While the most popular way to redeem World of Hyatt points is for free night award redemptions, there are some lesser known ways to redeem Hyatt points. One of those is the ability to use points for Dining & Spa awards, which can be a surprisingly good deal.
In this post:
Hyatt Dining & Spa Experience Awards
Most people don’t realize that you can redeem World of Hyatt points toward the cost of on-property dining and spa experiences, and the value proposition can be surprisingly good. Specifically, you can redeem a certain number of points for a certain amount of credit to use toward on-property spending, even if you’re not staying at a Hyatt property. Let’s take a closer look at how this works.
Hyatt Dining & Spa award chart
Here’s a chart showing the various redemption opportunities available with Hyatt’s Dining & Spa awards, along with how much value you can potentially get per point:
Points Required | U.S. Dollar Credit | Value per Point |
|---|---|---|
1,000 | $10 | 1.0 Cents |
2,500 | $25 | 1.0 Cents |
5,000 | $50 | 1.0 Cents |
7,500 | $75 | 1.0 Cents |
8,000 | $100 | 1.25 Cents |
12,000 | $150 | 1.25 Cents |
20,000 | $250 | 1.25 Cents |
35,000 | $500 | 1.43 Cents |
65,000 | $1,000 | 1.54 Cents |
As you can see, you can redeem anywhere from 1,000 points for a $10 credit, to 65,000 points for a $1,000 credit. The value per point ranges anywhere from 1.0 cents per point, to 1.54 cents per point.
1.54 cents per World of Hyatt point sounds like a solid deal, as personally I value Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each. Is there a catch, though?
What can Hyatt Dining & Spa awards be used toward?
The exact redemptions that are allowed vary by hotel, but generally you can expect that these awards can be used for food and beverage purchases, spa and salon services, and spa and salon retail items.
On top of that, when charged to a member’s guest room, the following charges may be eligible:
laundry, dry cleaning, telephone charges, pay-per-view movies, parking, gift/retail shop, service charges, taxes (not including room taxes) and gratuities
Meanwhile the following charges are expressly prohibited from being eligible:
room rates, room taxes, alcoholic beverages (in certain jurisdictions), catering or banquet charges, and casino charges
If you’re staying at a Hyatt then you should be able to redeem these awards for cumulative charges over the course of your stay. However, I’d recommend confirming this with the front desk at check-in, including which outlets would be eligible for these redemptions, since individual hotels could have different policies.
What hotels are eligible for Hyatt Dining & Spa awards?
Not all Hyatt hotels participate in this program. Miraval, Destination by Hyatt, Vivid, Secrets, Dreams, Breathless, Zoëtry, Alua, Sunscape, and other AMR Collection resorts/properties do not participate. Furthermore, redemption of these certificates is limited to registered guests at Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Ziva.
To be positive, you can search participating properties at this page.
How do you actually redeem a Hyatt Dining & Spa award?
You don’t need to redeem for these certificates in advance, but rather the World of Hyatt member should just inform the Hyatt employee at the eligible outlet that they’d like to redeem points toward their purchase at the outset. You’ll need to have your membership information, and should then be asked how many points you want to redeem.
If you’re a registered guest at a hotel then you can apply one of these at check-out toward multiple purchases over the course of a stay. If you’re not a registered guest then you’ll have to settle your folio at the particular outlet you’re at.
Other Hyatt Dining & Spa award basics
There are a few other things to potentially be aware of:
- You don’t earn World of Hyatt points for any purchase for which you’re redeeming a Dining & Spa award, including the amount in excess of what you’re redeeming for; this is puzzling, but that’s what the terms state — “any charges for which a Dining, Spa and More Award is redeemed (including charges in excess of the award amount) are ineligible to earn points in the program”
- You can redeem at most one award per transaction, and the transaction amount can be above or below the award amount; if it’s above, you can pay the difference in cash, while if it’s below, you don’t get any refund
- The member has to be present to redeem this, so you can’t use this as a gift for someone you’re not traveling with
Are Hyatt’s Dining & Spa awards a good deal?
On the surface, being able to redeem World of Hyatt points for up to ~1.54 cents toward the cost of a purchase is a solid deal. Is it exceptional? No. But as a way of essentially “cashing out” your points to offset cash costs I think it’s very good.
I do think it’s important to create a more realistic valuation of these redemptions, though. When you redeem these awards you’re forgoing the opportunity to earn points on these purchases:
- World of Hyatt members ordinarily earn 5x points per dollar spent
- World of Hyatt Discoverist members earn an additional 0.5 points per dollar, Explorist members earn an extra 1.0 points per dollar, and Globalist members earn an extra 1.5 points per dollar
- For paying with the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) or World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review) you’d earn 4x points per dollar spent
As a Globalist member I earn 10.5x points per dollar spent, which I value at a return of ~16% (1.5 cents per point). That’s an opportunity cost that’s worth factoring in, so in reality, I’d adjust the maximum value from 1.54 cents to ~1.3 cents.
Personally, this isn’t how I’d redeem my World of Hyatt points, though I do think many people could find this to be worthwhile for a splurge:
- If you’re on a special trip and want to have some awesome spa treatments or a really extravagant meal that you wouldn’t otherwise pay for in cash, this could be a great way to do so
- If you’re staying at a secluded Hyatt resort where you’d naturally spend quite a bit on-property (Andaz Mayakoba, Park Hyatt Maldives, etc.), this could be a great way to limit your out-of-pocket spending
- If you’re a business traveler who earns more World of Hyatt points than you know what to do with, this could be a great way to enhance stays
Bottom line
World of Hyatt offers Dining & Spa awards, allowing members to redeem points for dining and spa experiences at most Hyatt properties. This has the potential to be a solid deal, as getting 1.54 cents per Hyatt point toward the cost of a purchase is a good redemption. However, do factor in the points you’re forgoing, which brings down the redemption value a bit.
While I wouldn’t say this is the best way to redeem Hyatt points, this could be worth it to lower how much cash you’ll pay for a Hyatt stay, especially at a secluded resort where you’re likely to spend most time on-property.
What do you make of Hyatt’s Dining & Spa awards? Could you see yourself redeeming points for them?
I've been using WOH points transfers from Chase a lot recently as I've been stuck in a market with a surprising number of Hyatt properties while a total home renovation drags on and on and on. I never would have thought to use convertible points currencies for hotels but here it makes sense as off-peak cat 1 redemptions are 3,500 a night and the properties (Hyatt Places and Hyatt Houses) are all fairly new and...
I've been using WOH points transfers from Chase a lot recently as I've been stuck in a market with a surprising number of Hyatt properties while a total home renovation drags on and on and on. I never would have thought to use convertible points currencies for hotels but here it makes sense as off-peak cat 1 redemptions are 3,500 a night and the properties (Hyatt Places and Hyatt Houses) are all fairly new and of good quality, retailing above $135/night. But for dining and spa incidentals? No way unless you happen to have some huge cache of Hyatt points just sitting around that were earned through stays. There are so many better uses for UR points.
Why must these decisions be made on a hotel by hotel basis?
I HATE that Hyatt along with other mega-brands are not enforcing their brand requirements across the board. I recently received 2
lounge upgrade certificates from Hyatt. I tried to use them on upcoming stays and was rejected.
"Sorry, the Grand Hyatt Athens does not honor your upgrade certificate".
Why not? If it won't follow the Hyatt brand requirements it...
Why must these decisions be made on a hotel by hotel basis?
I HATE that Hyatt along with other mega-brands are not enforcing their brand requirements across the board. I recently received 2
lounge upgrade certificates from Hyatt. I tried to use them on upcoming stays and was rejected.
"Sorry, the Grand Hyatt Athens does not honor your upgrade certificate".
Why not? If it won't follow the Hyatt brand requirements it should be de-flagged. I switched to Hyatt from Marriott after getting tired of this run-around, only to find it is basically the same.
This is a very intriguing prospect that I wasn't aware of through the Hyatt program. I will definitely want to take advantage of this in the future. Case in point, I took my family to the Andaz Mayakoba a few years ago and we spent a little over $1000 on meals, excursions, spa treatments, and airport transfers. Had this been available when I visited, could I have redeemed 65K points for the cumulative total? Or...
This is a very intriguing prospect that I wasn't aware of through the Hyatt program. I will definitely want to take advantage of this in the future. Case in point, I took my family to the Andaz Mayakoba a few years ago and we spent a little over $1000 on meals, excursions, spa treatments, and airport transfers. Had this been available when I visited, could I have redeemed 65K points for the cumulative total? Or would I have had to break down the points redemptions for each meal/excursion/spa/airport transfer?
I'm excited about the option of redeeming points for things that I otherwise would have needed to pay in cash. This would go a long way to extending that immensely satisfying "feeling of free", especially for those flush with Hyatt/Chase points.
@ Adam -- You should be able to redeem at the end of a stay, but the policy can vary by hotel, so you'll want to check upon arrival (or even before arriving), to avoid disappointment.
Can someone please clarify for me? I don’t have any points sitting in Hyatt & don’t have status. I transfer points over from Chase as needed for redemptions. So if I wanted to use Dining & Spa credit to cover my dining. I don’t quite know how much we’ll spend but say we only spend $700 at the property, which is in between the $1000 credit for 65k but above $500 for 35k. Should I...
Can someone please clarify for me? I don’t have any points sitting in Hyatt & don’t have status. I transfer points over from Chase as needed for redemptions. So if I wanted to use Dining & Spa credit to cover my dining. I don’t quite know how much we’ll spend but say we only spend $700 at the property, which is in between the $1000 credit for 65k but above $500 for 35k. Should I still transfer over 65k to get $1k credit for better value? Will the remaining unused $300 credit just sit in my Hyatt account until I can use it the next time? Or should I be just transferring 35k points from Chase to get $500 credit and pay $200 out of pocket? Thanks!
Can someone please clarify for me? I don’t have any points sitting in Hyatt & don’t have status. I transfer points over from Chase as needed for redemptions. I don’t quite know how much we’ll spend but say we only spend $700 on dining at the property, which is in between the $1000 credit for 65k but above $500 for 35k. Should I still transfer over 65k to get $1k credit for better value? Will...
Can someone please clarify for me? I don’t have any points sitting in Hyatt & don’t have status. I transfer points over from Chase as needed for redemptions. I don’t quite know how much we’ll spend but say we only spend $700 on dining at the property, which is in between the $1000 credit for 65k but above $500 for 35k. Should I still transfer over 65k to get $1k credit for better value? Will the remaining unused $300 credit just sit in my Hyatt account until I can use it the next time? Or should I just be transferring 35k points from Chase to get $500 credit and pay $200 out of pocket? Thanks!
This is great and all but we need more updates on Miles!!!