Hyatt points review: Big value and easy redemptions for beginners and experts alike

  • Andrew Wan

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    Hyatt hotels operate under a number of different brands, including Andaz, Park Hyatt, Miraval, Hyatt Regency and many more. And with 1,000+ locations worldwide, chances are you’ll be able to find a Hyatt hotel nearby for your next trip.

    You can redeem Hyatt points for free award nights at any of their hotels and at many partner Small Luxury Hotels (SLH). You can get incredible value with your Hyatt points. Standard award nights start as low as 5,000 Hyatt points and Category 8 hotels can be booked for just 40,000 points. So regardless of how frequently you travel, it’s easy to earn enough Hyatt points to make good use of the program.

    Here is our full Hyatt points review.

    Open the door to the world of free award nights at hotels, even if you’re brand new to the miles and points hobby. Here is our Hyatt points review. (Photo by Sompetch Khanakornpratip/Shutterstock)

    Hyatt points review 

    If you’re thinking about whether Hyatt points are worth earning, there are many valuable features of the program. First, it’s easy to earn Hyatt points. You can collect points directly with a hotel credit card, the World of Hyatt Credit Card. You can also earn Ultimate Rewards points with certain Chase credit cards and then transfer those points at a 1:1 ratio to Hyatt

    Hyatt also actually has an award chart. You can easily see how many points you’ll need to book a certain hotel. And while Hyatt is introducing peak and off-peak pricing in March 2020, once the price is set it won’t fluctuate throughout the year. Hyatt also has some of the cheapest award night prices. Free nights with Hyatt start at just 5,000 Hyatt points for a Category 1 hotel (3,500 points during off-peak dates), making it easy to earn enough for a free night stay.

    Hyatt points are some of the most valuable hotel points you can earn. You can score some pretty amazing deals at Hyatt’s basic and high-end hotels. For example, you can book a stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney for just 30,000 points, where rooms can go for as much as $1,000+ per night. And speaking of high-quality hotels, you’ll find thousands of reviews online that rave about the quality of both the service and of the rooms, even in their more basic Category 1 hotels. And there are over 300 partner SLH locations where you can earn and use Hyatt points, which include many areas that previously didn’t have any Hyatt hotels.

    How to earn Hyatt points 

    Earn points directly with the World of Hyatt Credit Card

    Right now when you apply for the World of Hyatt Credit Card, you can earn a welcome bonus of up to 60,000 bonus points. You’ll earn 30,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening; Plus, up to 30,000 more Bonus 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

    You can learn more by reading our full Hyatt credit card review here.

    Earn points indirectly with Chase Ultimate Rewards

    If you’ve got a Chase card with an annual fee that earns Ultimate Rewards points (like the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card), you can transfer them to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio. And if you’ve got certain credit cards with no annual fee that earn Ultimate Rewards points, you can pool those points to an Ultimate Rewards card that has an annual fee and then transfer them to Hyatt.

    How much are Hyatt Points worth?

    The amount of value you get from your Hyatt points will be based on which hotel you book and when you book. But you can normally expect anywhere from two to four cents in value per point.

    Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value from your points at the higher end Hyatt hotels during busy travel seasons. But you can also get great value from lower-end category 1 hotels as well. 

    You can get some pretty amazing value from Hyatt points by redeeming for their high-end hotels like the Park Hyatt New York. (Photo by Inspired By Maps/Shutterstock)

    Most category hotel 1 hotels run around $100-$150 per night. But because category 1 hotels cost 5,000 Hyatt points, you can almost always get at least 2 cents per point in value at a lower-end Hyatt hotel.

    High-end hotels like the Park Hyatt New York or the Park Hyatt Sydney will cost a fixed 30,000 Hyatt points per night. These rooms can go for as much as $1,000+ per night, so you’d be getting closer to 3.5 cents per point in value.

    How to use Hyatt points

    You can redeem your Hyatt points at any Hyatt brand worldwide:

    Redeeming your Hyatt points is as simple as finding an available hotel on the Hyatt website, and then completing the booking process. As I mentioned before, you can also use Hyatt points at partner SLH properties.

    From the Hyatt website, enter the details of your next 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.

    Review available hotels from the list

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

    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.

    Do Hyatt points expire?

    Hyatt points will expire after 24 months of no qualifying activity. That’s a long time, but if you’re worried about having your points expire, there are a number of easy things you can do to keep your points active.

    Earning Hyatt points is one qualifying activity that will reset the 24-month expiration counter. The easiest way to do this is to be card member of the World of Hyatt Credit Card and to use it to earn points with your daily purchases. You can also:

    Read our guide on how to prevent Hyatt points from expiring for the details on all of the different ways you can keep your points from expiring.

    Bottom line

    Hyatt points are extremely valuable for all types of travelers. With award night redemptions starting at just 5,000 points, even those new to traveling can quickly earn enough for a free night stay. More frequent travelers can also take advantage of redemptions at Hyatt’s high-end hotels, which can yield a phenomenal value.

    Hyatt points are easy to earn and with hundreds and hundreds of locations worldwide there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find one close by on your next trip. And Hyatt status is one of the most valuable hotel elite statuses to hold.

    Have you booked any great deals lately with your Hyatt points? Let us know in the comments below.

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