A Complete Guide to the World of Hyatt Program

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Information about the World of Hyatt Card and the the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card was collected independently by Slickdeals and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

World of Hyatt is one of the most popular loyalty programs—and for good reason. With an impressive hotel portfolio spanning 70 countries, Hyatt offers exceptional properties and a generous loyalty program. Between its reasonably priced award chart and generous elite status perks, Hyatt ranks high among frequent travelers and novices alike. 

If you want a hotel loyalty program that offers exceptional value, look no further than World of Hyatt. Here is everything you need to know about maximizing this program to its full potential.

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How Much Are Hyatt Points Worth? 

Slickdeals values Hyatt points at 1.7 cents each, though the exact value will depend on how you redeem them. You can get well over 2 cents per point by redeeming them at high-end hotels, all-inclusive resorts, or select international markets. 

For example, at the time of this writing, the Grand Hyatt Bali has room rates starting at 3,500 points per night when the cash rate is over $100. In this scenario, your Hyatt points could be worth over 2.8 cents each.

Valuations are a benchmark you should aim for when redeeming points rather than a strict number to adhere to. Ultimately, points should save you money, so you shouldn't pass up redemption opportunities because you're not getting "maximum value" from your points. Do what works best for you.

How to Earn Hyatt Points

You can earn Hyatt points in many ways. Hyatt partners with cruise lines, rental car companies, airlines, and even other hotel chains. That means you can earn Hyatt points on nearly every aspect of your travels. Even if you're not an ardent traveler, you can accrue a substantial number of points through credit cards. The sky's the limit.

At Hyatt Hotels

The most straightforward way to earn Hyatt points is by staying or booking meetings and events at a Hyatt hotel. Hyatt awards 5 base points per dollar spent on rooms and on-property purchases. These include dining, spa and other things you can charge to your room. 

You'll earn an extra 4 points per dollar spent by charging your stay to a Hyatt credit card. Hyatt also runs frequent bonus point promotions for which you'll need to register. Combined with the elite bonus, your earnings can really stack up:

• Discoverist: 10% bonus points
• Explorist: 20% bonus points
• Globalist: 30% bonus points

At MGM Hotels

If you're headed to Vegas, you might be staying at one of MGM's 13 properties, including the Mirage, Bellagio, Vdara, or Delano. You'll earn the same 5 points per dollar spent as you would at any Hyatt property, along with elite night credits. 

Best of all, you can match your Hyatt elite status to MGM Rewards for added perks during your stay: 

• Hyatt Member = MGM Sapphire
• Hyatt Discoverist = MGM Pearl
• Hyatt Explorist = MGM Gold, Platinum and Noir
• Hyatt Globalist = MGM Gold

American Airlines flights

Before hopping on your next American Airlines flight, make sure to link your AAdvantageⓇ and Hyatt accounts. You'll earn 1 point for every dollar spent, plus your airline miles. This is a truly set-it-and-forget-it approach to earning Hyatt points since all you have to do is link your account once. 

In addition to earning Hyatt points on American flights, you'll earn American miles on Hyatt stays at a rate of 1 mile per dollar spent. 

Cruises

Hyatt partners with Lindblad Expeditions, which offers adventure cruises to unique destinations like Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands. These cruises can be pretty pricey, which is where the 5 points per dollar earn rate will come in handy. 

Not only do Hyatt members earn points on Lindblad cruises, but they also receive a $250 credit to use onboard, plus elite nights. 

Avis

The next time you hit the road in a rental car, you could earn Hyatt points while saving money. Avis offers 500 Hyatt points and up to 25% off qualifying rentals. All you have to do is book your rental car directly using discount code K817700. You can even redeem Hyatt points for Avis rental cars, though we'll cover that later.

Hyatt Credit Cards

Hyatt has two co-branded credit cards you can earn Hyatt points with. There's the World of Hyatt Credit Card and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. Both offer decent welcome bonuses, but you really want to get these cards for their ongoing benefits. 

Both credit cards offer automatic status and the ability to earn additional elite nights through spending. You’ll also get recurring travel perks worth their reasonable annual fees.

Transfer Hyatt Points

If adding another co-branded credit to your wallet doesn't appeal to you, there are alternatives. Hyatt is a 1:1 transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards. You can earn points from credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® and Bilt Rewards, then convert them to Hyatt points almost instantly.

The advantage of choosing a flexible rewards credit card is that you can use the points in myriad ways. You're not stuck with a single currency that may lose its value. In fact, sometimes booking Hyatt stays through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal is cheaper than redeeming them directly with Hyatt. 

With the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, points are worth 1.5 cents each toward Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel bookings. So a $100 Hyatt hotel would cost you just 6,667 points. Hyatt might charge 10,000 points per night or more for the same property. It's always worth comparing rates, but the flexibility of a Bilt or Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card for earning Hyatt points is a huge plus. 

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Hyatt Milestone Rewards

Hyatt's Milestone Rewards allow you to earn points…while earning points. Milestone Rewards are issued based on nights or points earned. You'll earn perks like club lounge upgrades and free night awards for completing 20 and 30 nights. However, at the 40-night level, you can start opting for points or even gift cards for being a loyal Hyatt member. 

How to Redeem Hyatt Points

Hyatt Award Chart 

Hyatt has an expanding portfolio of over 1,100 hotels worldwide and growing. The World of Hyatt program is also one of the few hotel loyalty programs still publishing an award chart, with off-peak nights starting at just 3,500 points. You can redeem points at more than a dozen brands, including all-inclusive Ziva resorts, Miraval, UrCove, Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties and more.

If you don't have enough points for a free night, you can opt for a Points + Cash award, which starts at just 1,750 points per night. 

Upgrade Your Room

Redeeming points for hotel stays doesn't always make sense if you're using the 1.7-cent valuation. Sometimes cash rates are too low to justify an award redemption. However, you might still find value in a room upgrade award, which starts at just 3,000 points per night:

• Club upgrade: 3,000 points per night
• Standard suite upgrade: 6,000 points per night
• Premium suite upgrade: 9,000 points per night

A club upgrade can be well worth it if you don't have Hyatt elite status. Having lounge access means you'll have breakfast covered during your stay. At Hyatt hotels in the Middle East and Asia, the club lounge offerings can be pretty extravagant, with full-on meals during lunch and dinner. Having three meals a day covered for just 3,000 points is a bargain.

Similarly, some Hyatt hotels offer lounge access to guests staying in suites. By redeeming Hyatt points for a suite upgrade, you'll get a larger room and lounge access.

Other Hyatt Redemptions

When staying at a resort for several nights, expenses can add up. Meals, activities, and spa treatments can really put a dent in your budget. Luckily Hyatt lets you redeem points for on-site dining and spa services. Redemptions start at 1,000 points for a $10 credit, amounting to one cent per point. This is much less than Slickdeals' 1.7-cent valuation of Hyatt points. However, it's an option that's worth noting if you need to offset some expenses you incur during a stay.

Redeeming Hyatt points toward meetings and events is a slightly better value at 1.3 cents. Again, not ideal, but it's an option if you're over budget and need to cover some expenses with points.

Lindblad Expeditions

Hyatt's partnership with Lindblad Expeditions doesn't just allow you to earn points and elite nights on cruises—you can also redeem points for them. At 1.6 cents each, redeeming points for a Lindblad cruise will get you less than our valuation of 1.7 cents. However, it's worth noting that these cruises include meals, activities, and premium excursions that other cruises charge extra for.

Plus, you'll get to visit unique destinations where you can't redeem your points for a hotel stay. Lindblad Expeditions can be a good way to redeem Hyatt points if you have a large stash saved up. Current expeditions start at 97,500 per person for a 2-night Channel Island cruise.

Avis

Through Hyatt's partnership with Avis, you can redeem 6,000 points per day for an intermediate-size car. This isn't the best way to redeem your points, considering you can get upwards of 3.5 cents per point on low-category hotel redemptions. However, it might be worthwhile given the current state of skyrocketing rental car rates. 

Hyatt Sweet Spots

Hyatt publishes several award charts consisting of off-peak, standard, and peak pricing. As you can imagine, you’ll find the “sweet spots” during the off-season. However, there are also markets where standard rooms are consistently cheap. These include much of Asia and parts of the Middle East. 

You can also get fantastic value out of all-inclusive Ziva and Zilara hotels. These properties start at 12,000 points per night for two guests and go up as high as 58,000 points. Miraval resorts are all-inclusive properties catering to the more discerning traveler. Stays include luxury accommodations, meals, $175 resort credit per person, and free activities. Book during the off-season and you’ll pay just 40,000 points per night.

Here are some notable Hyatt hotels that fall into the “sweet spot” category where you’ll get significant value for your points:

• Grand Hyatt Bali (from 3,500 points per night)
• Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit (from 6,500 points per night)
• Park Hyatt Siem Reap (from 9,000 points per night)
• Andaz Vienna Am Belvedere (from 9,000 points per night)
• Dreams Palm Beach Punta Cana (from 12,000 points per night)
• Andaz San Diego (from 12,000 points per night)
• Park Hyatt  Zanzibar (from 17,000 points per night)
• Park Hyatt Washington D.C. (from 17,000 points per night)
• Mauna Lani Point, a Destination by Hyatt Residence (from 21,000 points per night)
• D-Resort Sibenik (from 21,000 points per night)
• Park Hyatt St. Kitts Christophe Harbour (from 25,000 points per night)
• Alila Kothaifaru Maldives(from 25,000 points per night)
• Alila Ventana Big Sur (from 35, 000 points per night)
• Palazzo Manfredi (from 35, 000 points per night)

Hyatt changes award categories quarterly, meaning some of these hotels may go up or down in categories. Keep that in mind and be sure to check your hotel’s redemption rate before an upcoming stay. You may find that rebooking will save you a few thousand points. 

Hyatt Elite Status

Hyatt elite status can pay off significantly, with generous perks that can improve your travel experience. You can earn elite status in one of three ways: By completing a certain number of nights, earning base points, or booking events each calendar year. If you run short on your status goals, you can earn elite night credits with the World of Hyatt Credit Card or the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. 

The World of Hyatt Credit Card comes with five annual elite night credits, plus two more for every $5,000 you spend. The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card offers five elite nights per $10,000 spent on purchases. If you're a big spender or have significant business expenses, you could earn elite status entirely through credit card spending.

Hyatt Discoverist Status

Requirements: 10 nights, 25,000 base points or three meetings/events 

To earn Hyatt Discoverist status, you must complete at least 10 nights or book three meetings/events. You can also get there by earning 25,000 base points, which requires $5,000 worth of spending. Or you can take a shortcut by picking up a Hyatt credit card, both of which include automatic Discoverist status.

Once you've reached Discoverist status, you'll enjoy perks like bonus points, MGM Pearl status, premium Wi-Fi, and more:

• 10% bonus points
• MGM Pearl status
• Premium Wi-Fi
• Bottled water
• Preferred room upgrade, based on availability
• Elite check-in
• 2 p.m. late check-out
• AAdvantage bonus

Hyatt Explorist Status

Requirements: 30 nights, 50,000 base points or 10 meetings/events 

Hyatt Explorist benefits aren't incrementally better than Discoverist status. You earn more points on paid nights and a better status match from MGM. The real perks come from Milestone Rewards, which you'll qualify for after completing 20 and 30 nights: 

• 20% bonus points
• MGM Gold status
• Room upgrades, excluding suites and rooms with club lounge access
• Guaranteed availability within 72 hours of booking
• Milestone Reward at 20 nights: 2 club lounge awards
• Milestone Reward at 30 nights: Free Category 1-4 award night and 2 club lounge access awards

Hyatt Globalist Status

Requirements: 60 nights, 100,000 base points or 20 meetings/events 

There's a reason Hyatt's top-tier Globalist status is so popular and it's down to the generous perks you receive. Globalist members qualify for free breakfast, offered in-room at properties like the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome and Park Hyatt New York. At this level, you're spoiled with benefits like waived resort fees, free parking on award nights, and club lounge access. 

You'll also earn three Milestone Rewards on your way from Explorist to Globalist status. Whether you're looking to give your points balance a boost, score some suite upgrades, or free nights, Hyatt has you covered with lots of great options: 

• 30% bonus points
• MGM Gold status
• Space-available upgrade up to Standard Suites
• 4 pm. late check-out
• Guaranteed availability within 48 hours of booking
• Club lounge access or breakfast
• Free parking on award nights
• Priority access to rooms
• Guest of Honor
• Waived resort fees
• Milestone Reward at 40 nights: 5,000 bonus points, $100 Hyatt gift card, or 10,000 point savings on FIND experience
• Milestone Reward at 50 nights: 2 suite upgrade awards
• Milestone Reward at 60 nights: Category 1-7 free night award and two suite upgrade awards and My Hyatt Concierge access

Lifetime Globalist

Requirements: 1,000,000 lifetime base points 

If you're hooked on Hyatt's top-tier Globalist status (and it's hard not to be), you can enjoy this status level for life. To qualify, you'll need to earn 1 million base points throughout your membership. At 5 base points per dollar spent, that equals about $200,000 in spending. Lifetime Globalist status is unattainable for most people, though business travelers will have an easier time getting there.

Bottom Line

As you can see, the World of Hyatt program is worth exploring, if you haven't already. The program makes earning free nights easy through myriad partnerships and generously rewards its loyal Hyatt members. It really checks all the boxes of a rewarding loyalty program. Hopefully, with these tips, you'll make full use of everything it has to offer while improving your travel experience.

Featured photo courtesy of Hyatt