A few weeks ago, we learned that Hyatt is planning to expand its credit card portfolio. Currently, in the U.S. market, they offer the $95/year consumer World of Hyatt card and the $199/year World of Hyatt business card. They’ll likely introduce a more premium card with an annual fee of at least $350. I think $395 per year is likely, but Tim predicts it will be in the $500-$700 range. Regardless of its annual fee, I’ve spent some time daydreaming about what I’d want this new card to offer…
My selfish wishlist
This is a selfish post. In the past, when I’ve suggested credit card features, I based those on what I think would work well for Frequent Miler readers. Not this time. This one is all for me. I’m a Hyatt loyalist with a few gripes about an otherwise terrific loyalty program. And I like meaningful elite recognition. I don’t care whether a desk agent thanks me for my loyalty as a Globalist, but I do appreciate any form of recognition that makes my stay more pleasant. That could include a welcome gift sent to my room, a particularly memorable upgrade, first dibs for reservations at a hard-to-get-into restaurant, etc.
My biggest gripes with the World of Hyatt program center on their free night awards: there’s no way to top off the certs with points or to use them towards Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties, and the free nights earned as Milestone Rewards expire too soon (Milestone Free Night awards, Miraval Extra Night Awards, and 2K Next Stay Awards expire after only 180 days). I’d prefer for Hyatt to fix these issues for everyone, but if they fix them only for premium cardholders, that would be okay too.
Okay, with that behind us, here’s my selfish wishlist:
No coupons
Many premium cards these days are loaded with discounts and rebates to offset their high annual fees. Ugh. Please don’t make us look for ways to spend $10 each month on food delivery, ride-shares, or random fitness apps.
If you must include coupons, keep them relevant to the brand. They should offer a discount on Hyatt stays or, in some way, improve our hotel stays. The business card’s current twice-per-year $50 Hyatt property credit is a good example of one that discounts stays. A rebate specifically for spa services could make stays better. I wouldn’t mind being “forced” to spend $200 each year at a hotel spa.
Decent earning rate
Offer the following number of points for spend:
- 5 points per dollar at Hyatt hotels
- 1.5 points per dollar everywhere else.
The new card should be at least as rewarding as Freedom Unlimited for base spend. Chase’s Freedom Unlimited card earns a minimum of 1.5 points per dollar for all spend, and when paired with certain other cards, like the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, the points can be transferred to Hyatt.
Elite qualifying nights
The new card should make it easier to earn Globalist status:
- Automatic 10 qualifying nights per year (the consumer card offers 5)
- Additional 5 qualifying nights per $10K spend (same as the business card)
Elite experience
Being a cardholder should unlock elite-like experiences at Hyatt hotels, even for those without top-tier status. One way to accomplish this would be to make it easy for cardholders to book Hyatt Privé rates online. Today, you don’t have to be a cardholder to book through Hyatt Privé, but you do need to find an agent who can do this for you (here’s a way to submit a request online). Wouldn’t it be awesome if Hyatt automatically showed these rates to cardholders online, though? Hyatt Privé offers the following benefits:
- Free breakfast for 2 each day (which consists of restaurant breakfast rather than just club lounge breakfast)
- A 1-category room upgrade, roughly at the time of booking, based on availability (requested with the hotel right away and said to be confirmed within 24 hours; in practice, it takes a couple of days for the hotel to confirm).
- A welcome amenity
- Early check-in (as early as 9 am) subject to availability
- Late check-out at Park Hyatt properties (as late as 4 pm) subject to availability
- A $50 or $100 property credit per stay (it’s always $100 at Park Hyatt hotels, but can vary between $50 and $100 at other brands)
- Full Hyatt elite credit.
- Full elite benefits for those with status.
- Waived resort fees at select properties.
Enhanced Globalist status
I would love it if this premium card somehow enhanced Globalist status. Here are a few examples of perks that could be limited to premium cardholders with Globalist status:
- Locally curated welcome amenity with each stay at full-service hotels (in addition to any welcome amenities, if any, that they already offer Globalists)
- 10% award rebate (with a much higher limit than the business card’s 20,000 point maximum rebate)
- Convert awards to points: Provide an official way to convert free night awards and Miraval Extra Night Awards to points. This way, their value won’t expire, and we can indirectly use them toward Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s stays and higher-category stays. Hyatt agents already sometimes let Globalists exchange certificates for points, but they require that the certificate has already expired. Additionally, they won’t do this for certificates awarded by Chase. I’m proposing that this capability be made official, available at any time, and work for all free-night and extra-night awards.
My wishlist summary
Here’s what I’m hoping for, in short form:
- Earning rate: 5x at Hyatt, 1.5x everywhere else
- Automatic 10 qualifying nights per year plus 5 nights per $10,000 of card spend
- Ability to book Hyatt Privé rates online
- Extra perks reserved only for Globalists with the card:
- Locally curated welcome amenity with each stay at full-service hotels
- 10% award rebate
- Convert awards to points
There you go, Hyatt. There’s my wish-list, delivered in plenty of time before Christmas.
What’s on your Hyatt premium card wish-list? Comment below.
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Only one thing you mention is interesting to me. Category awards should just be replaced with 15,000 and 30,000 point bonuses respectively. But I’d rather have a fifth night free like Marriott and Hilton.
Noooo! This would make it too easy for them to ditch the categories and go dynamic.
Allow free parking as a perk on cash stay as a milestone award…
I mainly just want a massive signup bonus, now that the ink train is dead and I don’t have unlimited UR to allocate towards crappy hyatt place stays to hit 60 nights. 100k at a minimum, but hopefully 120k or even 150k. CIP regularly has 100k SUB with $95 AF, and UR are more valuable, so a cobranded premium card should be much more generous.
Also, 10 elite night credits is not enough, I’d say depending on the AF it should come with 30, getting you to explorist, leaving 30 more nights to hit globalist. 20 at the bare minimum with automatic explorist. But explorist doesn’t get you much, and it’s not a justification for paying a premium AF, like for Hilton Aspire, so there needs to be a lot more to offer with this card, sadly probably coupons. But yes, like you say, please no monthly coupons. On site dining, resort, wellness, ok, just not monthly.
I think the biz card was very underwhelming, and I am ready to be underwhelmed by this as well. But with the ink train dead I can almost guarantee I’ll sign up for it anyway. I plan for 2026 to be my last year as globalist, so I need some more points to get the most out of it.