On January 11, 2021, cardholders with the old Hyatt Visa card will be migrated to the World of Hyatt card. Some have asked if it makes sense to cancel their old Hyatt card now so that they can sign up new for the World of Hyatt card and get a new welcome bonus. My short answer is “no”. I don’t recommend it for most. See below for more.
In many ways the World of Hyatt card is better than the old Hyatt Visa. For example, the new card lets you earn elite nights through spend (every $5K earns 2 elite nights) and lets you earn a second category 1-4 free night with $15K spend. The main advantage of the old Hyatt card was that it was cheaper: $75 per year vs. the World of Hyatt card’s $95 per year. Those who kept the card only for the annual free night and are not interested in the World of Hyatt card’s other features will be justifiably disappointed in the change. Those interested in earning elite status and/or a second free night each year, though, should be pretty happy about it.
Tier qualifying nights are often referred to as "elite nights". With many hotel chains, you can earn elite status by acquiring a number of tier qualifying elite nights each year. For example, Hyatt requires earning 30 elite nights per year to achieve mid-tier Explorist status, or 60 elite nights for top-tier Globalist status. Additionally, Hyatt offers "Milestone Rewards" which are perks like free lounge access, free nights, bonus points, etc. Milestone Rewards are earned within a calendar year when you achieve 20 elite nights, and every 10 elite nights after that up to 150. Read more about Hyatt elite status and Milestone Rewards in our World of Hyatt Complete Guide.
Some who want the new card have asked if they should cancel their Hyatt Visa now so that they can sign up new for the World of Hyatt card and get a welcome bonus. The bonus at the time of this writing is 50,000 points after $6K spend plus 10 elite nights in 2020 and 2021 instead of the usual 5 elite nights each year. It is only the latter that is unusual. The World of Hyatt card has offered the same 50K offer for quite a while. But the chance to get an automatic 10 elite nights in 2021 is compelling given the fact that Hyatt has cut in half their elite requirements for 2021 (only 30 nights are required for top-tier Globalist) and they’ve extended their Bonus Journeys promo so that you can earn double elite nights for stays through the end of February 2021. When combined with the new World of Hyatt card offer, you would only need 20 elite nights in 2021 and could achieve that with only 10 nights of stays through Feb 2021. Please see this post for complete details: Ludicrously easy path to Hyatt Globalist status (top-tier status for 2 years!).
The idea of a super-easy path to Globalist status sounds pretty darn compelling, right? Plus a 50K bonus is nothing to sneeze at. Why wouldn’t I recommend it? There are a few reasons:
- 10 elite nights is a nice perk, but keep in mind that you’ll get 5 elite nights automatically if you let the conversion happen. You’ll only come out 5 elite nights plus 50K points ahead.
- There’s no guarantee that you’ll be approved for the new card. If Hyatt elite status and/or an annual free night is important to you, it may be better to keep your bird-in-hand.
- Cancelling and reapplying will use up a 5/24 slot. There are other Chase offers that are arguably worth more than 50K Hyatt points plus 5 elite nights (yes, you get 10 elite nights, but that’s only 5 more than you would get by keeping the old card and allowing the conversion).
Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months.
To determine your 5/24 status, see: Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely. - Allowing the conversion doesn’t lock you out of a welcome bonus in the future. This is key. Many people seem to think that once they have the World of Hyatt card they won’t be eligible for a welcome bonus for that card in the future. That’s not true. Here are the terms for getting a new member bonus: “The product is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of any Hyatt Credit Card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of any Hyatt Credit Card who received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months.” In other words, if the World of Hyatt card has a great new bonus some time in the future, you could cancel your card and apply new as long as it has been more than 24 months since you got a new member bonus.
Conclusion
In most cases it doesn’t make much sense to cancel the old card and sign up new. The most compelling reason is probably the last one I gave above: allowing the conversion doesn’t lock you out of a welcome bonus in the future. So, my recommendation is to relax and wait to see if Chase introduces a truly exciting offer for this card. If/when that happens, it may be time to cancel and apply.
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[…] See also: Should you cancel the old Hyatt Visa and sign up new? […]
does the conversion reset the account anniversary in terms of when we receive the annual 1-4 night award?
I don’t think so
For some reason, I thought it did, so in the past if you were upgrading with a “bonus” attached to the upgrade, you wanted to make sure you timed it appropriately to not miss out on your anniversary night. I could be mistaking this for the SW card though, but I would have thought they’d work similarly. My anniversary was in September so no real loss either way.
Greg, are you absolutely, 100% sure about #4 — Allowing the conversion doesn’t lock you out of a welcome bonus in the future? I know the only two requirements for getting the sign-up bonus are to not be a current Hyatt card member and to not have received a sign-up bonus in the last 2 years (which I’ve exceeded), but I was thinking of canceling my legacy Hyatt card before the conversion in January even though I won’t be charged the higher annual fee until September 2021. (I really don’t like being converted to the WOH card without as large as a bonus of new applicants.)
I don’t think Chase would deny my WOH card application in 2021 due to credit standing (and the Hyatt card is my only Chase card), but am concerned the sign-up bonus would be at risk when I apply for a WOH card due to previously having cancelled a WOH card as opposed to only having had a cancelled legacy Hyatt card. Could you please check to see if my concern is valid?
Yes I’m 100% sure that those are the current rules. Of course Chase could change their policy at any time, but for now they don’t have a lifetime rule like Amex.
Thanks for answering, Greg! I’m glad I found your site. I think the WOH CC is a worthy card to have, I just want to be eligible for a sign-up bonus for it. So, one more question: If you had paid your $75 annual fee on 10/1, would you wait to cancel your card until closer to renewal since the fee has been paid or would you cancel prior to the January transition to safeguard against any change in policy exempting you from a sign-up bonus when you inevitably sign-up for a WOH card in the future?
Thanks again!
If you don’t care about getting 10 elite nights (which is a temporary enhancement to the credit card), then you might as well wait until your next annual fee comes due to cancel.
Thanks, Greg! Your other articles on fast-tracking to Globalist, have me thinking I should just let the conversion happen (get 5 elite nights) and burn all my WOH points before 2/28/21 (though I only have Category 2 Hyatts nearby, i.e. 8k points/night, so I’ll be points-broke after) to grab the promo for Globalist thru Feb 2023. Once I’m close to having to pay the $95 annual fee (Sept 2021) and IF I’m still wanting SUB points (and hopefully the SUB offer will still include 10 elite nights for 2021), THEN I can close and reapply. Does that sound savvy or crazy? 🙂
That sounds reasonable, but note that I’d be very surprised if they keep the 10 elite night offer for long
You called it, Greg. The 10 night offer is already removed from their dual offer page. Despite my post last week, I couldn’t help myself but to go ahead and cancel my legacy card last week in hopes of applying for the new card in time to nab the 10 elite nights before it goes away. So now I’m out of any Hyatt card until the promo comes back. (Facepalm) At least I’ll be able to pounce the minute it does, and not have to wait for the closed card to show with the credit bureaus, so I’ll be keeping a lookout!
I emailed a Hyatt contact about this earlier today because the 10 elite night promo was advertised as good through 12/31. He assured me that it would still be honored even though it is no longer on the landing page for the offer.
Update: I applied for the WOH card tonight and was approved! Sure hope your contact is right about them honoring the 10 elite nights. I know it’ll take a few weeks for the latter 5 to appear on my account, but I’ll keep you posted. Strangest thing is my credit limit isn’t as high as my previous legacy Hyatt card even though my credit history hasn’t suffered any from when I applied for the legacy card. Thanks for your guidance thru the twists and turns of trying to decide what do do with the Hyatt card(s)!
I have the old Hyatt credit card. i plans to spend exactly $4000 by the end of the year for the free night promotion. My questions is:
Will the $4000 spending in Nov/Dec this year counts toward my next $15K requirement for the next free night certificate or elite nights after conversion?
Thanks.
[…] Should you cancel the old Hyatt Visa and sign up new? […]
Not interested in elite status as I don’t stay in hotels that often when traveling so the answer is YES for me.
I did this, had actually cancelled the other week. 50k points is a good bonus for this card, I doubt it’ll go much higher if at all. With the 10 eqn’s plus 2 cert nights I have from the old card plus 2 nights for $5k spend on the new card (to meet the bonus reqs) I’ll only need 8 nights (x2 in the promo) to hit Globalist. Sure, travel isn’t looking great but in the chance it improves I’ll be ready to go. I’ve been explorist for the past bunch of years after being Globalist/Diamond for awhile, it’ll be good to get back there.
Does the new card offer Discoverist as well as 5 elite nights? Does the annual fee anniversary stay the same? I just had mine, so maybe I will keep the card until next Fall. I am only casually in the game, so I am not going to bother with a lot of spend on this card to make the spend bonuses worth it. Also, I tend to transfer points from Chase cards because we are a family of 6 and tend to stay at Hyatt Places for a better value, so perks aren’t worth a lot. I already have to make a special weekend trip to use my annual free nights at a decent value, so this change seems to make it a worse value for me.
Yes it gives you Discoverist. Existing cardholders won’t be charged the new annual fee until their next card anniversary date after 8/1/2021.
I was planning to do the globalist experiment and my Old Hyatt doesnt renew until March so i’ll be giving up a free night for the opportunity to get globalist and 50K. I think its worth it. I’m at 4/24 now, if i cancel today can i sign up tomorrow or do i need to allow more time?
I’d wait a few days just to be sure that the cancellation goes through the system. Do note my caution that you might not get approved.
I do have 7 chase cards now so this is a risk for 5 extra elite nights. But i have a lot of certs to burn next year so losing one wont be the end of the world.
Thanks for the analysis. The final point is key.
FYI, there’s a typo in this clause: if Chase introduces a truly exiting offer for this card.
Fixed. Thank you
I have the old card. Would I get a 2nd set of elite night credits if I apply for the WoH card some time next year?
No, you can only have 1 card at a time and cancelling and signing up new won’t / shouldn’t result in two sets of elite nights
Thanks for the answer
I’d love to get Globalist. We have 4 nights already booked in the Jan – Feb 2021 timeframe and the old Hyatt card. Does that give us 13 elite nights and we need 9 more nights for 30 and Globalist?
You do have 13 nights after completing your already-booked stay (5 from the card, and 4×2=8 from the stay). You need 17 more to get to Globalist, which you can get from staying 9 nights as long as the checkout(s) are in January or February.
Yes as long as the 9 nights are in Jan or Feb (as LarryInNYC said)
After speaking with Chase, I was told it was “likely” existing Hyatt Card holders attempting to apply for the new WOH Chase card would be denied/declined as transition of all existing card holders has already begun.
I think the idea would be to cancel, then wait a couple of weeks and the apply for the new card. Not sure why that would not work. The rule is to stop those who got the bonus recently, but if you have the card a long time, thats not an issue
Greg, I do not have the WOH card currently. I am interested in getting it and attaining Globalist status. Question: I won’t be under 5/24 until after Dec. 5 (Sat.), based on using the Credit Karma method you detailed in a past post. Can I try to apply for the WOH card next week, or do I need to wait until January? Thanks!
It depends. Did you follow the instructions that said “Scroll down until you find the first card opened within the past 25 months not counting day of month.” ? If so, then December 1 would have been safe. If you went with 24 months, then Jan 1.
So well laid out like always. I do hope our converted cards get the 5 elite nights too. I’ve never been interested in elite status with hotels bc I often do apartments on Airbnb anyway. And really breakfast at the local corner place is always fine for me and really not worth what hotels charge. But I do understand how nice it feels to be taken care of like Hyatt does so well. So I may consider trying to do Globalist. I’m already an Explorist, which isn’t worth much true, but I did get an upgrade to club floor once using a certificate. It was nice and when I want to be downtown close to the action where Airbnb apartments might be high, I do love Hyatt. Or Hilton since I’m Diamond.
Please let us know what the Hyatt team says about 5 elite nights from converted cards. I wish Chase would thrown in 5k points too since they’ve offered that to me not too long ago. Hehe