How much is a point worth?

1 cent per point for me.

I use 1.5c/point - my baseline being the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan. I'd be willing to pay $225 including tax for a refundable weekend night there, although their AAA rate is usually a little higher than that.

(For comparison, I value SPG at 2.3c and Hilton at 0.6, which is close to the 3.9:1 ratio which AMEX Membership Rewards has for them.)

I currently value my pts almost exactly the same as you do:
GP = 1.5 cents
SPG = 2.0 cents
HH = 0.6 cents (although probably only 0.5 cents without the Diamond Force)
IC/PC = 0.7 cents

I would go with the following values...
SPG: 2
GP: 1.5
HH: .5
PC: .6

My baseline is how many points will it take me to get a room I would spend less than $100 on, with GP and SPG, there are a number of $75-$80 properties I would use 4k SPG or 5k GP. PC has a few $60-$90 range properties and HH varies too widely to assign a solid value for.

Can GP pts be transfered between the member's accounts if the two parties have the same physical address? I believe SPG did, but not sure GP

Yes it is possible to transfer between any GP account.

http://goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/...e_transfer.jsp


Point Combining
Combine your Gold Passport points with any Gold Passport member to redeem an award.

Submit your completed Award Request Form to:
Hyatt Gold Passport Customer Service
Post Office Box 27089
Omaha, NE 68127-0089, USA

Or fax it to 1-402-593-9449

Forms are also available by calling 1-800-51 HYATT.

* Download Award Request Form

(PDF, Adobe Acrobat required)

Combining Points
Combine your Gold Passport points with any Gold Passport member to redeem an award: GP Point Combining Request Form

Thanks for links with detailed info

I thought I'd bring this topic back to life as I am trying to decide whether it's worth it to get the new Hyatt credit card. I currently use a card that pays me back 1 cent per dollar spent in cash. I'm trying to judge the value of the points I'd get with the Hyatt card vs. the cash I get now, and whether it offsets the $75 annual fee.

You can redeem GP points for miles at 2.5 points per mile. I typically value miles at less than 1 cent, so that metric would give me a point value of probably about 2 cents.

Any opinions?

It all depends on how you'll use the points and how much 3x spend vs. 1x spend you'll have. Generally I've found that the redemption value of a point is about 1.5 to 1.6 cents for hotel stay usage as I use them domestically. So that means normal spending works out to between 1.5% and 1.6% effective cash back, and spend at Hyatts is ~4.5% return.

By that metric it takes $15,000 of spend for the excess 0.5% return of the Hyatt card above a 1% cash-back card on non-Hyatt expenses to obtain enough points to cancel the $75 fee and end up with zero net return. So unless there's a significant retention bonus, you'd certainly be better off cancelling the card after the first year and instead getting $150 cash back on the same spend from the generic 1% cash-back card. For year one, though, the two nights for the $75 fee is a no-brainer, especially if you're a Platinum or Diamond GP member.

Your math is wrong. If you value airline miles at 1 cent and you convert Hyatt to airline then you are only getting 0.4 cents per hyatt point. I think you were calculating 2.5 miles per hyatt point.

I value Hyatt at 1.1 cents. You could get more but I subtract because I am generally able to get rooms for much less using priceline or some other promotion. Even at 1.1 cents I have never spent 1 point because I have always founds a better deal somewhere.

If you value airline miles at less than 1 cent its doubtful you are gong to find the Hyatt card to be worth it. Also the SPG card is clearly the more lucrative card. Only advantage Hyatt really has is the current sign up bonus.

If you never spend your points, then the value of a point is exactly zero cents.

In your opinion, should I use points or miles for a stay where the point to cents ratio range for the Hyatts in the area range from a low of 2.1 cents per point (prior to the 10% tax which takes it to 2.3 cents per point) to 2.65 (pretax) cents/pt. I am also factoring into my decision that I will not accrue new points if I don't pay with $$.
Background Information
I hoard my Hyatt points. I used them once years ago in Hawaii and that is it. I have a over three hundred thousand points that are losing value each year. Even though I know they are devaluing, I am saving them to go scuba diving and travel when I retire.

I value Hilton points at $.005/pt or half a cent/pt.
I value UA miles at over 3 cents as I use them when I can find availability for international travel in C or F. I used to value them at 9 cents. Recently I downgraded them to about 5 cents per mile.

I tipically redeem at ~2.5-3 cpp so that's how I value my points. Those redemptions are either overseas or high-end US properties during the peak season. I also tend not to hoard my points - currently I have award reservations that will drop my points total by ~300k points.

To answer your question, based on the cpp ratio I would most likely use points for this stay. However, this depends on the overall rate - I'm more inclined to use points if the nightly rate is above $200. If we are talking about a $100/night vs. 5k points I may pay rather than spend points. Ultimately it's up to you to decide how much money you want to spend and to use points if the price is more than you are comfortable with.