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Hyatt has been running its current points sale since the beginning of September and now there are just hours to go before the sale ends. As Hyatt points sales go, this one isn’t the best but it’s also not too bad, and if it’s used correctly it has the potential to save some World of Hyatt fans quite a bit of money.
Key terms
- Offer available with purchases made by 11:59 pm ET October 10, 2023 (Today).
- Purchase 3,000 or more Bonus Points in a single transaction and get a 25% discount.
- Bonus Points will be awarded upon completion of an individual transaction.
- In order to participate in a purchase transaction, you must be a member for at least 60 days to purchase or receive Bonus Points.
- 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.
- Additional Bonus Points awarded under this offer do not count towards these maximums.
- Only purchases made online are eligible for the promotion.
- Price includes all applicable fees.
- GST/HST will be charged to Canadian residents. QST will be charged to Quebec residents.
- This transaction is completed by Points.com Inc.
- Purchased points are not refundable and transactions are non-reversible.
- Purchased points are applicable toward all World of Hyatt awards.
- Points purchased using this option will post within 48 hours.
- Purchased points do not count toward World of Hyatt elite membership tiers.The full terms and conditions have been reproduced at the end of this post and can also be found on the sale page.
The numbers
Because Hyatt doesn’t mess around with the price of points within a given bonus band, as long as you purchase a minimum of 5,000 points in this sale you’ll be buying points at the cheapest rate available – 1.80 cents each.
Should you buy points in this promotion?
It should go without saying that if you don’t have an immediate need for Hyatt points you shouldn’t be considering this sale (my one essential rule to follow when buying miles and points applies here). Having said that, if you’re planning on booking any Hyatt stays for the upcoming months, this sale may help you save some money.
The key to understanding where value is to be found is the current World of Hyatt award chart:
Buying points and using them to book a top-tier property (Category 8) would see you pay between $630/night and $810 for a stay and for me, that’s too expensive. I wouldn’t be tempted to buy all the points needed to book a top-end property unless it was for a (very) special occasion.
I would buy points to top up my account so that I could book a top-tier property, but I definitely wouldn’t buy all the points needed.
Value is to be found a little further down the award chart by booking mid-tier/upper mid-tier properties (and possibly the occasional low-tier property) and I’m going to use the Thompson Central Park New York as an example to illustrate what I mean.
On a random night in May, an entry-level room at this property can cost a ridiculous $826 + taxes …
… or 29,000 points (this is a peak season date):
Once you factor in the taxes and fees that will be added to this booking, the cash rate for this particular night comes to $950.82 …
… which includes the heinous Destination Fee which World of Hyatt members don’t have to pay on award bookings.
Using points to book a room on this particular night would see you get approximately 3.30 cents of value out of each point used and that’s a pretty great deal if you only paid 1.8 cents per point in the first place.
Effectively you would have paid $522 for a room that would otherwise have cost ~$951 so you would have saved $429 by buying points in this sale.
Note: Hyatt Globalists don’t have to pay Destination fees on these cash rates so for them, the value/point would be slightly reduced.
However …
Just as this property can prove my point that it can be a good idea to buy points in this sale, it can also prove my point that you need to be careful. Buying points and then using them without working out the value you’ll be getting is a great way to lose money.
On another randomly selected date, the Thompson Central Park New York can be booked for ~$400 (including all taxes and fees) or 25,000 points. If you were to use points purchased in this sale to book this particular night, you’d be getting ~1.6 cents of value out of every point you used, and that’s not a good idea if you originally bought those points at 1.68 cents each.
Buying points in this sale can definitely save you money but you need to be selective with your bookings if you’re to guarantee a good return on the money you spend.
Don’t forget
Hyatt sells its points through Points.com so there’s no scope to earn a travel/hotel bonus by using a credit card that offers bonus points for spending in either of those categories.
That makes this a good opportunity to use a credit card on which you’re working towards a welcome bonus (like this one) or a card that earns you points that you value highly (e.g. card_name (review) which earns cardholders 2 Membership Rewards Points/dollar spent on the first $50,000 of eligible spending every year and 1 point/dollar thereafter – terms apply).
If you’re someone who prefers to earn cash back over miles and points, the card_name (review) would be a good option.
Bottom line
This is isn’t the best rate at which we have seen Hyatt selling its currency but this sale can still have it’s uses.
In some cases this sale won’t represent a great deal but, as I’ve shown above, there will be times where buying points in this sale can save a World of Hyatt member a serious amount of money. I found the example that I gave above with my first search so getting value out of this sale shouldn’t be too much of a challenge if you’re prepared to be a little flexible.
As always, it all comes down to individual circumstances and the numbers. If you’re planning a stay in the next few months you should check award availability, compare the cash rate to the number of points needed, do the math and see if buying points at 1.8 cents each could save you some money.
