I first wrote about this sale two months ago when it started (post here) but wanted to mention it again since today is the last day to buy with a sale (12/31/2019).
Why Now May be a Great Time to Buy Hyatt Points on Sale
I always say it is never good to buy miles or points without a use in mind since programs can and do devalue – sometimes with notice (most recently, Aegean’s Miles+Bonus). But, with the announcement last month of a new Hyatt calendar coming in March that will feature peak and off-peak award dates, now is a great time to lock in hotel stays for the next year.
Hyatt has promised us two things with this new move – first is that any hotel dates you have booked will not cost you more points if the dates fall into the peak time (so long as you book before March) and second is that any dates you have booked that become off-peak will see you getting a refund in your points. So, there is really no downside to booking your stays now since you cannot lose.
The One Thing You Need? Points!
The only thing standing in the way of those award bookings will be the number of points you have. That is where this Hyatt points sale can make a lot of sense. A 40% bonus is as good as it gets from Hyatt and the likelihood that another sale will come around before March is practically nil (though I wouldn’t be surprised if they do run a 30% sale in February for a couple of weeks). That means the time to buy Hyatt points is now if you have award stays in mind for next year.
Remember, don’t buy unless you have a use for them soon! They can be valuable – and I am a customer – but don’t buy and sit on them!
If you purchase using the link below, I make a small commission. If you want to put that commission in your pocket instead, read down to the bottom and go through the TopCashBack link!
- Link: Buy Hyatt Points (this is an affiliate link -see below for how you can put that money in your pocket instead!)
- Buy 5,000 – 55,000 points and receive a 40% bonus (some members targeted with a maximum of 110,000 points!)
- Works out to 1.71 cents per point
- Sale is good through December 31
Regular Cost of Hyatt Points
Hyatt points cost 2.4 cents each, normally. Unless you are topping up for a particular award, I would never suggest purchasing Hyatt points at that cost. But, it could make sense to buy Hyatt points with a bonus.
Hyatt Points on Sale for 1.71 Cents Each
However, until December 31, you can purchase Hyatt points with a 40% bonus. This brings the cost of Hyatt points down quite a bit and can definitely make more sense – depending on the type of award you are wanting to book.
To max out the Hyatt points sale bonus, you would need to purchase 55,000 points. This would give you a total of 77,000 points for $1,320. This breaks down to a final cost of 1.71 cents per point.
Note: some accounts are targeted with an offer to purchase up to 110,000 points for a total of 144,000 points with the bonus. I was targeted but my wife was not so check and see if you really want to buy that many!
Create Your Own Points+Cash Rate?
Late last year, Hyatt really gutted the great value of Points+Cash by tying the cash component to the standard rate of the room. That means you still pay the same amount of points you used to per category, but now you pay 50% of the standard rate for that night as well.
| Hotel Category | Standard RoomPoints Per Night | NEW: Standard RoomPoints + Cash Per Night1 |
| 1 | 5,000 | 2,500 + 50% of the Standard Rate for standard rooms |
| 2 | 8,000 | 4,000 + 50% of the Standard Rate for standard rooms |
| 3 | 12,000 | 6,000 + 50% of the Standard Rate for standard rooms |
| 4 | 15,000 | 7,500 + 50% of the Standard Rate for standard rooms |
| 5 | 20,000 | 10,000 + 50% of the Standard Rate for standard rooms |
| 6 | 25,000 | 12,500 + 50% of the Standard Rate for standard rooms |
| 7 | 30,000 | 15,000 + 50% of the Standard Rate for standard rooms |
For example, previously, a Category 3 would require 6,000 points and $75 per night. Now, if a certain hotel you want charges a standard rate of $380 for the night, you would pay 6,000 points and $190 for the night.
Do keep in mind that for some properties, the new Points+Cash model could be better than the old way. However, that would also mean that the total cash rate is probably pretty low as well so you may want to book outright with cash instead of points.
Buy the Other Half of Points Needed for a Full Reward Night
As you can see, it is still a better deal to buy points for Category 1 and 7 and isn’t much more for Categories 2-4
With this Hyatt points sale, you could basically create your own Points+Cash rate by purchasing points now at 1.71 cents each (or 1.67 cents, see below) and then redeem for a full reward night. For our Category 3 example, that would mean you pay $102.60 for the other 6,000 points you would need for a full reward (12,000 points per night). That costs $28 more than the old Points+Cash rate but is much better than paying way over $100 per night.
Yeah for Elite Status!
Now that reward nights count for elite status as well, it can make sense to just book reward nights (plus, Globalist members get free parking with full reward nights).
Is this a good deal for everyone? Not for everyone, but it can make sense for anyone that used to make a lot of Points+Cash bookings. For me, I used to book a lot in the Category 2 area. That meant $55 plus 4,000 points. At the hotel I normally use, the new rate would be around 4,000 points and about $90 per night. If I were to purchase the points, I would instead pay $68 for the remaining 4,000 points to make it a reward night. That is an increase of $13 per night – not too bad!
And It Can Be Better!
Some hotels have higher taxes that they put on the cash component for Points+Cash bookings as well, even before. That means that you should go back and check your usual hotels – you may find that you were spending more than you would if you bought the points now!
Getting Hyatt Points Even Cheaper
However, if you go through TopCashBack, you can get 2.5% cash back on your points purchase! This brings the total out-of-pocket cost for 77,000 points down to $1,286 (or 1.67 cents per point).
Some readers have mentioned in the past that they have not received TopCashBack payouts – my answer would be to not buy with the above 2.5% as the difference maker. If you think 1.71 cents per Hyatt point works for you, go ahead and buy and if you get the TCB payout, that is just gravy! Unless you want to buy in the first link above and let me get the affiliate payout instead. 😉
Summary
That is really not that bad of a deal! Yes, it is better to transfer them from your Ultimate Rewards account and you can earn UR points for less than that with office supply purchases on some of the Chase business cards.
But, it will depend on what other partners you like to transfer to. For example, if you like to transfer to United, you may be better off buying some Hyatt points at this price and keeping your UR points for United since you cannot buy United miles at this price.
Featured image is the Park Hyatt Tokyo
