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Hyatt has launched its latest points promotion and is offering World of Hyatt members a 40% bonus when they buy at least 10,000 points. 40% Hyatt promotions don’t come around all that often and when they do they’re usually targeted so not everyone gets offered the top bonus….but not this time.
This time the 40% bonus appears to be open to all World of Hyatt members.
Buy Hyatt Points – Headline T&Cs
- Offer available with purchases made between 12:01 am ET April 24, 2018 and 11:59 pm ET May 23, 2018.
- Purchase a minimum of 10,000 Bonus Points in a single transaction and receive up to 40% additional Bonus Points.
- Bonus Points will be awarded upon completion of individual transactions.
- Bonus Points can be purchased in increments of 1,000, up to 55,000 points per calendar year.
- Members can receive points in increments of 1,000, up to 55,000 points per calendar year.
- Offer may be withdrawn or changed without notice.
- Offer cannot be combined with any other offer.
- Only purchases made online are eligible for the promotion.
Link to offer page and full terms and conditions
The Promotion
- Buy 1,000 – 4,000 points and get zero bonus
- Buy 5,000 – 9,000 points and get a 30% bonus
- Buy 10,000 – 55,000 points and get a 40% bonus
The Math
Hyatt doesn’t play around with pricing within its bonus bands so as long as you purchase 10,000 or more World of Hyatt points you will be buying at the best available cost/point.
Whether you buy the minimum number of points that entitles you to the 40% bonus…..
….or the maximum number of points allowed….
….the cost per point doesn’t change – it remains at ~1.71 cents/point.
Is This A Good Deal?
While Hyatt does offer bonuses on point sales reasonably frequently, the 40% bonuses don’t come around that often in any given year and, when they do, they’re mostly targeted – so you’re not always certain to be offered the 40% bonus even when it’s around.
That makes this promotion worth a closer look.
The Hyatt award chart is one of the keys to deciding how good this promotion is:
The very top Hyatt Properties cost 30,000 points/night so, if you were to buy enough points in this promotion to book such a property, that would set you back approximately $528
Would you be happy to pay $528/night for a hotel room? If not then you shouldn’t be looking to book a top-tier hotel with points from this offer….but there are other ways to get value here.
I’m know that some people will argue that a few top-end Park Hyatt resorts will charge a lot more than $528/night (the Park Hyatt Maldives is an example often given)…
…and will therefore say that paying $528 for points that are used to book this room is a pretty sweet deal.
I don’t like that kind of reasoning.
This kind of reasoning may make sense for someone looking to top up an account to allow them to book a multi-night stay (or for someone wanting to add a night to an existing booking) but it makes absolutely no sense for someone without enough existing points to book a few more nights as well.
After all, who’s going to fly to the Maldives for a single night?
If we take a look at a mid-tier Hyatt property (like the Category 5 Andaz West Hollywood that I enjoy using as an example as often as I can) the math can make this promotion look both good and bad.
20,000 points in this promotion would cost approximately $342 and during low season that’s not a great deal at this property.
During slower months rooms at the Andaz West Hollywood can be picked up for $285 + taxes…
….which comes to approximately $329/night with the taxes added in:
Why would you pay $342 for 20,000 points when you can book the room for less and also earn points into the bargain?
In peak season things can be different – if you can find award availability points can be a money saver.
When things get busy it’s not at all unusual to see rooms rates go past $400 before taxes (and that’s with a AAA discount)….
…and when the taxes are added in the nightly rate gets closer to $500/night:
Buying 20,000 points for $342 in this promotion would save you ~$136/night and, over a long weekend, that soon adds up.
Any Other Times This Can Be A Good Deal?
Cash & Points Redemptions
Cash & Points redemptions are another example where, sometimes, if you buy Hyatt points when there’s a good bonus on offer you can snag a good deal.
Here’s a chart showing the Cash & Points redemptions across all Hyatt categories:
As the Andaz West Hollywood is a Category 5 property the Cash & Points rate is 10,000 points + $125 cash per night….and once the taxes are factored in the cash element increases to $145.18:
In this instance 10,000 points is saving you from paying $332.75 ($477.93 – $145.18) meaning that you’re getting 3.33 cents of value out of each Hyatt point.…that’s pretty good considering that Hyatt is selling points for ~1.71 cents in this sale.
Don’t Forget
Hyatt points sales are processed by Points.com so you’re not going to get a credit card travel/hotel category bonus if you buy points in this sale. This is the time to use a card on which you’re looking to earn a sign-up bonus or a card whose points you value highly.
My personal preference would be to use the Blue Business Plus Credit Card from Amex (2 points/dollar here) or a strong cashback credit card like the Citi Double Cash Card (2% back per dollar) or the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card (1.5% or 1.5 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points per dollar).
Bottom Line
In some cases this isn’t a great deal at all even though this is the best bonus we see Hyatt offer….but there are instances where buying points in this promotion can save you a lot of money.
As always, it all comes down to individual circumstances and the math.
I’d never buy points these points speculatively as you never know when Hyatt will choose to devalue its awards but, if I was planning a stay in the next few months, I would check award availability, compare the cash rate to the number of points needed, do the math and see if buying points at 1.71 cents each could save me some money.
Link to buy Hyatt points at ~1.71 cents each
