From now until February 23, 2018, Hyatt is running a promotion where you can purchase World of Hyatt points with a 30% bonus if you buy at least 5,000 points.
Hyatt usually sells their points for 2.4 cents each, so with a 30% bonus you’ll basically be able to buy Hyatt points at a rate of ~1.85 cents a piece. You can buy up to 55,000 points (before bonus) per calendar year.
Not the Best Bonus We’ve Seen from Hyatt
Historically, Hyatt has ran a few similar promotions every year. We have seen bonus as high as 40% in the past, so I frankly wouldn’t jump on this deal unless you have an urgent need for a bunch of Hyatt points. I do have to note, though, that sometimes the 40% is targeted to Hyatt co-branded credit card holders or people who have previously bought miles.
If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred card, you might consider transferring points in from Chase Ultimate Rewards, which is a 1:1 transfer partner with Hyatt.
Do keep in mind that you can transfer World of Hyatt points between accounts every 30 days. There is no charge for this, and you don’t need to be in the same household. Hyatt does say that you have to be transferring points for the purpose of redeeming an award you have in mind, though I haven’t had them enforce this rule (of course, I also haven’t abused this feature). You simply need to fill out a form and e-mail or fax it to Hyatt.
Redeem World of Hyatt Points for Free Nights
World of Hyatt is one of the remaining hotel programs that still operate with hotel categories in the redemption front. Hotels fit into Category 1 – 7, with some outliers, like all-inclusive resorts or Miraval in Arizona, which joined Hyatt last year, which cost more. Hyatt has no blackout dates for award redemptions, so as long as a standard room is available, you can book it with points.
World of Hyatt Award Chart.
You can also elect to use Points + Cash to redeem for an award night. These are subject to capacity control, however, and availability is based upon each hotel’s discretion. For example, the Park Hyatt New York will only allow Points + Cash bookings for 5 or more nights in a row, while some hotels basically release no space for that. Other than certain hotels “playing games,” I have generally found good availability with Cash + Points.
World of Hyatt Cash + Points award chart.
Does it Make Sense to Buy World of Hyatt Points
TL;DR: Don’t buy Hyatt points speculatively. But if you have an award in mind, this might be worth it.
With every points purchase promotion seems to come a section that explain why it does or does not make sense to buy points outright. And the above is such a boilerplate advice that I feel like I can recite it at any minute. But it’s boilerplate because it’s true.
There are people out there who can generate huge amount of points by manufacturing spending, signing up for credit cards, and just spending money on their credit cards in general. If that’s you, you probably didn’t even click on this article (why are you here?!)
And then there are people out there who use points to basically get a small discount on their hotel stays and other indulgences, or might need a booster to get to their next dream vacation. If so, buying points could make sense.
If you’re eyeing a stay at the Park Hyatt Maldives anyway, you could choose between paying $1,600 (tax inclusive) a night, or 25,000 points, which you can buy for $462.50 with this promotion. Here, buying points (that you otherwise might not have) would make sense, but only for this scenario.
Park Hyatt Maldives, the poster child property of why you might consider buying points outright.
I encourage you crunch the numbers for yourself before taking action in buying points.
Do note one thing, just because you’re getting a $1,600 night for 25,000 points doesn’t mean you are getting $1,600 in value. You are only getting $1,600 in value if you were going to pay for that in cash anyway. I’d do the math with what you’d otherwise pay for that hotel night in cash—maybe it’s $800, in which case buying points to redeem saves you money. Or maybe it’s $400, in which case you might want to keep saving up for a night.
Holding Out for a Better Bonus…
I had to end with this.
Interestingly, if you look on the World of Hyatt website, you might see a banner ad that looks a little like this…
The Hyatt website suggests that you could purchase World of Hyatt points with a 40% bonus…
Clicking through would reveal the 30% bonus promo that Hyatt is currently running. But perhaps this more a reason to hold out for a better bonus (if you’d the kind of person who’d buy Hyatt points) unless you need it now and have no other way to get it.
In that case, click here to buy World of Hyatt points (with a 30% bonus until February 23, 2018).
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