JaguarBest

I took advantage of Hyatt Chase 2 Nights Offer and got it. Used my 2 nights in Key West. I finished my 1st year and they charged me the Annual Fee. Question is -- is it worth it to keep it or dump it and apply again may be after 6 months?

What is the norm? Just wanted to pick some experts brains here.

CodeAdam10

Welcome to FT JaguarBest,

You can't churn Chase after 6 months. Maybe after nearly 2 years if your lucky.

You do get a free cat 1-4 certificate every year upon your anniversary, so it's up to you if you see the value in that vs the $75(?) annual fee.

Also it's better to keep the card open and use it as a bargaining tool if you need to call the reconsideration line (ie: Chase won't approve you 'cause you have too much open credit with them, you can ask them to close your Hyatt account and use that credit line towards the newly applied account). Works out better for you vs just closing the account now and not having this bargaining chip.

JaguarBest

Not sure if that 2 Year period is a true statement CodeAdam. I had a Mariott which I closed last year in around April - maybe and then applied again now and I got it -- with 20 K bump.

Anyways -- your point about using it as a bargaining chip is quite valid.

Problem with that Gift Certificate is you have to use it within a year, is there any way we can extend that 1 year validity for that Gift Certificate ?

Stubtify

The 2 years (I've read it really is closer to 18 months) is usually from your last approval, not the close date of the card. When did you open the first Chase Mariott?

JaguarBest

Ummm around Nov of 2010. I basically took it -- to stay at Courtyard in Mumbai, which was offered at 10K (because the hotel was new) per night (a steal in Mumbai).

BTW for people who want to visit India -- check the Courtyards, they are all coming up at dime a dozen and are available at a steal, with points. Mind you most cities they are still building.

8mpg

I would have dumped the card before the yearly fee. Not only would you not pay the fee, but you would decrease the effect on your credit.

RewardTraveler

I'm not sure I follow the bit about the effect on your credit, can you please explain?

8mpg

Cancelling cards while they are still young is better for your credit than cancelling aged cards. General rule is never cancel your oldest card. If you watch your credit for people who are applying for cards every 3 months, their credit score seem to tank a little more by aging the cards.

For me, I closed an account just over a year old and my score went down 12 points. I closed a 6 month old card and my score went down 5 points.

RewardTraveler

For aging purposes, a closed card will generally stay on your credit report for 10 years. The aging impact won't impact your credit score until it rolls off in 10 years.

Without knowing the specifics, I am guessing your credit score dropped by different amounts due to the utilization impact of closing the card, not the aging impact.

By the way, I agree with everything in your first paragraph

8mpg

Interesting you say that, but my utilization is very low (1-2%). From looking at CreditKarma, my average length of credit dropped less when cancelling a young card. I will try and find the link I read on creditboards forum about cancelling new cards and how it has less impact

RewardTraveler

CreditKarma's aging calculation doesn't mesh with most other definitions of age. My paid monitoring report (Experian) shows my age to be ~30% longer than CreditKarma. I've read (on the internet, so it must be true) others with a similar outcome when using CreditKarma.

777 global mile hound

Good question
Yes they charge an annual fee however its a wash with the free night at renewal each year up to a category 4 hotel ^
While the card could still stand some improvements I like using it overseas at Hyatts where there are no foreign transaction fees
Its far from one of my primary cards however it has found a respectable place in my wallet.
If you happen to stay Hyatt as well there are some nice bonuses that kick in if you are engaing in the most recent ongoing Gold Passport promotion

I'm all for kicking to the curb deadbeat cards after a sign up offer
But I think Hyatt exceeds at least its annual fee by far
That said I like their full service hotels who recognize me superbly on average as an elite member wherever I choose to travel
For that reason alone I am also more warm and fuzzy then I might be otherwise.....

edrags

The Hyatt Visa is number 6 in my wallet depth chart - used for all Hyatt stays, and as a backup to my Chase Sapphire on foreign trips, as the Sapphire tends to raise fraud alerts way more than other cards.

In the absence of the current Hyatt promotion with the 25% bonus kicker for using the card, the Hyatt Visa would be no better than my Chase Sapphire, which gives me 2X miles on all travel.

Frankly, if there was any evidence that I could churn the Hyatt Visa within 18 months, I would probably dump it before the annual fee came due. Two free nights in a suite at any property worldwide (as a Diamond) certainly trumps a free night in a Cat 4 property and I would be willing to wait the 8-9 months for the churn.

I am told, however, that Chase has taken a lot of flak about its two night initial promotion and that they are very careful not to allow churn.

greek2me

The Points Guy just posted the card will have new terms on Monday and he is to stop marketing the old card today Fri 2/24 at 6pm ET. He does not know the new terms, or if will be better or worse. Anyone here have any further insight?

Napolehon

I just got this card this month. Would truly suck if it gets better, but how can this card get any worse? not much benefits except the one free night and couple extra points for having it for this hyatt promo.