How to Book Hyatt Stays With Points

Hyatt hotels and the World of Hyatt loyalty program are favorites among many travelers and points and miles enthusiasts.

One factor that differentiates the World of Hyatt program is that it’s the only major United States-based hotel loyalty program that assigns properties into categories and has award charts with fixed rates based on hotel category, room type and date. Compared to other hotel programs where award rates are closely tied to the cash rate, Hyatt’s award rates are predictable and provide opportunities for higher value redemptions.

Ways to Obtain Hyatt Points

The easiest ways to obtain World of Hyatt points are through credit cards and paying eligible cash rates at Hyatt hotels. Besides the World of Hyatt cards issued by Chase, Hyatt is a transfer partner with two flexible currency programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards. Both programs offer 1:1 transfer ratios to World of Hyatt. Transferring Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards points to Hyatt is easy and usually nearly instant.

Chase World of Hyatt Credit Cards

There are two co-branded credit cards that earn World of Hyatt points and offer other benefits to cardholders. You can earn points through bonuses and spending on the following cards:

• The World of Hyatt Credit Card
• The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card

Both cards help cardholders earn Hyatt elite status and Milestone Rewards benefits. These cards provide automatic Discoverist tier status and allow cardholders to work toward higher tier status and milestones by earning qualifying night credits.

The personal Hyatt card has strong benefits for a card with an annual fee of under $100. Benefits include an anniversary free night award that can be used at Category 1-4 properties.

The card also includes five elite qualifying night credits each year and provides opportunities for earning additional elite qualifying nights and another free night award based on spending. Each $5,000 in spending earns two elite qualifying night credits, and spending $15,000 in a calendar year provides a second Category 1-4 free night award.

Earning rates per dollar spent on the consumer card are:

• 4X points on qualifying purchases at Hyatt hotels
• 2X points on restaurants, airline tickets purchased directly from the airline, local transit and commuting, and fitness club or gym memberships
• 1X points on other purchases

The business card earns five qualifying night credits for every $10,000 spent in a calendar year and provides other benefits for Hyatt stays, including:

• Up to two $50 statement credits per anniversary year when spending $50 or more at any Hyatt property
• 10% rebate on redeemed points for the rest of the year (up to 200,000 points redeemed) after spending $50,000 in a calendar year
• Hyatt Leverage membership that provides discounts up to 15% on standard room rates at participating Hyatt hotels

 Business credit card earning rates per dollar spent are:

• 4X points on qualifying purchases at Hyatt hotels
• 2X points in the cardholder’s top three spending categories each quarter. Categories include dining, shipping, airline tickets purchased directly with the airline, local transit and commuting, social media and search engine advertising, car rental agencies, gas stations and internet, cable and phone services.
• 2X points on fitness club or gym memberships
• 1X points on other purchases

Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

World of Hyatt is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, so points earned through multiple Chase credit cards can be transferred to Hyatt.

Consumer cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points include:

• Chase Freedom (not available to new applicants)
• Chase Freedom Flex®
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®
• Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card 
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Business cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points include:

• Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
• Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
• Chase Ink Business Premier® Credit Card 
• Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

Note: All information about the Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Rise cards has been collected independently by MileValue. Card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Some credit cards have different earning rates in specific categories (for example, the Sapphire Reserve Card earns 3X points on dining and travel) while other cards earn a consistent rate across most purchases (for example, the Freedom Unlimited Card and the Ink Unlimited Card earn 1.5X points per dollar spent). 

The ability to earn welcome bonuses over time by obtaining multiple cards—in accordance with Chase’s approval rules—and to maximize earning on spending by using cards strategically makes it easy to accumulate Ultimate Rewards points.

Our Chase Ultimate Rewards guide provides more details about how to earn Ultimate Rewards points, manage your account, share points and redeem points, including redemptions by transferring Ultimate Reward points to airline and hotel partners.

Wells Fargo Bilt Rewards Credit Card

The Bilt Rewards program isn’t as established as Ultimate Rewards, but the program and the associated Wells Fargo Bilt World Elite Mastercard have some unique features. The Bilt Card can be a useful addition to your wallet with great benefits for a $0 annual fee card. 

Reasons to consider the Bilt Card include:

• Bilt cardholders can pay rent with the card without any processing or transaction fees and earn 1X points, up to 100,000 points per calendar year. To earn points for rent payments, cardholders also must make five other purchases per statement cycle.
• The Bilt Card doubles normal earning rates—up to 1,000 bonus points per month—for purchases, excluding rent and tax payments on Rent Day, which is the first day of each month.
• Bilt has some category bonuses that enable cardholders to earn 2X points (for example, on travel) or 3X points (for example, on dining) per dollar spent every day, and 4X to 6X points on Rent Day.

Since there is only one credit card that earns Bilt Rewards points and the Bilt Card doesn’t have a traditional welcome bonus, it’s more difficult to amass Bilt points compared to Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Hotel Stays

When booking cash rates at Hyatt properties, World of Hyatt program members who book a qualifying rate and add their Hyatt membership number to the reservation earn Hyatt points. The earning rate depends on your Hyatt tier level. 

Base members earn 5X points per dollar spent, and elite members earn additional points:

• Discoverist: 10% bonus, or 5.5X points
• Explorist: 20% bonus, or 6X points
• Globalist: 30% bonus, or 6.5X points

Booking Options with Hyatt Points

The number of World of Hyatt points needed to book hotels usually is based on award charts, which allow World of Hyatt members to plan how many points are needed. Hyatt hasn’t increased award rates since introducing peak, standard and off-peak rates a few years ago, but some hotels have changed categories over time. 

Hotel category increases have negatively impacted some popular redemptions over the last few years. Category changes usually are announced about one month in advance, with new categories being implemented in late March.

Free Nights Using Points

Hyatt uses award charts with fixed rates for booking free nights based on hotel brand, hotel category, room type and dates. For each award chart, Hyatt has peak, standard and off-peak rates. The date designations are made in advance and can be viewed on an award calendar for each property.

Hyatt award charts are available online. Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly used award charts for booking free nights with points.

Award chart for most Hyatt brands

The chart below is for nightly rates for standard rooms at all Hyatt hotels except for all-inclusive brands, Miraval resorts, Mr and Mrs Smith, and Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt.

There is a similar chart showing the eight numeric award categories with peak, standard and off-peak rates for club rooms, standard suites and premium suites. To view rates on the website, click the appropriate tab. The example below shows a portion of the award chart for standard suites.

Award chart for all-inclusive properties

For all-inclusive brands, Hyatt refers to the categories by letter rather than number. The all-inclusive chart applies to hotels in the following brands: Impression by Secrets, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Hyatt Vivid Hotels & Resorts, Alua Hotels & Resorts, and Sunscape Resorts & Spas.

Similar to the Category 1-8 chart, there are separate tabs with all-inclusive rates for club rooms, standard suites and premium suites. There is another tab with additional person award rates that apply to the third and fourth person sharing a room.

Award chart for Miraval resorts

Miraval resorts have separate award charts, given the luxury and wellness focus and different included items with this brand. Miraval stays include a $175 resort credit per person, gourmet cuisine, freshly prepared snacks and beverages, complimentary wellness activities, lectures and fitness classes.

Brands without award charts

Properties that are part of Mr and Mrs Smith and Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt collections don’t have set award categories and charts like other Hyatt properties. There is variability in award rates at specific properties and for different days.

Points + Cash Rates

Another way to use Hyatt points is by booking a “Points + Cash” rate at participating hotels. This is exactly what it sounds like: part of the rate is covered with points and part is paid with cash. When available, these rates are calculated as 50% of the points required for a free night and a variable percentage of the cash price—based on the standard rate—for the selected room type. Points + Cash rates for standard rooms are bookable online, but Points + Cash rates for suites must be booked through Hyatt customer service.

Upgrading Paid Rates with Points

Another way to use World of Hyatt points is to upgrade a room booked as a paid rate. These upgrades may not be available at all properties, and there may be additional restrictions based on room availability and the paid rate booked. 

For example, booking at the hotel’s standard rate may be required, so you couldn’t use point upgrades with special rates, Hyatt member rates or advance purchase rates. Upgrade rates start at 3,000 points for upgrading to a club room, with standard suite and premium suite upgrades starting at 6,000 and 9,000 points, respectively.

Decision Process for Using Hyatt Points

There are multiple factors to consider when deciding about booking a specific Hyatt stay using Hyatt points, Hyatt free night awards, other flexible currency through bank portals or cash.

Determine Your Value for Hyatt Points

The first factor is how much you value Hyatt points, both overall and with respect to a particular redemption opportunity. World of Hyatt points generally are considered to have the highest per-point value among major hotel loyalty programs. Points and miles experts often set the value of Hyatt points at 1.5 to 2 cents each, and many points and miles enthusiasts seek a minimum value in that range when redeeming Hyatt points.

For example, if a hotel room costs $300 per night including taxes and fees, it would be logical to book the night with points instead of cash if the points booking rate is less than or equal to:

• 15,000 points if you value Hyatt points at 2 cents each
• 20,000 points if you value Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each

The decision isn’t always that straightforward. Some people may want to limit out-of-pocket spending or have a lower redemption threshold for using points. Other people might hold onto Hyatt points to use for opportunities where the redemption value is higher.

Decide About Using Points Only or Points + Cash 

Points + Cash rates—where you pay 50% of the points rate and a variable amount of the standard cash rate—should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Points + Cash rates can be useful when you don’t have enough Hyatt points to book the free night outright, but in many cases, the value per point is higher if using all points. 

Some factors to consider when deciding about booking Cash + Points rates are:

• Benefits available with points stays—such as waived resort and destination fees for all Hyatt members and the ability to apply room upgrade awards or Guest of Honor awards—aren’t available with Points + Cash rates.
• The cash portion of Points + Cash rates are treated like cash stays, so you pay taxes on and earn points for the cash component.

Let’s look at how to calculate which option provides better value. This example is for a Category 3 property on a standard date, so the redemption rate is 12,000 points.

• If the Points + Cash rate is 6,000 points + $100, you’re saving 6,000 points by spending $100, which is equivalent to buying points for 1.67 cents each.
• If the Points + Cash rate is 6,000 points + $150, the rate is equivalent to buying points for 2.5 cents each.

For someone who values points at 2 cents each, booking the first option— 6,000 points + $100— makes sense mathematically, but booking the second option doesn’t because it’s equivalent to buying points at a higher rate (2.5 cents each) than your value (2 cents each).

Decide About Using Points or Hyatt Free Night Awards

Another decision is when to use Hyatt free night awards instead of points. As noted above, a benefit of the World of Hyatt credit card is a Category 1-4 free night award issued after each card anniversary, and a second award is issued after spending $15,000 per year on this card.

Free night awards also are provided as World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards and as Brand Explorer Awards. Most free night awards are valid for one year, but awards provided as milestone benefits are valid for 180 days after issuance. 

Milestone Rewards with shorter validity include automatic awards at the following qualifying night milestone levels:

• Category 1-4 awards provided at the 30-night milestone
• Category 1-7 awards provided at the 60- and 100-night milestones
• Ultimate Free Night Awards—valid at any participating Category 1-8 hotel, Category A-F all-inclusive resort or Miraval resort—provided at the 150-night milestone

Given the use-it-or-lose-it nature of free night awards and the limitations on hotel categories where each type of award can be used, it can be difficult to decide when to use free night awards instead of points. 

While it’s tempting to maximize the value of a free night award—by using it at the highest possible category on peak dates—that may not work with real-life travel plans. If you don’t anticipate an opportunity to maximize the free night award before it expires, it’s better to use the award for a lower value booking than not use it all.

For example, a Category 1-4 free night award is maximized by using it at a Category 4 property on a peak date, which would cost 18,000 points. If you don’t have plans to stay at a Category 4 property with peak rates, you might want to use the free night award at a Category 3 hotel (9,000, 12,0000 or 15,000 points) or at a Category 4 property on standard (15,000 points) or off-peak (12,000 points) dates.

Alternatively, if you have one free night award and multiple nights planned at the same or close category properties, that provides an opportunity to look at the details for each night and use the free night award for the date and property with the highest rates (in points or cash) and use points or cash for the other night. 

For example, in deciding whether to use a Category 1-4 award for a peak date at a Category 3 hotel or an off-peak date at a Category 4 hotel, it’s better to use the free night award at the Category 3 hotel on a peak date (15,000 points rate) instead of the off-peak night at a Category 4 hotel (12,000 points rate).

The same principles apply to using Category 1-7 and Ultimate Free Night Awards.

Consider Using Flexible Points

There are some circumstances where using flexible currency to book hotels through travel portals provides better value than transferring points to and booking through World of Hyatt. 

The best programs in terms of redemption values for travel portal bookings are:

• Bilt Rewards: Each point is worth 1.25 cents for a travel portal booking, so a hotel costing $250 would require 20,000 points.
• Chase Ultimate Rewards: The redemption rate through Chase Travel℠ varies from 1 cent to 1.5 cents per point. Individuals holding the Sapphire Reserve Card get the best rate of 1.5 cents each. Redemption rates for the Sapphire Preferred Card and the Ink Preferred Card are 1.25 cents each, and rates for other cards are 1 cent each.

There are some downsides to booking hotels through third parties. Bank travel portals (using points or cash) and other online travel agencies, such as Expedia, are considered third-party travel agencies. Downsides can be more significant for hotel bookings compared to airline bookings.

Besides introducing an intermediary, which can complicate communications and sometimes result in higher rates or less desirable rooms, additional considerations for booking Hyatt properties through a third-party agency include:

• World of Hyatt member and elite status benefits—such as complimentary Wi-Fi, bottled water, breakfast and room upgrades—usually are not provided with third-party bookings.
• Third-party bookings don’t earn Hyatt points or count toward elite qualifying nights.
• Hyatt Guest of Honor awards, Suite Upgrade awards and Club Access awards, which are earned as Milestone Rewards benefits and can be gifted to other members, usually can’t be applied to third-party bookings.
• Some rates available through Hyatt aren’t available through third-party booking sites.
• Booking isn’t always available as far in advance as through Hyatt. For example, in early January 2025, the entire month of December 2025 was open for booking through Hyatt channels, but Chase Travel℠ allowed searches only about 330 days in advance.

A general rule many points and miles enthusiasts follow is to avoid third-party hotel bookings when:

• Benefits provided through the loyalty program and/or elite status are meaningful.
• Earning elite qualifying nights is valuable.

It might be worth booking Hyatt properties through a third party if the following conditions apply:

• You’re booking an all-inclusive property or a limited-service brand, such as Hyatt Place, that often have more limited benefits for World of Hyatt elite members.
• Your preferred alternative to booking through the third party would be booking with World of Hyatt points, so the stay wouldn’t earn Hyatt points in either case.
• You aren’t seeking World of Hyatt qualifying nights toward elite status.
• The third-party booking option is significantly cheaper than booking directly through Hyatt.

Decide If Booking a Cash Rate Makes Sense

If you’re looking at a stay where using Hyatt points or free night awards doesn’t provide sufficient value, and you don’t want to book through a third-party site, booking a cash rate through Hyatt may be the best option.

Hyatt cash rates may provide opportunities to book special rates with additional benefits or lower prices. Examples would be AAA member, corporate or government rates. To check special rates, select the appropriate rate type from the dropdown when searching for a room.

Hyatt has a program called Hyatt Privé that provides guests additional benefits when booking cash rates through selected travel advisors who work with participating Hyatt hotels and resorts. Stays booked through a Hyatt Privé agent aren’t considered third-party bookings. Benefits vary but typically include things like room upgrades, free breakfast, late checkout and on-property credits.

Redemption Examples

Although it’s difficult to make broad statements about situations that provide the best value for booking Hyatt properties with points, some factors to consider include:

• Travel dates: This can work in opposite ways. If you’re flexible about travel dates, you may find that moving your travel by a few days can lead to better award rates or availability. Alternatively, you may find that extremely popular dates around holidays or special events are outrageously expensive when paying cash but fluctuate in a narrower range when booking with points.
• Hotel category level: There often is more potential value using points for high-category properties and sometimes for low-category properties. Often, middle-category properties provide less compelling redemption opportunities compared to paying cash.
• Hotel brand: When the Mr & Mrs Smith and Hyatt partnership began in 2024, there was widespread disappointment within the points and miles community that Mr & Mrs Smith properties were not assigned to a hotel category, and that redemption rates for these properties typically were tied to cash rates and provided relatively low redemption value.

Holiday and Event-Related Peak Dates

Hyatt doesn’t have blackout dates for awards, but some hotels make few rooms available in specific room categories that are eligible to book with points. Although it’s likely that popular dates will have peak award rates using Hyatt points, peak award rates don’t have as much variability as cash rates may have on high demand dates.

Let’s look at an example in New York City for New Year’s Eve 2025, checking almost a year in advance. The three closest hotels to Times Square with availability at the time of the search are shown below.

Focusing on The Chatwal, a queen or king superior room is available for 45,000 points on Dec. 31. This is the peak award rate for a standard room at a Category 8 hotel. Taxes and destination fees aren’t charged on Hyatt award stays. The cancellation policy allows for free cancellation up to two days in advance. The hotel also shows availability at the Points + Cash rate of 22,500 points and $789.60 including taxes and fees with the same cancellation policy.

The Hyatt member rate, including taxes and fees, for the king superior room with the same cancellation policy is $1,278 before taxes and $1,467.26 with all taxes and fees.

Including taxes and fees (but excluding points earned with a paid stay) makes the calculation easier, but this approach makes the redemption value appear higher than it would be if including the value of points earned on a cash rate in the calculation. 

For this particular stay:

• Free night award: Redeeming 45,000 points instead of spending $1,467.26 provides a value of almost 3.3 cents per point.
• Points + cash award: Redeeming 22,500 points and paying $789.60 instead of spending $1,467.26 provides a value of just over 3 cents per point.

Flexible Travel Dates

Let’s take a look at a Category 1 Hyatt hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and consider a situation where there is some date flexibility. To determine award rates on specific dates, click on the hotel’s “Points Calendar” link shown below.

The calendar shows which dates have peak, standard and off-peak rates. The calendar doesn’t indicate availability for a given night; it’s limited to indicating what the award rates would be if available.

For standard rooms, the difference between peak and off-peak award rates is 3,000 points. Assuming a value of 2 cents per point, that would be about a $60 difference in cash.

We looked more closely at availability and rates on two dates during the month:

• Feb. 6, a peak date
• Feb. 23, an off-peak date

Both dates were available with points and with Points + Cash. Standard room awards were available at the expected rates of 6,500 points for Feb. 6 and 3,500 points for Feb. 23. Free cancellation was allowed up to two days before the reservation start date.

Feb. 6 award availability and rates are:

Feb. 23 award rates and availability are:

Unfortunately, Hyatt doesn’t have a calendar view or quick way to compare cash rates for multiple dates, so it’s a manual process to check cash rates on different dates. Cash rates used are World of Hyatt member rates, which have the same cancellation policy as points rates. Cash rates utilize Hyatt’s conversion to U.S. dollars at the time the search was conducted. The rates displayed below include all taxes and fees.

Calculations using cash rates including taxes are:

• Feb. 6 – Using 6,500 points vs. paying a cash rate of about $113 results in a redemption value of 1.7 cents per point.
• Feb. 23 – Using 3,500 points vs. paying a cash rate of about $101 results in a redemption value of 2.9 cents per point.

If cash rates are similar to this example and your personal preference for redeeming points is to obtain at least 2 cents each, we recommend choosing cash rates for dates with standard or peak award rates and using points for off-peak dates.

Hotel Categories and Sweet Spots

As addressed in previous examples, using points often provides good value at the top (Category 8) and bottom (Category 1) of Hyatt’s award chart.

Some luxury hotels in Categories 7 and 8 almost always have high cash rates, so using points can be a good choice.

To separate the impact of traveling at the most popular times of year (holidays, high season for a specific location), let’s look at an example for the Category 8 Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme during February. The award calendar shows off-peak award rates for 15 out of 28 days in February, confirming the assumption that February is a lower-demand period in Paris. 

We compared rates on Feb. 23 (off-peak) and Feb. 24 (peak). In both cases, standard room awards were available, and we used Hyatt member rates for the same room type since member rates were the lowest public rates with the same cancellation policy as points rates. The only tax shown is a city tax of 14.95 euros ($16) per person per night, so we used pre-tax rates.

For both dates, booking with points provides strong value, but the small difference in cash rates compared to the large difference in point rates results in the off-peak date providing significantly higher value per point.

For properties in Categories 4, 5 and 6, there can be more situations where points don’t provide strong value. Let’s use the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in this example. The Category 6 hotel is on the beach and looks modern and nice.

Looking at an entire year of availability, the only times with any off-peak award rates are during hurricane season from late August to early November. For the first half of December, which is considered shoulder season in the Caribbean and Mexico, the award calendar for standard rooms shows most dates at standard rates of 25,000 points per night and other dates at peak rates of 29,000 points.

Dec. 1, 2025, has standard rooms available for 25,000 points, but that’s not a great use of points when considering cash rates. The cancellation deadline at this property for booking with points requires cancelling three days before arrival. The lowest cash rate with the same cancellation policy is the “Save 30%” rate, which offers a discount off the standard cash rate and is about $316 including taxes and fees.

Using points in this scenario provides a value of 1.26 cents per point, which is considered low. Many travelers would prefer not to use Hyatt points at this redemption rate.

Interestingly, this redemption rate is close to the 1.25 cents per point you can obtain by booking hotels through Chase Travel℠ (with the Sapphire Preferred and the Ink Preferred cards) and the Bilt Travel Portal. 

Different rate options are available if booking directly with Hyatt, and different portals have different rate options.

• Hyatt’s 30% off rate isn’t available through either portal.
• The refundable option available through Chase Travel℠ is comparable to Hyatt’s standard rate.
• The refundable option available through the Bilt Travel Portal includes a buffet breakfast.

Although this is like comparing apples and oranges, options available for a king bed room for two people are summarized in the table below. The listed cash rates include taxes and fees. Award rates reflect the number of program-specific points needed. For this example, Chase and Bilt points are worth 1.25 cents each for portal bookings.

Another consideration is that the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen has a resort fee, which is $31 per night including taxes. This fee isn’t charged for World of Hyatt members when using Hyatt points or free night awards. It also isn’t charged to Hyatt Globalist members who book a cash rate, so cash rates shown above would be $31 less for a Globalist member booking through Hyatt.

Final Thoughts

Booking Hyatt properties using World of Hyatt points can provide outsized value because the program has fixed award rates for most hotels and resorts. Nevertheless, when deciding how to book a Hyatt stay, it’s important to look at points rates, other Hyatt award options, third-party rates using points or cash and Hyatt cash rates.

Although it’s hard to generalize, some situations we’ve found where using Hyatt points often provides good value include:

• Booking hotels with nightly cash rates of $1,000 or more using points since the current maximum award rate for hotels in the numeric categories is 45,000 points per night, making points worth more than 2 cents each.
• Using points at more modestly priced hotels at times when cash prices are unusually high—for example holidays, high season or special events—for a particular hotel or location.
• Using points at Category 1 properties on off-peak dates since 3,500 points is equivalent to paying $52.50 to $70 cash rates if you value Hyatt points at 1.5 to 2 cents each.

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