When we were planning our honeymoon, we were hoping to escape the harsh New York winter for somewhere warm and tropical. We quickly turned to the Caribbean and in particular its all inclusive resorts. Our plan was to lock our wallets away and enjoy a week of relaxation. Of course during the winter, a lot of Caribbean hotels get very expensive, but thanks to a large stash of Hyatt hotel points, we wound up paying $0 out of pocket for a week at the beautiful Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall in Montego Bay, Jamaica when cash rates were $550+ per night!
We want to share with you how you can use your Hyatt points to book your dream vacation, whether it is a week long honeymoon in Montego Bay, Jamaica, or the Andaz Dubai Palm around Christmas. We are going to cover the basics of the World of Hyatt program and show you how you can earn Hyatt points quickly without even spending a night in a hotel!
THE BASICS – HYATT’S POINTS AWARD PRICING
Hyatt puts hotels into categories from 1 through 8, with 1 being the lowest tier and costing the least amount of points and 8 being the highest tier and costing the most points. Upscale hotels like the Andaz Dubai or Park Hyatt hotels are generally assigned to higher categories and cost more points per night. The easiest way to find how many points you need per night is by searching on Hyatt’s website for the destination you would like to visit (or even a specific hotel like the Park Hyatt New York).Generally if a base level room is available to book on a cash rate, it will also be available for a points booking.
The below chart shows how much a standard room would cost per night in points from category 1 through category 8. You will generally look at the “standard” redemption rate, but as of March 2022, Hyatt is following in the footsteps of other changes and is introducing peak and off-peak pricing. Going to Aruba during the Christmas break? Expect to pay peak point pricing per night. If you would like to book a suite, it will cost more points per night on top of the standard rate, if one is available.
The good news is that if you book for a stay before March 2022, you will still be guaranteed the standard rate. Most Hyatt hotels fall in the 1-7 categories, with only their partner program “Small Luxury Hotels” falling into category 8 for now. Hyatt also lets you use points plus cash to book a room, but generally they are not a good redemption value (more on that in a second).
WHERE TO START
The first thing to do is to open a World of Hyatt account if you have not already done so. The process should only take a minute or two by providing basic information.
Once you have your account set up you will have Member status, you can begin earning 5 Hyatt points per $1USD on eligible spend at most Hyatt hotels. Every so often Hyatt offers new members a welcome bonus or a promotion, so be on the lookout for that if you’re new to Hyatt.
Normally, after 10, 30, or 60 qualifying nights at Hyatt hotels you can achieve higher status at each milestone with Hyatt. During 2021, they let everyone earn status on half the amount of nights. As you achieve higher status, you earn additional bonus points on top of the base of 5 points per $1 spent. For example I am a Hyatt Explorist member and earn a 20% bonus on top of all my eligible spend at Hyatt hotels. I further multiply that with my credit card spend, but more on that in a little bit.
Every so often Hyatt runs promotions to earn additional bonus points or nights stayed for existing members. The current promotion is very lucrative and you can earn double nights stayed at any Andaz property, meaning starting from scratch you can earn top tier Globalist status before the end of the year by staying just 15 nights at an Andaz property.
WHAT ARE MY HYATT POINTS WORTH?
Now that you are earning Hyatt points, how much are they actually worth? The general rule of thumb is that 1 Hyatt point is worth around 1.5 US cent. You can see that from the Hyatt Place DC – US Capitol where a standard room rate would be $261, but you can book it for 15,000 points per night, a solid redemption of just over 1.5 cents per point.
The Hyatt Place National Mall is the same 15,000 points per night, but the cash rate is only $175, making it a bad redemption at around 1.16 cents point point.
Finally, the Hyatt Place Georgetown is another 15,000 points per night, but with cash rates at $288 per night it would make for the best points redemption at nearly 2 cents per point.
HOW TO EARN QUICKLY TO BOOK YOUR DREAM VACATION?
While 15,000 points per night might seem like a lot of points for someone just starting out, and while you can earn bonus points for staying, the quickest way to earn Hyatt points is not by staying in a hotel at all.
Hyatt has a partnership with Chase, so if you have travel rewards points with Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can link and transfer your Chase points to your Hyatt account to top off the amount you need for a points booking.
An even better way is to sign up for Hyatt’s co-branded credit cards with Chase. It comes with very lucrative sign up bonuses after a certain spend and offers a free award night every year you hold the credit card which you can use at any of the above DC hotels and it more than makes up for the annual fee.
Between credit card sign up bonus, enhanced earning thanks to those credit cards and the ability to transfer points from Chase to Hyatt, you can be well using Hyatt points to book your dream vacation.
If you are interested in learning exactly how I book these hotels using credit card points in a step by step manner, you can head over to our Patreon page and sign up. You’ll be able to have an over the shoulder vantage point on how I am booking Hyatt hotels, other hotels and even flights on points.
If you have any questions on getting started with earning free stays at Hyatt hotels, leave a comments down below!
(Please review all terms and conditions when signing up for a credit card and make the best decision for you. We will receive a referral bonus if you sign up through our link).