Hyatt Credit Card $15K First Year Sweet Spot

Link: Apply now for the World of Hyatt Credit Card

The $95 annual fee World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) is one of my favorite hotel credit cards. In addition to the card having a great welcome bonus, there are rewards just for having the card, and also a significant incentive to spend money on the card. This is the hotel credit card that I spend the most on every year, so in this post I want to share why.

World of Hyatt Credit Card benefits

One of the reasons I consider the World of Hyatt Credit Card to be so well thought out is because Chase and Hyatt created a card that’s not just worth keeping for the perks, but that’s also worth spending money on.

In my experience it’s often one or the other — some cards are worth keeping for the perks but not worth spending on, while other cards are worth spending on but don’t otherwise offer many perks.

Perks for having the Hyatt Card

The World of Hyatt Card offers several great perks just for having the card, including:

• Discoverist status for as long as you have the card
• Five elite qualifying nights every year just for having the card
• An anniversary free night award valid at a Category 1-4 property

Perks for spending money on the Hyatt Card

Beyond the perks for just having the card (which more than justify the annual fee, in my opinion), the World of Hyatt Credit Card offers the following incentives for spending:

• Two elite qualifying nights for every $5,000 spent on the card, which can help you toward earning Globalist status
• A second Category 1-4 free night award when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year
• 4x points for spending at Hyatt properties, and 2x points on dining at restaurants, airline tickets purchased directly from airlines, on fitness club and gym memberships, and on local transit and commuting, including ridesharing services

The World of Hyatt Credit Card $15,000 first year sweet spot

While different people will value spending money on this card differently, it is worth explicitly calling out the sweet spot that exists for spending at least $15,000 on the card per year, especially the first year.

For one, maximizing the welcome bonus requires spending quite a bit in the first several months. So if you’re already spending money on the card, it can make sense to complete more incremental spending, so that you can pick up additional perks, which are quite the value-add…

Category 1-4 free night award

If you get the World of Hyatt Credit Card, you’re probably going to want to spend $15,000 to earn the full bonus, if you can. If you’re going to spend $15,000, then you’re going to get a ton of value beyond that, as you’ll also earn an anniversary Category 1-4 free night award (assuming the spending is within a calendar year).

Ordinarily, a Category 4 hotel would cost 12,000-18,000 points per night, so spending that $15,000 would get you a night at one of those hotels.

Now, whether or not you actually want to value that free night award at up to 18,000 points is up to you. Given the lack of flexibility (you have to redeem at exactly a Category 4 to maximize value, it’s only valid for a year, etc.), some might apply a discount to valuing it.

Six additional elite nights

For spending $15,000 on the World of Hyatt Credit Card in a year you’d earn six elite qualifying nights toward status, in addition to the five you earn annually just for having the card. That’s a total of 11 elite nights per year.

I love having Hyatt Globalist status, which requires earning 60 elite nights per year. Elite nights earned with credit cards certainly make it easier to earn this status. Also keep in mind that even if you’d otherwise earn status, earning additional elite nights can help you reach the next Milestone Rewards threshold, which could get you valuable perks like suite upgrade awards, club access awards, Guest of Honor awards, and more.

Spending $15,000 in subsequent years

For what it’s worth, I picked up the World of Hyatt Credit Card in 2018, and have spent $15,000 on the card ever year since. I find this to be well worth it for the anniversary free night award and six additional elite nights.

Best of all, much of the spending I put on the card is at Hyatt properties, where I’m earning 4x points, so there’s not really any opportunity cost to that spending. As long as the card’s benefits remain unchanged, I’ll be putting $15,000 on this card for as long as I can.

What about the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card?

In addition to the World of Hyatt Credit Card, there’s also the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review). How does the incentive to spend on that card compare?

• The business version of the card doesn’t give you the chance to earn any Category 1-4 free night awards, so that’s a major benefit of the personal card
• While the business version of the card doesn’t give you any elite nights just for being a cardmember, it racks up elite nights with spending faster than the personal card — you earn five elite nights for every $10,000 spent, which comes out to one elite night for every $2,000 spent (compared to one elite night for every $2,500 spent on the personal card)
• One other incentive to spend money on the business version of the card is that you can get a 10% rebate on award redemptions when you spend $50,000 on the card in a calendar year; redemptions have to take place the same year, and you’re capped at getting a rebate of up to 20,000 points

Long story short, I think it’s much more compelling to spend $15,000 per year on the personal card than the business card. That being said, if you’re a bigger spender in Hyatt’s card portfolio, the business card will earn you elite nights at a faster pace, and that card also often has a great bonus.

Bottom line

Overall I think hotel credit cards are incredibly underrated since they can be worth holding onto just for the perks they offer, if nothing else. There aren’t that many hotel credit cards that are actually worth spending money on, though the World of Hyatt Credit Card is an exception.

In addition to the welcome bonus and ongoing perks offered by the card, it can also be worth spending money on the card, both to earn a free night award, and to spend your way toward Globalist status.

This is exactly what I do — by spending $15,000 on the card per year I earn an extra Category 1-4 free night award, plus a total of 11 elite nights.

If you have the World of Hyatt Credit Card, how much spending do you typically put on the card annually?