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Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Guides
The ultimate guide to redeeming your World of Hyatt points
Kyle Olsen is the former points and miles reporter at TPG. He specializes in maximizing points and miles, elite status and credit cards so readers travel more comfortably and at a lower cost.
November 22, 2023 • 14 min read
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Quick summary
World of Hyatt remains a top hotel loyalty program, though recent changes include ending its partnership with Lindblad Expeditions and increasing points needed for high-end hotel redemptions.
Hyatt continues to use an award chart system, making it easier to plan redemptions compared to programs with dynamic pricing.
Members can redeem points for free nights, room upgrades, all-inclusive stays, and experiences, but some options like car rentals and meeting credits offer less value.
Waived resort and facility fees on award stays and the ability to use free night certificates at select properties add to the program's appeal.
What to consider
Hyatt's partnership with Lindblad Expeditions ends Dec. 31, removing the ability to earn or redeem points on these cruises.
Award chart categories and off-peak/peak pricing affect how many points are needed for a stay; all-inclusive properties use a separate, higher-tier system.
Redemptions for car rentals, meeting credits or airline miles typically yield lower value than hotel stays, per TPG's valuations as of June 2024.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed guide to maximizing Hyatt points, including redemption strategies and tips for finding the best value across different hotel categories and experiences.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Though there have been some major changes, Hyatt still reigns supreme in our eyes because of its excellent elite status program and the fact that it sticks to its award chart pricing. So, if you're looking to redeem your stack of Hyatt points, this guide will go through the best ways to do it. Keep reading to find out what you need to know about informed redemptions to maximize your World of Hyatt points.
Redeem World of Hyatt points for free nights
The Andaz Singapore. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY
Using Hyatt points for free nights is pretty straightforward — the higher the hotel category, the more points you’ll need for a free night redemption.
The more upscale brands (like Park Hyatt and Andaz) are usually in higher categories. You’ll find lower redemption rates at chains like Hyatt House and Hyatt Place, as well as in cities where you can book luxury hotels at budget prices. Once you start looking for Hyatt hotels outside of the U.S. and Canada, you might find higher-end brands in lower categories. For example, the Park Hyatt Chennai in India is a Category 1 hotel.
Check the “Use Points” box when searching for a hotel to use Hyatt points for a free night.
HYATT.COM
After clicking the “Find Hotels” button, you’ll see a list of the available hotels for your dates. Once you find a hotel, select “View Rates.” You’ll see rates at the hotel you’ve selected using points. You can also click to see the “Points Calendar” from this screen.
HYATT.COM
Unfortunately, Hyatt’s points calendar doesn’t show real-time availability. It merely indicates which nights would be off-peak, standard and peak.
While top-tier Globalist status provides a plethora of perks to improve your stay, every World of Hyatt member enjoys waived resort, destination and facility fees when using points. Be sure to keep this in mind when comparing cash and award prices.
I like to use my Hyatt points to dodge unwelcome fees. For example, one night at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa in December totals $596.98 after resort fees and county and state taxes. Alternatively, you could use 20,000 points for the same night, giving you a redemption rate of about 3 cents per World of Hyatt point.
The Grand Hyatt San Francisco. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY
With Marriott’s switch to a dynamic pricing model, World of Hyatt is one of the last major hotel loyalty programs to use award charts. Compared to programs that use dynamic pricing, Hyatt’s award categories make planning for a specific redemption easier.
Hyatt uses an off-peak, standard and peak award chart. So the number of points you’ll need for a night at a Hyatt hotel depends on whether the night is off-peak, standard or peak.
Category F for all-inclusive properties is higher than Category 8 and is the highest we’ve seen for any Hyatt award. Standard rates clock in at 50,000 points per night, and peak nights top out at a monumental 58,000 points per night.
After each anniversary with the World of Hyatt Credit Card
Spend $15,000 during a calendar year on your World of Hyatt Credit Card
Stay 30 qualifying nights or earn 50,000 base points yearly at Hyatt properties
As a Brand Explorer perk for every five unique Hyatt brands you stay at
You can use these certificates at any Category 1 through 4 hotel, even on peak nights. You can book exceptional hotels like the Hyatt Regency Seattle and Grand Hyatt Washington using Category 1 through 4 free night certificates.
You can also earn a Hyatt Category 1 through 7 free night certificate as a Milestone Reward after 60 qualifying nights in a year.
The Hyatt Place London City East. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY
If you don’t have enough Hyatt points to completely cover your stay — and don’t want to buy Hyatt points or transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards or Bilt Rewards — you can use Pay My Way or book a Points + Cash rate.
Pay My Way
Pay My Way can be a lucrative option. First, log in to your Hyatt account. But don’t tick the “Use Points” box when starting your search. Instead, under the cash prices for the room you’d like to book, click “Use Pay My Way.”
HYATT.COM
You can select how to pay for each night on the next screen. Pay My Way can be great for using your points on nights when the cash rate increases.
HYATT.COM
Points + Cash
While you should generally avoid this option if you have enough points, you can also book the Points + Cash rate.
To see the Points + Cash rate, check the “Use Points” box when beginning your search. If the rate is available, you’ll see it listed.
Let’s look at how much value you’d get from booking a Points + Cash rate at the Hyatt Place London City East.
HYATT.COM
At this hotel, we’ll compare three different options for booking a room:
Standard rate: 279 pounds (about $348)
Points + Cash: 7,500 points plus 140 pounds (about $174)
Points: 15,000 points
The Points + Cash rate is a middle ground between using cash and using points. But by booking the Points + Cash rate, you’ll need to pay the additional 140 pounds. So, if you have the 15,000 points in your account, I recommend booking the hotel on points — you’ll get a value of 2.32 cents per point.
You’ll only earn World of Hyatt points on the cash part of Points + Cash bookings.
For example, in early 2023, TPG found that on an off-peak night at the Category 1 Grand Hyatt Bali (note, this is now a Category 2 hotel as of March 28), you could book a club room for just 2,000 points more than a standard room. A standard and premium suite are 3,000 and 3,500 points more than a standard room, respectively.
In this situation, spending 9,000 points to upgrade a cash rate to a premium suite you could book outright for 7,000 points wouldn’t have made sense. But, it could make sense at higher-category hotels where booking an upgraded room with points would cost much more.
You can redeem World of Hyatt points for Avis intermediate car rentals by calling World of Hyatt directly. If there’s availability, it will cost 6,000 points per day.
However, we recommend avoiding this option, as it usually gives a low cents-per-point value. You’ll usually be much better off swiping a credit card that offers primary car rental coverage (like the Chase Sapphire Reserve) to pay for the rental.
Redeem Hyatt points for dining, spa or meeting credits
Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana. KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY
You also can redeem points for dining, spa or meeting credits at Hyatt properties, but it’s not the best bang for your buck.
Depending on how many points you redeem, you can get between 1 and 1.54 cents per point — less than TPG’s valuation of 1.7 cents per point and not a particularly good redemption option. Meeting credits start at 15,000 World of Hyatt points for a $200 credit, or 1.3 cents per point in value, which is still far less than TPG’s valuation.
Why not book a tour of Singapore with Hyatt Find Experiences? KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY
You can also use Hyatt points for Find Experiences here. These are local-inspired tours that operate in many cities that have Hyatt hotels.
Paying cash for a Find Experience will earn 10 base points per qualifying dollar spent. World of Hyatt cardholders earn an additional 4 bonus points per dollar, making for 14 points per qualifying dollar spent — or, put differently, a 23.8% return in Hyatt points.
American Airlines planes. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY
You can convert Hyatt points to airline miles, but it’s generally not a good deal.
With at least 5,000 Hyatt points, you can usually convert 2.5 Hyatt points to 1 airline mile (although there are a few exceptions). When you transfer 50,000 or more Hyatt points, you’ll earn 5,000 bonus miles.
You can transfer Hyatt points to the following airline programs:
Now that you know how to redeem Hyatt points, you may be wondering how to earn more Hyatt points.
Luckily, it’s relatively easy to earn Hyatt points. All World of Hyatt members earn 5 base points per eligible dollar spent at Hyatt hotels and resorts, and elite members get elite tier bonuses on top of these base points.
Hyatt also offers two cobranded credit cards that let you earn Hyatt points on purchases you make with your card. Here are the current sign-up bonuses on these cards:
World of Hyatt Credit Card ($95 annual fee): Earn two free nights after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Plus, earn 25,000 bonus points after spending $12,000 on purchases in the first six months from account opening.
World of Hyatt Business Credit Card ($199 annual fee): Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned on cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred Card at a 1:1 ratio.
The World of Hyatt program offers some of the best redemptions in the points world, but we’re not feeling the love from the program with this year’s category and cruise changes. Still, if you avoid poor redemptions like booking rental cars, meeting credits and transfers to airline partners, you should get value from your Hyatt points.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
