Don’t forget that today is your final chance to sign up for free Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status if you have any kind of Visa Signature card. There are (at least) three reasons to grab this while you can.
(1) Platinum status is awesome
This is one of the main reasons I signed up for the Hyatt Visa credit card from Chase in the first place. Sure, you get a few other benefits, like a sign-up bonus that includes two free nights at any Hyatt in the world and 3 points per dollar on Hyatt purchases. But Platinum status alone–without the card–also gets you a 15% bonus on points earned for paid stays (6.75 vs. 5 per dollar spent), free WiFi, 2 PM late check-out, and occasional bonuses after every third stay. Even though you don’t get free access to the Regency Club, you can still get better rooms on higher floors and occasional discounts on things like resort fees. Read more about it on Hyatt’s website.
(2) Improve your sign-up bonus if you plan to apply for a Hyatt Visa
If you were planning on getting the Hyatt Visa anyway, you might think “I don’t need free status; I’ll get it soon enough.” But you’d be so wrong. Normally you get two free nights at any Hyatt property when you get approved for the card. The card also comes with complimentary Platinum status, but if you already have it, you’ll get two free suite upgrade certificates (to be used on paid stays) in addition to the free nights. If you already have Diamond status, you’ll still get two free nights, but they’ll be in a suite (no upgrade certificates). Although the card has a $75 annual fee, it comes with an additional free night in a Category 4 hotel each year that makes up for it, and I feel that the benefits of Platinum status alone have been worth more than $75.
(3) Use the Platinum status to get a match with Club Carlson
The Club Carlson promotion is coming out on May 15, which you probably already heard about. Frequent Miler explained several ways to boost this promotion to earn much more than the 138,000 Club Carlson Gold points that you would earn from the promotion alone. For example, if you have Gold status, you’ll earn about 10,000 points more than any ol’ general member. And Gold status is easy to get if you have Platinum status with Hyatt and send a screenshot to Club Carlson at goldpointsplus@carlson.com. Don’t forget that if you don’t have a Club Carlson account yet, you can earn 2,000 bonus points by using promotion code NSB2K12 thanks to @THEinfamousdx (there was an earlier 4,500 promo code, but it’s since died).
I’ll have a new post tomorrow outlining exactly how I plan to exploit this promotion. I passed on it last year, but I revised my position this year after realizing just how flexible these points can be. No “Rewarding Recap” today, but hopefully I’ll have enough material to put one together tomorrow. Check out the weekly recap at Deals We Like instead.
