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Hyatt has been running a points sale since January 22nd and today is the last day to take advantage of the offer if you need to top up your World of Hyatt balance. The 1.85 cent figure may, on the face of things, not look all that attractive but there will be times when this will constitute quite a good deal.
Buy Hyatt Points – Headline Rules
- Offer available with purchases made by 11:59 pm February 22, 2019.
- Purchase 3,000 or more Bonus Points in a single transaction and receive 30% additional Bonus Points.
- You may purchase World of Hyatt Bonus points 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.
- This transaction is completed by Points.com.
- Purchased points are not refundable and transactions are non-reversible.
- Points purchased using this option will post within 48 hours.
- Purchased points do not count toward World of Hyatt elite membership tiers.
Full terms and conditions can be found via the promotion page.
Hyatt’s 30% Bonus Points Promotion – The Math
The good news is that as long as you buy at least 3,000 points you will be buying World of Hyatt points at the best rate this promotion offers.
Whether you buy 3,000 points….
….or 55,000 points (the maximum allowed)….
….the cost per point doesn’t change – it remains at ~1.85 cents/point.
Should You Buy Hyatt Points In This Promotion?
At first glance this doesn’t appear to be all that attractive but, as I’ll show now, there will be times when points purchased in this sale will save you money – possibly quite a bit.
The first thing you should know is that this isn’t going to be the highest bonus we’re likely to see in 2019. The best offer we’ve seen from Hyatt in recent times is a 40% bonus and it’s a pretty safe assumption that this offer will turn up at some point this year.
However, having said that, although Hyatt’s points sales appear with a reasonably frequency, the non-targeted 40% bonuses don’t come around all that often in a calendar year so keep that in mind when deciding if you should buy points in this sale or even if future sales).
As always, the key to deciding how good or bad this promotion is, is the World of Hyatt award chart:
Top-tier Hyatt Properties cost 30,000 points/night (the 40,000 point properties are all past of SLH) so, if you were to buy enough points in this promotion to book such a property, an award night would cost you approximately $554.
If you’d like to use points purchased in this promotion to book select Small Luxury Hotels properties (40,000 points/night) the night would cost $740.
I consider $554 – $740 to be an incredible amount of money for a single night at a hotel and, personally speaking, I can only imagine paying that in very, very special circumstances….and not for a long stay either!
But that’s just my position. The value may be there for others so, if you think $554 – $740 for a room at a top Hyatt/SLH property is ok or if you can see that it would save you money on a cash rate currently being charged, then this promotion may be of some interest.
If, like me, you’re thinking that $554 – $740 for a hotel night is more than a little excessive it’s time to consider if this promotion can work elsewhere.
Using 1.85 cents as the cost of a World of Hyatt point this is how much Hyatt properties outside of the top two categories cost:
- Category 1 – $93
- Category 2 – $148
- Category 3 – $222
- Category 4 – $278
- Category 5 – $370
- Category 6 – $463
Looking at those prices I can see that there will be times when buying points in this promotion will save you some cash….but those occasions may not be all that plentiful.
Take the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport as an example. This is one of the closest hotels to LAX and, outside of promotions, it’s not all that often you see rooms offered at under $200/night….at least not on weekdays.
Mostly weeknights rooms at this property seem to price at between $220 and $250 per night.
On a random night in June this property is currently charging $232:
Once you factor in all the taxes and fees this room will cost over $265 for the night:
As this is a Hyatt Category 3 property an award night (for the same date) can be booked for 12,000 points:
In this points sale 12,000 points would cost ~$222 so buying points would save a guest almost $46/night.
Is that life changing? No….but as Hyatt award nights count towards elite status qualification why not save some cash if you can?
This sort of math can work at mid-tier properties too.
The Grand Hyatt San Francisco is a Category 5 property and at various points of the year will only cost around $270 + taxes for a standard room.
Clearly buying enough points in this promotion to book a standard room at the Grand Hyatt when rates are that low is a bad idea as the 20,000 points needed would cost you $370…but there will be times when points will definitely save you money.
At busier times room rates at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco can go up a LOT and it’s at times like these that’s the math looks very different.
Here’s a Wednesday night in July which is currently on offer at $465….
…which increases to $570 when taxes and fees are added in:
The same night can be booked for just 20,000 points….
….which, in this sale, would cost $370.
That’s a saving of $200 on a single night.
As you can see, if you want/need to stay at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco (or at any other similar property) on an expensive night like this then points from this promotion would be a big help.
Bottom Line
In some cases this promotion isn’t a very good deal at all but, in others, buying Hyatt points at 1.85 cents each can definitely save you money.
As always it all comes down to individual circumstances and the math – don’t buy points without working out if it makes sense.
Link to buy Hyatt Points at 1.85 cents each
