Hyatt Announces Points And Cash Redemptions, Elite Discount Rate, And More!

Hyatt Announces Points And Cash Redemptions, Elite Discount Rate, And More!

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It has been a rough few weeks in the airline and hotel industry, as we’ve witnessed devaluation after devaluation.

Last week Hyatt announced a devaluation to their award chart for stays booked on or after January 7, 2014. In some ways the devaluation was substantial, though in the grand scheme of things I found it reasonable.

It appears as if it’s not all bad news, as Hyatt has announced some positive changes which also kick in as of January 7, 2014:

Hyatt will be introducing Points + Cash

Hyatt will be following the lead of several other hotel chains in offering Points + Cash bookings, which, as the name suggests, means you can pay for your stay by combining points and cash. These will be capacity controlled, so once they become bookable on January 7, 2014, it will be interesting to see what availability is like.

The redemption table looks as follows:

Hyatt-Cash-Points1

So basically they’re giving you an option to pay for your stay partly in cash, though the savings in Gold Passport points varies by category, as follows:

  • Category 1 save 2,500 points for $50 (2.0 cents/point)
  • Category 2 save 4,000 points for $55 (1.375 cents/point)
  • Category 3 save 6,000 points for $75 (1.25 cents/point)
  • Category 4 save 7,500 points for $100 (1.33 cents/point)
  • Category 5 save 10,000 points for $125 (1.25 cents/point)
  • Category 6 save 12,500 points for $150 (1.20 cents/point)
  • Category 7 save 15,000 points for $300 (2.00 cents/point)

Category 1 and 7 properties aren’t amazing deals on Points + Cash, given that you’re basically purchasing Gold Passport points for 2.0 cents each. However, Category 2 through 6 properties are a spectacular value, given that you’re basically purchasing Gold Passport points for 1.2-1.375 cents per point.

The best news of all is that nights booked using Points + Cash will also count towards status, and the cash portion of the stay is eligible for points accrual.

Remember that with Hyatt, free night redemptions don’t count towards status (unlike at other chains such as Hilton and Starwood), so this is really exciting in my opinion. Assuming Points + Cash availability is good, I’d actually say that the value proposition for category six properties has improved even compared to the old award chart. Previously Category 6 properties were 22,000 points per night, so being able to redeem 12,500 points plus $150 for a hotel like the Park Hyatt Maldives and still earn elite stay credit is an amazing deal.

In terms of the process of making a Points + Cash booking, they’ll only be bookable by phone, with the points deducted at the time you make your reservation, and the cash portion paid at time of check-out.

Hyatt will introduce “My Elite Rate” 20% discount

The new “My Elite Rate” will be valid for Platinum and Diamond members, and offer 20% off the daily rate on standard rooms, subject to capacity controls. Not all hotels will offer the “My Elite Rate” at all times, but when available, it should automatically appear if you’re logged into your Gold Passport account. These stays will still be eligible for points accrual and elite credit.

Hyatt Gold Passport points will only expire after 24 months

Presently Gold Passport points expire after 12 months of inactivity, though under this change they’ll only expire after 24 months of inactivity. This is obviously good news for the average consumer, while it doesn’t really impact elite members much.

Bottom line

The new Points + Cash option is awesome, and if availability is decent, somewhat offsets the devaluation in my opinion. We’ll see how useful the “My Elite Rate” is, though there are lots of “special” rates out there, so I’m not too excited about that. The new expiration policy is good for less frequent Hyatt guests, though probably doesn’t impact those of us that are frequent Hyatt guests or have Ultimate Rewards points, since you can always just transfer 1,000 points to keep an account alive.

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  1. CaroleZoom Guest

    Just called re Elite rate. Not available til 1/7 AND must call to get that rate -- can't reserve online. Talk about a pain in the arse

  2. Jeff Guest

    I had the same reaction about the "positive" expiration announcement. For years, I've looked for an expiration date on my points and couldn't find one, and Hyatt never forfeited my points when I went a stretch without using them. So I'll take a fictional 12-month policy over an actual 24-month policy any day.

  3. Antonio Guest

    FYI: Category 2 copay is $55, not $50

    Copying Gary's math is a dangerous thing!
    ;-)

  4. Alan Guest

    Thanks Lucky. I followed your posts very closely. But would today's positive change by Hyatt improve the value of GP points?

  5. lucky OMAAT

    @ Alan -- I value them at roughly 1.4 cents each after the change. Explained my reasoning a bit more here:
    https://onemileatatime.com/how-much-are-ultimate-rewards-points-worth/

  6. Alan Guest

    sorry Lucky, it was a typo..

  7. Alan Guest

    Luck, how much do you value Hyatt GP points after these recent changes?

  8. hobo13 Guest

    Surprised nobody is talking about the IT challenges involved here... keep in mind, this is a company that can barely keep the website up and running for a week at a time!

    Just seems very odd to announce such a change without having the IT ready to go on Day 1.

    Sounds like something COdbaUA would do -- er, I mean IS doing (PQD's *and* partner award charts).

    Call me skeptical that this goes well. Maybe they can get the crack HealthCare.gov team to come implement it!

  9. Andy Guest

    @Lucky,
    I stayed at Hyatt in Sept 2010 and have been inactive after that. My hyatt points, 3,000+, never expired so far.

  10. Carl Guest

    It's a bit weird that four different blogs all have the same story on the front page of Boarding Area

  11. Carl Guest

    It's going to make it a lot harder to use if there is no way to see availability online.

  12. lucky OMAAT

    @ Wes -- I don't, but I'm following up on it right now and will let you know.

  13. lucky OMAAT

    @ Grant -- Whoops, had a typo, should have been $300. Thanks for the correction!

  14. Grant New Member

    I think the $500 is supposed to be $300 then.

  15. Wes Guest

    Lucky, do you know if cash and points will be upgradable to a suite using diamond upgrades?

  16. Grant New Member

    I think the math is off here:
    Category 7 save 15,000 points for $500 (2.00 cents/point)

    $500 / 15,000 = 3.33 CPP. Right?

  17. calvin New Member

    The Cat6 rate for properties like Park Hyatt Maldives looks great!

  18. lucky OMAAT

    @ Steven S -- It would seem like initially we can't see availability online, which is a bit disappointing.

  19. avidtraveler Guest

    Ben, do you think the P+S nights count towards a diamond challenge?

  20. Steven S Guest

    Boy did we need some good news! My only concern is that while you say that C&P are only bookable on the phone. You did not mention (probably because you don't know yet) whether or not we could see this availability online like we can with SPG. Any idea???

  21. Carl Guest

    Is Gary right that Hyatt will start proactively expiring points? If so, they'd better provide some UI to let us know when our points expire! I think it's more friendly that for active accounts they don't expire them

  22. Carl Guest

    This sounds like an awesome enhancement to the program if the availability is decent - as it will still allow earning stay credit.

  23. Gary Gold

    "Presently Gold Passport points expire after 12 months of inactivity, though under this change they’ll only expire after 24 months of inactivity. This is obviously good news for the average consumer..."

    Disagree that this is obviously good. The t&c of Gold Passport are that points expire after 12 months. Except that they don't. The expiration policy isn't enforced.

    So while I think 24 months is totally reasonable, what Hyatt is doing is announcing that they...

    "Presently Gold Passport points expire after 12 months of inactivity, though under this change they’ll only expire after 24 months of inactivity. This is obviously good news for the average consumer..."

    Disagree that this is obviously good. The t&c of Gold Passport are that points expire after 12 months. Except that they don't. The expiration policy isn't enforced.

    So while I think 24 months is totally reasonable, what Hyatt is doing is announcing that they will begin to expire points. Plenty of notice, the 2 year clock won't even start until the beginning of next year. And having clarity is great (most members likely didn't know their points wouldn't expire).

    But it isn't an unambiguous positive. ;)

  24. Ian Guest

    So I have some nights booked next year @ 22k points....so i need to wait til Jan 7 to cancel the award booking and change it to points + cash?

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ Ian - Correct, provided Points + Cash is available on your dates.

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CaroleZoom Guest

Just called re Elite rate. Not available til 1/7 AND must call to get that rate -- can't reserve online. Talk about a pain in the arse

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More Thoughts On Hyatt's Points And Cash Redemptions - One Mile at a Time - One Mile at a Time Guest

[…] Sunday night Hyatt announced some exciting changes to their Gold Passport program, following the devaluation they announced to their award chart the […]

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Jeff Guest

I had the same reaction about the "positive" expiration announcement. For years, I've looked for an expiration date on my points and couldn't find one, and Hyatt never forfeited my points when I went a stretch without using them. So I'll take a fictional 12-month policy over an actual 24-month policy any day.

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