A Hyatt Top-Tier Status Benefit I Had No Idea Existed (And Don’t See Documented)

Andaz West Hollywood Suite King

TravelingForMiles.com may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on TravelingForMiles.com are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. TravelingForMiles.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers.

Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission which helps contribute to the running of the site – I’m very grateful to anyone who uses these links but their use is entirely optional. The compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site and does not impact reviews that are published.


Ok, I should have written about this a long time ago but the truth is that I completely forgot about it till the other day….so you’re just going to have to forgive me.

I think I may have stumbled upon an unwritten benefit of Hyatt top-tier status that, if I’m correct and my experience isn’t an anomaly, is very useful benefit to have.

Back in February I decided that I’d head back to LA towards the end of this year to get my fix of Angeleno life, the hills, Griffith Park and some sunshine. I’m heading back with Joanna and mini-Joanna in tow so I needed to book a suite at the Andaz West Hollywood with my Hyatt points.

Here’s some information that’s pertinent to the story:

  • At the time I was making the reservation I had Hyatt top-tier status (I no longer do).
  • Hyatt has a rule which say that if an entry-level suite is available to book with cash it is also available to book with points.
  • You cannot make Hyatt suite award bookings online – you have to call up.

Hyatt suite awards can be a very good use of points as they only command a 60% points premium over an entry-level room so, if you would otherwise need two rooms, this is a great deal.

a table with numbers and text

My Suite Booking

I get the overwhelming majority of my Hyatt points via transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards and, as I much prefer to hold transferable currency balances than balances with individual loyalty programs, I rarely large number of points in my Hyatt account. This time was no different.

Back in February I didn’t have the 192,000 Hyatt points needed for my 6-night booking in my Hyatt account and, as I wanted to be 100% sure that the Andaz was going to let me book the suites I could see online with points, I had no intention of transferring over any points from Chase until I had that confirmation….so I called up The Hyatt Diamond line (as it was called back then).

The Hyatt phone agent got in touch with the Andaz West Hollywood and confirmed that the suite was bookable with points and, just as I was about to hang up (after thanking the agent…obviously), she asked me if I’d like to book the suite.

Andaz West Hollywood Suite KingPart of a suite at the Andaz West Hollywood

I pointed out that my account was considerably short of the number of points needed to make the booking and she simply replied “that’s not a problem“.

Erm…pardon? Since when does Hyatt allow guests to make award reservations without the required number of points in their account?

Marriott has allowed its members to do this for years but, to the best of my knowledge this has never been something Hyatt has offered.

I asked the agent if she was sure this was ok as I didn’t want to find out, a few months down the line, that this wasn’t legitimate, that my reservation had been cancelled and that suite awards were no longer available for the dates I needed.

Here reply was simple “it’s not a problem, this is something we do for our top-level elites. You just need to make sure there are enough points in your account a few days before you’re due to check-in

I’ve since checked the full list of benefits that are given to Hyatt’s top-tier elites and nowhere can I see mention of this benefit….and I don’t remember reading about it elsewhere either.

Still, the reservation was made on 13 February (see the email below) and no points were deducted from my account.

a screenshot of a hotel

I could have moved points over from Chase there and then but, as this unwritten benefit gave me a lot of latitude to change my plans without having my points trapped in Hyatt’s loyalty program, I waited.

Fast forward to a few days ago and I remembered that I still hadn’t moved any points over from Chase to pay for the reservations so, as we’re very close to the trip and as I’m now 100% sure our plans aren’t going to change, I initiated a transfer.

Here are my points leaving Chase Ultimate Rewards….

a screenshot of a travel partner

….here they are appearing in my Hyatt account almost instantaneously….

a close-up of a card

…and here’s the full amount needed for the suite reservation leaving my account within minutes of my transfer in:

a white rectangular box with black text

I did not initiate the payment – almost as soon as I had transferred over the 60,000 points and my Hyatt account had enough points in it to cover the suite booking the points were automatically used to pay for the reservation.

Bottom Line

I had no idea Hyatt did this for its top-tier elites and, as I don’t remember seeing this mentioned elsewhere, I’m wondering just how often this happens. Did I just get a very nice Hyatt agent or is this a regular occurrence?

If this is a true unpublished benefit of Hyatt top-tier status then it a very good benefit to have. It can allow members like me to keep our points in the form of transferable currencies until we’re 100% sure that our plans are not going to change while at the same time locking up award space that may otherwise disappear.

I love this and would seriously value it if I still had top-tier status….it’s just a shame that Hyatt has gone and ruined the rest of its loyalty program.

1 COMMENT

  1. This is a benefit I have used occasionally for years. Of course without ever havig or moving the points you have a paid reservation perhaps for more than you would spend, pay attention to your points balance and also the hotel’s cancellation policy..

Comments are closed.