Chase Ritz Carelton or Hyatt?

[credit_endurance]

Hey all,

Was going through some of my credit cards and APR's and was looking to do some trimming of my higher Apr cards. The Ritz Carelton sits at 23.49 varaible with a $450 yearly fee, while Hyatt comes with a 17.49 varibale and $95.00 yearly fee. Both cards present advantages and disadvatages so i find myself completely torn in a decision.

So I am reaching out to this great forum for advice

Convince me of which card to keep and why?

[Anonymous]

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@credit_endurance wrote:

Hey all,

Was going through some of my credit cards and APR's and was looking to do some trimming of my higher Apr cards. The Ritz Carelton sits at 23.49 varaible with a $450 yearly fee, while Hyatt comes with a 17.49 varibale and $95.00 yearly fee. Both cards present advantages and disadvatages so i find myself completely torn in a decision.

So I am reaching out to this great forum for advice

Convince me of which card to keep and why?

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Do you use them for their benefits? If not, drop both as paying AF's for nothing is not wise (or roll the limits into a core Chase card-Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, CSP).

If you use Hyatt more than Ritz Carlton, then close Ritz Carlton, or vise versa. 

I will be the first of many that will probably tell you this: reward cards should be used for their rewards. Use them for daily expenses, things that you would have used a debit card for; cash for or check for. Then pay the balances off in full and enjoy the benefits. If you need to carry a balance I would advise you to get a low APR credit card from a bank or credit union for that. Therefore, if you are using both cards and reaping the benefits of them, the APR is irrelevant as the cards should be paid in full.  

[wasCB14]

If you're at risk of carry a balance at either 17.49% or 23.49%, you should be more focused on saving than luxury travel.

[GeorgiaBulldog]

I don't think APR should be a concern really (there's bigger problems here if you carry a balance on either of these), just whether your use justifies the annual fee. $300 travel credit on Ritz is more complicated than others to redeem, but if you fly with others a lot, the Visa infinite discount can pay for itself in a hurry. $10k spend/year to keep Ritz/Marriott/SPG gold is a bargain for some too.

Also worth noting that the Hyatt card AF is only 75. Honestly, even without spending much on it, the free cat 1-4 night every year easily pays that AF back.

[credit_endurance]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@credit_endurance wrote:

Hey all,

Was going through some of my credit cards and APR's and was looking to do some trimming of my higher Apr cards. The Ritz Carelton sits at 23.49 varaible with a $450 yearly fee, while Hyatt comes with a 17.49 varibale and $95.00 yearly fee. Both cards present advantages and disadvatages so i find myself completely torn in a decision.

So I am reaching out to this great forum for advice

Convince me of which card to keep and why?

---

Do you use them for their benefits? If not, drop both as paying AF's for nothing is not wise (or roll the limits into a core Chase card-Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, CSP).

If you use Hyatt more than Ritz Carlton, then close Ritz Carlton, or vise versa. 

I will be the first of many that will probably tell you this: reward cards should be used for their rewards. Use them for daily expenses, things that you would have used a debit card for; cash for or check for. Then pay the balances off in full and enjoy the benefits. If you need to carry a balance I would advise you to get a low APR credit card from a bank or credit union for that. Therefore, if you are using both cards and reaping the benefits of them, the APR is irrelevant as the cards should be paid in full.  

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Honestly I haven't really used both cards for the benefits sadly. In lies my decision to ax one or the other. I think the Ritz fee is steep along with the high APR So that makes the Hyatt that more appealing with just the $75 or $95 fee. My plan was since I'm well over the 5/24 rule is to app for the Amazon prime visa signature which has no fee and many perks that I actually use and close the Ritz then shift limit to the Amazon or Hyatt. 

[Anonymous]

So much of the card's value is tied up in perks at Ritz properties. You can upgrade up to three stays of up to seven nights to the club level, and you can get $100 credits on stays of a certain length. I collect points and miles so I don't have to pay for hotel stays, so I'm not the target audience for this card. The Amex Platinum card gives me Marriott gold status for now, so I don't need that from the Ritz card. The Marriott card also gives me a free night which covers the annual fee and then some. The CSR covers a lot of the remaining Ritz benefits. I think for most people the Ritz doesn't offer a lot of benefit unless you pay to stay a Ritz properties at least a couple times a year (and maybe at Marriott/Starwood properties if what you really want is elite status at only those properties and bonus points on spending at the hotels).

The Hyatt card and I are in a love-hate relationship. Hyatt points are valuable, and the free night can be used at some great properties. I'm using mine at the Grand Hyatt Berlin. However, Hyatt plays games that are not consumer friendly. You have to book the free night separately. I'd already checked ahead of time and the hotel had three nights available. But after I booked the free night, the room was not available with points for the other two nights. I went back to see if there were any rooms available for the whole three night period that could be booked with points, and surprise! The room was available. I called in and the Hyatt rep had no idea how to fix it and blamed it on "the system." Perhaps I could have fought up the chain (because Hyatt promises no blackout nights), but there was a club level room available with points for the last two nights, so I just went with that. But it cost me 6000 extra points per night. Too many experiences like that and it will be difficult to justify the Hyatt card and the pursuit of Hyatt points.

[credit_endurance]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So much of the card's value is tied up in perks at Ritz properties. You can upgrade up to three stays of up to seven nights to the club level, and you can get $100 credits on stays of a certain length. I collect points and miles so I don't have to pay for hotel stays, so I'm not the target audience for this card. The Amex Platinum card gives me Marriott gold status for now, so I don't need that from the Ritz card. The Marriott card also gives me a free night which covers the annual fee and then some. The CSR covers a lot of the remaining Ritz benefits. I think for most people the Ritz doesn't offer a lot of benefit unless you pay to stay a Ritz properties at least a couple times a year (and maybe at Marriott/Starwood properties if what you really want is elite status at only those properties and bonus points on spending at the hotels).

The Hyatt card and I are in a love-hate relationship. Hyatt points are valuable, and the free night can be used at some great properties. I'm using mine at the Grand Hyatt Berlin. However, Hyatt plays games that are not consumer friendly. You have to book the free night separately. I'd already checked ahead of time and the hotel had three nights available. But after I booked the free night, the room was not available with points for the other two nights. I went back to see if there were any rooms available for the whole three night period that could be booked with points, and surprise! The room was available. I called in and the Hyatt rep had no idea how to fix it and blamed it on "the system." Perhaps I could have fought up the chain (because Hyatt promises no blackout nights), but there was a club level room available with points for the last two nights, so I just went with that. But it cost me 6000 extra points per night. Too many experiences like that and it will be difficult to justify the Hyatt card and the pursuit of Hyatt points.

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Yes cardfan the Ritz free night offers are always what keeps me wanting to keep them around along with the heavy metallic fill it has.Im just thinking that my longterm needs for the card will dimish over time. I would much rather have just one hotel perks card with a lower AF and APR and grab the Chase Amazon Prime card and shift limit to that.

[Anonymous]

Won't be able to help on the Hyatt but we have had our Ritz card for a while. The benefits are defenitely good.

- $300 Travel Credit

- Free Night Signup and Club upgrade certs every year

- Priority Pass w/ unlimited guests

- Visa Infinite Discount Portal

Theres a good amount more, but we use those the most!

The Ritz also tends to come with large SLs (on good credit of course) if you're looking to up your total RCL, not sure on the Hyatt (which I think can get pretty large as well), but I've seen people hit up to 80k on the RItz Card. And if you're into that kind of thing, it's imo one of the best looking CCs out there!

[credit_endurance]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Won't be able to help on the Hyatt but we have had our Ritz card for a while. The benefits are defenitely good.

- $300 Travel Credit

- Free Night Signup and Club upgrade certs every year

- Priority Pass w/ unlimited guests

- Visa Infinite Discount Portal

Theres a good amount more, but we use those the most!

The Ritz also tends to come with large SLs (on good credit of course) if you're looking to up your total RCL, not sure on the Hyatt (which I think can get pretty large as well), but I've seen people hit up to 80k on the RItz Card. And if you're into that kind of thing, it's imo one of the best looking CCs out there!

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Very good points Mikey098! I will have to further exaimine my decision to axe the Ritz or not. I so love the look and feel alone makes it a keeper