Which Card Is Better For Earning Globalist Status? World of Hyatt Personal vs Business Card

World of Hyatt Personal Card vs Business Card

A few months ago Chase launched the World of Hyatt Business card. The card missed the mark for me personally. That kind of surprised me because they knocked it out of the park when they revamped the personal World of Hyatt credit card. Even though the business card fell a bit short of what we had hoped for it did seem to be a good option for people that spend to Globalist status.  But is it better than the personal card for that? I finally got a chance to crunch the numbers of the two cards.  Let’s take a look at how the World of Hyatt personal card vs business card shakes out!

RELATED: Here Is How Much Earning Globalist Status Actually Cost Me

World of Hyatt Globalist Status

I thought I should first highlight the perks of World of Hyatt Globalist status so we know what people are spending towards.

• Earn 5 Base Points per eligible $1 USD spent that can be redeemed for free nights, upgrades, unforgettable experiences and more. Globalists receive 30% Bonus Points on all eligible purchases.
• Upgraded room based on availability at check-in at participating locations, including Standard Suites and rooms with Club lounge access.
• Extend your stay upon request to 4:00 PM (subject to availability at some locations)
• Relax in the Club lounge with continental breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres daily. Or, enjoy complimentary full breakfast daily for each registered guest (up to 2 adults and 2 children) at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts without a Club lounge.
• Enjoy complimentary parking on free night awards (available at participating locations where parking can be charged to your room)
• Share your in-hotel benefits with your Guest of Honor when gifting an eligible award

You also earn Milestone awards along the way which play along with status:

I value the free parking, breakfast and guest of honor the most. The breakfast perk works for up to 4 people in the room which has been over $100 a day some times. Getting free parking on award stays is huge in places like Chicago where the cost can be $70 a night. Sharing your awesome status with friends and family, via guest of honor, is a pretty unique perk that Hyatt offers.

World of Hyatt Personal Card vs Business Card: Spending Towards Status

To earn Globalist status, and all of the great perks listed above, you need to earn 60 elite night credits a year. For this exercise we will assume the person is going to reach all 60 nights via their credit card. Let’s take a look at the numbers:

World of Hyatt Business Card

First up is the new hotness. The World of Hyatt Business card earns 5 elite night credits per $10,000 in spend. Here is how much spend is required for Globalist status:

• 60 nights / 5 elite night credits per $10,000 in spend
• You need to trigger the 5 elite night credits 12 times (60 / 5)
• That would require you to spend $120,000 on your card (12 x $10,000)

World of Hyatt Credit Card

The World of Hyatt credit card comes with 5 elite night credits gifted to you right off the bat. That means with the card you only are required to earn an additional 55 nights.  You earn 2 elite credits on the card per $5,000 in spend. Let’s take a look at the numbers:

• 55 nights / 2 elite night credits per $5,000 in spend
• You need to trigger the 5 elite night credits 28 times (55 / 2 then round up to 28)
• That would require $140,000 in spend to earn your 55 nights (28 x $5,000)

World Of Hyatt Business Card Is The Winner, Or Is It?

From a pure spending stand point the World of Hyatt Business card is the winner. It would require $120,000 in spend where the personal card would require $140,000 in spend. But that doesn’t take everything into account. What about free night certificates, annual fees and other perks? Those should be considered too.

World of Hyatt Business card

The business card comes with a $199 annual fee but also offers 2 $50 credits when you spend money at a Hyatt hotel. So let’s call it $99 a year. You do not get any free night certificates on your anniversary or via spend like you do with the personal card. You do however get a 10% rebate on award stays after spending $50,000 on the card in a calendar year. You would accomplish this on the way to earning Globalist status. The perk is capped at 200,000 points in a year or 20,000 points in rebates.

Let’s assume you max that out and also assume that Hyatt points are worth 1.5 cents each to make the math easy.

• Annual fee $199
• -$100 in credits
• -$300 in Hyatt points rebates
• -$201 in net cost

World of Hyatt credit card

The personal version comes with a free night certificate every year and you can earn an additional one after spending $15,000 on your card in a calendar year. These are capped at category 4 hotels, or 15,000 points per cert. That is a maximum value of 30,000 or $450 if the points are valued at 1.5 cents each.  The card has a $95 annual fee.

• $95 annual fee
• -$450 in certificates
• -$355 in net cost

So the personal World of Hyatt card offers you about $150 more in value every year. Let’s assume that your acquisition costs are $7 per $500 in spend to reach status.  The additional $20,000 in spend required on the personal card would cost you $280 more in fees.  That is larger than the $150 you would save on the net annual fees of the two cards so the World of Hyatt Business card still comes out on top.

What If You Are Doing A Mix Of Stays & Spend Towards Status?

Not many people will spend completely towards status, although there are a few I know of. Let’s assume that you plan on staying 30 nights at Hyatt hotels every year and want to spend towards the rest. Which card is better then? Will the World of Hyatt personal card’s 5 elite night head start make it the better option?

World of Hyatt Business card

• 30 nights / 5 elite night credits per $10,000 in spend
• You need to trigger the 5 elite night credits 6 times (30 / 5)
• That would require you to spend $60,000 on your card (12 x $10,000)
  • This would trigger the $50K in spend required for the 10% rebate so the annual fee net cost remains the same.

World of Hyatt credit card

• 25 nights / 2 elite night credits per $5,000 in spend
• You need to trigger the 5 elite night credits 13 times (25 / 2 then round up to 13)
• That would require $65,000 in spend to earn your 55 nights (28 x $5,000)
  • This would be enough spend to trigger the $15K free night certificate so the net annual fee remains the same.

The World of Hyatt Business card still comes out ahead on the spend side $60K vs $65K for the personal version.  But the World of Hyatt personal card has a net cost of $150 less. That additional $5000 in spend would only cost you an additional $70 in fees making the World of Hyatt personal card the better option overall.

The Best Approach – Carry Both

Now we see when the World of Hyatt Business card makes more sense and when the World of Hyatt personal card comes out ahead. But what if you carried both? Would that be the best possible scenario?

Let’s look at the 5 elite night credits given by the personal card in terms of the cost to earn them. That would require $10,000 of spend on the World of Hyatt Business card. If you assume an acquisition cost of $7 per $500 again that would cost you $140 ($10K / $500 = $20 x $7 = $140). That is well above the $95 World of Hyatt card’s annual fee, without even considering the free night certificate you get every year.

Let’s crunch some numbers assuming the 30 nights in spend and 30 nights in stays using both cards:

• 30 Nights needed via spend – 5 elite night credits from the personal card = 25 nights
• 25 nights – 6 nights
  • The 6 nights are earned spending $15,000 on the personal card for the free night certificate = 19 nights.
• 19 nights / 5 elite night credits earned per $10,000 in spend = 4 (rounded up)
• It would require $40,000 in spend on the business card and $15,000 in spend on the personal card.
  • That would leave you $10,000 short of the spend required on the business card to trigger the 10% back on award stays perk. So let’s add that back in.
• Total spend required – $65,000

Holding both cards and maxing out the perks would require $5000 more in spend than if you just used the World of Hyatt Business card.  But you would earn an additional 2 free night certificates for that $5000 in spend. You would also incur the additional $95 annual fee.

• $5,000 in spend has an acquisition cost of $70
• An additional annual fee of $95
• Total $165
• – 2 free night certificates worth $450
• Net additional cost -$285

So you would get your cake and eat it too. The spend is the same when holding both cards as holding just the personal card. It is $5,000 more vs just using the business version. But when using both you unlock 2 free night certificates every year and the 10% rebate worth a maximum of 20,000 points.  I think that is worth the second annual fee of $95.

World of Hyatt Personal Card vs Business Card – Final Thoughts

That was a lot of math, and a lot of fun to put together.  Your personal situation may be completely different than the scenarios I put above but it should hopefully give you a road map on how to decide.

One other thing to consider is the spending categories for each card. While there is a lot of overlap if you can hit one bonus category for a lot of the spend that may sway your decision. Like the gas station option on the business card. If you own a fleet of trucks etc. and can do the full $60K in spend there that is an additional 60K in points (earning 2X instead of 1X). That is worth more than two category 4 free night certificates with a max value of 30,000 points etc. That is something else you need to consider as well.

If you are able to carry both cards, and stack the perks, that seems to be the way to go. At least if you are trying to spend part, or all, of the way to Hyatt Globalist status.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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