score required to apply for the World of Hyatt card, but considering it’s a high-tier travel rewards card, you can count on needing a score of at least 670 (ideally 700 or higher) for good chances of approval.

Is the World of Hyatt Card a Chase card?

Yes, the World of Hyatt Card is issued by Chase. That means you should keep the unwritten Chase 5/24 rule in mind — which essentially means if you’ve opened five or more credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months, Chase will deny an application for one of its cards.

Is it free to be a World of Hyatt Member? 

Yes, World of Hyatt is free to join and even as a base-level member you’ll start earning 5X on Hyatt purchases, special member rates, free breakfast at Small Luxury Hotels of the World and more. 

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