Which credit card should you use for Hyatt stays?
Editor's Note
Quick summary
- World of Hyatt offers fewer credit card options than competing hotel loyalty programs, with only personal and business cards available and no luxury option.
- When paying for Hyatt stays, you can choose between Hyatt's own cards or general travel rewards cards that earn transferable points.
- Using Hyatt's own cards typically yields a strong return on spending and provides automatic entry-level elite status, along with annual perks like free nights and tier-qualifying credits.
- General travel rewards cards may offer higher points on bookings through their travel portals, but these bookings often do not qualify for elite status benefits at Hyatt properties.
What to consider
- Elite status benefits from Hyatt cards apply regardless of which card you use to pay, except when booking through third-party travel portals, which may forfeit these perks.
- Hyatt points are valued highly per TPG's July 2025 valuations, but are less flexible than transferable points from general travel rewards cards.
- Choosing between Hyatt cards and general travel rewards cards depends on whether you prioritize maximizing point value within Hyatt or prefer flexibility for other travel redemptions.
What you'll miss from the article
- A detailed comparison of the tradeoffs between using hotel-specific cards versus general travel rewards cards for Hyatt stays, including how booking channels impact your elite benefits and points value.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Compared to its competitors, World of Hyatt has fewer credit cards available for applicants.
Consider that there are six credit cards from Marriott Bonvoy, four cards from Hilton Honors, three cards from IHG One Rewards and three cards from Wyndham Rewards. While Hyatt has a personal and a business credit card, it lacks a luxury credit card.
Is this a good or a bad sign? Should you look elsewhere when paying for stays at World of Hyatt properties?
Let's examine some popular cards you might use to pay for your next stay at these hotels and resorts to understand what they offer in terms of return on spending and perks during your stay.
Comparing credit cards for a Hyatt stay
In addition to using a Hyatt cobranded credit card, you might also consider using an all-around travel rewards card that earns transferable points on travel purchases, including your next hotel stay.
Let's look at some common credit card options and what you could get when using these cards:
| Card name | Earning rate with Hyatt | Value of the rewards earned* | Hyatt-related benefits from the card | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World of Hyatt Credit Card (see rates and fees) | 4 points per dollar spent | 6.8 cents |
| $95 |
| World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (see rates and fees) | 4 points per dollar spent | 6.8 cents |
| $199 |
| American Express® Green Card** | 3 points per dollar spent | 6 cents | None. | $150 |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees) | 4 points per dollar spent (or 8 points per dollar spent if booked through Chase Travel℠) | 8.2 cents (or 16.4 cents) | None. | $795 |
| Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees) | 3 points per dollar spent (or 10 points per dollar spent if booked via the Citi Travel portal) | 5.6 cents (or 18.5 cents) | None. | $95 |
*Bonus value is an estimated value TPG's July 2025 valuations and not the card issuer.
**The information for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Which card should you use?
When choosing a credit card for your next stay at a Hyatt property, consider two factors: the benefits you enjoy during your stay and the points you earn on the card when paying for your stay.
The first part is relatively simple. The benefits and perks of your elite status will apply regardless of whether you use a specific card for your stay.
For example, you don't need to pay with the World of Hyatt card or World of Hyatt Business card to enjoy your Discoverist status, which is conferred automatically by having either of these cards.
(The one exception is using the Sapphire Reserve or Strata Premier to book a paid stay at a Hyatt through their respective travel portals. This will generally count as a third-party booking. While you'll earn 8 and 10 points per dollar spent on these bookings, respectively, you'll likely forgo any perks of World of Hyatt elite status when staying at the hotel.)
When it comes to earning points from spending money at hotels participating in World of Hyatt, using your Hyatt credit card is a good option, unlike some hotel programs. Due to the high value of Hyatt points, using these cards will provide a better rate of return than using a Marriott credit card at a Marriott hotel, for example.
However, the value to be had here is subjective in some ways. Do you prefer to earn the maximum value according to our monthly points valuations? Are you OK with that, even if it means earning points that are stuck in a single program and can only be used with Hyatt (or transferred to airlines in such a way that you lose a lot of value)?
Or do you prefer to earn transferable points because you know how to maximize these for flight awards in premium cabins or during expensive holiday periods, obtaining outsize value for your points?
In this case, using a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards may be your best bet since you would have access to the full range of Chase's transfer partners and still have the option to transfer points to World of Hyatt for hotel redemptions.
Related: How long do Chase Ultimate Rewards take to transfer?
Bottom line
Sometimes, deciding which credit card to use on a purchase can require tradeoffs. Maybe you earn more points but sacrifice some benefits. Perhaps you're willing to earn fewer points but access a valuable benefit by using a particular card.
Luckily, the choice of which credit card to use when staying at is pretty simple. Due to high earning rates from Hyatt's credit cards and the value of these points, you should be able to earn a high value in rewards while also enjoying your cardholder benefits, without the tradeoffs required by making this decision at some other hotel chains.
Related: How I booked a Hyatt hotel for just 2,000 points per night this summer