The Best Hyatt Card Offer Now Requires A Stay – Plus A Word Of Caution

One of my all-time favorite hotel credit cards is the Hyatt card from Chase. Not only has it stayed pretty constant through the years (with some changes regarding minimum spending required) but it also has a strong retention bonus – 1 free night each year at Category 1-4 properties. Since this card offers 2 free nights after meeting the minimum spending, it stays pretty devaluation-proof as it doesn’t matter what category changes occur since you still get the free two nights.

The Best Hyatt Card Offer

– Regular Chase Hyatt Link

– Chase Hyatt Link w/ $50

2 Free Nights + 5,000 Points + $50 Credit

Earlier this year, a really good link came out for another offer on this card. In addition to the free two nights, it also included a 5,000 point bonus for adding an authorized user plus a $50 statement credit! Free money is always good and since this card waives the $75 annual fee for the first year, that is a net $50 in your pocket.

Must Have A Stay Now

But, now (as MileCards has pointed out) that offer has been updated to require a single Hyatt stay since May 1, 2015. The terms and details do not specify what that stay has to be, but I would imagine it is the same as Hyatt’s definition of a stay. In other words, award nights would not work but Points+Cash nights should work.

However, having to have a stay at a hotel to get $50 back does negate the $50 – unless you are not staying at a hotel for the purpose of getting $50. If you have already had a stay since May 1, go ahead and apply using this link. If you have an upcoming stay at a Hyatt hotel (and that stay is tied to the Hyatt Gold Passport account number that you will put on your credit card application), then I would hold off until you make the stay before you apply for the credit card.

As for the 5,000 bonus points, that language has been added to the “official” Hyatt credit card page on Chase’s website. That is pretty much the norm now – 5,000 miles/points for adding an authorized user to your account – so that is no surprise. That means the only difference between these two applications is the $50.

A Word Of Caution

Normally, I would say to go ahead and apply through the $50 statement credit application anyway, even if you do not have a stay as it may still give it to you. What do you have to lose, right? But, the way they have worded this credit card offer could mean that you have to have a stay to be eligible for any part of the offer! Since the language is not exclusive to the $50 statement credit, it could require you to have a stay to get even the 2 free nights.

Because of that, to be on the safe side, I would just apply through the regular Chase Hyatt link – unless you do have a stay since May 1. If you do have a stay, or plan on having a stay, then go ahead and use the $50 link. I could be wrong on that but I think it is better to be safe than sorry – better to get the 2 free nights and miss out of $50 then take the chance and miss out on the whole thing.