Hyatt Gold Passport adds good value cash and points awards

Following the recent devaluation announcement by Hyatt Gold Passport, which led to a new higher Category 7 being introduced, the group has sweetened the pill by announcing a raft of new innovations.

The main one is the introduction of ‘cash and points’ awards.  This is especially valuable for European members of Gold Passport because – with no credit partners here – the only way to earn Gold Passport points is via Hyatt stays.  ‘Cash and points’ will help you squeeze out more value from what is probably a limited pot you have!

Here is the ‘cash and points’ chart:

Essentially, the best deal is at Category 2-6 properties, where you are effectively paying just 1.25 cents, give or take, per point.  This is excellent value.

The rate at Category 1 and Category 7 is a less interesting 2 cents per points, but there are only 6 hotels globally in Category 7.  The Category 1 properties are mainly super-cheap Hyatt Place properties in the US.

The key things about ‘cash and points’ rooms are:

They are capacity controlled.  Just because a room is available for a 100% points redemption does not mean that it will be available for ‘cash and points’.  Not impressive but Starwood does the same.

You need to book them by telephone.  Welcome to 2013, Hyatt!  Not impressed.

‘Cash and Points’ nights count towards status and you earn points back based on the cash element.  This IS interesting, and in itself may be a reason to book ‘cash and points’ rather than a 100% points night. 

Diamond members cannot use a suite upgrade certificate with ‘cash and points’ – so, from that perspective, they are treated as standard reward nights

Two other changes were also announced:

Platinum and Diamond members will receive a 20% discount on the Best Flexible Rate when booking – this will show automatically online when logged in as ‘My Elite Rate’.  These will be available to book from 7th January.  It applies only to standard rooms.

Hyatt points will now expire after 24 months of no activity.   This is a step backwards for Hyatt, since at present points do not expire despite the fact that the rules say they will.  As it is impossible to transfer in points from a credit card for UK members, you will effectively have to do a Hyatt stay once every two years to keep your points alive.  Other options would be to purchase some points or make a redemption or airline transfer out.

Further details can be found here.

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World of Hyatt update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: World of Hyatt is not currently running a global promotion

New to World of Hyatt?  Read our overview of World of Hyatt here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on what we think World of Hyatt points are worth is here.

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Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from Hyatt and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.