Chase Hotel Cards: Hyatt vs Marriott Bonvoy -- Which is BEST? (Free Night Awards!)

Hyatt and Marriott are two chaise hotel cards that are often talked about and after holding each card for more than a year, I think it's pretty safe to make an opinionated comparison. So that's what we're doing in this video today. I'm going to compare their aspects in terms of point redemptions, card perks, quality, and overall experience, so let's get started. But before we get into the video, I want to introduce today's sponsor, Kudos. Did you know that there is an easy way to turn your purchases into free flights, hotel stays, and incredible travel experiences? Well, that's Kudos, a free AI-powered wallet that helps you maximize your credit card rewards when you shop online. And Kudos makes it easy to earn more rewards by auto-suggesting the best credit card to use at purchase to make sure you're always racking up the highest miles, points, or cash back. And with Kudos' partnership with the Points Guy, you can also discover new credit cards and access the highest signup bonuses possible. But Kudos doesn't just help you earn rewards, it also makes shopping a breeze by auto-filling your credit card info with just one click. And Kudos is as easy as using Apple Pay and Honey. And the best part, Kudos is free. There's no hidden fees, just more cash back into your pocket. Kudos is trusted by over 200,000 shoppers and was awarded the number one app to multiply your rewards by card rates. So if you're ready to start turning your everyday purchases into free travel, just click the link below and sign up with the code Jazzy to get $20 back after your first eligible purchase. Now back to the video, let's start off comparing the credit card themselves starting off with Hyatt. And I got this World of Hyatt card three years ago and I've been loving it. The card has a $95 annual fee and now it has a 60,000 point signup bonus after spending $3,000 within the first three months of opening the card. And as for the perks, the biggest perk is the free night certificate, which will apply on your second year of holding the card. So I'll be comparing this certificate in just a moment with Marriott certificate. Also just by holding this credit card, you will reach hotel status faster. And just by holding the card, you are automatically in discover status, which means sometimes you can get hotel upgrades, bottled water, and lake checkout, which tends to be around 2 p.m. You also get two times the points on dining, shipping, airline tickets, transit, car rentals, gas stations, and internet, and one times the points for everything else. Now let's talk about the Chase Marriott Bonvoy card. And I just finished holding this card for a year, so I can finally take advantage of all the perks. And the card has a $95 annual fee with a three free night award welcome bonus after spending $3,000 in three months of holding the card. And as for the perks, again the biggest perk of the card is getting that free night award. And this card also helps you to reach tier status faster and starts off with silver status. And for Marriott purchases with the card, you can get up to 17 times the points. Then you get three times the points on grocery, gas stations, and dining, two times the points on everything else. And from a high level, this card seems to have very similar perks with the Hyatt card, as both do offer you that free night award. But let's take a deeper look because they are slightly different. Now getting into the free night awards. And as for Hyatt's, there's no blackout dates and the hotel category has to be between one to four. And as for Marriott's free night award, the hotel has to be 35,000 points and under with the option of adding up to 15,000 points to your reward. So that can basically get you up to a 50,000 point hotel. And they do have limited blackout dates, meaning certain hotels may restrict the number of point redemptions depending on the date. And as for my experience, last year in Taipei, Taiwan was the first time I used my free night award with Hyatt. And it was at a category for Grand Hyatt. And this one ended up getting us a great value, saving us about $200 a night. And that is after subtracting the annual fee. Also, my husband also has this Hyatt card. So we used both of our free night certificates to stay there for two nights. So that was last year, but this year was a bit different of an experience. And I haven't used my Hyatt certificate, but I tried to in Japan. So my Hyatt award night did not work when I was searching for hotels in Tokyo two months before my trip. When I went back to check on the hotel two weeks before my trip, the award night seemed to be available. But by that time, I had already booked other hotels. So I didn't use the certificate as of now. So it wasn't just the free night certificate that wasn't available months in advance at a category for hotel, as booking with points was also not available. I have a feeling that it's because we chose to go to Japan during Golden Week, which is a holiday week in May, where a lot of people in Asia just go on vacation. So I'm thinking maybe Hyatt was wanting to see how many bookings could be made with cash first. And that might be why it was available to book with points or the certificate two weeks before the date. But in the end, we did end up booking a Hyatt in Japan. It was the Hyatt Regency in Hakone, which is near Mount Fuji, and it was a category six hotel. It was so wonderful and beautiful, but the category did not qualify for the free night because it was category six. So we ended up using our points. Now getting into the Marriott experience. Because we couldn't book the Hyatt hotel in Tokyo, we ended up going with Marriott and booked the AC hotel in Ginza. There were actually no hotels in Tokyo that were worth 35,000 points and under. So we ended up combining points and our free night certificate to get us what would usually be a 50,000 point per night stay hotel. And if I did the math, we did end up saving around $300 for the one night, as usually prices range from $240 a night and up. And it was actually $400 a night when we went. Plus I just subtracted the annual fee there. And overall, I'd say that the quality of the Marriott AC hotel and the Grand Hyatt hotel in Taipei were both really good. And it's not easy to compare the two mainly because they just have different vibes going on. So the AC hotel kind of reminds me of a premium grunge feel with all the black and the low lighting. And the Grand Hyatt in Taipei was just a more brighter and open space and grand. So they were both really excellent, but it does still seem like for points redemptions, it's better when going with Hyatt. So to book the category for Grand Hyatt hotel, it was nice because you don't need to spend more points to complete your free night stay. You just have to use your certificate and then you get your hotel. But as for Marriott, it was nice to be able to get that 50,000 point hotel, but you do have to take an additional 15,000 points on top of your free night certificate. So I haven't yet stayed at a hotel with Marriott that is worth 35,000 points, so I would like to know how does that compare with a category for Hyatt. But hey, at least the Marriott isn't restricting you to the certificate to only 35,000 points or nothing, because if that was the case, I really would have not been able to find a hotel in Tokyo. So I won't complain. Now let's go over hotel locations, quality, and considerations. So it's not just about comparing the credit card perks and what would give you the best redemptions, but I think it's also fair to compare the two hotel companies in general. So let's talk about location. And one thing about Hyatt, there are only 1,300 locations across 76 countries. As with Marriott, there are actually 8,700 locations across 139 countries. So obviously what that says is with Hyatt, you might go to a country and there's no locations and you'd have a greater chance to find a location with Marriott for where you're going. So I'm already looking at hotels in Peru, which is hopefully our next trip abroad. And there are no Hyatt hotels in Machu Picchu, Cusco area, but there are Marriott hotels there. But in Lima, the capital city, there are both Hyatt and Marriott hotels. But still, this isn't always the case. So when we went to Mount Fuji, Hakone area in Japan, there was actually only one Hyatt in that city and no Marriott hotels, which is why we ended up booking this hotel with points. Also, the hotel offered us a convenience shuttle back to our train station, so we wouldn't need to take public buses. So for that reason, if you are deciding to pick only one card, location might be the biggest decision factor. Because if you have a destination that you always travel to and it doesn't have a Hyatt or it doesn't have a Marriott, then that might be the reason why you would opt for one card or the other. Next up, other things to note. So I did want to mention that with Marriott, there is also the option to upgrade to the Ritz Carlton card. And this card is not available to apply to online, but there is a backdoor way to get it after getting the Chase Bon Voyage Marriott card. And with the Ritz Carlton, you can also get a free night certificate to hotels, which are really nice high-end hotels, probably worth way more than the $450 annual fee. And there are also some other perks that I probably should make another video about. So maybe that will be my next upgrade. Just stay tuned. So in summary, with the annual fee, both of the cards free night certificate should well cover it and even be worth it. So ultimately, that should be saving you some money. And for beginners who have not yet held a hotel credit card, I would always recommend Hyatt because the cent per point redemption just tends to be better. But also, in the end, it also depends on location if you are able to find a Hyatt or Marriott. And ultimately, I would just get both of the cards and even add other hotel cards into the mix. As long as you know that you're going to be traveling every year, it should be pretty easy to use these free night awards. So let me know your thoughts. Do you own any of these cards? Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you in another video. Bye.