Try this if you can't find the Hyatt award you want
World of Hyatt made a bunch of changes in 2020 to improve its program. It unveiled a new-and-improved check-in experience for reservations at a select number of properties and also introduced Pay My Way.
Pay My Way lets you book one reservation for multiple nights and pay -- in a single transaction -- using various methods for each night at checkout. This is useful for booking longer stays where some nights don't show award availability, others are cheaper to book with cash or when you want to use multiple free-night certificates on a single reservation. Previously, you could only do this by calling the Global Contact Center or making a series of separate bookings online or in the app.
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How does Pay My Way work?
To look at how Pay My Way works, let's look at an example. Using Pay My Way, you could book a stay at the Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago and pay with a reward night certificate for one night, points for another and cash for the remainder. This means you'll no longer have to string together a series of reservations at the same property if you'd prefer paying for each night using cash, points, a combination of the two or a reward night certificate from the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
Related: 6 ways to redeem points with the World of Hyatt program
Here's how to use the Pay My Way feature:
Log into your World of Hyatt account and search for a hotel to book for two or more nights. Don't check the "Use Points" box before searching. After searching, click on "Use Pay My Way" under the orange "Book Now" button.
Note that this option won't appear on every rate type (more on that below), but the most popular ones should have it.
Review how you'd like to pay for each night of the stay. You'll see the options are the Member Rate in cash, points and Points + Cash in the example below. However, if you have any awards — such as a Category 1–4 reward night certificate — it will also be listed here as an option. Once you've decided how you'll pay, click on "Select This Combination."
The booking process will then confirm your points balance and how you'll pay for each night of your stay.
Boosting your World of Hyatt balance
The Pay My Way feature can come in handy when you don't have enough points to cover your entire stay. However, there are also lots of ways to earn World of Hyatt points easily. For instance, you can currently earn up to 60,000 points by picking up the World of Hyatt Credit Card. You’ll earn 30,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 in the first six months of account opening
Related: Why the World of Hyatt credit card is great for family travelers
Alternatively, you can transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards. If you have a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you could transfer your points to World of Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio. Based on our experiences, these transfers should process instantly.
Bottom line
This is a handy feature that all World of Hyatt members can now use. However, not all rates and room types are eligible.
Specifically, my searches showed that standard, member, AAA and senior rates are eligible for Pay My Way. But, I found several other rates — including Work from Hyatt, Bed & Breakfast and corporate rates — that aren't eligible currently.
And, I wasn't able to book elevated room types or suites using Pay My Way, even though it's now possible to book Hyatt suites with points online. So, this feature's usefulness will vary depending on what type of rates and rooms you want to book.
Related: Why the World of Hyatt credit card is great for family travelers
Additional reporting by Benji Stawski and Katie Genter.