Hyatt is still offering points in exchange for expired certificates (probably select members only)

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Thanks to a recent bit of stupidity, I managed to let a World of Hyatt free night certificate expire before I had a chance to use it but, fortunately for me, it looks like Hyatt continues to be prepared to offer select World of Hyatt members a good haul of points in exchange for their expired certificates.

My experience

I had several free night certificates sitting in my World of Hyatt account and one day, I noticed that one of these certificates (a Category 1-4 certificate) was due to expire in a few weeks’ time.

Not wanting to ‘waste’ a certificate, I booked myself a stay.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t really paying attention when I made the booking and I failed to notice that my check-out date fell on the day *after* the certificate expired so, as a certificate’s validity is based on its standing on the day of check-out and not on the date of check-in, Hyatt pulled a different certificate from my account to pay for the booking.

I didn’t notice this until a few days before I was due to arrive, and to say that I was annoyed with myself would be a serious understatement (I may have called myself a few harsh names and some inappropriate language may have been used!)

Once I had finished insulting myself, I remembered that I have a particularly good Hyatt Concierge, so I emailed her to (a) explain why I’m having to take ‘keen attention to detail’ off my resume and (b) to ask her if there was anything that could be done.

Within 24 hours I had my answer. The expiry date on the certificate could not be extended, but my concierge was empowered to credit me with 10,000 points once the certificate expired.

Better yet, my concierge set herself a reminder to process the points deposit as soon as the certificate expired and, sure enough, the points appeared in my account without any further effort on my part.

Ideally, I would have preferred not to have to take the points at all and simply use the certificate before it expired, but considering it was my own stupidity that landed me in this situation, I was very grateful for the points.

How do you earn Hyatt free night certificates?

Hyatt offers 4 types of free night certificates:

• A certificate that can be used for a free night at properties in Categories 1 through 4 and which is valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
• A certificate that can be used for a free night at properties in Categories 1 through 4 and which is valid for 180 days from the date of issue.
• A certificate that can be used for a free night at properties in Categories 1 through 7 and which is valid for 180 days from the date of issue.
• A certificate that can be used for a free night at properties in Categories 1 through 8, and Categories A through F (all-inclusive resorts or Miraval resorts) which is valid for 180 days from the date of issue*.

*This is new for 2024.

Here’s how these awards can be earned:

Through Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards

• World of Hyatt members who credit 30 nights to their account or who earn 50,000 base points are rewarded with a Category 1 – 4 free night award which is valid for 180 days from the date of issue.
• World of Hyatt members who credit 60 nights to their account or who earn 100,000 base points are rewarded with a Category 1 – 7 free night award which is valid for 180 days from the date of issue.
• World of Hyatt members who credit 100 nights to their account are rewarded with a Category 1 – 7 free night award which is valid for 180 days from the date of issue.
• World of Hyatt members who credit 150 nights to their account are rewarded with an ‘Ultimate Free Night Award’ which can be used in exchange for a free night in a standard room at any Category 1-8 hotel or Category A-F all-inclusive resort or Miraval resort that participates in the World of Hyatt program.

Click to read about the changes to the World of Hyatt program for 2024.

Through the World of Hyatt credit card

• The World of Hyatt credit card (review) gives cardholders a Category 1 – 4 free night award on their card anniversary every year. This award is valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
• Holders of the World of Hyatt credit card who spend $15,000 on their card in a calendar year are given a Category 1 – 4 free night award which is valid for 12 months from the date of issue.

Through the Hyatt Brand Explorer promotion

• World of Hyatt members can earn a Category 1 – 4 free night award every time they stay at 5 different Hyatt brands. This free night award is valid for 12 months from the date of issue.

Note: Hyatt actually calls its free night certificates “free night awards” but to prevent any confusion between awards booked with points and awards booked with instruments from a credit card or from Hyatt’s Milestone Awards, I’ve chosen to refer to them as certificates.

Certificate expired? Know this.

Requesting points in exchange for an expired certificate is simple:

1. Wait for your certificate to expire.
2. Call the World of Hyatt phone line or email your World of Hyatt concierge (if you have one) and ask to have your expired certificate exchanged for points. All the data points that I’ve seen suggest that you need to make this call within 90 days of your certificate expiring.

The number of points you’re offered will usually depend on what certificate you’re exchanging with holders of Category 1 – 4 certificates usually given 10,000 points* and holders of Category 1 – 7 certificates given 20,000 points.

*In the past, there have been reports of 15,000 points being given for some Cat 1-4 certificates

Be aware that Hyatt representatives are not able to convert valid certificates into points so you’ll have to wait until your certificate has expired before making a request (you may not be able to see the expired certificate in your account but the phone agents can).

Having said all of the above, be aware that not everyone may be able to have an expired certificate turned into points.

Whether or not a World of Hyatt member gets some points for their expired certificate appears to be at the discretion of individual agents, and while I have no idea what metrics the agents use to decide who gets points and who doesn’t, I suspect that the higher your elite status the better your chances of success will be.

Bottom line

If you have a Hyatt free night certificate (award) that’s coming up to its expiration date and you don’t have an opportunity to use it, you may not have to watch it expire and go to waste.

Thanks to the new gifting rules that the World of Hyatt has brought in for 2024, you can transfer your certificate over to a friend or family member who has the time to make the most of the free night or, failing that, you can contact a World of Hyatt representative and see if they’ll exchange your certificate (once it has expired) for some bonus World of Hyatt points.

This second option will not work for everyone (let me know your experiences in the comments below) but it never hurts to ask.