The Changes
With the introduction of World of Hyatt, there are a number of changes that will also be made to the Chase Hyatt credit card. When it comes to elite status the card will now offer:
- Discoverist status for holding the card (one level above the basic member level status)
- Explorist status (one level above discoverist status) after you spend $50,000 or more in a calendar year
Currently the card gives you Platinum status for holding the card and also gives you 2Â stay/5 night credits if you spend $20,000 or more in a calendar year annually and an additional 3 stay credits/5 night credits towards Diamond status if you spend $40,000 annually.
A represntative from Chase stated that this will allow more card members to achieve higher status, as previously only a small number of cardmembers were achieving Diamond status by spending on the Hyatt card. The disappointing thing about these changes is that putting spend on this card will not help you achieve the new highest tier Globalist status.
Discoverist vs Platinum
Let’s take a quick look and compare Discoverist status with Platinum status to see if this is an improvement or not:
| Discoverist | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|
| Base points | 5x | 5x |
| Bonus points when choosing points | 10.00% | 15.00% |
| Premium WiFi | Yes | Yes |
| Resort Fees Waived | Yes | No |
| Expedited check in | Yes | Yes |
| Late check out | 14:00:00 | 14:00:00 |
| Booking line | Yes | Yes |
| Preferred rooms | Yes | Yes |
Biggest change for most people will be the 10% bonus points instead of the 15% points you used to receive.
Diamond Vs Explorist
Let’s also compare Diamond & Explorist status, keep in mind that with Explorist status you receive it after $50,000 in spend but previously $50,000 in spend would have given you 5 stay/10 night credits (total of 25/50 required).
| Â | Explorist | Diamond |
|---|---|---|
| Base points | 5x | 5x |
| Bonus points when choosing points | 20.00% | 30.00% |
| Premium WiFi | Yes | Yes |
| Resort Fees Waived | Yes | No |
| Expedited check in | Â | Yes |
| Late check out | 14:00:00 | 14:00:00 |
| Booking line | Yes | Yes |
| Preferred rooms | Yes | Yes |
| Category 1-4 free night after 30 nights or 50,000 base points | Yes | No |
| Welcome Amenity | Bottle of water | Yes |
| Club Access | 4 passes | Yes |
| United Club Passes | None | Two |
| Suit Upgrades | No | Four |
| Guaranteed Room Availability | 72 Hours | 48 Hrs |
Diamond status is significantly better, although it’s not really a fair comparison as $50,000 locks you into Explorist status and $50,000 only gives 20% of the stays/nights required for Diamond status.
Our Verdict
I don’t really think putting a lot of spend on the Hyatt card makes sense (unless it’s for a Hyatt booking as that earns you 3x, but even then the Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3x on travel and those convert to Hyatt) so I don’t think the Explorist/Diamond debate really makes sense having.
It is a bit disappointing that putting spend on the card won’t help to get Globalist status at all, but it’s clear that Hyatt wants to keep that level for their top tier spenders. Let me know your thoughts on these changes in the comments below.
