One of my favorite aspects of the Hyatt Gold Passport program are the Points + Cash award nights. It’s possible to book Hyatt award nights with a combination of points and cash, on top of that you still earn credit towards status, earn points for the stay, and you will get great value per point.
Given Points + Cash award nights are a great deal, you can get more value from them when you use Diamond suite upgrades and have the stay count as eligible nights for status and promotions.
Guide to Hyatt Diamond Passport Series Index:
- Guide to Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond Suite Upgrade Awards
- Guide to Hyatt’s 60-Day Diamond Challenge – 2014
- Hyatt Credit Card Offer – How to Get Two Free Nights + $50 Statement Credit
- Leveraging Hyatt Promos: 50k Bonus Points Promo, Diamond Challenge and More!
Hyatt points are among the most valuable hotel points out there. In practice it’s totally feasible to redeem points at a value of 2.0 cents per point and it’s possible to get close to that on Points + Cash nights also.
Hyatt Points + Cash Nights Award Stays – Rules & Tips
With Hyatt Points + Cash nights you pay 50% of the full points award cost plus a fixed cash rate.
For instance, a category 5 hotel normally costs 20,000 points per night for a full points award night. On Points + Cash it will cost 10,000 points and $125 USD.
Essentially you are ‘buying’ Hyatt points in order to save points for a later use. The cost you are paying per point varies from 1.2 to 2.0 cents depending on the category.
Based on the redemption it may be a bad value if you think you can earn Hyatt points easily for less than 2.0 cents per point. On the other hand it may be worth it if you are going for elite nights to earn status or promotion OR if you plan on using points at a value higher than 2.0 cents per point.
Some things to know when using Hyatt points for Points + Cash nights include:
- Points + Cash awards nights have limited availability and have to be book over the phone by calling 800-228-3360.
- Points + Cash awards count as an eligible stay when earning status, earning points, promotions, elite stay credit, etc.
- You still pay taxes on the ‘Cash” portion of a Points + Cash award. You will also have to pay a resort fee if there is one.
- Diamond Suite Upgrade Awards can be applied to Points + Cash stays.
With that said there are times when it makes most sense to book a Points + Cash night. These include:
- When you want to save Hyatt points for future stays.
- Earn stay/night credit towards Hyatt elite status.
- When you want to earn Hyatt points for stays.
- In order to use a Diamond Suite Upgrade Award.
The Bottom Line on Hyatt Points + Cash Awards
Given the potential value of Points + Cash nights they can be the perfect choice for a stay where you want to save Hyatt points without paying the full paid rate.
Points + Cash nights are incredibly valuable when you are going for elite status or a promotion, want to earn points for a stay, don’t have enough points for a full points stay, or want to combine a suite upgrade with a stay partly paid with points.
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