hanly2

Planning a short trip from Philly to Boston over the dec. 7 weekend. I have to go to a show at the Hard Rock cafe which is at the harbor 1 night. I am trying to decide which Hyatt to stay at unless there is a better option with Chase points. I have a few free category 4 nights also. Right now I am thinking the Regency at the airport because its only a cat 4. The other 2 in the city are cat 5. Also it seems like taking the ferry from the hotel to the harbor would be a neat thing to do as a tourist. My second option I guess would be the Centric because its only a few blocks away, I think we could walk to the Hard rock from there? Looking at the prices on the night I want to stay it doesnt really seem like I am going to get great value for my points either way. Also we are driving up not flying if that makes any difference. What do you guys think?

MSPeconomist

If you're a Glob, paying with points or a cert means that parking will be free for your car, assuming that the hotel operates the parking (including valet).

Otherwise parking in Boston is likely to cost over $50 per night if you park at a downtown hotel. Some airport hotels also charge a lot for parking.

Kacee

The airport Hyatt is not a bad choice at all. It's a nice hotel and one of the best bargains in the entire system as a Cat 4. It's a very quick Uber under the harbor if you don't want to take the ferry or the T.

hanly2

Looks like as of right now I am just a discoverist with 19 qualifying nights (which i did not know). It says I am really close to 20 I am not sure how that works. but it says I get 2 club rewards at 20 so I really want to hit that I would think. Do those club rewards go for the entire stay or just for 1 night at a time?

cvseuy

Club Rewards cover the entire stay.

hanly2

Wow that is awesome. Is there a way to see how much spend I need to get that next night on my card? Also was planning on going to the Andaz Costa Rica this summer, not sure if they have a club lounge. I will need to look into that

MSPeconomist

Most (all?) Andaz properties don't have lounges, but many offer some sort of evening happy hour for all guests in their lobby. YMMV.

projectmaximus

The two lounge access certs will each be good for one room on a stay up to 7 nights. It will give that room (max 2 adults and 2 kids) access to the lounge for the duration of stay, but not necessarily an upgrade to a club room. You can call Hyatt to have them apply the cert for you. Lounges are mostly going to be in Grand and Park Hyatts, and many of the Regency hotels. I believe there might be a list somewhere on this site with somewhat up-to-date listings of the lounges (unfortunately many do open and close often) and there is also a thread about using these certificates.

Not sure how to look up your exact spend amount but obviously it will be less than $5k and timing of posting will depend on your statement cycle. But honestly there is no reason to use a cert in Boston (I don't think there are any decent lounges plus just a one night stay) so you needn't be in any hurry to get it through spend. And fyi your stay in Boston will get you to 20, as points and award certificate nights qualify.

Kacee

I think you meant Grand and Regency. There are only like two or three PH with lounge.

MSPeconomist

I can't think of one (maybe Europe but definitely not Paris), although PH Tokyo has the Glob happy hour in one of the hotel bars/lounges.

Outside of potential PHs, best value places to use the lounge upgrade certs are likely to be GHs outside of North America. For example GH Rio (Brazil) has an impressive lounge and GH ICN isn't bad in terms of F&B, but it tends to be overrun with small children. If you don't care about free drinks, the new GH SFO is good, but most people wouldn't want to spend a week there. In the USA, maybe GH Manchester (San Diego), GH Tampa, GH NYC (others will disagree),.....

projectmaximus

Sorry I was speaking from my extremely limited experience on that. Thanks for the correction!

hanly2

I think it goes by calendar year. so I would need to get it pretty soon. I wouldn't use it on the Boston trip. I would like to use it for our family vacation this summer though.

projectmaximus

Not exactly sure what you're saying. My point was if you are at 19 nights then your Boston trip will get you over 20 to receive those two lounge access passes. They process pretty much instantly so when you get back from Boston you'll be able to apply them to any reservations you have next summer. (The terms say something to the effect of you needing to call the number to apply the cert immediately after making your reservation, but from my experience you can just call/message anytime you want and they'll get it done for you)