$15K World Of Hyatt Free Night
Something came to me the other day when doing our live recording for the spending podcast in the MtM Diamond group. Next year will be the first year that the $15K World of Hyatt free night is based on calendar year. It used to be based on cardmember year but Chase decided to change it to the much easier to track calendar year starting next month. The problem is that Chase defines end of year a bit weird. In Chase’s world the end of year seems to happen when your December statement cuts. Does that mean we could start spending towards our free night after that? And, will some people trying for the double dip miss out because of this unique rule by Chase?
Chase’s Calendar Year Is Weird
Over the years we have realized that Chase’s “calendar year” is a bit strange. They seem to base which year the spend falls in completely on when the statement cuts. So if you bought something at the end of December but it settles on your January statement then it counts towards the following year. That is why people can start spending towards earning a Southwest Companion Pass as soon as their December statement cuts. It is another reason everyone is told to use their Chase Sapphire Reserve credit before the December statement closes. Otherwise it will end up counting towards the following year’s credit.
It seems like the World of Hyatt credit card should follow the same rules. The reason we didn’t think of this sooner is because it is the first time we are dealing with this. It could end up being a potential downfall to anyone trying to double dip their free night.
Is Your Free Night Double Dip In Trouble?
This year some people had a chance to double dip their $15K World of Hyatt free night. You could double dip the free night by spending $15K after your anniversary hit in 2021, but before the calendar turned to 2022. On January 1st you would be eligible to earn another free night with the changeover to calendar year earning. That opened up a window for some.
It was best if your anniversary was in the middle of year because that gave you plenty of time to get this done. But what if your anniversary was in October or November? You would be hard pressed to meet the spending in that time frame but some likely went after it. Knowing they had a tight window they would probably budget having the entire month of December to complete it too. I mean the end of the year is December 31st right?
I theorize you really only have until your December statement cuts and then Chase’s system will flip over to 2022. At least that is the way it works with all of their other cards. That may catch some people blindsided, they hoped they still had a few weeks left to complete the necessary spend. This is all theory at this point, since it is the first time this has happened, but I feel pretty confident in it.
What Should You Do If This Is You?
What options do you have if you spent $13K of the $15K required and your statement just cut? I would probably continue along with the spending and then reach out to Chase once it is completed. You have a claim, since calendar year is actually December 31st. I imagine they will be willing to work with you on it and give you some points or something along those lines. Plus, you are so close it wouldn’t take a lot of effort.
If you are still quite a ways away from completing the required spend and planned to finish it up over the next few weeks I may abort. That would require a lot more effort and it may not amount to anything.
$15K World of Hyatt Free Night – Final Thoughts
Hopefully not too many people get caught up in this weird bizarre end of year calendar Chase uses. If you completed the entire $15K in spend before your December statement cut then you should be all good. If not, you have to decide if it is worth pursuing and potentially ending up with nothing. If you are most of the way there then it is probably worth the risk in my opinion.
On the other side of the coin if you still have some substantial spend left this year, and have run out of good credit card options, maybe the World of Hyatt card is a good risk to take. If your December statement date has come and gone there is a decent chance any spend after that will count towards the $15K World of Hyatt free night certificate spend for 2022. That is speculation on my part as well but it lines up with how other Chase cards work.
Let me know what you think below.
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Any data points on the 2 elite nights per 5k spend? My statement cut Dec. 3rd. I made sure to make the 15k for the free night prior to that, and it credited properly. I am, however, 2 nights short of the next milestone award, and was hoping to pay my property taxes before Dec 31st to have that spend count and get those next 2 elite nights. Any data points or info on that? I feel like I remember being caught out on that before.
If you cross the $5k threshold in Dec, the 2 night credits will be credited to this year (2021) even though your statement close is in 2022. They backdate the elite night credits at statement close to Dec 31. This happened with me a couple years ago, here is a screenshot of my activity. https://imgur.com/kHcie2c (The night credits posting on Dec 31 came with my statement close on Jan 25, because my spend occurred in Dec)
I will answer my own question with what happened for me:
I changed my statement close date (was back-calculating and aiming for the 28th, and figuring it wouldn’t take effect until January, but the December statement closed the 25th, rather than January 3rd.) Luckily, I put the property tax bill on it on December 23rd, before I left town for the holidays…just for convenience of remembering, rather than knowing the statement was going to close. Whew! Statement closed with that spend on, and I hit my 50 nights. I make good use of the Suite Upgrades, so I am glad to have 2 of them for the coming year.
Awesome – glad to hear
Ugh. Very timely article. I am in the exact situation you described with 13k of spend out of 15k AND my statement just closed. I was going to pay for my partner’s Q4 estimated tax payment in the next few days to push me over the 15k.
I would probably still risk it if I was that far along and then plead with Chase if it doesn’t post.
Just wanted to provide a follow up positive data point. My second 2021 15k free night cert just posted on the 15th after my Jan statement date.
Awesome – thanks Kalen
From Chase’s terms…
“Free Night Award After $15,000 in Purchases: You, as the primary cardmember, will have from your account open date through December 31, 2021 to spend $15,000 in purchases and earn a Free Night Award. On January 1, 2022 your spend total will reset to $0, and the time period for you to spend $15,000 to earn a Free Night Award will run from January 1 through December 31 of each calendar year.”
The free night doesn’t post until statement close, so if you finish the $15k between December statement close and Dec 31, you will get the free night in January.
At least it is written in the terms so you have something to fall back on. But that isn’t how their system has worked in the past so you may need to quote these terms.
Could possibly post a link to these terms?
https://creditcards.chase.com/travel-credit-cards/world-of-hyatt-credit-card
Click on the “Offer Details” near the card image.
My Hyatt CC due date is Dec. 22, 2021. I called Chase to discuss this issue with them. The rep I talked to was unsure about the specifics of this weird wrinkle in the space/time continuum, so she reached out to a supervisor who assured her the I’ll need to meet my $15,000 spend on or before that date to acquire a free night certificate. I’m off the game by over $9K, so I’ve decided to let it go. Just offering this as another data point.
Thanks Brant
what about door dash credit – does that run through Dec 31 or just thru statement close ?
I am not sure on that one Tom
Greg covered this in detail and was pretty sure you just need to have spend done by Dec 31.
https://frequentmiler.com/tips-for-timing-your-hyatt-credit-card-spend/
I hope their system recognizes it, but I have a feeling it won’t because of the way it works with their other cards.
I thought it was based on all charges posted between annual date and 12/31. I believe the Hilton Amex spend is 1/1-12/31. It would not make a lot of sense if it was the “statement date” which for me was Dec 12th. I am now over the 15k spend but I was about $100 short on Dec 12th and I hope I am not getting stiffed. I assumed once you hit the 15k that you would have 12 months to use the free night and I slowed the spend down so the clock didnt start ticking on me for the 12 month expiration.
It doesn’t make sense but that is how it works for their Southwest cards and their CSR credits etc.