How to Use Hyatt Points: The Beginner’s Guide

July 13, 2019 By Devon O'Rourke

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INSIDER SECRET: Hyatt points are valued as some of the most valuable points in the free travel community. They can be a bit harder to earn than other points, but they are very rewarding. My favorite way to increase my Hyatt points is by transferring Ultimate Rewards points directly from my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Hyatt has well over 800 hotels in 60+ countries around the world. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you’re traveling to a popular destination, you can pretty well count on a Hyatt hotel nearby. And Hyatt is known for outstanding service and top-notch locations, including luxurious resorts most folks only dream of.

Plus, it takes relatively few points to stay at quality hotels compared to other chains. And there are several ways to earn Hyatt points, either directly with the World of Hyatt Credit Card or by transferring points from cards like the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Here’s our beginner’s breakdown on how to use Hyatt points for hotel stays, car rentals, airfare, and more.

You can stay at an all-inclusive Hyatt in Cancun for just 25,000 points per night, like Joseph and his wife. I’ll show you how to use Hyatt points. (Photo by Joseph Hostetler/Million Mile Secrets)

How to Use Hyatt Points For Hotel Stays

Apply Here: The World of Hyatt Credit Card

Read our review of the Hyatt Credit Card

The great thing about Hyatt hotels is that they’re consistently rated highly for comfort, value, and top-notch service. That’s why Hyatt is the favorite hotel chain of many miles and points enthusiasts and why most of us keep the Hyatt card in our wallets.

With the World of Hyatt Credit Card, you can earn up to 60,000 Hyatt points after meeting tiered minimum spending requirements:

30,000 bonus Hyatt points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
Another 30,000 bonus Hyatt points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spend on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 in the first six months of account opening.

It’s got a great return when you spend money at Hyatt hotels, but has some other bonus categories too:

9 Hyatt points per dollar spent at Hyatt – 4 bonus points per dollar when you use your card at Hyatt hotels, plus 5 base points per dollar you can earn as a World of Hyatt member
2 Hyatt points per dollar on restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting, and on fitness club and gym memberships
1 Hyatt point per dollar on everything else

You’ll also earn automatic Discoverist elite status (bonus points on paid stays, upgrades when available, premium internet, late check-out when available). But the best ongoing perk of The World of Hyatt Credit Card is a free night at a category 1 to 4 Hyatt each year on your account anniversary.

You can even earn an additional free night if you spend $15,000+ on purchases in an account anniversary year.

There’s a $95 annual fee (not waived for the first year), but it’s well worth paying for the anniversary free night alone.

How to Use Hyatt Points — Get automatic Discoverist status when you sign-up for The World of Hyatt Credit Card. (Photo by 1000Photography/Shutterstock)

But you don’t have to exclusively earn Hyatt points if you want free nights at Hyatt hotels. You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio!

These Chase Ultimate Rewards points earning credit cards have great bonuses you can transfer to Hyatt:

Ink Business Preferred Credit Card – 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $15,000 on purchases within three months of account opening
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card – 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases within three months of account opening.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® – 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases within three months of account opening

Just remember, because of the Chase 5/24 rule, if you’ve opened 5+ cards from any bank (NOT counting Chase business cards and business cards from most other banks) in the past 24 months, you won’t be approved for any of the above cards.

Grand Hyatt properties make up just a fraction of the ~850 hotels under the Hyatt umbrella. (Photo by Alizada Studios/Shutterstock) — Grand Hyatt hotels make up just a fraction of the 800+ hotels under the Hyatt umbrella. (Photo by Alizada Studios/Shutterstock)

You can redeem your Hyatt points at any of their 14 brands worldwide:

And Hyatt is always adding hotels to their catalog, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this list grow in the future.

The Hyatt award chart is easy to navigate and is one of the few consistent award charts left. Start with the standard room rate to see if you have enough points for an award stay. All-inclusive resorts can be as little as 20,000 points!

Redeeming your Hyatt points is as simple as finding an available hotel on the Hyatt website, and then completing the booking process.

Step 1. From the Hyatt Website, Enter the Details of Your Trip

From the Hyatt home page, enter the details of your trip such as the city, dates of travel, and number of guests, to find nearby hotels.

Step 2. Review Available Hotels From the List

You’ll be given a list of available hotels for your dates of travel, along with the number of points needed to book that hotel.

Step 3. Select a Hotel and Complete the Checkout Process

Once you’ve decided on a hotel, select the specific room accommodations and then complete the checkout process. It’s as simple as that!

If you’re looking for somewhere close to home (or anywhere) to redeem a Hyatt free night certificate, Hyatt’s website has a handy map tool, and you can view just category 1 to 4 hotels as well.

You can also use Hyatt’s tool to see which hotels are near your destination and their award cost.

And if you need to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt from your Ink Business Preferred Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, head over to our how to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points video guide.

How to Use Hyatt Points For Hotel Credits & Upgrades, Car Rentals, and Flights

You can also redeem your World of Hyatt points for hotel credits and upgrades, car rentals, and even flights. We rarely encourage any of these options because you can get much more value booking stays directly with Hyatt.

Hotel Credits

First let’s talk about credits. You can receive $10 for every 2,000 points you use toward dining and spas. Or you can get $200 in meeting credits for 15,000 points. Neither of these are likely as lucrative as booking a hotel stay with points, but if you need something in particular, it doesn’t hurt to know your options.

Room Upgrades

This could actually be a potential good deal. Several of us on the team have used Hyatt points to upgrade our room.

When you pay for your Hyatt stay, you can upgrade with points by calling (800) 544-9288. Here are your options:

Using 6,000 Hyatt points to upgrade from a boring room to a suite could be worth your while! Just note that there are a few exceptions to the above chart, so check out this page before you get too excited.

Car Rentals

Avis has partnered with Hyatt to offer free car rentals at a rate of 6,000 points per day for an intermediate-size car. Still, this is generally a poor value compared to booking a hotel stay. But they’re your points, and if a rental is what you need, then go for it!

Flights

Lastly, Hyatt has a lot of airline partners that you can transfer your points to at a reduced conversion rate. For example, most airline partners offer only 1 point per 2.5 Hyatt points transferred. But if you need to top-off an account or have a particular use in mind, this could come in handy.

Transfers must be made in increments of 1,250 points, with a minimum of 5,000.

Bottom Line

Hyatt points are just as versatile as other programs such as Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors. But, Hyatt points can give you much more bang for your buck!

You can use your points for hotel stays, hotel credits, car rentals, and airfare. We recommend using your points for hotel stays for maximum value, but it’s good to be aware of all of your options.

Earning Hyatt points is easiest with the World Of Hyatt Credit Card or by transferring from a Chase Ultimate Rewards earning card.

I recently transferred Ultimate Rewards points from my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card directly to Hyatt to book an all-inclusive stay in Jamaica. Keep an eye out for the review 😉