by Daniel | Last Updated October 8th, 2022
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If you’re a small business owner and are looking for a reasonably priced hotel reward credit card that has a good sign-up bonus and a decent variety of benefits then either one of the cards in this review is worth considering.
In this article, I’m going to review and compare both the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card from Amex and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, and then I’ll give you my opinion on which card offers the most value for money.
So Who Are These Cards Good For?
Both of these business credit cards are mid-tier hotel reward cards that are perfect for small business owners that are interested in utilizing their business spending to earn more value from either Marriott Bonvoy or the World of Hyatt.
Now when it comes to overall locations to stay, Marriott Bonvoy has way more hotels to choose from than the World of Hyatt does.
Currently, there are over 8,100 properties that fall under Marriott Bonvoy compared to around 1,150 hotels that make up The World of Hyatt.
Annual Fee
Now both of these cards are relatively affordable on an annual basis and still have some great benefits and user perks.
With the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card from Amex, the annual fee is just $125, which makes it the cheapest card in this review.
Next up, with the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, the annual fee is $199, which is $74 more than the Amex card.
Winner
So the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card from Amex is the winner as it is clearly cheaper than the World Of Hyatt business card.
But let’s continue on and see if paying more for the World of Hyatt business card actually provides you with more perks and benefits.
Sign-up Bonus
Now if you can get a large sign-up bonus for a new credit card it makes it that much more desirable.
First of all, it will most probably cover the cost of the annual fee and then actually leave you with quite a few extra points to use for other benefits.
So let’s start with the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card from Amex.
And currently, it is possible to earn 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of card ownership.
This is actually 25,000 more points than normal.
Now currently Marriott points are worth 0.8 cents per point which makes this sign-up bonus worth $800.
So it’s a very generous sign-up bonus that is worth 6 times more than the annual fee.
Next up, with the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, the sign-up bonus is currently 60,000 Bonus Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of card ownership.
Now seeing that World of Hyatt points are worth 1.8 cents per point, this sign-up bonus is worth $1,080.
So it’s worth $280 more than what the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card is offering which is enough to make up for the higher annual fee and still leave you with an additional $206 in value.
Winner
So for this section, the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card offers quite a lot more value from its sign-up bonus, although it will require an additional $1,000 spent to receive it.
Points Earning Potential
Now for the next section of this review, I’ll just go over each cards points earning potential and see if there is much of a difference between the two cards.
So starting first with the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card there are three different categories for earning points.
The first is the ability to earn 6x points per dollar spent at any hotels that participate in the Marriott Bonvoy program.
It is then possible to earn 4x points on the following categories:
- Restaurants worldwide
- US gas stations
- Wireless telephone services from within the US
- US shipping purchases.
Then all other purchases made on the card will earn 2x points per dollar spent.
Next up with the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card it is possible to earn 9x points per dollar spent at Hyatt hotels.
Then there is a wide variety of options from which you can choose just 3 spend categories each quarter to earn 2x points, these include:
- Dining
- Shipping
- Social media and search engine advertising
- Airline tickets purchased directly from the airline
- Local transit
- Car rentals
- Gas stations
- Internet, cable, and phone services
- Fitness club and gym memberships
Then all other purchases will earn 1 point per dollar spent.
Winner
So for this section, the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card is the better card mainly because its points are worth about 1 cent more per point than Marriott Bonvoy Points
Benefits And User Perks
Now for one of the most important sections of this review, I’m going to break down all of the benefits that come with each card and then see how much value each card offers.
So beginning with the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card it is actually possible to earn one free night award after renewing the card for the following year.
And if you manage to spend $60,000 or more on the card within a calendar year it is possible to receive a second free night award.
And these can be redeemed at a redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Points, which is worth around $280 if you use its 0.8 cents per points valuation.
It is then possible to receive a 7% Marriott Bonvoy room rate discount when you use the card to book a standard guest room directly with the hotel.
There is Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status which allows for late checkout at Marriott properties and 25% bonus points on stays.
Each year you will receive 15 Elite Night credits that can be used towards a higher level of Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status.
Then if you transfer 60,000 Marriott points to one of the participating airlines through Amex, Marriott will add an additional 5,000 bonus miles.
Next up with the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card there are also some pretty decent benefits on offer.
There is a $100 Hyatt property credit each year, and to use this basically when you spent $50 or more at a Hyatt property you will receive a $50 statement credit, and this can be used two times per year.
Then if you spend $50,000 within a calendar year it is possible to receive 10% of your redeemed points back for the rest of that year, and this is available on up to 200,000 redeem points per year.
With the Hyatt Leverage membership, it is possible to receive discounts of up to 15% off standard room rates worldwide.
There is then access to World of Hyatt Discoverist status that provides you with a few nice extra when staying at Hyatt hotels such as room upgrades and 2 pm late checkout, and this is available for you the main cardholder, and up to 5 employee cards.
For every $10,000 you spend in a calendar year it is possible to earn 5 Tier-Qualifying night credits that can be used towards improving your status.
And finally, there is a complimentary one-year DashPass that is valued at $96 a year.
Winner
So I would have to give this section to the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card as it is possible to earn at least one if not 2 free night awards in a given year if you meet the spending requirement of $60,000.
This is something I think the World of Hyatt card could greatly benefit from offering as well.
Insurance Coverage
Now the insurance coverage that is included with both of these cards is pretty good and can potentially save you a lot of money if you ever need to take advantage of it.
So starting first with the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card there is Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance that covers up to $50,000, and this is secondary coverage.
There is then a Baggage Insurance Plan that covers your luggage if it is damaged lost or stolen.
And this covers up to $1,250 for carry-on and $500 for check baggage.
Then with Purchase Protection, there is 90 days of coverage on new purchases that get accidentally lost, damaged, or stolen and this covers up to $1,000 per occurrence and $50,000 per card per year
And then finally there is Extended Warranty protection that provides 1 additional year of coverage on warranties that are 5 years or less.
Now with the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, there is a similar Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver that covers you in the event of theft or damage to a rental vehicle as long as you pay for the entire rental with the card.
There is then Trip Cancellation/ Interruption Insurance that provides compensation of up to $1,500 per person and a total of $6,000 per trip if it is cut short or canceled.
The Purchase Protection is better with this card as it provides 120 days of coverages compared to just 90 days with the Amex card, it also allows for up to $10,000 per claim compared to just $1,000 per claim with the Amex card, and then its limit is the same at $50,000 per year.
And finally, there is similar Extended warranty protection that provides one additional year of coverage on warranties that are 3 years or less.
Winner
So for this section, both cards are very similar in terms of the insurance they provide.
I would have to give it to the World of Hyatt Business Card as it offers longer and higher coverage with its Purchase protection.
APR
Now for the last part of this review, I’ll just go over what the current APR is for each card and what charges are incurred for getting a cash advance or making a late payment.
Starting first with the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card the APR for purchases is currently between 18.74% and 27.74%.
A cash advance will have an APR of 28.24% and will also incur a fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever amount is more.
Failure to make a minimum payment 2 times or having a payment returned by your bank will result in a penalty APR of 29.99% and will also incur a fee of $39 for each issue.
Finally, there are no foreign transaction fees.
Next up, with the World of Hyatt Business Card, the APR for purchases and Balance Transfers is currently between 18.99% and 25.99%.
And a Balance transfer will incur a fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer.
A Cash advance has a slightly lower rate than the Amex card of 27.99% but has a way higher fee of either $15 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance.
The penalty APR rate is the same at 29.99% and will incur a fee of up to $40.
And just like the Amex card, there are no foreign transaction fees.
Winner
So for this section, in terms of convenience, the World of Hyatt Business Card has a bit more to offer as it is possible to do a balance transfer which can be quite helpful.
Final Thoughts
So that pretty much covers everything there is to know about both of these cards and to be fair they are pretty similar.
Obviously, if you do prefer one hotel chain more than the other, it probably won’t make much of a difference to your choice of card.
I think in terms of overall value the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card is a slightly better card.
First of all, it is $74 cheaper on an annual basis.
Then there is the fact that you can a fee night award each time you renew the card for the following year which is worth around $280.
And then is the fact that Marriott Bonvoy has almost 7,000 more properties to choose from than the World of Hyatt.
Now, this doesn’t mean I think World of Hyatt Business Card is a bad choice.
It has plenty to offer as well.
The sign-up bonus is worth $280 more than the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card.
And the fact that its points are worth 1.8 cents per point compared to the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex card’s 0.8 cents per point means it will be easier to earn a ton more value from everyday spending.
Now if you are actually looking for a new business credit card and neither of these cards sparked your interest, why not check this article here where I review and compare 4 different American Express Business credit cards.