The brand new World of Hyatt Credit card was just released this morning. You can check this post for all the details about this new card. Put simply, Hyatt did a great job with this card – and only at a $20 increase per year over the regular Hyatt card.
Should You Upgrade to the New World of Hyatt Credit Card?
Obviously, many current plain Hyatt credit card members are wanting to get this card instead of the regular card they currently hold. Fortunately, you can product change/upgrade from the regular Hyatt card to the new World of Hyatt credit card. But, should you?
How to Upgrade from the Hyatt Card to the New World of Hyatt Credit Card
You can upgrade from your current Hyatt card to the new World of Hyatt credit card through two methods:
- Call Chase with the phone number on the back of your Chase Hyatt card
- Send them a secure message through the Chase website from within your account
They will be able to switch you immediately except for one thing – you need to have held your Hyatt credit card for at least 12 months (since there is an annual fee increase).
What Do You Get?
Reports are that Chase will give you 2,000 points for switching. Normally, that wouldn’t be worthy of getting excited about but I think most people would switch without the points being offered!
Who Should Upgrade to the New World of Hyatt Credit Card?
Let’s get fees out of the way – the regular Hyatt card has a $75 annual fee and the new World of Hyatt credit card has a $95 annual fee. If you currently hold the Hyatt card, chances are you are already at peace with getting $75 of value out of that card (easy to do with the anniversary free night at Category 1 – 4). So, is spending an extra $20 worth the upgrade?
Here is what you will get, the key points anyway, with the new World of Hyatt credit card:
- 4X Hyatt points on Hyatt purchases
- Another free Category 1 – 4 Hyatt night with $15,000 in spending in the cardmember year
- 5 elite nights per year
- 2 elite nights for every $5,000 in spending
This card would be worth upgrading for two kinds of people – elite members who may struggle to reach Explorist or Globalist status, and people that want to spend $15,000 in a year to get that extra anniversary night.
If you are a mixture of both, here is what that $15,000 extra in spending on the card will give you:
- Another Category 1 – 4 free night (in addition to the one you get for just holding the card)
- 11 elite nights
Of course, you will also get 15,000 extra Hyatt points but I will leave that out because you would be getting points someplace else if you put that spending on another card.
So, is the $20 extra worth it if you can do the $15,000 in spending? I can say yes, I think the extra $20 is definitely worth it for what you are getting for the $15,000 in spending.
Now, if you put that $15,000 in spending on something like the Chase Freedom Unlimited, you would receive 22,500 Ultimate Reward points (if you have a UR-earning card to transfer the points earned on the Freedom Unlimited to). With that, you could use that for 4 free Hyatt nights at a Category 1. Those nights would count towards elite status.
But, by doing that spending on the World of Hyatt credit card, you will be getting even more elite nights (without spending the nights), a free night, and the 15,000 World of Hyatt points.
Final Points
Two last things to think about – you cannot get the World of Hyatt credit card if you have a Hyatt card now (you can switch though) or if you have received a bonus in the last 24 months. But, if you upgrade to the World of Hyatt card, you would still be eligible for a bonus on it after it has been 24 months since you received the sign-up bonus on the current Hyatt card – as long as you close your Hyatt card before actually applying for it as a new card.
Do you think it is worth upgrading to the new World of Hyatt credit card?
I would like to upgrade. But I have a question. My Free night anniversary award will post December 31 as well as the $75 AF. Should I upgrade now or should I wait until January 1 after my free night & AF post?
The extra $2,000 points and 4x on hotel spend sounds delicious!
There is no rush to do it right now, if you would rather wait. But, the cardmember anniversary date would stay the same. So, you would receive a prorated annual fee (not the full $95 right now). So, you could do the upgrade now and all of this should stay the same.
So many questions.
If we cancel our current (old version) card does our cat 4 free night disappear if we have not used it yet?
If we upgrade do the 5 nights’ credit that are now part of the new card benefits apply to my account for this calendar year only or card anniversary year for status? Assume calendar as that is what Hyatt uses.
No way we make Globalist but Explorist is now in reach as the 5 new nights will take us to 18. Add some upcoming stays as well as spending and 30 is doable.
Is the $15K spend bogey to get another cat 4 night a card annivesary(12 month from upgrade date) or calendar(by Dec 31, 2018) requirement?
Will Chase rebate all or part of the fee if we paid it in May? Is the new fee billable in the first month’s bill?
I asked Hyatt and Chase a lot these questions and did not get a single answer that inspired any confidence at all.
In fact, the both gave me incorrect phone numbers AND web URL’s in their attempt to help.
Good questions! The free night is already in your account so that should be just fine. It is issued with your anniversary fee (actually about a month before) so since the fee has been paid, it is yours.
Your assumption should be correct – the nights would be based on the calendar year like Hyatt (this is what SPG does as well).
The $15K in spending is based on cardmember year. Since that is the date your current card has the anniversary, it would be anchored to that date.
Chase will prorate the new $95 based on what you had paid. So, my guess is it would be about a $30-35 charge since you just paid it. It would show up on the end of the first month’s statement.
This is all based on what I know about both Chase and Hyatt but I will run some of this by Hyatt to get you the exact, official answer and come back. I just wanted to put this here now so you had some preliminaries.
Thank you Charlie.
Hi, thanks for the timely info. Does an upgrade from the existing card to the new card have an impact on 5/24 ?
No problem! No, an upgrade or product change does not have any impact on 5/24. So you are good to go!
Quick data point — literally got my Hyatt card a month ago so I didn’t know if I could product change, but the phone rep said that I could. Don’t know if it makes a difference that I hadn’t yet hit my sign up bonus. Also there was no mention of 2000 points when upgrading.
Great to know! Thanks!
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