How I earn Hyatt points on dining purchases with the Bilt Mastercard

My favorite way to earn highly coveted World of Hyatt points has nothing to do with a travel credit card, or even a basic cash back card. Hear me out.

As a long-time credit card rewards enthusiast, I’m always looking for outside-of-the-box ways to earn more points on all my purchases. In fact, I’ve got an entire binder full of credit cards and a strategy I’ve been perfecting for over a decade. When I look hard enough, there’s almost always a better way to do something than the obvious way.

For example, dining out is a common expense for many people. At the same time, World of Hyatt points are one of the most sought-after hotel point currencies available (worth about 2.3 cents per point, based on Bankrate’s valuations).

So, how can you take this typical expense and turn it into the most Hyatt points possible? Hint: It’s not with the credit card you think.

Here’s how I earn more Hyatt points on dining purchases with the Bilt Mastercard.

Earning Hyatt points through dining purchases

Most people would assume the best way to earn World of Hyatt points is to get a co-branded credit card and spend on it. And while that strategy does hold true in many instances, it’s not the case for your dining purchases. In fact, with the right card strategy, you may be able to earn up to 3X as many points on your dining purchases.

Chase World of Hyatt Card

First, consider Chase’s The World of Hyatt Credit Card*. This card is among the best co-branded cards available, offering several perks and bonus categories, including earning 2X Hyatt points on dining purchases.

Based on our above calculation, that’s about a 4.6 percent return. With Hyatt award nights starting as low as 5,000 points, spending in any bonus category can help you quickly boost your balance towards an award redemption. But while 2X is a decent return, it’s still not the most efficient way to earn Hyatt points on dining purchases.

Bilt Mastercard

Enter the Bilt Mastercard®. This card provides exceptional value and flexibility, and you’ll typically earn 3X Bilt Points on dining purchases using the Bilt card. However, on the first of the month, known as Rent Day, all earnings are doubled (with a cap of 10,000 points), meaning you’ll make a whopping 6X Bilt Points on dining purchases — as long as you use the card at least five times within your statement period to earn points.

But why would you want Bilt Points instead of Hyatt points? Keep in mind that Bilt Points are a flexible points currency. Based on Bankrate’s valuations, Bilt Points are worth about 2.1 cents per point, possibly more with the right redemption. And one of the best ways to maximize your points is to transfer to one of their many transfer partners — including World of Hyatt.

As a result, if you think of the Bilt card as earning World of Hyatt points, you can earn anywhere from 3X-6X on your dining purchases, which beats any other card available. While there are many flexible opportunities for value when transferring Bilt Points, World of Hyatt points are the most valuable of all their transfer partners.

Maximizing your Hyatt points earnings

As noted above, the best way to fully maximize your World of Hyatt earning potential for dining purchases is to focus on Rent Day. With earnings doubled to 6X, it’s the ideal time for dining purchases. Based on our valuations, that’s worth an incredible 12.6 percent, and possibly more if you add the value of transferring to a valuable transfer partner like World of Hyatt.

But how can you actually maximize your Hyatt points earnings in practice? Here are a few possibilities:

• If you’re considering ordering takeout or a dinner date, see if it works for you to do it on the first of the month.
• Many chain restaurants will also allow you to load money onto their app for payment, which will code as dining on the Bilt Mastercard. By funding your app on Rent Day, you can lock in the 6X value on your spending.
• If you’re planning a large get-together and plan to foot the bill, keep in mind that Bilt Rent Day spending has a cap of 10,000 points, which amounts to $1,666.67 if you spend it all on dining.

Finally, when booking something with Hyatt, you can link your accounts together through Bilt, and you’ll often earn bonus points for doing so. You’ll transfer the points from Bilt to World of Hyatt, then go to the Hyatt site and book your award night.

The bottom line

Never assume the most efficient way to earn points in any program is with their co-branded credit card. Travel cards that earn flexible points that can be transferred to various partners often provide better value in their bonus categories. In this specific case, for example, you can earn three times as many Hyatt points on your dining purchases by using the Bilt Mastercard than the Chase World of Hyatt card.

The information about The World of Hyatt Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.