Sweet Spot Sunday: Book Category 1 Hyatt hotels for as few as 3,500 points per night

World of Hyatt is one of the few remaining hotel loyalty programs to implement an award chart.

Award charts are handy because they cap the number of points a hotel can charge per night. If cash prices are exorbitant, you can get huge value from hotel points, as the award price will not change in comparison with fluctuations in cash price.

For a Category 1 hotel, Hyatt charges:

• 3,500 points during off-peak travel dates.
• 5,000 points during regular travel dates.
• 6,500 points during peak travel dates.

That off-peak price is a steal — and is one of the best values in the hotel points world. Here’s why.

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Why it’s special

Unless you’re either staying in a roach motel or traveling through a developing country, it’s increasingly difficult to find a hotel room for under $100 per night. That’s why the ability to book a free night — particularly with Hyatt, where properties are almost always well-maintained — for a mere 3,500 points is spectacular.

Per TPG valuations, 3,500 points are worth $59.50, on average. These days, you’re practically guaranteed to get significantly more value from your points than that, no matter which Hyatt you’re staying at.

For example, the Hyatt Place Nashville/Hendersonville is a Category 1 hotel that costs 3,500 points per night (with no taxes or fees) during off-peak dates.

The same dates cost $154 per night in cash. That means you’re getting over 2.5 times the amount of TPG’s estimated Hyatt points value — a whopping 4.41 cents per point.

Related: Book low-end or luxury to get the best value for your hotel points

How to book this award

Step 1. Find a Category 1 property

You’ll find Hyatt’s hotel directory here. You can filter all hotels by region and hotel category to locate a Category 1 hotel along your travels. You can even change the hotel directory to map view if it’s more helpful. The map toggle is at the top right of the page.

Step 2. Head to the hotel website

Once you’ve found your desired hotel, navigate to its website. From there, choose some arbitrary dates to get to the page shown below. That’s where the “Points Calendar” view can be found. Click that to be taken to a monthly calendar view of award prices.

Step 3. Find off-peak dates

Hyatt makes it extremely easy to find 3,500-point dates with its calendar view.

One massively important note is that this calendar does not reflect availability. It only shows Hyatt’s award prices for that particular date. Even if the hotel is sold out, this calendar will still display these prices. You’ll have to click on the dates you want to book to see if there’s a room available.

Related: Your guide to World of Hyatt award charts

How to earn points for this award

You can earn Hyatt points from two cobranded Chase credit cards:

• World of Hyatt Credit Card: Up to 60,000 points:
• 30,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
• Up to 30,000 more points (1 bonus point per dollar in addition to your regular earnings on up to $15,000 in purchases) in the first six months from account opening.

• World of Hyatt Business Credit Card:
• 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first three months from account opening.

Even better, you can earn Hyatt points by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio. That means you can earn loads of Hyatt points by opening one of these cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: 60,000 bonus Chase points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: 100,000 bonus Chase points after you spend $15,000 in the first three months from account opening.

And if you’ve got a no-annual-fee Ultimate Rewards earning card (like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card), you can convert those rewards into Hyatt points by first transferring them to any of the above annual fee-incurring Chase Ultimate Rewards cards.

Bilt Rewards also instantly transfer to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio. You can earn Bilt Rewards points when you pay your rent with Bilt and when you use the Bilt Rewards Mastercard.

Related: Should you use the Bilt Mastercard? Why it could be a game changer for renters

Bottom line

You don’t have to book jaw-dropping luxury hotels to get the best value from your Hyatt points. If you can book off-peak Category 1 hotels (the least fancy hotels in the Hyatt portfolio) for 3,500 points per night, you’ll almost certainly get outsized value for your rewards.