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This is part of our What Does It Take series, covering top-tier rewards on the best hotel brands. Check out our post on IHG hotels, and stay tuned for next week’s edition: Club Carlson.
Hyatt’s rewards program has always been popular in this hobby, thanks to its reasonable award chart. A free night starts at just 5,000 points and goes up to 30,000 points per night for a top-tier Category 7 hotel. This is much less than IHG Rewards Club, which requires 60,000 points per night for a top-tier award. So what does it take to earn a free night at a top-tier Category 7 Hyatt hotel? There are more ways than one, and they all require a fair amount of spending:
Earning Free Nights Via Paid Stays
Hyatt Gold Passport pays out 5 points per $1 to non-elite members, which will continue under the new World of Hyatt rewards program. That means it takes $6,000 worth of paid stays (excluding promotional bonuses) to earn enough points for a free night at a top-tier Hyatt hotel. Putting hotel charges on one of these Hyatt-affiliated credit cards is great for generating tons of points for a top-tier Hyatt award:
- Chase Hyatt Credit Card – 3 points per $1 on purchases at all Hyatt properties (plus, a Platinum status bonus)
- Chase Ink Business Preferred – 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases
- Chase Sapphire Reserve – 3 points per $1 on travel
- Chase Sapphire Preferred – 2 points on travel and dining at restaurants
The best option here is the Sapphire Reserve, which earns a competitive 3 points per $1 on travel. These points are worth 50% more when used for Ultimate Rewards travel bookings, which is great if you’re saving up for a top-tier Hyatt award.
Credit Card Sign-up Bonus
One of the reasons so many people in this hobby are loyal to Hyatt is due to how easy it is to earn their points via credit card sign-up bonuses. Not only does Hyatt have a co-branded Chase credit card, but Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio. That makes a free night at a top-tier Hyatt hotel even more attainable. Here’s an overview of the current best credit card offers for earning free nights at top-tier Hyatt hotels:
- Chase Hyatt Credit Card (2 free nights at any Hyatt hotel after spending $2,000 in 3 months)
- Chase Ink Business Preferred (80,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in 3 months)
- Chase Sapphire Preferred (50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in 3 months)
- Chase Sapphire Reserve (50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in 3 months)
- Chase Freedom Unlimited ($150 after $500 spent after 3 months – can be converted to 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points)
With a free night at a top-tier Hyatt hotel costing 30,000 points, your best bet is to go for the Chase Hyatt Credit Card or the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card. The sign-up bonus on both of these credit cards will cover at least two free nights at a top-tier Hyatt hotel, and with the Ink Business Preferred you’ll be 5,000 points short of a third free night. With that being said, please be mindful of Chase’s 5/24 rule, which impacts people who have five or more credit card applications in 24 months.
Earning Free Nights Via Credit Card Spending
Credit card sign-up bonuses are great, but which is best for earning free nights via credit card spending? The best option is probably the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which not only has higher category payouts on travel and dining (3 points per $1), but these points are worth 4.5 cents each towards Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal redemptions. With this card, earning a free night at a top-tier Hyatt hotel could require as few as $10,000 worth of spending.
The Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal is a great tool for booking Hyatt hotels well below the standard award redemption rate. Just a few weeks ago, I saved 6,000 points by booking the Andaz 5th Avenue through Ultimate Rewards rather than transferring those points to Hyatt. So a free top-tier Hyatt award night can be within even closer reach thanks to the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal and the 50% bonus from the Sapphire Reserve Card.
If you’re not crazy about the card’s $450 annual fee, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is another great card for generating tons of points. The card earns a flat 1.5% cash back on all spending, which can be converted to 1.5 Ultimate Rewards points if you have another Ultimate Rewards-earning credit card. This card is great for non-categorized bonus spend, meaning you’ll only have to spend $20,000 to earn a free Category 7 award (as opposed to $30,000 on the Sapphire Reserve).
New World of Hyatt Bonus
When the World of Hyatt Rewards program is implemented on March 1, members can earn free nights on top of points for staying at Hyatt hotels. This is great for people who travel a great deal for business, since it means they can earn a free Category 1 – 7 award night after accruing 60 nights or 100,000 base points. There are other bonuses available requiring fewer nights, but this bonus should be of interest to those who want to earn free nights at top-tier Hyatt hotels.
Promotional Bonuses
Time will tell if Hyatt will change its promotions, but in the past they’ve been pretty consistent in offering the equivalent of 2,500 bonus points per night. That means it would take just 12 nights during a promotion to earn enough points for a top-tier Category 7 award…and that’s not even factoring in base points or credit card bonuses.
Combine all of these methods together and a free night at a top-tier Hyatt hotel is within even closer reach. Which of these point-earning tools have you utilized to earn enough Hyatt points for a Category 7 award?
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Delta® Reserve for Business
- Annual Fee: $450 fee
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Travel
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- Earn 40,000 bonus miles and 10,000 MQMs after you spend $3,000 in purchases with your new Card in the first 3 months.†
- Earn 15,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) and 15,000 bonus miles after you reach $30,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in the calendar year.
- Earn 2 Miles per dollar spent on eligible purchases made directly with Delta. Earn 1 mile on every eligible dollar spent on purchases.
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- Terms and limitations apply
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Delta® Reserve for Business
- Annual Fee: $450 fee
- Foreign Fees: No
- Card Type: Travel
| FTG Review | Reward Breakdown | Points Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
Breakdown
Earn (pt.)
Spend
3 months
0
$3,000
Per dollar on eligible purchases with Delta Purchases
2.00
$1
All Purchases
1.00
$1
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