How 9K Hyatt Points Can Give You a VERY Nice Suite on Your Cash Stays

Last year, Hyatt shuffled things up a bit in regards to their very popular Points+Cash program. I won’t mince words – I did not like that change. Most of my reservations are made using Points+Cash and I loved having that fixed cash component.

How 9K Hyatt Points Can Give You a VERY Nice Suite on Your Cash Stays

Note: there are other ways to book these suites as well – check out this post for more details!

Now, that cash component is 50% of the room rate and the same amount of points as before. Quite simply, in many cases, that is not that great of a deal. In fact, it makes buying Hyatt points during sales a much better value proposition (using points for a full free night instead of Points+Cash). However, Hyatt has been pretty good about giving good with the bad and they did that big time!

Part of the changes included the ability for any Hyatt member to use points to upgrade to standard or even premium suites on even a single night stay. No more 3 night minimum and no more only moving up to regular suites. This has created an incredible situation for some very nice suites to be had with cash (for the nightly rate) and 9,000 Hyatt points per night.

How Does the 9,000 Hyatt Points Work for a Suite?

To begin, you can only do this if you have an eligible rate – that means a cash rate or something like the Points+Cash rate. You cannot do it on a free award night or full points stay. Also, you will need to use 9,000 Hyatt points for every night you want to upgrade. So, this won’t give you 9,000 points for the suite for the whole stay but for each night.

Premium Suite for Cash and 9,000 Points

You have the choice of a couple of different upgrade options – one is a Club upgrade for 3,000 points per night, one is a standard suite for 6,000 points per night but the big upgrade is the premium suites for 9,000 points per night.

This means you pay a cash rate for a regular, standard room and then you use 9,000 points to upgrade that night to a premium suite. The big deal with premium suites is that top-tier Globalists cannot use their upgrade certificates for these suites – these are even higher than the Globalist upgrades! Plus, unlike many standard suites, many hotels have multiple premium suites available.

So, you could basically pick the kind of suite you would like to upgrade to! Not every premium suite will be available as an upgrade opportunity (it varies based on the hotel) but you can quickly find out which ones are available by contacting Hyatt by phone or (my personal favorite) via Twitter DM. They are always quick to respond so give that a shot!

Some Examples of Premium Suite Upgrades & Why This Upgrade Option is Great!

Here’s the thing – you can check each hotel you are interested in to see what is available. The suites that 9,000 points will upgrade to is the ones marked “premium suites” but not all will be available. Still, the first “premium” suite available after standard suites will be something you can upgrade to (if the hotel accepts upgrades).

This is great for another reason – some hotels may play games with Globalist upgrades (which are to standard suites) by classifying a certain room as a suite because it may have a couch or a balcony. But, premium suites are truly suites and the upgrade to one of them can be fantastic!

I was checking on some options in the Washington DC area and here is what I was given as options for premium suites at two great Hyatt properties in DC.

Grand Hyatt Washington DC

I absolutely love this hotel and have stayed here probably about 6 times. Not only can rates be reasonable but it is a Category 4 which means you can use annual free nights there.

Every time I have stayed, I have been upgraded to or used certificates to upgrade to a “standard” suite – a 1,000 square foot Grand Suite. It is fantastic and a really great suite for a city like DC.

However, if I wanted to go premium, I could use 9,000 points (on top of the nightly rate in cash) to book into the Congressional Suite. This is a 1,400 square foot suite that goes for over $1,300 per night! Plus, there is very little difference in details between this and the Presidential Suite (just different floors). That means my 9,000 points could give me over 11 cents per point in value! When you can buy 9,000 points with Hyatt sales for $153, that is not that bad!

Park Hyatt Washington, DC

Here is another great Hyatt property – the Park Hyatt Washington DC. This one costs a bit more than the Grand Hyatt but comes with the typical Park Hyatt quality so that is to be expected.

Now, this suite upgrade is not quite so spectacular but could still be nice if you wanted a special upgrade. The regular room rate on a random night is $340 for the standard room. This suite that the 9,000 points upgrades you to is the Park Executive Suite. Again, this isn’t the best upgrade but I wanted to show some differences.

In this case, you are only getting 2.2 cents per point so don’t get carried away with every option!

Grand Hyatt Athens

I was told that (last November) the suite I stayed in was upgradeable with 9,000 points and a cash rate. If that is still the case, that is a huge upgrade! That suite was a $5,000 per night suite and I paid just over $100 for the standard room! Read the full review here.

How to Book Hyatt Premium Suites

So, booking these suites is quite easy – before you book your standard rate/member rate/Points+Cash rate for the hotel (at least a non-refundable rate), call Hyatt or use their Twitter team and ask for which premium suites you could upgrade to for 9,000 points.

There are different suites available at each hotel and sometimes several so have the Hyatt webpage open while on the phone to see the details for each one. Some may have a better view while sacrificing space or have a higher floor, etc.

Next, you just ask them to secure that suite upgrade with your 9,000 Hyatt points per night of your stay! If you haven’t booked the room yet, you can do that on the phone as well.

Maybe best of all, any Hyatt member can book these suites – not just elites!