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World of Hyatt points are the gold standard of hotel rewards, with an average redemption value of 1.5 cents per point in Personal Finance Insider's most recent points and miles valuations. The program offers a variety of excellent redemption options, but some are better than others.

Read on to learn which of them you should target and avoid in order to maximize your return.

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Best ways to use Hyatt points

Hyatt has a smaller footprint than other major hotel brands, but World of Hyatt points have by far the highest average value of any hotel rewards. Even better, there are abundant opportunities to crush that average when booking award stays.

Free nights in standard rooms

For example, consider a stay at the Andaz Maui in May. You can book a king bed room for 40,000 Hyatt points per night, while at the time of writing, the prepaid cash rate for the same room is $1,029 per night. Based on that price, you'd get a redemption value of 2.57 cents per point, which is almost 30% above our high valuation of 2 cents for World of Hyatt points.

Hyatt

However, this deal is actually better than it appears at first sight. The prepaid cash rate shown above excludes taxes and fees, as well as the daily resort fee (which is waived when you pay with points). Furthermore, the points rate comes with a more flexible cancellation policy that lets you cancel until 48 hours before check-in. To get a comparable cancellation policy, you'd need to book a more expensive rate that totals $1,385 per night, which yields a much higher return of 3.46 cents per point. That's 73% above our high valuation, and better illustrates the true value of booking with points in this case.

You don't have to travel to popular, exotic, or high-end destinations to get a great redemption value, either. For example, you could book a stay at the Hyatt Place Topeka for 5,000 points. The all-in cash price with taxes and fees is $111.46, which yields a redemption value of just under 2.23 cents per point.

Hyatt

Free nights in premium rooms

The World of Hyatt award chart specifies rates not only for standard rooms, but also for club rooms, standard suites, and premium suites. That's helpful because you can book directly into these rooms online (when they're available), and knowing how many points you need in advance makes planning easier. Award rates are naturally higher for premium rooms, but since cash rates are also higher, you can still get a high redemption value when you book them with points.

For example, consider a four-night stay at the category 6 Grand Hyatt Kauai. You can book a premium Pool Suite for 50,000 points per night.

Hyatt

An equivalent paid stay (in a Pool Suite with the same cancellation policy) has a base rate of $2,375, which totals $2,848 per night inclusive of all taxes and fees. That yields a return of just under 5.7 cents per point, which is almost three times our high valuation for World of Hyatt points.

Hyatt

Book with a mix of cash and points

Hyatt's Points + Cash awards allow you to book rooms and suites for half the normal amount of points plus a discounted cash rate. This is useful if you don't have enough points for a standard award, and can even improve the value of redeeming points if the cash discount is greater than 50%.

For example, a February stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney in a king bedroom with a harbor view has a base rate of $1,166 per night.

Hyatt

You could book that room for 45,000 points per night — or you could book a Points + Cash award for 22,500 points and $531 per night. 

Hyatt

In this case, the cash portion of a Points + Cash award is less than half of the full cash rate, so you'd be getting a better redemption value than you would by booking entirely with points.

Transfer points to airlines for premium flight awards

Hyatt allows members to transfer points to over 25 airlines at a baseline ratio of 2.5:1 in most cases. You also get a 5,000-mile bonus when you transfer 50,000 points. This creates opportunities to get a good return when booking high-end airline awards.

For example, here's a Japan Airlines business class flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo that was available for 60,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles plus a $5.60 security fee.

Hyatt

You could transfer 140,000 points from Hyatt to get the requisite 60,000 miles (after the 5,000-mile bonus) and book this flight, which cost $4,049 when booked directly with Japan Airlines. That yields a lofty redemption value of just under 2.9 cents per Hyatt point.

Airline transfers are also useful when you need only a small number of miles to top off your frequent flyer account for an award. It's hard to pin a redemption value on using your Hyatt points this way, but the ability to transfer can make the difference between booking or not booking an award flight.

One major drawback is that transfers from Hyatt to airline partners don't go through right away. You can expect the process to take around a week on average, but the terms and conditions say to allow 6 to 8 weeks, so there's some risk of award availability disappearing while you wait. The more valuable the award, the more likely it is to be gone when the miles show up in your frequent flyer account.

Upgrade a paid stay

Hyatt lets members use points to upgrade a paid stay, but only when booking at the standard rate — discounted rates like AAA are ineligible. Upgrades cost 3,000 points per night for a club room, 6,000 points per night for a standard suite, and 9,000 points per night for a premium suite, all depending on availability. This can be a high-value way to score a discount on an upgraded room.

For example, this Park Suite King room at the Park Hyatt Tokyo has a base rate of $1,003 on a weekday night in January.

Hyatt

Alternately, you could pay the standard rate of $799 (for a standard room) plus 6,000 points. Those points net a discount of $204, which yields a redemption value of 3.4 cents per point.

Hyatt

These upgrades aren't always useful, but are worth checking if you want to book a premium room.

Average-value redemption options

The redemption options discussed above are your best bets for maximizing World of Hyatt points, but none of them are universally high-value, and they will commonly provide a lower return in normal circumstances. When booking award stays, you can expect to get closer to our average valuation of 1.5 cents per point. The below stay at the Andaz Prague is a good example: A Friday night in a King Bed room costs 25,000 points.

Hyatt

In comparison, the cash price for an equivalent booking at the time of writing has a base rate of $348, which ends up as $385.96 after taxes and fees. That yields a redemption value of just over 1.54 cents per point, which is just above our average valuation but well below the high valuation discussed in the previous section.

Hyatt

Similarly, Points + Cash awards, upgrades, and transfers to airline partners may offer an average (or below average) return. Compare cash and award prices to calculate redemption values and determine whether using points is your best option.

Low-value redemption options

World of Hyatt offers a variety of ways to use points that don't involve hotels or flights. However, these options tend to yield subpar redemption values.

Dining, Spa & More rewards

You can redeem Hyatt points for dining and spa experiences (even if you're not staying the night). You'll get just over 1.5 cents per point by redeeming 65,000 points for $1,000 in credit, but smaller redemptions yield as little as 1 cent apiece. Unless you're truly flush with points, this is an option to avoid.

Avis Car Rentals

Hyatt's partnership with Avis allows members to book rentals at a fixed rate of 6,000 points per day for an intermediate car (when available). This could be a decent value when rental prices are high, but restrictions apply and you have to call to redeem, making the prospect less attractive.

FIND Experiences

FIND is a collection of experiences (like balloon rides, walking tours, and event tickets) curated by World of Hyatt and bookable with points. Some of the options may be intriguing, but the redemption value of 1.4 cents per point is less so.

Hyatt

Other factors

Redemption rates aren't the only variable we use to assess the value of points and miles. Here's how World of Hyatt performs across other facets of the program we take into consideration:

• Expiration policy (+) — World of Hyatt points expire if your account has no qualifying activity for 24 consecutive months. The clock resets with any qualifying activity, which includes earning or redeeming points, transferring points into the program, and combining points with another member. Keeping points active under these terms is fairly easy.
• Award Availability (++) — Some Hyatt properties play games with award inventory, but for the most part, Hyatt has exceptional award availability. You can almost always book standard rooms, and you can use points for suites and premium suites when available. Hyatt has peak and off-peak award charts, but doesn't use dynamic award pricing, so the cost of booking with points is predictable. Finally, the Pay My Way option lets you book with a combination of points, cash, and free night certificates.
• Sharing/pooling (+) —World of Hyatt members can transfer an unlimited number of points to another member once every 30 days at no cost. This policy should meet your needs unless you routinely book Hyatt award stays more than once a month.
• Ease of accumulation (+) — Hyatt offers good earning rates for paid stays, with bonuses as high as 30% for elite members and frequent promotional offers. You can also earn points with one of Hyatt's two co-branded credit cards, and you can transfer points in from Chase Ultimate Rewards® and Bilt Rewards at 1:1.
• Resort fees on award stays (+) — World of Hyatt waives resort fees on award stays, which helps keep costs down when booking with points. Unfortunately, this policy does not apply to Points + Cash stays.

World of Hyatt scores well across the board on these miscellaneous factors. There's room for improvement regarding how Hyatt enforces standard award availability, but overall these features support the program's high valuation.

What you need to know about World of Hyatt points value

Hyatt points are ranked among the most valuable travel rewards for good reason. You can easily get a value exponentially higher than what you'll commonly find from competing hotel award currencies. There are even a handful of useful alternative redemption options if you're not in the market for a hotel.

Hyatt's primary disadvantage, when compared to other major hotel programs, is that it has fewer properties. But what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality.