PortlySpartacus

I've got a bunch of Chase UR points. They have a nice travel portal where you can redeem points but also purchase flights, hotel, and car rentals and get multiplier points awarded. I have two questions related to Chase UR points and Hyatt redemptions:

1) If I book a stay at a Hyatt hotel and use Chase's UR point redemption, will I get Hyatt stay credit towards tier status?

2) If I book a stay at a Hyatt hotel but use the Chase travel portal to pay cash for it will I get Hyatt stay credit towards tier status?

I think the answer might be NO to both questions above because I'm booking a Hyatt stay through a 3rd party, is my assumption correct? Thanks!

platbrownguy

Your assumption is correct: no and no. You're better off transferring UR points to Hyatt points to redeem. And you should never use a third party/credit card portal to book a branded/affiliated hotel (or any hotel IMO) unless the benefits from your card are strong enough to outweigh the second-class-citizen status that properties (arguably justifiably) give to those bookings, where they lose a big chunk of revenue to the third party.

bbbb

I wouldn’t book anything through Chase Ultimate Rewards unless you want to spend 4 months on the phone trying to get your points and money back because they didn't secure your rooms months earlier. Then have to pay three times what you could have booked direct for in the first place!

PortlySpartacus

Well i booked 1 night with Marriott for this Friday night using the UR portal and paid with my credit card. The reason is I'm already over 60 nights on Hyatt this year and my Chase Sapphire gives me an annual $50 hotel credit if I book through their portal. The price was almost identical to what Marriott was charging for the room from the Marriott website. I'll see if Marriott gives me stay credit but once I again, I doubt it. This will be a one a year type of booking for me to get the $50 statement credit

tearex

OTAs aren't perfect but have their place. I wouldn't book any hotel through OTA I would want elite credit and benefits for, but after you book through OTA, just check the reservation shortly after and verify if it was updated with the hotel's confirmation number. And/or contact the property itself and verify they have the booking in their system. That eliminates the "securing room" problem.

bbbb

This was all done and they still left me hanging on 4 rooms on a high demand weekend. Then it was only after filing complaints, and social media that they returned my money.

projectmaximus

Which card provides the $50 credit? Sapphire Preferred?

PortlySpartacus

Yes, Chase Sapphire Preferred. I think they added the $50 annual hotel credit this past summer to the card benefits

projectmaximus

Ah ok. I haven't had the Preferred since switching to Reserve so had no idea.

craz

It would have to be alot more then $50 for me to even think for 1 sec to book any Travel via Chase or any OTA especially for a hotel stay where my status will be Zero, also car rentals would mean no CDW coverage since the OTAs CC was used to pay for the rental. They would have to have a really tremendous savings for me to book my air travel with them and even then till we are done with Covid and restrictions and closures No Way, unless you are a glutton for punishment

PortlySpartacus

I would use their travel portal often if it weren't for my status with Hyatt. For car rentals I have no issue since I'm reserving the rental with my Sapphire Preferred card which has the CDW insurance benefit. I may even book flights through Chase UR portal because they are giving 5X UR points for doing so. You got burned by reservation and its soured you to know end. Cheer up and move forward.

craz

??? I believe you dont understand how it works. You maybe using your UR pts BUT Chase pays for the rental using ITs CC, you may have your CC swiped but when and if there is damage Chase Ins will see that you didnt use your CC to pay for the rental and will decline your claim, then youd have to go to your own ins and if you dont have coverage it will be out of your pocket. Having your CC swiped isnt of any value its the CC that has paid for the rental that counts. Not sure if say you add a car seat and pay for that if that will be enough to trigger the CDW but unless you pay for the rental with your CC there is no coverage from Ive been told and understand

skj

Getting off-topic here, but there's a difference between booking using UR points and booking using your Chase CC. In the latter case, the cardholder's card is charged to pay for the rental.

craz

sorry I misunderstood, thought they were using their UR pts to y for the rental. but even if its rev booking using ones CC I still wouldnt trust Chase with anything after all Ive been thru with them and if I need to change something its got to be done via Chase,prefer dealing with the rental company myself
back to using pts for whatever

PortlySpartacus

This information is incorrect regarding CDW coverage when using UR points to book the car rental. The Chase benefits guide states the following in the CDW section:

You are covered when Your name is embossed on an eligible card issued in the United States, and You use Your credit card Account and/or rewards programs associated with Your Account to initiate and complete Your entire car rental transaction. Only You, as the primary renter of the vehicle, and any additional drivers permitted by the Rental Car Agreement are covered

So in summary, when using Ultimate Rewards points to book a car rental through the Chase travel portal I get the same CDW coverage as when using my credit card and charging $ to my card.

I also updated the Chase CDW forum with this info as we are getting a little off topic from the original thread post but I wanted to make this clear because its an important issue.