Compare the Features and Benefits of World of Hyatt Business Credit Card and
American Express® Green Card

The World of Hyatt business credit card is literally packed with reasons to have it. To me, the main reason is that you can use your business spending to earn elite night credits. For someone that values Globalist status (which is often referred to as the best top tier status of any US hotel chain – with good reason!) and has business with high spend, the ability to earn 5 elite night credits per $10,000 in spend is great.

Keep in mind you’ll also earn 4X World of Hyatt points per dollar spent at Hyatt properties and then 2 points per $1 spent for the top two of the following eight spend categories you spend on each calendar quarter —with no cap: dining; airline tickets purchased directly with the airline; car rental agencies; local transit and commuting; gas stations; internet, cable and phone services; social media and search engine advertising; and shipping.

If you spend a lot on those categories, your $10,000 in spend earns you 20,000 World of Hyatt points (worth about $340 using our own valuations of points and miles) as well as 5 elite status qualifying nights.

One thing to note is that there are other Chase credit cards that earn better for some of the above categories. For instance the Chase Ink Business Preferred earns 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards (which transfer back to the World of Hyatt program 1:1) on all travel (beating 2X on the World of Hyatt Business card for airline and car rental spend) and 3X on internet, cable and phone services; social media and search engine advertising; and shipping. However, that caps out at $150,000 in combined total spend whereas the World of Hyatt business credit card has no cap. You could spend $500,000 on these (top two each quarter, remember) and earn a whopping million points whereas you’d earn significantly less on the Chase Ink Business Preferred due to the $150,000 cap. Basically, you can earn a ton of Hyatt bonus points!

Beyond that, this card offers automatic Hyatt status in the form of Discoverist status. While it’s the lowest elite tier in the World of Hyatt program, it normally would take 10 nights to earn and still offers some nice perks such as premium Internet, complimentary bottled water, a preferred room within your booked category, the ability to earn 1 American Airlines AAdvantage mile per $1 spent at Hyatt (in addition to your Hyatt points), and a 2pm checkout (based on availability). Not only that, but you can “gift” this same Discoverist Hyatt status to up to five employees as well.

And don’t forget, this card gives you access to the Hyatt Leverage program. Hyatt Leverage provides your company with a discount code for stays at a Hyatt property, just like big corporations get! I have personally saved significant money using my own Hyatt Leverage discount.

Another great benefit of this card is the primary car rental CDW / LDW coverage as long as the rental is for business purposes. I really love credit cards with primary CDW insurance because you know you won’t have to involve your personal insurance, potentially owing a deductible, if something happens. I once had a Jaguar I rented from Hertz get keyed in a parking lot and Chase took care of it 100%.

It’s also got some nice protections for items you purchase, with both Purchase Protection (theft or damage to a newly purchased item) and Extended Warranty.

All in all, the World of Hyatt Business credit card is an incredibly well rounded card for those that are loyal to Hyatt and, by extension, the World of Hyatt loyalty program.

American Express seems to have positioned the Green Card to more directly compete with high performing mid-tier cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Citi Premier card, offering a few more direct benefits than each of them in exchange for a $150 annual fee (vs. $95 on those other cards). (Rates and Fees)

The American Express Green Card is a Powerhouse for Travel, Transit and Dining

Whereas the The Platinum Card® from American Express is all about the benefits (elite statuses, statement credits galore, etc), the American Express® Green Card is all about the 3X Membership Rewards points on all things travel (including Transit!) plus 3X on dining – all for a relatively low annual fee of just $150 (Rates and Fees). It’s great for frequent travelers, especially if you don’t already have a card that earns at least 3X on travel purchases.

And it does have a couple of benefits that can cover the annual fee. If you don’t have access to CLEAR (which lets you go ahead of most other people at airport security in select airports / terminals), this card will cover $189 in CLEAR fees which is enough for a whole family to have a membership. And you also get up to $100 in credits for airport lounge access with LoungeBuddy.

It’s worth considering this card in combination with other American Express cards. One solid Trifecta that maximizes points would be an Amex Gold Card, an Amex Green Card, and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. You’d use the Gold for Dining and U.S. Supermarkets, the Green for 3X points on travel and transit, and the Blue Business Plus for 2X on other eligible purchases (up to $50,000 a year; 1X Membership Rewards points per dollar thereafter).

In another Trifecta replace the Gold Card with a Platinum Card and enjoy all the perks and benefits of the Platinum card while putting all non-airfare travel and transit charges on the Green Card and the rest on your Blue Business Plus.

In short, I don’t think anyone should have the Green Card as their sole credit card, but I do think it has a nice place among a handful of American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards points.

Keep in mind that American Express Membership Rewards points never expire and combine among all of your Membership Rewards-earning cards. All points earned from various American Express cards have the same transfer partners.

The Amex Green Card Functions as a Credit Card

The Amex Green card is part of the same family of Amex proprietary cards formerly referred to as charge cards. However, the Green Card has a built-in Pay Over Time feature, making it function in many ways as any other standard credit card. Unlike a typical credit card, the Green Card allows you to carry a balance for certain charges, but not all.

What this means: Amex generally limits a cardmember to 5 credit cards (personal and small business combined), while they have a limit of 10 on proprietary Amex cards (formerly known as Charge).  This means that even if you already have 5 Amex credit cards, you would still be eligible for a Green Card.

Bonus Eligibility: They still state that if you had the Green Card before, you are not eligible for a welcome bonus on this card. So you’ll be eligible if you have less than 10 Amex charge cards and have never had the Amex Green card before.

Rates and Fees for the American Express® Green Card