The Chase Hyatt Visa has been around for a long time. Historically, the sign-up bonus has been two free nights after $2,000 spent in three months.
They’ve periodically targeted people for sign-up bonuses in the form of points rather than free nights. This can sometimes be a good thing, though not the case with the latest targeted offer.
My brother received a targeted offer via email for a Chase Hyatt Visa and it has got to be the worst offer yet: 40,000 points after $2,000 spent within 3 months.
Last year the Chase Hyatt Visa offered 50,000 bonus points after $1,000 spent within 3 months. At the time, I argued that this was actually better than the two free nights because it provided more flexibility. The bonus could be stretched out across lower-category hotels and Points + Cash stays.
I also argued that since there were only seven hotels at the time, getting enough points for just two nights at a Category 6 hotel wouldn’t be so bad.
This sign-up bonus is enough for two free nights at a Category 5 Hyatt hotel, which features nice enough properties but if you want to book a Category 6 or higher, you’ll have to opt for Points + Cash.
There’s still the option to redeem points for lower category hotels. But the bonus is less than what was previously offered. Besides, there are Ultimate Rewards credit cards with higher sign-up bonuses that 40,000 points, which can be transferred to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.
It would be nice if Chase at least matched the targeted sign-up bonus for the Hyatt Visa to the Sapphire Preferred, which is currently offering 50,000 points after $4,000 spent in 3 months.
Never mind that the Sapphire Reserve offers twice that for the same amount of spend. It’s almost insulting that Chase would “target” people for a sign-up bonus that’s worse than the publicly available offer.
Anyway, consider this a public service announcement for the newbies and a rant for those who know better. A targeted 40,000 point sign-up bonus for the Chase Hyatt Visa isn’t worth getting. In fact, it’s not even comparable to the two free unrestricted nights that are part of the publicly available offer.
Chase Hyatt is the worse credit card… The interest is extremely high even when I pay more than the minimum and pay every other day before the due date! I stopped using the card a year ago. The more I pay, the more I am charged interest..It’s ridiculous! I am so anxious to get rid of this card that I have scheduled daily auto payments! My other major credit cards are far less interest rate than Chase Hyatt…Destroying this card as soon as it’s paid off! Never again!
Rewards credit cards all have high interest fees. Always pay it off every month, otherwise it negates the rewards you’ll earn.