Hyatt Credit Card Elite Nights: Complete Guide

Chase and Hyatt have two co-branded credit cards — the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review) — which are among the best hotel credit cards out there.

One of the awesome things about Hyatt’s two credit cards is that they can earn you elite nights, making it easier to qualify for status in the World of Hyatt program. In this post I wanted to get into the nitty-gritty of how that works.

Furthermore, it appears that the five elite nights just for being a cardmember on the personal version of the card are progressively being posted to accounts for 2024. So if you don’t see them already, expect to see them soon.

Benefits of World of Hyatt Credit Cards

Chase and Hyatt have both the World of Hyatt Credit Card (a personal card) and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (a business card). Both cards have valuable benefits, though I think the personal card is considerably more compelling than the business card.

Perks of the World of Hyatt Card

The World of Hyatt Credit Card has a $95 annual fee and offers:

• Automatic World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as your account is open
• Five qualifying night credits toward your next tier status every year
• Two qualifying night credits toward your next tier status every time you spend $5,000 on your card
• A Category 1-4 anniversary free night award on your account anniversary every year
• A second Category 1-4 free night award when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year

This means that you’re getting five elite nights toward status and a Category 1-4 free night award every year just for having the card. To me that more than justifies the annual fee, by a long shot (I consistently get $250+ of value out of the free night certificate alone). That doesn’t even factor in the incremental perks you can get for spending on the card.

Perks of the World of Hyatt Business Card

The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card has a $199 annual fee and offers:

• Automatic World of Hyatt Discoverist status for you and five employees for as long as your account is open
• Five qualifying night credits toward your next tier status every time you spend $10,000 on your card in a calendar year
• Up to $100 in Hyatt credits annually — get a $50 statement credit when you spend at least $50 at a Hyatt, and you can use this twice
• 10% back on World of Hyatt points redemptions for the remainder of the calendar year when you spend $50,000 on the card, with a maximum credit of 20,000 points

The business version of the card isn’t quite as rewarding as the personal version of the card, especially if you’re not a big spender. However, for businesses that spend quite a bit on credit cards, this can be the best card for earning elite status.

Earning status with World of Hyatt Credit Cards

Both the World of Hyatt Credit Card and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card offer the ability to earn elite nights. However, the ways in which you earn elite nights differ between the two cards, so let’s go over those details.

Earning elite nights with the World of Hyatt Card

The World of Hyatt Credit Card offers qualifying nights toward Hyatt status in two ways.

First of all, the World of Hyatt Card offers five elite nights annually just for having the card. There’s no spending required to earn these five elite nights, and you receive them for each calendar year in which you have the card, including the year in which you open the card.

Beyond that, the World of Hyatt Card offers two elite nights for every $5,000 spent on the card (in other words, that’s up to one elite night per $2,500 of spending). There’s no limit to how many elite nights you can earn this way, and the elite nights earned through spending on this card aren’t in any way tied to the calendar year. In other words, if you spent $2,500 on the card in 2023 and then spend $2,500 on the card in 2024, you’d earn two elite nights at that point.

Earning elite nights with the World of Hyatt Business Card

The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card offers five elite nights for every $10,000 spent on the card in a calendar year (in other words, that’s up to one elite night per $2,000 of spending). On this card the spending counter resets at the beginning of the calendar year, unlike on the personal credit card. In other words, if you spent $8,000 on the card in 2023, you’d still have to spend a full $10,000 in 2024 to earn five elite nights.

As you can see, this card offers elite nights for spending at an accelerated rate, though unlike the personal card, it doesn’t offer the five elite nights annually just for having the card.

When do World of Hyatt Credit Card elite nights post?

How soon do elite nights post from the World of Hyatt Credit Card and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card?

• For the World of Hyatt Card’s five elite nights just for being a cardmember, the terms state that the nights will post within eight weeks of opening the card, and also within eight weeks of January 1 in subsequent years; however, in reality they post much faster than that, typically within days of opening the card, and within days of January 1 in subsequent years
• For both the World of Hyatt Card and World of Hyatt Business Card, the terms state that elite nights from spending will post within eight weeks of the month in which you complete eligible spending, though in practice they post much faster than that, typically within days of an eligible statement closing

World of Hyatt Credit Card elite nights FAQs

While the above hopefully covers most of the basics, I wanted to address some of the most frequently asked questions I get about earning elite nights with the World of Hyatt Credit Card and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card.

Does Hyatt credit card spending count toward lifetime status?

Hyatt’s lifetime Globalist status is based on earning one million base points in the program. World of Hyatt members earn five base points per dollar spent on Hyatt stays, meaning you essentially have to spend $200,000 at Hyatts to earn lifetime Globalist status.

Credit card spending, and any elite nights earned through Hyatt credit cards, won’t count toward lifetime Globalist status. That’s because the qualification criteria is based solely on base points, and not based on elite qualifying nights (in which case it would count).

Does Hyatt credit card spending count toward Milestone Rewards?

With Hyatt, not all elite perks are tied directly to having status, but rather some require earning a certain number of elite nights in a year, known as the Milestone Rewards program. The Milestone Rewards program is how you earn perks like suite upgrade awards, club access awards, Guest of Honor awards, and more.

Hyatt elite nights earned through Hyatt credit cards would count toward Milestone Rewards the same as any hotel stays would, which adds further value to credit card spending.

Do you get elite nights for the complimentary Discoverist status?

One of the perks of both Hyatt credit cards is that you receive Discoverist status for as long as you have the card. Discoverist status ordinarily requires 10 elite qualifying nights or 25,000 base points per year. As a reminder, here are World of Hyatt’s elite thresholds:

• Discoverist status: 10 qualifying nights or 25,000 base points (equivalent to $5,000 of spending)
• Explorist status: 30 qualifying nights or 50,000 base points (equivalent to $10,000 of spending)
• Globalist status: 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 base points (equivalent to $20,000 of spending)

One common point of confusion is that people assume these cards really come with 15 elite nights per year. They assume you already get Discoverist status, and that any elite nights are on top of that. Note that while these cards offer Discoverist status, you don’t get the elite nights that correspond to that.

This means that if you have a Hyatt credit card, you’ll receive Discoverist status on an ongoing basis (and five elite nights every year if you have the personal card), but you’ll still need to qualify for Explorist or Globalist status based on the full criteria.

Earning Globalist status with World of Hyatt Credit Cards

World of Hyatt Globalist is my favorite top tier hotel status, and what I love is that the World of Hyatt Credit Card and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card make it easier to earn that. Let’s look at the best strategy for earning Globalist status with the card.

How much do you have to spend to earn Globalist status?

Hyatt Globalist ordinarily requires earning 60 qualifying nights in a year. So how much would you have to spend on a Hyatt credit card to earn that status?

On the World of Hyatt Credit Card, you’d need to spend $140,000 to earn Globalist status:

• This accounts for the five elite nights you get just for having the card, as well as the two elite nights you get for every $5,000 spent
• $140,000 of spending earns you 56 elite nights, plus the five elite nights just for having the card, for a total of 61 elite nights

Meanwhile on the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, you’d need to spend $120,000 to earn Globalist status:

• This accounts for the five elite nights you get for every $10,000 spent
• $120,000 of spending earns you 60 elite nights, exactly enough for Globalist status

As you can see, the personal credit card offers more elite nights upfront, while the business credit card offers elite nights at a faster pace for spending (assuming you can reach the thresholds).

Don’t forget the value of Milestone Rewards

When doing the math on your Hyatt credit card spending, don’t forget the perks you’re racking up for passing certain elite thresholds. For example, if you make it to 60 elite nights, you could select five suite upgrade awards and four club access awards, and would also receive a Category 1-7 free night award, a Category 1-4 free night award, and three Guest of Honor awards.

Then on the personal version of the card, you also receive an additional Category 1-4 free night award when you spend $15,000 on the card in a year. The value of all of those perks really adds up.

You shouldn’t earn Globalist status exclusively through spending

Hyatt counts award nights toward status, and just for having the World of Hyatt Credit Card you get a free night every year, plus the opportunity to earn a further three free nights for spending $15,000, earning Explorist status, and earning Globalist status.

On top of that, presumably you want to earn Globalist status because you actually intend to stay at Hyatts with some frequency. Hotel status is worthless if you don’t actually stay at that brand.

To be realistic, let’s assume that long term you’re earning 30 elite nights per year through actual stays. There are so many great Globalist benefits to use (like suite upgrade awards and free night awards), so if you’re staying at Hyatts less than that I question whether Globalist is worth it for you.

If you earned 30 of the required 60 elite nights through credit card spending, you’d need to spend the following:

• $65,000 worth of spending on the World of Hyatt Card
• $60,000 worth of spending on the World of Hyatt Business Card

Given all the incremental perks you’re picking up with Milestone Rewards, I’d say the math could really check out.

Opportunity cost of Hyatt credit card spending

When deciding if it makes sense to spend money on the World of Hyatt Credit Card or World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, consider the opportunity cost of the spending.

Looking at my post about the best credit cards for everyday spending:

• The best personal cards offer a return of up to ~3.4% by my valuation; that includes the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees), Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees), and Citi Double Cash® Card (review), which potentially offer 2x transferable points per dollar spent
• The best business cards offer a return of ~3.4%; that includes The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review), Capital One Venture X Business (review) (Rates & Fees), and Capital One Spark Miles for Business Card (review) (Rates & Fees)

There are of course some restrictions on that return on spending, so it won’t necessarily be that high for everyone.

Personally I value World of Hyatt points at ~1.5 cents each, and in non-bonused categories you’re earning one Hyatt point per dollar spent.

If we were to theoretically assume you’re spending $60,000 on a Hyatt credit card per year (give or take) in order to earn Globalist status, what’s the opportunity cost of that spending? By my math, you’re looking at an opportunity cost of up to 1.9% (the spread between a 3.4% return and 1.5% return). That’s around ~$1,140, if you value things the way that I do.

But that’s not factoring in the value of all the other perks mentioned above:

• It doesn’t factor in up to two Category 1-4 free night awards you’d get if you’re spending on the personal card, as these are valid at properties costing up to 18,000 points
• It doesn’t factor in a Category 1-7 free night, valid at properties costing up to 35,000 points
• It doesn’t factor in up to five confirmed suite upgrades, which you could use for yourself or gift to others
• It doesn’t factor in up to four club access awards and three Guest of Honor awards, which you can gift to others

For many, I think the above perks could more than justify the difference in return on spending otherwise.

Bottom line

There are many things to love about the World of Hyatt Credit Card and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, though the ability to get a fast track toward status is probably my favorite perk. I absolutely love Hyatt Globalist status, and credit cards have historically helped me requalify for status. If you’re a Hyatt loyalist and don’t yet have the hotel group’s co-branded credit cards, they’re seriously worth considering.

What has your experience been using World of Hyatt Credit Cards to earn elite status?