Update: The sign up bonus of the Hyatt Credit Card will change from 2 free nights, to 40,000 Hyatt Points on June 29.
This change is quite significant as the current bonus gives you two free nights at ANY Hyatt, including Hyatt’s truly aspirational properties such as the Park Hyatt Tokyo and Park Hyatt Maldives that retail up to $1000 a night.
If you’re planning on staying at any of the top high end Hyatt hotels, I’d highly recommend applying for the Hyatt Credit Card before the current sign up bonus goes away.
View Hotel Reward Card Offers Here
Among the major global hotel chains, perhaps none is more intriguing from a points perspective than Hyatt. With a room count that’s a fraction of the major chains such as Hilton or Marriott, Hyatt in the past has set itself apart with an extremely generous loyalty program.
I was lucky enough to receive top tier Hyatt Diamond (now Globalist) status thanks to a brief status match program. Ever since my first stay, I’ve been hooked, and consistently look to book my stays at Hyatt whenever I can.
Bund View Suite at Park Hyatt Shanghai- Courtesy of Globalist Status
With the Starwood Preferred Guest program set to transition to Marriott Rewards within the next two years, Hyatt is poised to become the most valuable hotel points program.
Hyatt Elite Status Levels
Under the new World of Hyatt program, Hyatt has three elite tiers: Globalist, Explorist, and Discoverist.
If you’re reading this article, you’re probably a Discoverist (through the Hyatt Credit Card) or hold no status with Hyatt.
The good news is among the major hotel chains; Hyatt is positioned on the mid to high end. Service levels are almost always quite high, if not exceptional, and rooms are both clean and spacious, even at the lower tier brands such as Hyatt House & Hyatt Place.
Hyatt House Santa Clara
For those with the Chase Hyatt Credit card, complimentary Discoverist status gives you a guaranteed late checkout until 2pm, access to expedited check in lines, and a free bottle of water. Granted these are not the most stellar benefits, but the late checkout benefit can be quite useful.
Award Redemptions – Great Value
Hotels are separated into categories from 1 to 7. The number of points required for a night will depend on which category a Hyatt hotel is classified as. You can find the master list of hotels here.
When choosing where to use your credit card points, one major factor is the CPP or Cents per Point. In other words, how much money you’re saving for each point you using.
Hyatt has by far one of the best award charts, especially for higher end properties. It’s quite easy to get at least 2 cents per point value if not significantly higher during peak demand.
For example, if you’re heading to the Maldives, both the Park Hyatt Maldives & Conrad Maldives can run at over $1000 a night. However, the Park Hyatt Maldives would cost a mere 25,000 Hyatt points a night.
In contrast, the Conrad Maldives would cost at least 90,000 points per night, making a Hyatt point far more valuable than a Hilton point.
Park Hyatt Maldives – 25,000 Points per night
Booking your awards are quite straightforward, simply check the World of Hyatt Points & Awards box and award availability will be instantly shown.
As a rule, Hyatt does require hotels to offer award space whenever the base level room is available to book. This means you’ll rarely see any “blackout dates” and award availability at even the high end properties is almost always available.
Points & Cash
One of best ways to maximize your redemption is through Hyatt’s Points & Cash option, where you’ll pay only half of the required points along with a cash surcharge.
For example, instead of spending 25,000 points at the Park Hyatt Vienna, you can instead redeem 12,500 points + $150 a night, in effect buying 12,500 points for $150 or 1.2 cents per point.
Park Hyatt Vienna
I generally value Hyatt Points to be worth at least 1.8 cents per point, and thus use the points & cash option on nearly every booking, except for Category 1 & 7 hotels, where the value is not so high.
Points and Cash awards are also relatively straight forward to book, as any available points and cash awards will be shown alongside regular reward nights. However, unlike pure award bookings, P&C availability is not mandatory and is down to the discretion of each property.
Nevertheless, I typically find P&C availability at most properties I stay at, minus a few peak dates.
How to Earn Hyatt Points
The sole credit card partner for Hyatt is Chase, which has the Chase Hyatt credit card with a current sign up bonus of two free nights at any Hyatt worldwide. Changes to 40,000 points on June 29th.
If you’re with a significant other, you can combine your free nights to have potentially four nights at some of the most luxurious hotels in the world.
Park Hyatt Tokyo
The card also comes with Hyatt Discoverist status, which grants you a 2 PM check out along with complimentary internet.
In addition, each year you’ll receive an annual free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel, which can typically cost upwards of $300 a night.
Hyatt on the Bund – Category 4
The annual free night alone is well worth the $95 annual fee, and among the few credit cards I consistently put in the keep column.
To earn Hyatt points, the quickest way would be through one of the many Chase cards that earn ultimate reward points.
The current sign up offer for the Chase Hyatt Card can be found below:
Chase Ultimate Reward points can be converted to Hyatt Gold Passport points at a 1:1 ratio. So if you transfer 5,000 Chase points, you’ll receive 5,000 Hyatt points. Transfers are usually instantaneous.
Chase Ultimate Reward points can be earned through the following cards:
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is one of my favorite cards to use for daily expenses. The Sapphire card earns two points per dollar spent on travel and dining expenses. In addition, its sign up bonus is usually significant enough to stay at least 1-2 nights at any top tier Hyatt property.
If you’re a road warrior, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is also an alternative option, as it gives 3x points for travel spending and annual $300 travel credit. The card does come with a $450 annual fee.
You may find the current offer for the both cards below:
View Travel Reward Card Offers Here
If you’re a small business owner, you can also earn Chase UR points through the Chase Ink Preferred card, which earns 5 points per dollar spent at office supply stores and utilities, in addition to one point being awarded for each dollar spent.
The sign up bonus is typically the highest for all three cards that earn UR points, enough for 3 nights at any Category 7 Hyatt hotel, or 20 nights at any Hyatt Category 1 Hotel.
You may find the current offer for the Ink Plus below
View Business Card Offers Here
Suite Upgrades
By far my favorite benefit staying at a Hyatt is its four annual suite upgrades for Globalist members that can apply to any stay using cash or points & cash, pending award availability.
As this overall guide is for novice travelers, we’ll avoid diving into elite suite upgrades and instead focus on suite upgrades using points.
Hyatt is also unique in offering non-elites the opportunity to upgrade their paid reservations using points. The cost to upgrade a paid rate to a suite is 6000 Hyatt points per night. This can represent a fantastic value as this applies to any paid rate booked directly with Hyatt.
For example, a base room at the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur costs around $160 a night. Instead you can upgrade into a gorgeous 1000 square foot Grand Suite that would retail over $600 a night for only 6000 Hyatt points.
To upgrade your reservation, simply call the Hyatt support line. It’s highly recommended that you call ahead to check for suite award availability before you book your reservation, as during peak times there may be no suite award space available.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to spend cash, you can book suite rooms directly using points. The number of points required depends on which hotel category a Hyatt property is classified as.
However, I find booking suites purely via points is generally a poor value, and only for those who are points rich.
Drawbacks
The main drawback of the Hyatt program is the limited footprint. Outside the US, the international selection of Hyatt hotels is somewhat meager; with many major cities having just one Hyatt or none altogether. With such a small footprint, it’s no surprise why Hyatt’s loyalty program has to be a step up higher compared to its competitors.
However, if you’re not chasing status this represents a great program to use your Chase UR points if you’re looking for free accommodation.
