How to Book Hyatt Hotels With Points: A Guide
Hyatt is an extremely popular chain of hotels with locations worldwide, offering a wide variety of options from budget-friendly trips to luxurious all-inclusive vacations. But why is Hyatt praised so highly compared to other hotel chains?
As those who frequently book at Hyatt hotels with points will know, there are three features of the Hyatt ecosystem that elevate it beyond all the other hotel chains, especially for those in the points game:
Hyatt’s partnership with Chase: Hyatt is a transfer partner of Chase Bank, meaning that you can transfer points 1:1 between Chase and Hyatt. Since Chase cards are some of the most popular credit cards, and Chase points are fairly easy to earn (especially with sign-on bonuses of the Chase Sapphire cards), you can easily double the number of points you’re able to spend in Hyatt by linking your two accounts.
Hyatt’s credit card: The World of Hyatt credit card gives you automatic Discoverist status at Hyatt properties, which allows for many perks such as private check-in, 2 P.M. late check-out, and the potential for room upgrades. Not only does the Hyatt card make it super easy to earn Hyatt points and give you a free stay at a Hyatt hotel once every year, but it also allows you to book cheaper rooms with the potential to be upgraded (depending on availability). As well, with Discoverist status, you don’t have to pay any resort fees on your free nights!
Hyatt’s fixed rates for booking with points: Unlike other hotel chains (e.g., Marriott, Hilton) that price their stays on a largely case-by-case basis, Hyatt breaks down their normal hotels into a 1-8 scale for normal hotels and an A-F scale for all-inclusive with set point ranges (see below). This setup means that travelers will always get largely consistent redemption rates at these hotels, regardless of the time of the year or busyness (assuming there is availability). Unlike other hotel chains, which often max out at .5 cents per point (cpp), Hyatt property pricing is scaled in a way that it is easy to get 2+ cpp with minimal investment. We have some of the best hotels in the world (e.g., Alila Kothaifaru Maldives, Park Hyatt Kyoto) for a fraction of the cash price during some of the busiest times of the year! While Hyatt does increase the price of their hotels every year, this is done on a relatively consistent and predictable basis.
The Hyatt point redemption award chart
These three factors mean that earning points and using them to book stays at Hyatt is much easier than booking at other hotel chains.
Given that, let’s walk through how to find and book hotels at Hyatt using your points!
Booking Hyatt Hotels With Points: A Step-by-Step Guide
(Optional) Transfer points from Chase to Hyatt. Simply go to our quick guide on how to transfer points from your Chase accounts to your World of Hyatt rewards account. Points generally transfer within minutes, so you won’t have to wait long!
1. Go to the Explore tab on Hyatt’s website to see the Hyatt property map. Make sure “points” is selected in the top right so you only see properties that accept point bookings (which is almost all).
Hyatt’s award map across the USA
2. Change the filters to select the level of hotel or resort you’re looking to stay at. You can check as many or as few as you’d like, depending on what type of Hyatt property you’re looking for. Generally, the higher the category, the nicer the hotel.
Here, we have chosen hotel category 1-4 and all-inclusive category A
3. Move the map around (zooming in and out on the area(s) you’re looking to stay) until you find the property you want to stay at. You will see a live point minimum per night of all the hotels on your map as you move it.
Some of the hotels that appear for point-booking in the Raleigh-Durham area
4. Once you find a property that interest you, select it and input your travel dates and details. Make sure that “use points is selected”
Booking an airport Hyatt for one night
5. Check the different room options and select the one you want! All you need to do is input your billing and additional details/requests and you’re good to go.
A list of the available room types at the Hyatt property we selected earlier
Summary
This is the simplest and easiest way to explore Hyatt properties and book the one that works best for you! Always make sure to investigate multiple properties in the area you’re looking at and to check the point value on your specific dates—sometimes the Hyatt website will say there is availability until you go to the specific hotel page. While the categories give a rough estimate of how much you’ll be paying, each hotel only accepts a certain number of point bookings at any one time.
Pro-Tip: Do not transfer Chase points until you confirm that your desired hotel has point availability on your specific dates.
If you have any questions or issues with the process, make sure to leave a comment below! If you’re interested in recommendations for Hyatt Hotels, make sure to check out our guides to the best Hyatt properties in London, Paris, Tokyo, Boston, Austin, and NYC!
