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

For World of Hyatt fans, the World of Hyatt Credit Card is easily worth its $99 annual fee. Just the annual free night earned on each cardmember anniversary can provide that much value. Plus, cardholders will get automatic Discoverist World of Hyatt elite status with the ability to earn even higher elite status levels by spending on the card.

Not surprisingly, the Hyatt Credit Card offers bonus points on Hyatt stays. Cardholders earn 4X bonus points on Hyatt stays. Add in the 5X base points you earn as a World of Hyatt member and 10% elite status bonus points from Hyatt Discoverist status, and cardholders earn at least 9.5x World of Hyatt points per dollar spent at Hyatt properties.

Bonus points aren’t just limited to your Hyatt purchases. World of Hyatt Credit Card holders earn 2 Hyatt bonus points per dollar spent in the following categories: local transit and commuting; dining out at restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops; flights purchased directly from the airline; and fitness club and gym memberships. All other eligible purchases earn 1x Hyatt points.

Although Discoverist elite status is the bottom tier in the World of Hyatt program, it still offers valuable benefits like waived resort fees on free night awards, premium internet, preferred room upgrade, 2 pm late checkout, and bonus points when flying American Airlines.

But you don’t have to be content with Discoverist tier status. You can use the World of Hyatt Credit Card to earn even higher elite status in the World of Hyatt program. Each calendar year, World of Hyatt Credit Card cardholders will start with five qualifying night credits. Then you’ll earn two qualifying night credits for every $5,000 in purchases every calendar year.

Another reason to spend on the World of Hyatt Credit Card is to earn free night awards. Like many co-branded hotel cards, cardholders get one free night certificate every cardmember anniversary. However, World of Hyatt Credit Card account holders can also earn an extra free night certificate by spending $15,000 in a calendar year.

That means cardholders will get a total of two free nights and 11 qualifying night credits each year they spend $15,000 on the World of Hyatt Credit Card. That puts you more than one-third of the way to World of Hyatt Explorist status.

These free nights can are limited to Category 1-4 Hyatt properties. While that’s somewhat limiting, you still have plenty of options for redeeming your Hyatt free nights. For example, you can redeem your free night certificates at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay — a waterside Category 3 hotel that averages $266 per night.

World of Hyatt Credit Card holders are protected when traveling with extensive travel protections like trip delay reimbursement, lost luggage reimbursement, baggage delay insurance, and travel accident insurance. Plus, the World of Hyatt Credit Card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees.

Plus, you’ll get benefits from several partners. Get up to $10 in statement credits each month toward GoPuff purchases through December 2023. Plus, get lower service fees when you use DoorDash by enrolling to get one complimentary year of DashPass through December 2024.

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