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Here’s a Lesser-Known Trick to Earning a Free Night at a Hyatt Hotel

  • Chris Campbell

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    Insider Secret: You can earn a free night at a Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel after paid stays at 5 different Hyatt brands.

    Like many miles and points enthusiasts, I’m a big fan of Hyatt hotels. With the ease of earning World of Hyatt points through paid stays, from the World of Hyatt Credit Card or by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to your account, Hyatt hotels are great for folks looking to maximize their award points. Plus, Hyatt points are the most valuable of all the major hotel brands, so your points go way further than with other chains like Marriott or Hilton.

    In addition to a strong rewards program, Hyatt has a number of other perks and benefits for its members. One of these, the brand explorer perk, allows you to earn a free night when you complete a stay at five different Hyatt hotel brands.

    The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress is just one of many hotels where you can redeem a free night award. (Photo courtesy of Hyatt.com)

    Hyatt Brand Explorer Perk

    Officially known as the “5-Brand Free Night Award,” the Hyatt Brand Explorer perk allows you to earn a free night at a Category 1-4 hotel after you complete an eligible stay at five different Hyatt brand hotels. For your stay to count towards the perk, it must be one of the following:

    Award stays where you only redeem World of Hyatt points do not count towards the Brand Explorer perk.

    The perk is once-in-a-lifetime, meaning you can only get credit once for a stay at each Hyatt brand. But currently, Hyatt has 17 different brands that count towards the program, meaning you can earn up three free nights with the Brand Explorer perk by staying at every brand. Hyatt brands include:

    *Some locations only
    **For stays after 5/15/19, some locations only

    Hyatt will soon be adding two new brands, Alila and Destination Hotels, that should also count once they are part of the Hyatt family.

    Redeeming Brand Explorer Free Nights

    When you complete stays at five different brands, the free award night will automatically be added to your account. To redeem the free night, you can simply search for any Category 1-4 hotel and select “Use Points” as the method of payment. When you select the hotel you want, an option for redeeming the free night award will appear. The free night award is good for one year from the date of issuance and can be used on any standard room at the hotel. The award is not subject to blackout dates, which means that you should be able to redeem any time the hotel has a standard room available.

    While Categories 1-4 are on the lower end of Hyatt Hotels (which has 7 categories total), there are still some incredible properties that you can stay at with the free night award.

    For example, the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego is a beautiful waterfront property that regularly has room rates over $300 a night. But you can book this room for free using the Brand Explorer award night, with no blackout dates.

    You can earn a free night at incredible hotels like the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. (Photo courtesy of Hyatt.com)

    On the East Coast you could stay another beautiful waterfront property, the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina, where rates also go for over $300 per night.

    East Coast travelers will love a free night at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay. (Photo courtesy of Hyatt.com)

    Bottom Line

    The Hyatt Brand Explorer perk allows you to earn a free night at a Category 1-4 hotel after completing an eligible stay at five different Hyatt brands. Since Hyatt currently has 15 brands (with two more coming soon), you could earn up to three free nights with the perk! Paid stays, free award night stays, and points + cash stays count, but stays where you redeem only points do not.

    Here are some useful guides for earning and using Hyatt points:

    For the latest tips and tricks on traveling big without spending a fortune, please subscribe to the Million Mile Secrets daily email newsletter.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)