We said the buy-points strategy would die in May. It turns out 15 hotels still save you 30% to 56%.
In March we told you the buy-Hyatt-points strategy would retire in May. Hyatt was raising award prices by as much as 40%. The window was closing. Get in or get out.
Many got in. Good.
Then we did what upgraders do and most people don't: we went back and re-ran our own numbers.
WHAT WE FOUND WHEN WE CHECKED OUR OWN CALL
Our research team priced 25 high-end Hyatts on real dates this fall and winter. Cash rate on one side. Points on the other, bought at the current sale price of 2.08¢ apiece.
Three hotels are gone. Grayson Hotel New York saves you 4% now. Park Hyatt Zurich and Great Scotland Yard, 14%. Pay cash and move on.
Seven are marginal. Twenty to 27% – Alila Napa Valley, Thompson Central Park, Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, and the like. Real money, but not the kind for which you rearrange much.
And 15 are very much alive. Thirty to 56% off. At the Alila Ventana Big Sur, that's $1,472 back on one night.
So our March call was right at 10 hotels and wrong at 15. We'll take that trade – because the 15 are where the money is.
Why did it survive? Because the strategy never lived on Hyatt's award chart. It lives in the gap between what a hotel charges in cash and what it charges in points.
Hyatt raised the points side. But where cash rates stay stubbornly high – Big Sur in July, Ginza in January, Huntington Beach on a fall weekend – the gap barely flinched.
Example: Scottsdale Resort and Bungalows - Cash price: $733
Cost in points: 25,000
When Hyatt points go on sale, you could save $213 a night in Arizona when there’s availability.
Example: Park Hyatt Maldives - cash price: $1,072
Cost in points: 30,000
When Hyatt points go on sale, you could save $448 a night in the Maldives when there’s availability.
Speaking of sale, Hyatt is selling points at 20% off through October 5, with a minimum of 5,000. That's 2.08¢ a point – the number under every figure in this report. Buy them at full price after the sale and every row in the table below shrinks by a fifth.
The rules are the same as March. Sixty days of World of Hyatt membership before you can buy. An annual cap on purchases. If you need more, transfer from Chase Ultimate Rewards, pool with another member, or use FCF's "how to get around buying points maximum limits" strategy. And here’s a bonus most people forget: no resort fees on points stays.
THE 3-CENT RULE
Every property that survived shares one number. It's the number that lets you check any Hyatt on earth in 30 seconds – including the ones we didn't price.
Divide the cash rate by the points required. That's what each point is worth at that hotel, on that date. Read the scale:
Example: Park Hyatt Tokyo, January 11. Cash rate: $1,157. Points required: 35,000. $1,157 ÷ 35,000 = 3.3¢. Verdict: worth it. You save $429, or 37%.
We've added the cents-per-point figure to every row in the table below so you can see the rule at work – and see where the defining line falls.
WHERE IT STILL WORKS:
21 ROOMS AT 15 HOTELS, BEST SAVINGS FIRST
*Rates and availability change constantly. Use this as a guide.
THE UPGRADE TABLE:
A SUITE FOR THE PRICE OF A ROOM
Now for the part we're really excited about.
Saving money is nice. But the First Class Flyer question has never been "How much do I save?" It's "How much more hotel can I get for the same money?"
At the Alila Ventana Big Sur in July, a regular room costs $2,824 in cash. A suite, paid for with purchased points, costs $1,789. The suite is $1,035 cheaper than the room.
That isn't a discount. That's a free upgrade with change back.
At the Park Hyatt Milan on November 1, a regular room is $1,480. A Premium Suite via points is $1,664. For $184 more, you're in a suite Hyatt sells for $2,486.
At the Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo, $62 separates the room from the Premium Suite.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
- Check your account. World of Hyatt member for 60 days or more? You can buy. Haven't been a member? Sign up so you can leverage this option next time it comes around. Sales come happen frequently.
- Run the 3-cent rule on your dates. Cash rate ÷ points required. 3¢ or better, proceed. Under 2.5¢, pay cash or pick another hotel.
- Price the suite, not just the room. If the suite via points lands within a couple hundred dollars of the room in cash, take the suite.
- Keep the rule. Hyatt runs these sales every few months. The deadline expires. The tool doesn't.
THE LAST WORD
In March, most people read about the Hyatt hike and did nothing.
Then they read that the strategy was dead and believed it.
Don't be most people. Twice.
We said the buy-points strategy would die in May. It turns out 15 hotels still save you 30% to 56%.
In March we told you the buy-Hyatt-points strategy would retire in May. Hyatt was raising award prices by as much as 40%. The window was closing. Get in or get out.
Many got in. Good.
Then we did what upgraders do and most people don't: we went back and re-ran our own numbers.