Bottom Line
The World of Hyatt Business card offers a great sign-up bonus that you can cash in for a long stay in a smaller city or shorter stay in a large city. But keeping this card beyond the first year probably doesn’t make much sense: There is no free night perk, despite the $199 annual fee. Hyatt Discoverist status is nice, but it’s still the lowest tier of status within Hyatt. All other perks come after a significant spend on the card (around $15,000) and we think it makes more sense to work on sign-up bonuses with other cards rather than dropping a hefty spend on this one. If you know you’ll want to use Hyatt points for a trip this year, it may make sense to get this card for the 60k point sign-up bonus -- then cancel before the annual fee hits again. And if you’re looking for a Hyatt card to keep in your wallet for the long term, the personal card probably makes more sense.
Why You Might Want This Card
The biggest perk of the World of Hyatt Business card is the hefty 60k point sign-up bonus on only $5k worth of purchases in the first 3 months. With rooms starting at 5k points, that’s a potential 12 free nights with the sign-up bonus alone. This card also offers complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status for you and up to five employees. Being able to gift status to five other people is a unique perk for a hotel card. Beyond the signup bonus, most other perks on the business card are only unlocked with subsequent spending on the card, like a free night at any category 1-4 hotel after spending $15,000 in the first 6 months of owning the card. You can also earn $100 in credits each anniversary year by spending $50 or more at any Hyatt property (the credits will come in two, $50 increments up to two times each anniversary year). If you spend $50,000 on the card you receive 10% of the points you redeemed back (up to 20k points) for the rest of the year, and you can earn 5 Tier-Qualifying night credits toward status for every $10k you spend in a calendar year. The spending multipliers are nice because you get 2x points per $1 spent in your top three categories each quarter, along with up to 9x points spent at Hyatt (4 bonus points per $1 spent and up to 5 base points for being a World of Hyatt member).
Exceptions To The Rule
Here are some exceptions where the card might not be good for you:
- The high spend to unlock all the perks could better be spent on other cards sign up bonuses
- You don’t ever stay at hotels and prefer rentals like Airbnb/VRBO
- You're more loyal to another hotel brand
About World of Hyatt
Hyatt points are the most valuable hotel points available. Not only are the actual points worth more, but Hyatt is the best hotel transfer partner for Chase Ultimate Rewards. The other great thing about Hyatt points is that they can be used for all-inclusive resorts. We also love Hyatt Hotels in general. They're more universally clean with quality service, whereas many other chains are hit and miss. The drawback to Hyatt is that they don’t have hotels in many smaller cities or more exotic locations.
Hyatt cards are relatively strict on getting second cards, so make good use of your points. We would equate Hyatt Points to dollar bills, Bonvoy to fifty cent pieces, Hilton to quarters and the rest to dimes and nickels.
Where World of Hyatt Business Fits In This Point Ecosystem
The World of Hyatt Business card is one of two Hyatt specific cards on the market, with the other being a personal World of Hyatt card. The business card offers the 60k point sign-up bonus on only $5k spending, while the personal card offers a 30k point sign-up bonus on $3k spending -- with an extra 30k points by earning 2x points in the first 6 months of purchases up to $15k spent. The business card has a $199 fee vs. a $95 fee for the personal card, but the business card won’t count against your 5/24. The personal card offers a free night every year, so that perk alone will cancel out the $95 annual fee, while the business card’s main perks only come when you continue to put spend on the card, so you need to decide whether that’s worth the $199 annual fee. Keep in mind that any Chase card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to Hyatt as well, so you can take top off your Hyatt points with Chase points for hotel stays and/or a luxurious all-inclusive trip.
Personal Experience
This card works for us. That's because we put considerably large spends on the card -- and there are quarterly category spends that earn 2x points per dollar spent. Beyond those considerations, we're hooked on the point system and brand. Hyatt appeals to our sense of inexpensive luxury.
