Almost Free Traveling

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If I could start over in my travel hacking career, I’d probably start with Hyatt.

I stumbled onto travel hacking with credit card points and miles one day while searching online for ways to visit Disney for less. Excited to get started, I began opening cards and booking travel practically right away. Since then, we’ve taken multiple almost-free-trips to Disney and all over the world on points, but if I had to do it over again, I would do it differently.

When we planned our first free Disneyland trip on points and miles, I did the logical thing and opened Marriott cards for me and my husband. Marriott owns lots of properties around the perimeter of the parks (including WDW, where you can book the Swan, Dolphin or Sheraton Lake Buena Vista with Marriott points), so as a rookie my intuition said to open Marriott (read more about Marriotts near Disneyland you can book free using point and miles). Like Hyatt credit cards, Marriott Bonvoy cards and IHG are also Chase cards–so consider opening them early in your credit card journey–but read on to learn why travelers prefer Hyatt.

Little did I know that despite having a smaller footprint of properties in certain places, Hyatt is a favorite for the many reasons detailed in this post:

1. CHASE 5/24

A lot of great cards are offered through Chase, and we’ve benefitted from many of them; however, Chase has a cutoff rule that everyone should know about: if you’ve opened five or more credit cards in the past 24 months, Chase will not issue you a new card. World of Hyatt cards are Chase cards, so by the time I figured out I wanted them, I was locked out of opening new Chase cards for awhile.

2. WORLD OF HYATT CARD BONUSES

Opening a Chase World of Hyatt credit card will earn you up to 60,000 points: 30,000 after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 90 days, up to 60,000 total if you spend $15,000 in six months. For only a $95 annual fee, you’ll receive a category 1-4 free night certificate annually on your card anniversary.

60,000 Hyatt points earns you two free nights in Maui, or 3-6 nights at a Hyatt property near Disneyland!

3. ULTIMATE REWARD TRANSFER PARTNER

One lucrative way to create a steady flow of Hyatt points into your account is to rack up Chase Ultimate Rewards and transfer them into Hyatt points when it would save you money (always check how many points the booking would cost through the Chase portal first, and then check how much it would cost booking straight through Hyatt before you transfer points).

Holding the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve and/or the Ink Business Preferred gives you the ability to transfer CURs to Hyatt (while cards like the Chase Freedom won’t). With a lower annual fee and great sign up offer, The Sapphire Preferred might be the perfect card to open and begin earning CURs. Eventually, you can open a Chase Freedom card as a default spending card, and because you have a Preferred, you’ll be able to transfer points to Hyatt as needed; read more here:

First Cards to Open for Traveling on Credit Card Points and Miles:

4. WAIVED RESORT FEES ON AWARD STAYS

Everyone hates resort fees: that hidden fee you’re charged after you’ve budgeted and booked your vacation. With Hyatt (and Hilton) your resort fees are waived with award stays, which saves you hundreds of dollars!

5. GETTING A SUITE

As a family of five with two teenagers, we can only stay comfortably in hotel suites, and Hyatt makes it easier than other brands to secure a suite, and offers suite upgrades as low as 6,000 points.

TAKEAWAYS

While we can still see reasons for eventually opening cards with Marriott, Hilton & IHG, because of 5/24, CUR transfers and other benefits, consider starting with Hyatt.

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