(EXPIRED) [Last day to register] Hyatt Bonus Journeys Now Live: Earn triple or quadruple points + double elite nights

Hyatt’s Bonus Journeys promo for 4th quarter 2020 is now live!  Register here no later than January 15th.  The promo runs from now until February 28, 2021.

The Deal

• Earn 3x World of Hyatt points for stays at all Hyatt properties, participating MGM Resorts, Small Luxury Hotels of the World locations, and Lindland Expedition experiences.
• Earn 4x World of Hyatt points at select properties.  Property list includes 160 Hyatt resorts, almost 200 Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) properties and 16 MGM Resorts properties.  Find the full list here.
• Earn double elite nights, with base elite nights being credited to the year you check-out (2020 or 2021) and the bonus elite nights being credited towards 2021 elite status.

Key Terms

• Registration required between October 1 to Jan 15, 2021.  Register here.
• Offer valid on stays from October 1, 2020 to Feb 28, 2021.
• There is no cap on the amount of nights a member can stay and earn on during this promotion. However, there is a maximum of 150,000 Bonus Points that can be earned during the Promotion Period. An additional maximum of 75,000 Bonus Points (for a total of 225,000) may be earned as a Hyatt and World of Hyatt credit cardmember during the Promotion Period for eligible spend at participating resorts.

Triple Rewards Example

Quadruple Rewards Example

Quick Thoughts

This is an excellent three-pronged promotion from World of Hyatt. Earning a minimum of 3x points on paid stays is a nice return. Members with status earn a bonus on top of that, so here’s what you can expect to earn for qualifying paid stays:

*4X points offered only to Hyatt cardholders who stay at participating resorts.

Those are good returns as it is considering the value of Hyatt points compared to other hotel chains, but you’ll also earn 3x or 4x bonus points if paying for those stays with a Hyatt (legacy) or World of Hyatt (new) credit card respectively. As someone with Globalist status and the World of Hyatt credit card, the opportunity to earn a total of 20.5 miles per dollar for paid stays is very exciting.

The opportunity to earn 4x points at some properties is potentially enticing, but I doubt I’ll be taking advantage of that part of the promotion. One Mile At A Time specifically mentions Hyatt resorts, along with SLH and some MGM properties, as being eligible. That likely means the properties eligible for 4x points will be on the more expensive end, but that’s great news for anyone who will be booking paid stays at those hotels.

The third part of the promotion is what helps it to stand out. We’d speculated in the past that Hyatt and/or other hotel chains might run promotions later in 2020 that offered double elite night credits. Hyatt is doing just that, except in an unexpected way. Rather than offering double elite nights towards 2020 status, you’ll earn the standard elite nights for this calendar year, but will effectively earn additional rollover nights towards status in 2021.

OK, granted – not many people are going to spend the last couple of months of 2020 living in Hyatt properties, but some of us might 😉 Even better, this elite night rollover part of the promotion has been confirmed by OMAAT as stacking with Hyatt’s other promotion offering a 15% or 25% points rebate on award stays, so award stays will also earn the additional elite night credits.

That will therefore present a dilemma for some people (such as myself) – should you book a paid stay to earn up to 20.5 points per dollar, or should you book award stays for 25% off? That equation will differ by property depending on how much they charge for paid rates and which category level it falls into for award stays.  UPDATE from Greg: Use our Hyatt Cash or Points Worksheet to help you decide which to book!

In some cases it’ll be a no-brainer. We were considering a long-ish term stay at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach in Delaware later this year. I’ve seen rates as low as $78 per night before tax, while it’s 20,000 points per night (or 15,000 points per night with the 25% rebate) as it’s a category 5 property. In that case, a paid stay is the only option in the running.

The decision isn’t always quite so obvious though. For example, we might decide to head a little further south instead. I’m seeing some dates for the Hyatt House Charlotte Airport in North Carolina (which unusually offers a 1 bedroom king suite as its base room) at $88 per night before tax. It’s a category 1 property and so only costs 5,000 points per night for award stays which would be reduced to 3,750 points per night with the 25% rebate.

Would it be better to pay $88 + tax or redeem 3,750 points per night? Ordinarily I’d go the award stay route to save money, especially seeing as that’s a better than 2cpp redemption value. However, the fact that we’d be earning 20.5x on that $88 room rate could still potentially tip the scale in favor of a paid stay, especially seeing as we’re still sitting on a bunch of Hyatt gift cards bought at a 10% discount during a sale last year, thereby reducing the cost to $79.20 per night before tax.

Update: Now that Hyatt has released the full terms and conditions of this offer, John has pointed out that payment with Hyatt gift cards is excluded if you want to earn 3x or 4x. That’s a shame and means I’ll have to hold on to them for other stays in 2021.

Overall though, this new promotion from Hyatt is extremely exciting. Hilton is also offering double elite nights for this year which roll over if you already have status, but is only offering double points for paid stays versus 3x or 4x with Hyatt. Hyatt is also likely better for award stays seeing as they’re offering the 25% rebate.

Marriott on the other hand is only offering 2,500 points per stay regardless of how long you stay, so they should be placed in the corner with all of us pointing at them and laughing.

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