Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great Fourth of July holiday. Lately, there has been a lot of news about new Chase credit cards and upgrade options for 3 Chase hotel credit cards. I have all 3 Chase hotel credit cards (Marriott, Hyatt and IHG) so I had to decide if I wanted to upgrade any, all or none of my credit cards. The old and new credit cards are good for some people, but everyone’s situation is different. I will share my thought process about keeping or upgrading each credit card. Since everyone travels differently, you may agree or disagree with my decisions.
Before I share my decisions, here is where I stand on hotel loyalty programs. I am very loyal to chain hotels and would rather stay at a chain hotel than an independent hotel or Airbnb. But I do not have loyalty to a specific hotel loyalty program. I consider myself a free agent and do not care about hotel elite status unless it is given to me free for having the credit card. Lastly, I spend 1-2 nights a year at Marriott, 4-8 nights a year at Hyatt, and 5-7 nights a year at IHG (I divvy the rest of my hotel stays between Hilton, SPG, and Radisson Rewards). I use points and free night certificates for the stays as much as possible, unless the cash rate is cheap. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Upgrade Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card to Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card?
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- Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card
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- Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card
If you a regular TWG reader, you will already know that I recently upgraded to the new Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card. In addition to getting 20,000 Marriott Rewards Points to upgrade, my annual free night certificate is good at Marriott properties costing 35,000 points (instead of Category 5 hotels that cost 25,000 points). Even though the annual fee increased by $10 from $85 to $95, the 20,000 points (worth $100 to me) plus the ability to redeem the free night certificate at many more Marriott properties made the upgrade decision easy. Doctor of Credit has a good post explaining all the differences between these 2 credit cards. If you are interested in applying for the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card (my referral link), the sign up bonus is currently 100,000 Marriott Points after spending $5,000 in 3 months.
Upgrade Chase Hyatt Credit Card to Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card?
Chase Hyatt Credit Card (left); Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card (right)
The travel blogosphere is already in love with the new Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card because you can spend your way to Globalist Elite Status (and everyone loves Hyatt Globalist Elite Status). Since I only spend 4-8 nights a year in Hyatt, I am perfectly happy with my bottom tier Hyatt Discoverist Elite Status. The 2,000 Hyatt point upgrade offer (worth $35 to me) is not worth paying $20 more in annual fees (annual fee increased from $75 to $95). The new credit card categories and earning rates don’t interest me either since I always use Hyatt points for my stays. Lastly, spending $15,000 on this credit card to get an extra free night certificate doesn’t seem worth it to me. I would rather MS on my Chase Ink Plus Business Credit Card and transfer the Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Hyatt. I am going to pass on this upgrade offer. Doctor of Credit has a good post explaining all the differences between these 2 credit cards. If you are interested in applying for the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card (my referral link), the sign up bonus is currently 60,000 Hyatt Points after spending $6,000 in 6 months.
Upgrade Chase IHG Rewards Credit Card to Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card?
Chase IHG Rewards Credit Card (left); Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card (right)
Chase recently offered 5,000 IHG points (worth $25 to me) to upgrade to the new credit card, but that was not enough to offset the $40 annual fee increase (from $49 to $89). The old credit card rebated 10% of the IHG points you redeem, but the new credit card will rebate the 4th night if booked with points (25% rebate). I don’t spend 4 nights in a row at the same IHG hotel, so I much prefer the 10% points rebate on all award nights. The decision to pass on this upgrade was an easy decision. Doctor of Credit has a good post explaining all the differences between these 2 credit cards. If you are interested in applying for the Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card (my referral link), the current sign up bonus is 80,000 IHG Points after spending $2,000 in 3 months.
There you have it, I only upgraded 1 of the 3 credit cards. Did I make the right decisions? Let me know in the comment below. Have a great day everyone!
P.S. Which Chase credit card do you think will have an upgrade offer next?
Currently the Hyatt and IHG cards are not subject to 5/24. Assuming it’s been 24 months since you got the bonuses, have you considered cancelling the current ones and get the new versions and associated bonuses?
I’ve had both cards for several years, but I don’t have plans to cancel and get the new cards (even for the sign up bonus). I think the old version of the Hyatt and IHG CCs work better for me than the new versions.
Loved it. I am in teh same boat. old version of the Hyatt and IHG CCs work better for me than the new versions.
That’s great to hear. The new CCs are pretty good, but they are t better than the old CCs (in my opinion). Who knows, I might upgrade in the future if the terms change.
You can keep old IHG and still apply for the new one. I have both. You can’t do that with Hyatt.
Good to know, thanks Lynn!