World of Hyatt Program: Everything You Need to Know

The history of Hyatt Hotels & Resorts began in 1954 with a single motel called the Hyatt House that was built just outside of Los Angeles International Airport. This hotel was purchased in 1957 by Jay Pritzker, who, with the help of his brother Donald, opened two more hotels under the Hyatt name in the next two years.

By the end of 1968, Hyatt International was formed, taking the business outside of the United States, and today, Hyatt Hotels Corporation is one of the largest hotel companies in the United States that owns more than 25 hotel brands.

With more than 1,000 locations worldwide, you’ll probably end up staying at a Hyatt-owned hotel sooner or later. So, if you want to earn a valuable rewards currency while doing so, you’ll want to look into the World of Hyatt loyalty program. It’s entirely free to enroll, and you’ll be rewarded for each time you stay at a Hyatt location with points that can lead to free stays.

On top of that, there are ways to earn Hyatt points without ever staying at a hotel, including signing up for a new credit card or even booking yoga classes.

And, while Hyatt doesn’t have a footprint quite as large as other brands like Hilton or Marriott, it does have a rapidly growing portfolio that currently spans 70 countries. So, the World of Hyatt loyalty program is definitely worth paying attention to. Let’s take a look at how to get started with the World of Hyatt program, how to earn and redeem Hyatt points and everything else you need to know about this program.

World of Hyatt Overview

Currently, Hyatt Hotels Corporation has 26 brands in its portfolio, and they range from budget hotels to all-inclusive resorts. So, whether you’re a budget traveler or you like to travel in style, it’s worth enrolling in the World of Hyatt program. Here are all of the brands where you can earn Hyatt points:

It’s worth noting that Hyatt’s most recent addition to their brand portfolio, Vivid Hotels & Resorts, is still “coming soon” and has yet to open. According to Hyatt’s website, the concept will be all-inclusive resorts “designed for adult travelers seeking casual comforts filled with simple pleasures.” In fact, children won’t be permitted at Vivid Hotels & Resorts. There’s little information available regarding when or where the first brand location will open.

Vivid Hotels & Resorts is just one of several recently started luxury brands under the Hyatt umbrella. Of course, Hyatt’s portfolio also includes budget-friendly brands, such as Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. No matter which brand in the Hyatt family you choose to spend your money with, you’ll be able to earn Hyatt points which can be redeemed for free stays in the future.

However, purchasing hotel stays is far from the only way to earn Hyatt points, and there are plenty more ways to redeem Hyatt points outside of booking rooms at Hyatt-owned hotels. You can earn Hyatt points by spending on one of Hyatt’s co-branded credit cards, booking all different kinds of experiences through FIND Experiences, dining at restaurants in your area and other ways.

When it comes time to redeem your Hyatt points, you can convert them to airline miles, book experiences, purchase spa, meeting or dining credits and more.

World of Hyatt Elite Status

While Hyatt isn’t the largest hotel company in the United States, its elite status program has plenty of benefits to offer. Lower-level elite status tiers come with small touches like free snacks to make your travel a bit more comfortable while higher-level elite status tiers come with valuable perks like suite upgrades, free parking or waived resort fees.

Anyone who joins the World of Hyatt program will automatically have Member status. Beyond that, there are three elite status tiers that can be achieved by completing qualifying stays at Hyatt properties or by adding a Hyatt credit card to your wallet.

Earning Elite Status Through Stays and Points

You can earn elite status in the World of Hyatt program either by completing a certain number of qualifying nights at Hyatt properties, earning a certain number of Hyatt points or hosting a certain number of meetings or events at Hyatt properties. Here are how many of each you’d need per calendar year to earn to achieve each status tier.

To be clear, you need to meet only one of these three thresholds to achieve elite status. For instance, to achieve Discoverist status, you need just 10 qualifying nights, not 10 qualifying nights and 25,000 points.

When you compare the ease of earning elite status with the value of the perks that you earn at each elite status tier, World of Hyatt actually has one of the best elite status programs in the hotel industry. Earning elite status with Hyatt is easily achievable, and you’ll earn some pretty valuable perks once you do.

Paid and award nights count toward your elite status. Only Base Points, not Bonus Points, count toward elite status. In general, Bonus Points are earned through elite status bonuses and promotions whereas Base Points are earned through eligible paid hotel stays and incidental purchases such as dining, spa, room service and other expenses.

For a meeting or event to count toward elite status, it must include occupation of no fewer than 10 paid guest rooms for the same night (among other requirements).

Earning Elite Status with a Credit Card

If you have your sights set on World of Hyatt elite status, you can get a headstart by signing up for The World of Hyatt Credit Card (annual fee is $95) or The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (annual fee is $199).

Just for signing up for either card, you’ll receive automatic Discoverist status. Plus, you’ll receive five elite night credits every calendar year as well as two additional elite night credits for every $5,000 you spend on the personal card to help you reach the next status tier. And for every $10,000 you spend in a calendar year on the business card, you’ll earn five tier qualifying night credits toward Explorist or Globalist status.

Although The World of Hyatt Credit Card has an annual fee of $95, you’ll receive a free night at any Hyatt hotel in Category 1, 2, 3 or 4 every cardmember anniversary, which will offset the annual fee easily.

World of Hyatt Elite Status Benefits

Let’s take a look at a quick breakdown of what the benefits of each elite status are.

Anyone with Member status in the World of Hyatt program will earn 5X points per dollar spent on eligible purchases. You will also receive access to member rates and waived resort fees on award nights.

You’ll also receive special benefits at Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties, a boutique chain of hotels with more than 500 locations in more than 80 countries. Finally, those with Member status can request a status match to Sapphire status in the MGM Rewards program.

Those with Discoverist elite status have access to all of the benefits that come with Member status in addition to others. Discoverist members receive a 10% points bonus on eligible purchases.

Discoverist members also receive premium internet at all Hyatt-owned locations, a free bottle every day for each day that you stay, room upgrades to preferred rooms (subject to availability), elite check-in, 2 p.m. checkout and the ability to earn 1 Hyatt Bonus Point per dollar spent on qualifying American Airlines flights (in addition to earning AAdvantage miles). Finally, those with Discoverist status can request a status match to Pearl status in the MGM Rewards program.

Those with Explorist elite status have access to all of the benefits that come with Discoverist status in addition to others. Explorist members receive a 20% points bonus on eligible purchases. Explorist members also receive room upgrades excluding suites and rooms with Club Lounge access (subject to availability) and guaranteed availability up to 72 hours. Finally, those with Explorist status can request a status match to Gold status in the MGM Rewards program.

Those with Globalist elite status will have access to all of the benefits that come with Explorist status in addition to others. Globalist members receive a 30% points bonus on eligible purchases.

Globalist members also receive guaranteed availability up to 48 hours, room upgrades including suites, either Club access or complimentary breakfast every day, free parking on free night awards, 4 p.m. checkout, waived resort fees on all eligible rates and free night awards, priority access to rooms and the ability to share your in-hotel benefits with another guest. Finally, those with Globalist status can request a status match to Gold status in the MGM Rewards program.

World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards

World of Hyatt also has another program called Milestone Rewards that’s available to anyone and is completely separate from their elite status program. The Milestone Rewards program rewards customers based on the number of nights that they stay at qualifying Hyatt properties each calendar year.

You begin earning rewards after you complete 20 qualifying nights at Hyatt properties and then continue to earn more rewards every time you complete 10 more nights (up to 100 nights). Here’s how the program works.

All of the benefits listed above are in addition to benefits that are received through the elite status program.

The Milestone Rewards program is lucrative and fairly unique among hotel loyalty programs. Offering awards such as free nights, Club Lounge access and gift cards, this program has some serious perks.

How to Earn Hyatt Points

Of course, the most obvious way to Hyatt points is to stay at qualifying Hyatt locations. However, beyond that, there are quite a few ways to earn Hyatt points, some of which don’t involve going anywhere near a Hyatt hotel.

Staying at Hyatt Properties

The most common way to earn World of Hyatt points is by staying at Hyatt-owned properties. To earn Hyatt points for your stay, you must book directly through Hyatt, whether that be online, over the phone, in person or via the Hyatt app.

As previously mentioned, all members of the World of Hyatt program will earn 5X points per dollar spent on eligible purchases, which typically includes room rates, spa, dining and certain experiences. However, if you have elite status, you’ll receive a bonus on your points earnings.

For instance, if you stay at a Grand Hyatt property for three nights at a rate of $200, you’d earn 3,000 points if you don’t have elite status. However, if you have Globalist elite status, you’ll receive a 30% points bonus on your earnings. So, with Globalist elite status, you’d earn 3,900 points on the same stay.

Spending with The World of Hyatt Credit Card

Hyatt offers only two co-branded credit cards: one personal and one business, both of which are issued by Chase. The World of Hyatt Credit Card is a great option for those who want to receive automatic elite status in the World of Hyatt program. And, if you’re a small business owner, you may want to consider adding The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card to your wallet, which has a higher annual fee than Hyatt’s personal card.

Here are the main features of Hyatt’s two co-branded credit cards:

In addition to all of the benefits mentioned above, both of these cards offer generous welcome bonuses that are great ways to earn a ton of Hyatt points in a short amount of time. Typically, to receive these bonuses, you have to spend a certain amount of money on the card in a certain amount of time.

If you’re trying to decide between the two cards, we recommend going with the consumer version of the card because of the automatic free night award. This free night award, which can be used in any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel, can easily offset the $95 annual fee. By contrast, the annual fee on The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card is $199, and it doesn’t come with a free night award.

Whichever card you decide to go with, signing up for a co-branded Hyatt credit card is one of the best ways to rack up a large balance of Hyatt points quickly. However, there are many hotel loyalty credit cards on the market, so you should consider your other options before signing up for a Hyatt card.

Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to World of Hyatt

Among the best ways to earn Hyatt points is to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points into the World of Hyatt program. Chase allows you to transfer points in increments of 1,000, and Chase Ultimate Rewards points convert to Hyatt points at a 1:1 ratio.

If you want to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to the World of Hyatt program, you’ll have to have one of the following Chase cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

If you want to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to World of Hyatt, log in to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account and go to the “Earn / Use” tab. Then, click on the “Transfer to Travel Partners” button and scroll down until you see World of Hyatt. Put in the name of the recipient of the points and their World of Hyatt membership number. Finally, you’ll be asked to input the number of points you want to transfer.

You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points only to yourself or to one household member who’s an authorized user on your Chase card. In most cases, transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards to World of Hyatt are processed instantly. Just be aware that these transfers are nonrefundable, so you should wait until you have a specific redemption in mind to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to World of Hyatt.

FIND Experiences

FIND Experiences is a collection of more than 200 experiences curated by World of Hyatt. These experiences are available in more than 50 destinations around the world and range from things like hunting for truffles in Hungary to sailing in San Francisco to a jungle safari in Indonesia.

On top of being a great resource for finding incredible activities and experiences while on vacation, FIND Experiences is also a great way to earn a lot of Hyatt points. You’ll earn at least 10X points per dollar spent through FIND Experiences. Plus, if you purchase your experience with The World of Hyatt Credit Card, you can earn an additional 4X points per dollar.

Lindblad Expeditions

Another way to earn Hyatt points by booking experiences is to book cruises with Lindblad Expeditions. This company has a fleet of about 15 ships used to run hundreds of adventure-focused expeditions every year in destinations including Antarctica, the Galapagos, Alaska, Panama, Costa Rica and many more. They also have a partnership with World of Hyatt that allows you to earn

Hyatt points for booking expeditions.

World of Hyatt members can earn 5X points per dollar spent with Lindblad Expeditions in addition to any bonuses from elite status. Plus, if you purchase your cruise with The World of Hyatt Credit Card, you will also receive an additional 4X points per dollar spent.

World of Hyatt members will receive a $250 onboard credit to use during their expeditions. You can also earn elite tier qualifying nights for nights on a Lindblad Expeditions trip. Finally, Hyatt points earned by booking contribute toward elite status. So, if you were to book a $20,000 cruise with Lindblad Expeditions (earning you 100,000 Hyatt points), you would instantly receive Globalist elite status.

Other Travel Partners

World of Hyatt is also partnered with American Airlines AAdvantage. By linking your World of Hyatt and AAdvantage accounts, elite members with World of Hyatt can earn 1X Hyatt point per dollar spent on flights purchased through American Airlines. If you’re also an elite status member with American Airlines AAdvantage, you can also earn AAdvantage miles for stays at Hyatt properties.

You also can earn 5X Hyatt points per dollar spent at MGM Resorts, the parent company of famous Las Vegas resorts such as The Mirage, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay. Plus, if you have elite status with World of Hyatt, you may be eligible for a status match with the MGM Rewards program.

World of Hyatt members also receive 500 Hyatt points and 25% off base rates when booking rental cars through Avis.

Purchasing Points

Hyatt allows members to purchase up to 55,000 points per calendar year in 1,000-point increments. Occasionally, World of Hyatt runs promotions offering bonuses on points purchases. For instance, they might offer a 30% bonus on purchases of 5,000 points, meaning that you’d receive 6,500 points for the cost of 5,000.

Unfortunately, purchasing points, bonus or no bonus, usually isn’t a good deal. Normally, Hyatt sells 1,000 points for $24 (or 2.4 cents apiece). Considering that Hyatt points are typically valued around 1.7 cents each, buying points is rarely worth it.

If you have a specific redemption in mind and you need only a few thousand more points for it, you may want to consider buying points. However, even in that case, you’re probably better off just buying that redemption with Points + Cash.

How to Redeem Hyatt Points

While Hyatt doesn’t have quite as large a footprint as other U.S.-based hotel chains like Marriott or Hilton, there are still some valuable redemptions within their loyalty program. When it comes to redeeming your Hyatt points for free stays, Hyatt divides its properties into categories, with Category 1 hotels being at the lowest end and least expensive and Category 8 being the most luxurious and most expensive.

However, when it comes to redeeming your Hyatt points, while purchasing hotel stays may be the most valuable redemption method in most cases, it’s not the only redemption method. Let’s take a look at all of the different ways to redeem your Hyatt points.

Hotel Stays

Unlike other hotel chains that have eliminated their award charts, Hyatt still uses an award chart to price their redemptions. The chart separates their products into categories and separates booking times into standard, peak and off-peak. Here is Hyatt’s award chart for every category and room type.

In general, more upscale brands like Park Hyatt and Andaz will be in the higher categories while lower-tier brands such as Hyatt Place and Hyatt House will be in the lower categories. If you want to see what hotel is in what category, you can simply search for your desired destination on Hyatt’s website and the results will display every Hyatt location in that geographic area along with its category.

If you’re willing to do some searching, you can find some outstanding redemptions within the World of Hyatt program, specifically on Category 1 hotels. For instance, you could book a room with a king bed at the Grand Hyatt Bali, a five-star hotel in one of the most desirable vacation destinations in the world, for just 3,500 during off-peak times. As you can see, not all Category 1 hotels are side-of-the-highway Hyatt House hotels.

The cash rate for the same room at the Grand Hyatt Bali is typically over $200 per night, meaning that you’d be getting nearly 6 cents per point in value, which is much higher than the typical valuation for Hyatt points.

If you’re interested in using your Hyatt points to book a stay at an all-inclusive resort, Hyatt has a completely separate award chart for redemption rates for all-inclusive resorts. If you want to check these rates, you can visit the “Free Nights & Upgrades” page on Hyatt’s website.

If you don’t have enough points in your World of Hyatt account to purchase a specific redemption, you also have the option to purchase that redemption with Points + Cash. Hyatt allows you to spend 50% of the points needed for a specific redemption and then pay 50% of the standard rate for that room in cash.

Room Upgrades

In addition to redeeming your Hyatt points for free nights, you can use your points to upgrade rooms on paid stays. Here’s how many points you’ll need for a room upgrade on an existing paid reservation.

Unfortunately, not all Hyatt reservations are eligible for room upgrade redemptions. On Hyatt’s website, it says, “Room upgrade awards may not be redeemed at all Hyatt hotel or resort locations and may have minimum room-type and rate requirements for the underlying reservation.”

To check whether your reservation is eligible for an upgrade and to confirm an upgrade redemption, you’ll need to call Hyatt’s customer service line at 1-800-544-9288.

Dining, Spa and More

Whether or not you’re staying at a Hyatt hotel, you can use your Hyatt points to purchase credits that can be used toward dining and spa experiences. Here are the prices for spa and dining credits.

As was previously mentioned, you don’t have to be staying at a Hyatt property to use these credits. However, if you are staying at a Hyatt hotel, these credits can also be used for in-room movies, parking, transportation and more.

Hotel Partnerships

Apart from redeeming your Hyatt points for stays at Hyatt hotels, you can also redeem them for stays at MGM Resorts properties and Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties.

If you want to book a stay at an MGM Resort or Small Luxury Hotels of the World property using Hyatt points, you can do so through the Hyatt website or by calling the Hyatt Global Contact Center. Both MGM and Small Luxury Hotels of the World locations are organized into categories and priced the same way as Hyatt properties.

Experiences

You can use Hyatt points to book experiences through Hyatt’s FIND Experiences portal. To do so, you can just go to the FIND Experiences website. Prices for all of the different experiences are displayed in both cash rates and points rates.

You can also use Hyatt points to book experiences with Lindblad Expeditions. To do so, you can go to this website and search for experiences. All prices will be displayed in both cash rates and points rates.

Avis Car Rentals

As part of the partnership between Avis and World of Hyatt, you can use your World of Hyatt points to book intermediate car rentals through Avis. To clarify, an “intermediate” car is typically a mid-size sedan such as a Hyundai Elantra or a Chevrolet Cruze.

If you want to book an Avis car rental with Hyatt points, you’ll need to call the World of Hyatt customer service line. If there’s availability, the rental will cost 6,000 points. Depending on the price of the car, this can actually be a worthwhile option if you like to have a rental car.

Convert to Airline Miles

Hyatt has partnerships with a number of frequent-flyer programs that allow you to transfer World of Hyatt points into them. However, doing this usually provides little value per point. Nevertheless, if you have at least 5,000 Hyatt points, you can usually convert your Hyatt points to airline miles at a 2.5:1 ratio. Here are the different loyalty programs that you can transfer your points to:

In most cases, the conversion ratio will be 2.5:1, meaning that you can convert 2,500 Hyatt points to 1,000 airline miles. However, some partner airlines have different conversion ratios.

Meeting Credits

If you frequently hold meetings at Hyatt properties, you can redeem your Hyatt points for future meeting credits. Here are the redemption rates for future meeting credits.

Gift Points

World of Hyatt gives you the option to gift points to friends or family in increments of 1,000 points, up to 55,000 points per calendar year. However, you’ll have to pay $24 per 1,000 points, which is a pretty bad deal.

If you’re thinking about gifting points to someone else, you’d be much better off just purchasing a redemption for them instead to save on the transfer fees.

Hyatt Leverage

If you’re a freelancer or small business owner, it’s worth looking into the Hyatt Leverage program. There’s no fee for enrolling in this program. However, Hyatt has made it clear that Hyatt Leverage is for companies that book at least 50 nights per year at Hyatt locations. However, if you have The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, you may be approved for the program even if you don’t meet the 50-night threshold.

If you’re approved for the Hyatt Leverage program, you’ll receive discounts between 5% and 15% at Hyatt hotels when you book directly through Hyatt with your unique discount code, 5% off Oasis home rentals, access to the Hyatt Leverage portal (which is great for managing employee stays) and email templates that make it easy to share travel itineraries with your organization.

The Bottom Line

Although Hyatt doesn’t have a network as large as some other U.S.-based hotel chains like Hilton or Marriott, Hyatt still has more than 1,000 locations in 70 countries. Plus, World of Hyatt is one of the best hotel loyalty programs out there.

Hyatt has 26 brands under its umbrella where you can quickly earn World of Hyatt points by booking paid stays. You can also earn points by signing up for a World of Hyatt credit card, booking experiences through FIND Experiences or Lindblad Expeditions and in many other ways.

On top of earning World of Hyatt points, signing up for a co-branded credit card or booking paid stays also contributes toward earning elite status. Additionally, Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards offers valuable rewards such as free night awards or $100 gift cards every time you complete 10 qualifying nights, starting at 20 nights and going up to 100 nights.

When it comes time to redeem your World of Hyatt points, in general, the best ways to do so are booking free night awards or redeeming for upgrades on paid stays. With a little searching, you can find free night redemptions that provide outstanding value, particularly when it comes to Category 1 hotels.

At the end of the day, it’s free to enroll in the World of Hyatt program, so there’s no reason not to even if you don’t stay at Hyatt hotels all that frequently. And, if you do stay at Hyatt locations frequently, you’ll definitely want to reap the benefits of this program.