Chase Sapphire Reserve Getting Explorist Status, New Hyatt Credit Cards Coming in 2026

Updated: November 5, 2025, 8:19pm CST

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Table of Contents

Hyatt and Chase To Expand Partnership and Card Portfolio
Chase Sapphire Reserve Cardholders Get Explorist Status
Final Thoughts

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Hyatt and Chase sent out a long-winded press release today to announce that the 2 customer-favorite brands are strengthening their partnership. However, the really exciting part is that some Chase cardholders will get Hyatt Explorist status, and there are plans to expand the Hyatt credit card portfolio in 2026.

Here’s what we know so far.

Hyatt and Chase To Expand Partnership and Card Portfolio

It’s all good news today from Hyatt and Chase. The 2 brands announced that they will be expanding their relationship, building on Hyatt’s fast growth over the last few years. While not many specifics were given, we do know that more high-end Hyatt brands like Park Hyatt and Alila will be added to The Edit by Chase Travel.

Park Hyatt Paris Vendome front entrance — Expect to see more high-end brands like Park Hyatt in The Edit by Chase Travel. Image Credit: Katie Seemann

Even more exciting, there are plans to expand the Hyatt card portfolio. That means we could see a mid-tier and/or a premium Hyatt credit card in 2026! (Fingers crossed that one of these new cards will offer a path to top-tier Globalist status).

Bottom Line:

Hyatt and Chase are strengthening their relationship. In 2026, we can expect to see more high-end Hyatt hotels participating in The Edit and the expansion of the Hyatt credit card portfolio.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Cardholders Get Explorist Status

The other interesting part of this announcement came in a single sentence buried in the middle of the press release: “World of Hyatt Explorist status will be added as a benefit for top spending Chase Sapphire Reserve^® and Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ cardmembers beginning in the middle of 2026.”

One of the biggest criticisms of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card until recently was that it didn’t come with hotel elite status.

However, that’s changing. First, IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status was added as a benefit during the card’s refresh earlier this year, and now it looks like World of Hyatt Explorist status will be added to both the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve Business card.

Park Hyatt Zurich king room — Hyatt Explorist is a mid-tier status that includes room upgrades and bonus points. Image Credit: Katie Seemann

The press release said “top spending” cardholders. Does that mean you’ll need to spend a certain amount of money on your card each year to unlock this status? We’ll have to wait and see if it’s that or if the status is automatic.

Either way, this is a positive change. Currently, the only cards that come with automatic Hyatt elite status are The World of Hyatt Credit Card and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, both of which include automatic entry-level Hyatt Discoverist status.

Final Thoughts

Hyatt and Chase just announced some vague but exciting updates to their partnership. Sometime in 2026, we can expect to see more high-end Hyatt hotels participating in The Edit, an expanded credit card portfolio, and Explorist status will be added as a benefit on both the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve Business card.