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Interested in a free hotel night? How about seventeen free nights?
One of the best values in award travel is the World of Hyatt Program. Hyatt is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, which means you can use your bonus from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card on Hyatt hotels. With one sign-up bonus of 60,000 points you can actually get up to 17 free hotel nights (now more)!
Don’t make this common mistake! Many people assume that points are like cash – that the hotel costs the same amount whether you are paying in cash or points. This is not the case! Category 1 hotels start at 3,500 points a night. This is the equivalent of $35 if you cash out your points. It’s impossible to find a Hyatt hotel for $35/night in the USA.
For example, here’s the Hyatt Place in Tucson, Arizona for the night of May 27th. It costs 3,500 points ($35).
And here is the same hotel, for the same night, but paying in dollars instead of points.
Paying with points takes your price from $120-130/night to $35 (3,500 points). This is a great value!
If you cash in your 60,000 point bonus, Chase will give you $600. If you use the points for seventeen nights in a category 1 Hyatt, the value is closer to $2000!
Now on to the hotels
Now that you understand how this works, let me give you some examples of category 1 hotels you can stay at for 3,500-5,000 points/night. Hyatt categories go all the way up to luxurious category 8 hotels, so you can decide for yourself if luxury or quantity of nights is a higher priority.
We have stayed in so many Hyatt Places that I’ve lost count – Las Vegas, Seattle, Charlotte, Lincoln, Des Moines, Kansas City, Dallas – they’ve all been nice quality hotels with free hot breakfast in the morning. Hyatt is very consistent. It’s rare to find a bad Hyatt hotel.
Hotels in the USA
Wild Palms Hotel, Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is located northwest of San Jose, California, which is an expensive area. Wild Palms Hotel is a category 1 hotel, which means it is available for as little as 3,500 points/night. This is an incredible value for a vacation in sunny California!
One hint – if your dates are coming up with higher prices than expected, check the points calendar for the lowest priced dates.
Hyatt Place North Charleston
Interested in visiting beautiful and historic Charleston, South Carolina?
Stay at the Category 1 Hyatt Place North Charleston for only 3,500 point/night. It’s outside of the historic area, but if you have a car, it will make your trip to Charleston much more affordable.
Hyatt Place Memphis Germantown
Are you a music fan? Make a trip to Memphis next on your list.
The Hyatt Place Memphis Germantown is a category 1 hotel, which means it’s available for as little as 3,500/night. This hotel is outside the city center, but Hyatt also has two hotels available right in the action for 12,000 points/night, The Hyatt Centric Beale Street and Caption by Hyatt.
Hyatt Place Tucson Central
There’s nothing like a quick trip to the warm Southwest when dreary weather has you feeling down. This Category 1 Hyatt is centrally located within Tucson.
Book the Hyatt Place Tucson Central for as little as 3,500 points/night. You’ll be free to discover Tucson’s natural beauty at the Tucson Botanical Gardens and Sonora Desert Museum.
Hotels in Europe
Lindner Hotel Vienna Am Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
Do you dream of a trip to beautiful Vienna? Imagine building a central European itinerary based around category 1 and 2 Hyatt hotels, traveling through Europe with all of your lodging paid for.
The Lindner Hotel Vienna Am Belvedere is well-situated for an excellent experience in Vienna and available for as little as 3,500 points/night. Saving money on your lodging will leave you extra cash for museums, tours, and meals out.
Lindner Hotel Prague Castle, Prague, Czech Republic
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen. The Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square, Prague Castle, and just the architecture in general make it a must-see. You can even visit a medieval tavern for dinner and entertainment.
The Lindner Hotel Prague Castle is in a great location near the castle and you can book it for as little as 3,500 points/night. Prague and Vienna are an easy train ride from each other. Combine these two hotels for a wonderful central European adventure.
Hyatt Place Rouen, Normandy, France
Normandy has so many WWII sites to see as well as charming villages and beautiful cathedrals. Luckily, there’s also a category 1 Hyatt to stay in during your travels.
Hyatt Place Rouen is a brand new hotel in Rouen. You can rent a car and use this city as your base to explore the beaches of Normandy and the surrounding countryside. Staying in this category 1 hotel will save you money so you can put your money toward other priorities like tours and restaurant meals.
Hotels in Mexico and Central America
Hyatt Regency Mérida, Mexico
Mérida is one of my favorite cities! It has beautiful architecture, friendly people, delicious food, and is incredibly safe. I’ve been there twice and hope to go back again. It’s only a short flight from the USA.
On my last visit, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Mérida. It’s centrally located, clean, and has some of the nicest staff members I’ve ever encountered. I would 100% recommend it to anyone.
Hyatt Place San Jose/Pinares, San Jose, Costa Rica
When visiting Costa Rica, most people don’t spend too much time in San Jose, but you will likely spend your first or last day there due to flights. This hotel gives you a category 1 option to stay for as little as 3,500 points before heading off to explore the rest of this diverse country full of natural beauty.
Transferring from Chase to Hyatt
Check out my Ultimate Rewards Guide Part 1 to learn to transfer points. You’ll need a Chase online account and a World of Hyatt account number. My guide shows you how.
Final thoughts
Most people will spend their Sapphire Preferred sign-up bonus on a mix of flights and hotels. You do have the option of 17 hotel nights though, if you’d like to use the points this way. As you can see from these examples, there is great value to be found in transferring your points to Hyatt. Take a look at the hotels by category and start dreaming of your next trip!