Hyatt Hotels

The Hyatt credit card hold amount is typically the cost of your stay plus extra for incidentals. The exact amount extra is entirely dependent on the Hyatt property at which you are staying, but it is usually $50 or less per day. Individual hotels can set their own hold policies, so the best course of action is to call the hotel directly to ask. This is also the case for most other major hotel brands.

A credit card hold temporarily prevents you from using a certain amount of your credit line. This ensures that your card will have enough available credit to pay the full amount due when you check out. For example, if your available credit is $1,000 and a hotel puts a hold for $100 on your card, you will only be able to make $900 in purchases. The hold will be removed from your card once your room fees and any applicable incidentals are charged after your stay. If you do not incur any incidentals, the hotel will only charge your room cost to the card and will remove the hold for the incidentals.

It's useful to note that a Hyatt credit card hold will not impact your card's credit utilization ratio, since it is not a charge. Only the final amount that Hyatt charges to your credit card will affect your utilization.

No. There is no Hyatt business credit card. The only Hyatt credit card is the World of Hyatt consumer credit card, which business owners can also apply for. Its initial bonus is one of the best hotel credit card promotions out there right now. New cardholders can earn a total of 50,000 points in the first 6 months after account opening - 25,000 points for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months, and another 25,000 points after spending $6,000 in the first 6 months. Free nights at Hyatt hotels start at 5,000 points, so that's potentially 10 free nights in Category 1 Hyatt properties, just for hitting both spending requirements.

The World of Hyatt credit card is issued by Chase, and you'll need at least good credit to get approved for it. The initial bonus and subsequent free night each year you renew the card will more than pay for the $95 annual fee.

Hyatt points expire after 24 months with no account activity as well as when you close your account with unused rewards. To prevent Hyatt points from expiring, redeem your points on a regular basis and make sure to cash in any unredeemed rewards before closing your account.

• After 24 months without account activity.
• When you or Hyatt closes the account.

Even though Hyatt points expire only in these select situations, it's still a good idea to avoid building up a big Hyatt rewards balance because that would make you more vulnerable to rewards devaluation.

If you're trying to choose a hotel rewards program and are concerned about rewards expiration policies, you can see how the Hyatt points expiration policy compares to other popular companies' policies in the table below.

Hyatt Points Expiration vs. The Competition 

Hyatt points are worth 2 cents each, on average. That means 10,000 Hyatt points have a value of about $200. Plus, Hyatt points are more valuable than the average hotel points, which are worth roughly 0.96 cents each.

It's important to remember that the value of Hyatt points depends on how they are redeemed. They have the most value when used for World of Hyatt hotel reservations. You can easily calculate the value of Hyatt points for any redemption method, though.

How to Earn More Hyatt Points

One of the best ways to increase the number of Hyatt points that you earn is to apply for a Hyatt credit card. That can also help you reach a higher status tier in the World of Hyatt, further boosting your earning potential.

Hyatt Points vs. The Competition

How to Calculate the Value of Hyatt Points

The easiest way to calculate the value of Hyatt points is to determine the dollar value of what you're redeeming for, minus any taxes and fees that you'll still have to pay, and then divide that amount by the number of points you're required to redeem. For your convenience, here's the formula:

Dollar Value of Redemption Item / Number of Hyatt Points Needed = Hyatt Point Value

By doing this calculation, you'll discover that Hyatt points are generally worth more when redeemed for weekday reservations during a destination's off-season, as opposed to weekend nights during peak months.