40 night bonus - $100 gift card or 5k points?
 

Sorry if this has been posted before, but is it better to get the gift card or points? Can the gift card be used toward room costs? Opinions?

i personally would go for points.
yes, gift cards can be used towads room costs, however, I believe they are not valid at all hotels, but mainly in the Americas? Unsure though.

My justification for the points option: if I get 100$ less on room costs, I lose 500 WoH points. so I prefer the 5k points.

There is a main thread on the https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyat...e-rewards.html

I agree with the previous post. I like the points. I dont think either is a wrong decision depending on your travel situation.

If you use points you don’t earn any points on the redemption… if you use the $100 gift card you earn at least 500 before any elite bonus. So on that point it’s a bit of a wash.

Personally I value Hyatt points at 1.5c so 5000 points is worth $75 to me.

I have a different view. I don't get 500 points, but get 5000 points, so 4500 more, for which I have a better use than 100$ at a Hyatt.

Depends on your upcoming travel plans. If 5,000 points puts you over what you need it could be better.

You can get better than 1.5 cents per point, but its not always the easiest. The point differential is 4,500 points, so thats only valued at $68.

Look at your upcoming plans and see what makes the most sense to you. Maybe you are going somewhere where cash prices are better than point value. Every year your answer might be different

I'm frankly astonished at the number of people voting for 5k points. Unless you don't stay in the US, $100 is always a no brainer to me. You can almost always buy points from Hyatt on sale for 5k points for 85 to 93 USD, so $100 is the winner, especially since it earns 650 points (as a glob) on top of the 100 dollars.

in my 35 year history with Hyatt I have never ever bought points. maybe because I am not US-based.

Exactly.

And if some people say "but I get 2.5 cents when I spend my points", they demonstrate even less mathematical ability...

But to be slightly fair, there is a larger and larger segment of this hobby who only understand points as a credit card reward. So the idea of saving $100 today (while still earning 650 points as a Glob) and spending that $100 tomorrow to buy nearly 6,000 points --> completely illogical. (despite the clear and obvious benefit)

I choose points for the sake of simplicity. I know mathematically you can come out slightly ahead with the gift card, but I hate tracking gift cards from reception through usage, and I need more than the ~10% advantage to deal with that hassle.

I did choose the giftcard once, and it took about 30 minutes for the front desk staff to figure out how to process it. They had to call the corporate office and be walked through it. Yeah, that is an anecdote, but the risk of a frustration like that is much higher with a giftcard than just straight up points (where I can just check out on the app 98% of the time on my way out of the room).

I have a tendency to hoard my points (currently sitting on over a half million and that’s after spending down a lot earlier this year). Selecting the $100 gift card helps me avoid that. I think the value is very similar between the two options.

Well... part of the reason the American economy is what it is and loyalty programs are as successful as they are, relates to the fact that most people are mathematically challenged.

The amount of money, time, resources, tearing of clothes, and gnashing of teeth than many FTers put into the pursuit of "free" hotel breakfast and telling themselves they are "saving" $1000+ per night on an upgraded suite that they never actually would in fact pay for never ceases to amaze me...

Regards

I'll bite... how does choosing the $100 gift card help you avoid hoarding points, given that one would usually use the gift card on a paid reservation? :confused:

Regards

I tend to agree. And like you, I understand the math; it's a conscious choice. I have enough crap to keep track of...

Regards

Second this. Last year HR LAX took 30 min to figure out how to use the GC. I will go with the points with less hassle.