A Beginner's Guide to Hotel Rewards- Part One
And why Hyatt has my heart!
Ahoy! And sorry it’s been a minute. Has anyone else felt the summer “speed up” or is it just me? Any who, in my travel hacking life, I’ve been trying to nail down plans for our month long family adventure abroad this winter… I’m torn between Southern Spain and Costa Rica. We were originally thinking of spending 6-9 months exploring a few different continents in 2025-2026 (per some book’s recommendation of capitalizing on the golden years when your kids still think you’re the coolest). But Thomas has convinced me that my plan is perhaps more stressful than I had in my head with the constant planning needed from moving around, not to mention figuring out how to leave our lives for a year. Instead, spending a month abroad yearly might have a bigger impact and cause much less stress. So, our inaugural run will be post-Christmas this year! Plus, who wants to be in Colorado in January unless you’re making it to the slopes on the reg.
But onto the meat… HOTELS!
Hotel Loyalty Programs
Most folks start their travel hacking journey by earning miles for flights. This is honestly the most obvious savings but what if you could redeem points for BOTH the airfare and the lodging! Now we’re talking.
There are six major hotel loyalty programs that are bookable with points. Each program includes many different brands that cover the spectrum of basic to luxury. I’ll go through the nuances of each and help you understand how to maximize your stays.
Hyatt: Caption, Andaz, Alila, Thompson, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Zilara/Ziva, Grand Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt Residence, Miraval, The Unbound Collection, Destination by Hyatt, JDV by Hyatt, AMR Collection, Mr & Mrs Smith
Marriott: Courtyard, Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites, TownePlace Suites, Protea Hotels, Moxy, J.W. Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, Marriott, Autograph Collection, Delta Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Executive Apartments, Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz Carlton, AC Hotels, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Tribute, Four Points, Aloft, Element, Gaylord, Homes and Villas, Design Hotels, Tribute Portfolio
Hilton: Waldorf Astoria, LXR, Conrad, Hilton, Signia, Canopy, Curio, Doubletree, Tapestry Collection, Embassy Suites, Tempo, Motto, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Tru, Home2 Suites, Hilton Grand Adventures
IHG: Intercontinental, Hualuxe, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Even Hotels, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Six Senses, Regent, Kimpton, Voco, Avid, Atwell
Choice Privileges: Ascend, Cambria, Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Quality Inn, MainStay Suites, Woodspring Suites, Surburban, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn
Wyndham Rewards: Wyndham Altra, Registry Collection Hotels, Wyndham Grand, Dolce Hotels and Resorts, Esplendor, Dazzler, Trademark Collection, La Quinta, Wingate, AmericInn, Ramada, Baymont, Microtel, Days Inn, Super 8 & Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Hawthorne Suites
Hotel Redemption/Pricing Systems
Award Chart Pricing:
Hotels are placed in tiered “categories” and then have “standard,” “peak,” and “off-peak” pricing for each category of hotel. *Hyatt and Wyndham are the only two programs that use this model.
NOTE: The one exception to this is the Mr. and Mrs. Smith Brand which was just added to Hyatt. It has some amazing properties but its pricing system is dynamic and the value is usually too low to justify using points for.
Dynamic Pricing:
Award prices vary greatly depending on the seasonality, demand, and location of the hotel. Point prices are directly correlated to the swings in cash prices. *Every other hotel program uses this model.
This is why it is most common to get the best value from Hyatt points! The tiers act as “ceiling” for the nightly rate. Additionally, a lot of their hotels are just plain great values.
Hyatt Award Chart (for the Hyatt Centric in Denver)
Marriott Award Chart (for the AC Hotel in Denver)
As you can see, Hyatt’s calendar unfortunately does not show award availability whereas Marriott’s does (use Max my Point for easy award availability searching for popular Hyatt hotels). Additionally, you’ll see the fluctuation in pricing is much greater for dynamic pricing models. Plus, the pricing you see today on that calendar could be different tomorrow. This does make planning a trip a bit trickier, which is just another reason I love Hyatt. Lastly, these hotels are similarly tiered, but you can see that you’ll need many more Marriott points than Hyatt points for the same type of stay (39k pts versus 15k pts). This is in part, due to the fact that all hotel points (besides Hyatt) are valued much lower per point. This also is why you’ll see hotel cards offering signup bonuses of over 100k points, but this is nearly impossible to find for airline, Hyatt, or transferrable point credit cards.
*NOTE: You can sign up for a hotel’s loyalty program for FREE without any special credit card! This is good to do upfront because some programs like Hyatt have rules on how long you have to had an active account to purchase points for example.
Hyatt
If you want to keep things simple, I would focus on booking Hyatt hotels. Additionally, it is the only program that I’d always recommend using transferrable points for (aka Chase Ultimate Rewards). Most hotel points are worth 0.5 - 0.9 cents a point whereas Hyatt points are worth closer to 2 cents a point. Hyatt is the exception in that their points are of considerable worth to airline points. Hence, it can make sense to use valuable transferrable points to book Hyatt stays. I have a lot to say about Hyatt but I’ll save that for a future in-depth post. But you can get great value on the lower end for large families with Hyatt Houses and Hyatt Places that can sleep 5-6 in a room and offer free breakfast. Then on the higher end you can book a Grand Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Alila or Miraval properties to name a few. One of my favorite ways to get outsized value is by using Hyatt points to book All-Inclusives such as Secrets, Dreams, or Zoetry. The only big con about Hyatt is that they have a much smaller footprint than programs such as Marriott. But, Hyatt does NOT charge resort fees equating in a truly FREE stay! This is huge.
See below for Hyatt’s categories and corresponding pricing…
Marriott
Marriott is going to have the largest footprint of any program. They often offer great value for less popular destinations (Hawaii will cost an arm and leg but Peru will not). The best Marriott perk is their “5th night free.” If you book 4 consecutive nights on points, the 5th night is free! Again, they work off dynamic pricing so you might need to flex a little more than normal on dates to find a good rate. Marriott occasionally offers 5 free 50k night certificates as a signup bonus on one of their CC’s. If you have a stay in mind in the next 12 months, this could be a great option!
NOTE: The certificates must be used within a year of earning them and you can top them off with up to 15k points, effectively booking a 65k stay.
Additionally, their basic $95/yr card gives you a 35k free night certificate yearly. So, getting a $200-$300/night stay for $95 can make sense to folks that will use the certificate (can also be topped with up to 15k points).
Lastly, I would NOT transfer points from Chase to Marriott unless there is valuable transfer bonus.
Hilton
Hilton has some very cool properties but also has notoriously absurd rates. That said, there are some sweet spots that could warrant transferring points from AMEX (at a 1:2 rate) or signing up for a Hilton card. Only sign up for their cards when they have an elevated offer and when you have plans in mind for where to use the points. Like Marriott, they have the “5th night free perk” which can add a lot of value. But perhaps the best perk is that they don’t cap their free night certificates, meaning you can book a “standard night” at ANY property. This could be redeemed for a $2,500/night stay! Lastly, like Hyatt, they do not charge resort fees.
IHG
IHG is likely the most unrecognized program but has some great sweet spots! Their highest value is with lower tier properties that you might stay at if you’re road tripping or visiting National Parks for example (Holiday Inns, Candlewood Suites, etc). IF you hold one of their credit cards, you get the “4th night free” when you book 3 consecutive nights with points. Additionally, Holiday Inns in Europe are much nicer than ours in the states. Lastly, you can earn IHG points through IHG CC’s or by transferring from Chase and Bilt, but I’d forgo that transfer unless you’re needing to just top off your points. Folks love their Kimpton and Intercontinental brands.
Choice Privileges
Again, this is a lesser known program but you’d recognize the brands (Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, etc). You can transfer points from AMEX (1:1), Capital One (1:1) or CITI (1:2- best option) to book these. They do not have a 4th or 5th night free perk and you MUST book at least 100 days out which is a bother. But, you can book premium rooms and suites for some properties for the same amount as a “standard” room. Use this link to search their Preferred Hotel collection (more luxury hotels & resorts) but must call 807-803-7701 to book. Additionally, their highest tier brands are Cambria Hotels & the Ascend Collection. You can sometimes book a 2-4 bed villa for the same number of points as a 1-bed standard room! Check out this article for some ideas of how to use these points.
Wyndham
Wyndham privileges is yet another lesser known program that I am mostly unimpressed with. HOWEVER, they do have a partnership with Vacasa which I find incredibly valuable. So I actually love them as a transfer partner of Capital One (1:1) and Citi (1:1)! Unlike the other programs, they lack a luxury brand, but they do have a decently wide swath for road trippers (Super 8, Days Inn, etc). These hotels have a straightforward award chart with three different price tiers: 7,500 points, 15,000 points and 30,000 points.
The Vacasa sweet spot was recently devalued but there are still some ways to get excellent value, especially if you’re traveling with others and can combine points to book a larger vacation rental. We recently booked at ridiculously nice 2-bed house on a golf course in Kauai with this sweet spot! When booking a Vacasa rental, you also are NOT charges taxes or cleaning fees which is gold. See the linked post above for more details on Vacasa bookings.
Keep in Mind
Save Chase points for Hyatt redemptions & use co-branded cards for other hotel redemptions as a general rule (*remember transferrable points are worth more than most hotel points)
It can sometimes make sense to transfer “transferrable points” to a hotel program IF there’s a sizable transfer bonus (for example AMEX, who transfers 1:2 to Hilton, sometimes runs a 40% transfer bonus to Hilton which would supersize the value of those points and make that transfer definitely worth it)
Only sign up for a co-branded hotel card IF you have a plan for the points & IF there’s an elevated offer
If you’re booking with points (not free night certificates), try to get that extra value by using the 4th night free perk (IHG-if you’re a card holder) or the 5th night free perk (Marriott & Hilton).
General reminder: keep track of your credit cards in the Travel Freely app!
I will further unpack some different programs, especially Hyatt, in further posts so stay tuned!
To traveling the world with our families!
Hoover