The World of Hyatt program has some of the best cent per point ratios in terms of award value of hotel programs. While other programs are around the .5 cent per point, most of us would probably peg Hyatt points at around 2 cents per point. But, there are definitely going to be properties where you are just better off paying cash than using points – like this all-inclusive resort in the Hyatt program.
A Terrible Hyatt Point Valuation – Just Use Cash at This Hotel!
I was checking out some hotels for an upcoming trip to the Canary Islands and found the Alua Tenerife which is now in the Hyatt program. The Alua properties are all over Spanish seaside destinations and are all-inclusive properties.
This particular property I found, the Alua Tenerife, was advertising rates in their basic room (with just the bed and breakfast plan) at €56 per night for two people. At the same time, the point requirement for that was 15,000 points per night. Now, the point redemption included the all-inclusive plan which took the cash cost of the room up to to €90 per night. That equals (at the time of my finding this, with the exchange rate) just .62 cents per point on the redemption!
If you were to select a suite instead, you are looking at redeeming 24,000 points for that plan while the suite with the all-inclusive option was just €128 per night. That came out to .55 cents per point!
I was honestly so close to booking it (with cash) just for the review purpose but I was a bit turned away by some of the reviews on the property and food. One title of a review kind of summed it up for me – Good hotel, good location. the price corresponds to the quality.
The reason for this huge difference in value from what we are used to seeing with Hyatt is due to their category rankings for properties. This is classified as a Category A for their all-inclusive properties. While this is lowest of those categories, it does require a 12,000 point redemption for off-peak, 15,000 for standard, and 18,000 for peak redemptions. The property itself is very low cost but the point requirements are high due to their categories.
If you do visit this property, definitely go the cash route as you will get a horrible point valuation otherwise!
And if you don’t have the cash?
Then use 6,900 points from a Chase card to cover the charge after ;), if you want elite benefits. If you don’t care, just book it through Chase.