New To Hyatt.. Is Transferring From Chase UR to Hyatt a good plan?
 

Hi, I'm new to Hyatt entirely. I don't even think I've ever stayed at a Hyatt. But I do need to travel often.. and I saw some interesting cities on their Cat. 1 and Cat. 2 rewards chart. I have 65k Chase UR points. The original plan was to transfer them to United. But with everything that's happened with the pandemic and United putting in place partner dynamic reward pricing a few weeks ago.. I'm thinking Hyatt might be a better option? 65k would be like 13 nights at a Cat 1. hotel.. that seems like pretty good value no? So in my mind, I'm thinking that would be the best place to transfer my UR points since I'll be downgrading the Sapphire card and won't have any way to transfer the points out in the near future. Do you guys agree that Hyatt is a good choice in this case? Just wanted to ask some feedback before proceeding. Thanks! Also, I don't have any specific dates for Hyatt in mind, but I think the points don't expire?

Hyatt is a good use of UR points.

But it's a personal decision, based on your own preferences and portfolio of miles and points, as to whether you want hotel points or air miles (or even cash back). Especially since post-coronavirus we're probably going to see low air fares and cheaper hotel rooms...

It's an interesting point. In the past, I had always transferred miles to United. What I seem to love about Hyatt though is the number of hotels from the 5,000 range. I like that you can make a booking anytime and so far all the hotels that I checked all have availability for any day. I'm not sure if that's just because of coronavirus though? If things eventually get back to 'normal' are there usually hotels using Hyatt points that are not available or blacked out dates?

With United, it's getting harder to find good deals for a reasonable amount of miles since they switched to dynamic miles pricing for international partners a few weeks ago. With United you need to pay a $125 cancellation or change fee. Whereas with Hyatt, there doesn't not seem to be any cancellation fees? Just simply cancel bookings 24 hours in advance to get a full refund of points? As far as I can tell without having transferred points yet to Hyatt... That seems to be awesome flexibility with Hyatt and using points, unlike United which is very inflexible with change and cancellation fees. Oh and with United there is also a penalty of 3,000 miles if you want to make a booking within 21 days. Whereas with booking Hyatt hotels there doesn't seem to be any kind of "close-in" penalty or fee. Do I understand that right guys?

The key value in Chase points is the flexibility. Don't transfer points until you do have a plan would be the key recommendation. My personal view is Hyatt is the most valuable transfer option, but I have found it convenient to transfer to BA,UA, and WN at times. I believe Hyatt points do expire with no activity after 24 months

I hear what you mean. I wish I could have a definite plan it's just the coronavirus makes things more complicated for future plans. I decided though that I definitely want to downgrade the CSR and get the annual fee back from Chase, but of course I know once I downgrade it to a Freedom then I won't be able to transfer points to reward partners anymore. I'm okay with that trade off, but it just means I need to have a plan to transfer all my UR points out before the end of June. That's why I'm thinking Hyatt.. Hyatt seems very flexible with using points for hotels.. no close in fees and no cancellation fees like when trying to use miles with United.

If your intent is to downgrade and lose the transfer capability then you may be correct about Hyatt as a good place to move the points. For me, the $95 yearly fee for the CSR card is well worth it for ability to transfer and even for the occasional use of the Chase travel portal. And, while I would prefer Hyatt, just be aware of the Hyatt drawbacks (point expiration and limited footprint).

If you don’t care about scoring an allegedly “$6000” flight by transferring to an airline for a business/first class, likely your best transfer is to Hyatt. It is for me. I also like transferring to Southwest on cheap fares, where you can get almost 2 cents apiece.

Remember that with Hyatt, room-nights on awards count for status. This is valuable. Hyatt Globalist is highly prized. Airline status is pretty hard to get and not worth that much for a lot of people.

You should consider getting the Hyatt credit card. One of the best out there. The free annual night for holding the card is alone worth more than the fee. And spending counts toward status.

Miles awards on airlines do not count for status.

A while back, Chase had a big bonus (40-50%) to transfer to BA Avios. Depending on your travel patterns/airport, if that comes back it can be a terrific value.

A good "rule of thumb" is to aim for 2 cents per Hyatt point and thus value UR transfers with this in mind. For me, UR to Hyatt is an excellent value as I see a minimum 6% return on Sapphire Reserve spending.

I periodically do better than 2 cents with Hyatt but have to remind myself I'd never actually pay more than $600 for a room at the Park Hyatt New York so am I really truly getting more than 2 cents if the going rate there is $1,000 per night? Probably not.

Also keep in mind that using points eliminates paying Resort Fees - and if you achieve Hyatt status, still confers all the benefits of said status, including upgrades.... which again, for me arguably increase the value of Hyatt points well beyond 2 cents.

You're going to be hard-pressed to find anybody in the points/miles game to recommend speculatively transferring UR/MR/TYP, without a specific redemption in mind. WOH points are generally the most valuable among the big hotel programs (though they have the smallest footprint) but without specific redemptions in mind you're potentially getting poor value and you don't want to lock yourself in to staying at the cheapest possible hotel properties, even if you have status. I would hold onto the UR for now, given the global travel situation, since at the very east you can redeem them for cash or @1.5x through the Chase portal if there's a major devaluation. I personally only consider transferring to airlines for travel in business/first class. I get much more value that way and that leaves my lodging flexible, I can book via Hilton/Marriott to leverage my status and awards, search for the best deals on an OTA, or book Airbnb/VRBO.

EDIT: I second those who recommend the Hyatt card. If I wasn't already big into Hilton through my job I'd probably have it in my wallet.

It's my opinion that the flexibility is worth the $95 for a CSP instead. Then sign up for an freedom card to get a sign up bonus unless you are already at the limit for new cards.

Treepuppy, you've nailed it, esp. in your Post #3 ! The problem with Chase UR points is that they transfer to all partners 1:1, and 1 Hyatt point is worth WAY more than 1 Bonvoy or 1 IHG!
I transfer most of my UR points to Hyatt and use a few to top off my airline miles for an award. Also, I much prefer hotel points over FF miles because of the games that airilnes play with availability in normal non-COVID19 times, while hotels honestly want to give us free rooms!

What card are you collecting UR with?

Because if it's the plan to ultimately move the points to Hyatt then I'd rather get the Hyatt Visa with an improved earn ratio and the free night + status.

With the current uncertainty in the travel industry, I'd think it'd be a much better choice to bank the URs and commit to signing up for the CSP in the future when you're ready to transfer the points. Just consider that future $95 AF an insurance policy of sorts. This also makes sense if you're going to be using the CFU moving forward, as you'll continue to bank URs which will give you more options in the future.

Not exactly.

Setting aside the temporary polices that Hyatt has enacted due to Covid-19, when you make a reservation it comes with a cancellation date (same as with paid rates). This is typically 24 or 48 hours but can be longer for some properties, If you cancel the reservation before this deadline the points will be returned to your account with no penalties. If you no show or don't cancel before the cancellation deadline your points will be returned but you will be charged the cancellation fee that you agreed to when you made the reservation (this is typically the cash amount of a 1 night stay but does vary).

If you're keen to learn more, check out the Hyatt website with and head for the terms and conditions

https://help.hyatt.com/en/hyatt-term...erms.html#/IIB

In Section II ... 4. Points Deduction; Cancellation and No-Shows.

I always double check to make sure the hotel I want to redeem at isn't available via the UR Travel booking portal for less UR points than Hyatt is asking for from the GP side. Have seen this more on the higher end hotel side when prices are not ridiculous but I still want to use points.....redemptions via the portal end up costing less than moving the points to Hyatt to book there.