Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  With all the recent news about the refreshed Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card and the upcoming change to Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to Hyatt, I thought it would be interesting to share why I don’t currently have a Hyatt credit card and don’t have any Hyatt elite status either (shocker!).

Grant’s World of Hyatt Account (as of 6-14-2026)

Looking at my credit card spreadsheet, I was approved for the legacy Chase Hyatt Credit Card back in November 2012. At the time, the sign up bonus was 2 Hyatt Free Night Certificates that could be redeemed at any Hyatt property worldwide. I put those certificates to good use with a stay at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme (before it was cool and before it was no longer cool). The hotel was fantastic, and I still have fond memories of that trip.

Fast forward several years, and Chase launched the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card in June 2018. Existing cardholders would eventually be product changed from the legacy Hyatt card to the new version in January 2021. Since I had never held the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card, I didn’t want to give up the opportunity to earn the sign up bonus. Instead, I closed my legacy Hyatt card in December 2020 rather than letting it convert automatically.

It may be hard to believe, but I haven’t had a Hyatt credit card (or any Hyatt elite status) since then.

Legacy Chase Hyatt Credit Card and Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card

Fortunately, Laura has had the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card since January 2019. For several years, my plan has been to apply for my own Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card around January so that our annual free night certificates would have similar expiration dates. The problem is that I haven’t been under Chase’s 5/24 rule in a very long time.

According to my Chase 5/24 Tracking spreadsheet (yes, I have a spreadsheet for that too!), I’ve opened 5 new credit card accounts in the past 15 months, with the oldest dating back to March 2025. If I don’t apply for any additional personal credit cards between now and March 2027, I should finally fall below 5/24 and become eligible to apply. Giving up new credit card opportunities for the next 9 months isn’t particularly appealing, especially considering how few Hyatt stays I actually have each year.  Because Laura receives an annual Hyatt Free Night Certificate, we typically stay at Hyatt properties only once or twice per year. As a result, Hyatt elite status has never been especially important to me.

Neither Laura nor I currently have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card, but I do have a legacy Chase Ink Plus Business Credit Card that still allows transfers to Chase’s airline and hotel partners. With Chase reducing the Hyatt transfer ratio from 1:1 to 4:3 beginning October 1, 2026, I’ve been thinking about whether I should make a speculative transfer before the change takes effect.

At the moment, I’m leaning toward transferring somewhere between 50K and 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt. Because I only stay at Hyatt once or twice per year (and one of those stays is covered by Laura’s Hyatt Free Night Certificate), I think that amount of Hyatt points could last me several years.  My Chase Ultimate Rewards Points balance is currently above 500K points, and I also have a Bilt balance of roughly 300K points (which still offers 1:1 transfers to Hyatt).

If you were in my situation, would you transfer 50K points, 100K points, or none at all before October 1, 2026? If you have any thoughts on the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card or the upcoming Hyatt transfer ratio change, please leave a comment below. Have a great week everyone!