5 Great Ways to Use 50,000 Hyatt Points

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The Chase World of Hyatt Visa has held a spot in my wallet ever since I upgraded my old Hyatt card at the beginning of the year. I’d hoped to earn the initial sign-up bonus, but Chase unfortunately had other plans. Still, the ability to earn an extra free night and elite night credits through spend to put me on track for Hyatt Globalist status has been entirely worth it.

If I *could* earn the current 50,000-point sign up bonus on the World of Hyatt Visa, there are a few ways I’d consider spending it. Hyatt points are among the most valuable hotel points, and I consider the current bonus to be worth at least $750. In reality, you can get much more. Here are five ways I’d spend 50,000 Hyatt points:

Ten Nights at Category 1 Properties

One of my favorite parts about the Hyatt program is that award nights start at just 5,000 points. I rarely find a Hyatt property going for under $100, so this easily lets me get 2 cents per point out of my Hyatt points. As I type this I’m sitting in the lobby of the Hyatt Place Detroit/Livonia which is going for $183 per night after taxes. Solid 3.7 cents per point. I’ve never found a category 1 Hyatt that was a better deal on cash than points.

My absolute favorite thing is to stretch my points by burning them at Category 1 properties. It’s the best way to both get q ton of value and earn the most elite nights without spending any cash. You’ll most likely be staying at a Hyatt Place, but there are properties in other brands out there, including the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu, Hyatt Regency Belgrade, and other Hyatt Regency hotels scattered across China in particular, including the Hyatt Regency Xiamen at which my son and I stayed in May (it is great).

Two Nights at an Excellent Category 6 Property

Keeping the above point in mind, I generally don’t like dropping points for properties in the highest Hyatt categories. But some of the category 6 properties still beckon, and 50,000 points is just enough for two nights. Here is my short list:

• Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa
• Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo
• Park Hyatt Mallorca
• Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
• Pimalai Resort and Spa

Any of these would make for an excellent stay, and most would still give you good value for your Hyatt points considering the typical cash prices of the properties. However, I would not consider burning any points at any of these places without Globalist status. Without the free breakfast and room upgrade benefits, it simply isn’t worth as much.

Six Nights at a Top Category 2 Property

If finding an excellent Category 1 property seems like a stretch for you, you can still get a significant number of nights out of a single card bonus at Category 2 properties. Hyatt has some great ones, a

• Nish Palas Istanbul (Unbound Collection)
• Grand Hyatt Bali
• Hyatt Regency Osaka
• Grand Hyatt Chengdu
• Park Hyatt Hyderabad
• Parisi Udvar Hotel Budapest (not for long – it’s changing to a Category 5!)
• Hyatt Regency Bishkek

There are plenty of other great hotels, including the Hyatt Centric Montevideo at which my daughter and I stayed a couple months ago, but that is a short list. In particular, the downtown Budapest hotel is among the best bargains in the category. Prices sometimes top $300 per night, making it a steal at 8,000 points. Spend most of a week here and could get nearly $2,000 in value out of the World of Hyatt Visa bonus. Downright incredible.

A Week in a Suite at a Category 1 Hotel!

One of the things I love most about the World of Hyatt program is that both club rooms and suites are often a decent deal on points. These are available for standard, published rates, unlike Hilton where premium rooms go for crazy amounts. Standard suites at Category 1 properties are available for only 8,000 points per night, which is a 60% premium on the price for a standard room.

Technically, 50,000 points won’t quite get you a week. But if you meet the spend to earn the bonus, you’ll actually have 56,000 points, which is just enough. And “a week” sounds better than “six nights”. So I’m gonna cheat slightly. Some properties that could present excellent opportunity for a sweet suite redemption:

• Hyatt Regency Belgrade
• Hyatt Regency Kathmandu
• Park Hyatt Chennai (yes, there is a Cat 1 Park Hyatt)
• Hyatt Regency Merida
• Hyatt Regency Fairfax
• Hyatt Centric MG Road Bangalore

Admittedly, a week in some of those locations could be overkill. But honestly, D.C. and any European city for a week sounds great. Merida is second on my list of cities in Mexico to visit, only after Mexico City.

One Awesome Night at a Category 8 SLH Property

When Hyatt added the new SLH properties to their program, a small number were placed in a brand new Category 8. Now, spending 40,000 Hyatt points for one night seems crazy to me, as that is literally eight nights in a Category 1 property. But there are a couple properties where I might consider this splurge. In particular:

• Kristiana Lech, an alpine retreat in Austria
• Hotel & Spa des Pecheurs
• The Liming Bequia

Each are a splurge, and it might kill me to spend that many points for one night, but these look like amazing retreats. I’d ensure they are a part of a romantic getaway with my wife.

Conclusion

I’ve earned and burnt a good number of Hyatt points (and free nights) already this year. You can never have too many. If you don’t have the World of Hyatt Visa, it is an excellent product to consider for a card application. Like all Chase cards, it is subject to the 5/24 rule, so make sure you know your status.

I should also note that the current 50,000-point offer is not the highest we’ve seen. The initial offer was for 60,000 points when the product relaunched. However, it is unknown if or when we will see this bonus on the World of Hyatt Visa again.