I recently read, in one of the numerous travel emails I get, about a great points value at a newly remodeled high end Hyatt property in Playa del Carmen. I checked some dates and sure enough you could get a $994/night room for 29,000 Hyatt points. Now let me be clear this is a BIG SPEND for us even though it’s “just” points… because those points are worth a lot of real money! Let’s walk through the value of the points, how suite upgrades can help you even if you don’t have Hyatt status, and all those particulars!
First of all, 29,000 Hyatt points is not cheap! Hyatt points are currently (before the big devaluation) valued at over 2 cents per point so 29,000 points is about $600! So, yes we’re getting a $994 room for $600… but it’s still $600 of value we are using! Anytime you use points, albeit Hyatt or any other, think about the value of the points being used. How much is the cash night and which is a better deal. For example, if it was 29,000 points or spend $400 cash then the $400 cash is a much better deal. On the contrary if it was 29,000 points or $994 cash then clearly the points are the better deal.
Heck, another way I look at 29,000 Hyatt points is you could go to some mid-size city in Vietnam or Thailand and get a nice room for 3,500 points per night so 29,000 points could be well over a week in a nice hotel… thus if you’re going to use 29,000 points for ONE night I hope it’s a really nice room or suite at a really nice property! The property in question here was the Hyatt Alila Mayakoba and here is a link to that fine property!
Now, some of the beauty in using Hyatt points, at least at my Globalist status level, is they don’t charge a resort fee. At this property that saves $45 per night! That’s a nice perk! There is a way that you can get Globalist status, for your stay, even if you aren’t a Globalist and I’ll tell you about that down below. Also, if you are a Hyatt Globalist and book a points stay they don’t charge you for valet parking which is a nice benefit! Thank you Hyatt!
I did something even better! As you achieve different levels within the Hyatt ecosystem, throughout the year, you get awards you can use or give to others. Like what you ask? We get free hotel nights, suite upgrades, Club Access passes, and Guest of Honor awards (GOH). Now, one great thing about Hyatt is these are all transferrable to friends, family and even strangers… as long as we don’t take money in return!
Why should you care… well, if we’re friends, there are times when I have passes to share! Why don’t I use them all? As a Globalist member I already get access to the club lounges and all the benefits you would get with a GOH award. So the GOH and club passes do me no good… but they could do you a lot of good! I recall a time, before I was a Globalist member, using Club Access passes at the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo. If you didn’t know Hyatt’s and Marriotts outside of North America do it up right in the club lounges. It’s common to have a nice spread for breakfast and an evening happy hour with free booze! Yes, really! Can you imagine if they tried that in the US? People would abuse and break the system quick! In fact, I am sure in the past they used to do that in the US and had to stop! That Hyatt Regency in Tokyo was amazing! The breakfast buffet is often high quality food and, at some locations, a heavy meal! The evening happy hour is meant to be an appetizer but I have found it enough to be a meal at many locations… Tokyo in particular! It even included some sushi… to go with our free, TOP SHELF, booze! Pretty amazing really!
Ok, ok, I got way off track talking about these awards but there is one award I rarely give away and that is the suite upgrade award. We use those! In this case we can be automatically upgraded, and guaranteed now at time of booking, to a 1,100 sq foot suite with a plunge pool and a cost of almost $2,000 per night… and all for the $600 per night in points! No resort fee and no parking charge when staying on a points reservation! How about that!?
If you want to try to get some free awards for yourself there are groups on Facebook, and other websites, where Globalist members give away their extra awards. Come up with a good story and maybe you’ll be able to get yourself some free awards to use for your next Hyatt trip! Don’t give anybody money of course as there are a lot of scammers online. However, there are also a lot of nice people and maybe you’ll find someone who has a GOH or other award they can spare. There actually is a reason why someone might share a GOH with you, besides just them being nice people, and that is because they get an elite night credited to their Hyatt account when the person uses the GOH award. Hyatt wants to encourage people to give away their GOH awards and YOU could be the beneficiary! I would say people are less likely to transfer free night awards and suite upgrades but you never know. In addition to GOH I have seen people giving away the club passes as well. So, look around and maybe you’ll get lucky!
I should add that one of the fundamental pieces of playing hotel games is getting the branded credit card. The Hyatt card is only $99 per year and you get a free night at a Hyatt hotel. It’s hard to not get at least $99 value out of that free night and then, on top of that, you get many other benefits. Some key ones are 5 nights of status toward your elite qualifying each year. That is a nice start toward your first reward at 20 nights! You also earn more nights toward your status based on your credit card spend. Chase does not currently have a refer a friends bonus so I can’t help you but just Google Chase Hyatt credit card and you’ll see the options. It’s one of my favorite credit cards!
Getting back to the point here… earn points, use points thoughtfully, and if possible earn hotel status as it can pay dividends!
