FlyerTalker70

Current SPMarriott, Hilton and IHG Elite seeking to achieve refugeeist status with Hyatt. I've got a number of award nights planned for the coming year and am wondering if I were to book those nights would they count towards the elite qualifying stay for the year as SPMarriott and Hilton do or is it a different system? Also, does Hyatt offer the 5th night free like Hilton and SPMarriott do? What else should I keep in mind in terms of Hyatt benefits/strategy.

Cheers,

Sleepless in York

VegasGambler

Award nights are elite qualifying.

There is no blanket "nth night free" rule. But sometimes there are promos that offer 4th night free or something like that. In this case the free nights are NOT (usually? ever?) elite qualifying.

easy_money

Yes, Hyatt award nights do count as qualifying nights. You can achieve status off award nights and point stays if you choose that route. Hyatt just recently had a promo for 4th night free at select properties but the offer just expired. And as VegasGambler had stated, free nights don't count towards elite qualifying nights.

FlyerTalker70

Thanks for the info on that.

One of the things I like about the Hyatt programme is the few points you need to redeem quality stays at hotels around the world. For instance, I'll be in Honolulu next year for a conference and see that the Hyatt Place is only 12,000 points per night whereas anything with SPMarriott or Hilton would cost me at least 40,000 points per night. In addition, there are numerous promotions on now to buy Hyatt points on the cheap such as the US Travel Daily Getaway Promotion next month. Needless to say, I'll be at my computer the moment those promotions go live to snap up a stack of Hyatt points.

Safe Travels,

James

easy_money

I agree. I was at both HP and HR Waikiki last night, and they were nice points redemption considering the rooms were going for $300-$400 a night. HP as a CAT3 redemption was well worth it. Ensure you're receiving Hyatt promo emails and/or check their offers page periodically for bonus points and other promos. Enjoy.

FlyerTalker70

I plan on purchasing that stack of 72,000 Hyatt points for $775 USD from the upcoming US Travel promotion I linked to. If I did my math correctly, my stay at the Hyatt Place would work out to $130 USD/night which from previous experience is a great rate for Hawaii in general, but especially given the time of year I'm going (major conference) and its location. I'm debating about buying additional stacks of points from the promotion as I see Hyatt has a presence in other cities I'm travelling to (i.e. Taipei), and their redemptions aren't half bad.

-James

VegasGambler

You also earn them at about half the rate. But, yes, there is definitely value in the program.

Up to 55k pts can be bought per year. When they have 40% bonus promos, that raised the cap to 77k a year, and they clock in at 1.7c each. This is a good deal, IMO -- it's easy to find redemptions well over 2c (or even 3c) per point (especially after factoring in the tax and resort/destination fee savings)

Definitely check rates before you book. Currently the HP HNL is going for $180. I certainly would not redeem at 1.5c, unless you have some near-limitless source of Hyatt pts

FlyerTalker70

If you check the US Travel promotion link I provided above, they're selling them at a rate of 72,000 for $775 which works out to about 1.1 cents per point. In addition, per the terms of the promotion, you can stack up to 4 different sets (24K,30K, 40K and 70K) allowing you to rack up to 166K Hyatt points if you can purchase all four simultaneously. The operative word here is if: Hyatt is only making 120 of the 24K points ($260), 30 of the 40K points ($420), 54 of the 30K points ($330) and 25 of the 72K points ($775) stacks available to purchase. I'm guessing those are attractive rates to purchase Hyatt points, no?

Forgot to ask : I'm guessing I can cancel Hyatt award reservations for free anytime before check in, right? My plan is to buy the points, book the hotel, and then play it by ear. If I find something cheaper, I'll cancel, otherwise I look forward to staying at the Hyatt Place.

-James

VegasGambler

There are only 25 of the biggest one. I'm going to try to buy as many of the different promos as I can. Probably so are 90% of the people on this forum.

I expect that to be gone REALLY fast. Like, if you click on it as soon as it goes live it might be too late. So good luck, but I wouldn't count on getting one.

And, no, you can't cancel any time before check-in. Every hotel has its own policy but it's generally in the 24hr -14 day range (14 days is rare, but you see it at all inclusive resorts. I have a stay at the Zilara in Cancun where if you cancel within 7 says you are charged for the whole stay, and in the 7-14 range your are charged 50% of the stay.)

The award booking have the same policy as the standard bookings.

myperks

You need a bot or someone that can write you code to get it. Haven’t been able to get it for the past 5 years..and my F5 skills are pretty good

FlyerTalker70

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm a Computer Scientist and suspect I may have a fair crack at getting it. That being said, being located in the UK puts me at a bit of a disadvantage relative to my fellow Computer Scientists

In terms of strategy, I'm wondering if I should buy one of each simultaneously or try one at a time. I suppose the worst case scenario is I end up having more Hyatt points than I can shake a stick at!

In any event, wish me luck!

-James

myperks

VegasGambler

So am I. Did you write a bot? I'm too lazy.

My coworker wrote one for buying Supreme crap. He claims that he can resell it but I think he just likes hoarding it.

What conference are you going to in HNL? I'm not sure if my boss will buy it if I tell him I want to go to a conference in Hawaii but it's worth a shot.

toomanybooks

JetAway

Unfortunately, the "good" U.S. Travel Daily Getaway promotions such as Hyatt's are no long accessible to the average person and are mostly scooped up by pros with bots. Which completely undercuts the rationale of the promotions.