If you’re a regular Frequent Miler reader, then chances are good that you either have Hyatt’s top-tier Globalist status, are well on your way towards it, or have at least considered pursuing it.
Even if you’ve only thought about pursuing Hyatt elite status, you’re probably familiar with some of the headline Globalist elite perks:
- Waived resort fees on all stays
- Room upgrade at check-in, including to suites
- 4PM late check-out
- Club access or free full breakfast
- Free parking on award stays
But… did you know that you can also book award stays when you don’t yet have enough points?
Hyatt Points Advance
If you find an award stay that costs more than the number of points in your account, the website will tell you that you can “always purchase points.” Well, sure, but that’s rarely a good deal. Plus, what if you expect to earn enough points for the stay in other ways? Maybe, for example, you’re working towards a Chase Ultimate Rewards introductory bonus offer and plan to transfer points to Hyatt, but you don’t want to wait to book the award because availability for the room may go away or the property may increase in category. In that case, it’s time to take advantage of your Globalist elite status.
If you have Globalist status, you can contact Hyatt to book awards for you even when you don’t have enough points. If you have access to a My Hyatt Concierge, I recommend booking through them. Otherwise, you can try sending a direct message the Hyatt Concierge on Twitter or calling the Hyatt Globalist line. As long as you have Globalist status, Hyatt can make the booking for you.
Important: Be sure to get the required points into your account more than a week before your stay. If you don’t have the points 7 days before your stay, the reservation will change to a paid rate.
Is this official?
In a past Ask Us Anything episode on YouTube, we were asked if this points advance feature was an official Globalist perk. I confidently replied “yes,” but when I checked the World of Hyatt Terms & Conditions under Globalist Benefits, I couldn’t find it. I knew it existed, though. I’ve taken advantage of this feature numerous times.
After more digging, I did find hints of the feature in the Terms & Conditions in a section regarding booking stays with points. I found this:
In some instances, a Member with elite status may be permitted to make an Award Reservation even though the Member does not have a sufficient number of points or the voucher required for the particular award, in anticipation of the Member accumulating the necessary points or voucher prior to the check-in date of the Award Reservation. If the elite Member does not have the sufficient number of points or the applicable voucher in his or her account as the check-in date of the Award Reservation nears (as determined by Hyatt in its sole discretion), the reservation may be canceled or changed by Hyatt in its sole discretion to the then-current Standard Rate for the applicable room. If the award the elite Member attempted to use is a Room Upgrade Award, the upgrade may be refused.
Well… that’s very interesting. From the above, I conclude that it might be possible for Explorist or even Discoverist elites to book point advance reservations, but the terms are completely unclear on the conditions required for this. All I can say for sure is that I know that Globalists can do this. It’s also interesting to learn that you can get a points advance for a room upgrade award (where you book the cash rate for a standard room and pay points to upgrade).
Key Things to Know about Hyatt Points Advance
- With Hyatt, I believe you can lock in the price at the time of booking, only needing the number of points in effect at the time of booking, even though the points are not taken from your account until a week before your stay.
- Hyatt requires that you have the points in your account to cover the reservation 7 days in advance of check-in.
- This feature is only available if your account does not have enough points to cover the booking.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
I just got off the phone with Hyatt, and they told me that Points Advance can only be used by Discoverist and Explorist members if they are <1000 pts short of the total needed.
I was pleasantly surprised a few months ago when an Explorist Line agent suggested doing this for a stay I was short 2k WOH points on. I never heard of this in my 10 years with the program, but the agent said it’s always been available. I guess I got lucky too…
One day I’ll make it to Globalist!
Does anyone know if this also works for a suite upgrade award? The language in the T&C is vague enough to make me wonder if it’s possible to use future award certificates/vouchers (or whatever the heck they’re called) ant not just future points. I’m anticipating a suite upgrade award to post in the next month or two, and it would be awesome if I could book a suite now to lock in the rate.
I used this extensively when I was a Globalist. I recently changed status to Explorist. My point advance booking are still valid, but I’m not able to make new bookings.
Ine tip is to keep good records of which bookings are with points advance and which are normal, as it doesn’t display any differently. Then when you transfer points to your account, call in immediately to make sure they get applied to the right reservation.
Can you later apply a Free Night Award in lieu of points?
I don’t think so but I’m not 100% sure
I don’t know for sure, but I have in multiple instances substituted in a FNA for a booking I already have with points. Those weren’t points advance bookings, but I feel like that should work as long as the category doesn’t change outside the 1-4/1-7 range.
2 questions- I made a points advance booking but when I look at the reservation it doesn’t show it anywhere. Did it deduct points automatically when I did a different cancellation maybe?
B) is it better to do a series of one night reservations in case you end up having different travel dates and don’t have to potentially cancel and rebook at the new higher rates?
I’m not FM, but recently used this for the first time. It is a hot mess in their IT system. Hyatt’s may be worse than AA! HA! I did it via email to be sure I had it in writing. I ended up with the points sooner and they applied them and then applied the SUA (which you cannot do on a Points Advance). But it just showed in my app that the reservation was 65K points. It was not even different from the ones where I had paid (it was two weeks and I had points for one week at 59K; both weeks showed the points total. I think in their system it shows the points have BEEN advanced so you “paid,” but if you do not, they charge you the rate–not the points.
That being said, the answer to your second question is yes. Hyatt automatically merges nights when you are in the same hotel, whether you want to or not. So booking separately means you can cancel one night without the rest. In a case like this, it is the smart thing to do if you are not sure.
I will add that this is a weakness with Hyatt. If they offered a 4th or 5th night free on points stays like other groups (IHG, Hilton, Marriott), then we would think twice about canceling one of those nights, but it just doesn’t dramatically change anything unless it’s a special rate of some sort, which I don’t see much on points. Sadly, WOH keeps devaluing the program with NO increase of benefits, such as more CC points, a free night if you book X nights, etc. I no longer try to hold on to WOH points and shifted all my travel spend that is not toward oneworld Emerald to Chase Sapphire, where points transfer instantly typically.
Greg, I have a points advance reservation coming up on September 1st that I just transferred in the points for from Chase. I don’t need to do anything do I? The points will automatically be deducted 7 days out?
That’s correct but it can’t hurt to confirm with Hyatt just in case
I had an instance where they did not pull the points, it was exactly 7 days out and I was afraid they would cancel or charge the cash rate so I called to have them pull the points.
Also, I didn’t know they would charge the new rate when pulled if the hotel went up in category. I also had this happen and called Hyatt to tell them they made a mistake because I thought it should pull at the rate when I booked. The agent thought I was right and fixed it by putting points back into my account to make up the difference. After listening to your episode I just realized that I got lucky.
I am 900 points short of booking a stay, as an Explorist, and was not able to use this perk. Seems to be limited to Globalists.
Worth noting that this apparently does not work for the small luxury hotels as they are not Hyatt hotels – as per my Hyatt concierge. Although, id love if you knew that to be false?
That wouldn’t surprise me since, as they said, those aren’t Hyatt hotels. They have a partnership, but aren’t under the Hyatt umbrella. I wouldn’t expect points advance to work at an SLH property.
I just pulled up this article while I was on the phone with Hyatt. I am 35,000 points short on a reservation and offered to transfer those points from Chase immediately, but was told I didn’t need to worry about it and that they could make the reservation even though I was short of points. I had no idea! Thank you.
I have used the points advance feature for an SLH reservation.
Awesome! Looks like they have improved that over the last 2 years. Thanks for the DP!
[…] Hyatt Points Advance: Even after being in this hobby for a number of years, there are still tricks that I have never heard of. This being one of them. Did you know that you can book award stays with Hyatt, even if you don’t yet have enough points? […]
Do 30 night Globalists get access to a concierge? I don’t think so, since it’s listed as a 60 night Milestone reward. Will Twitter Hyatt Concierge accept requests from 30 night Globalists?
Not an expert but my understanding is:
Ok if twitter team will in fact do points advance for 30 point Globalists that’s something to keep in mind for folks trying to decide whether to push to 60 nights, as it’s an amazing benefit. I’ve used it to book rooms in Tokyo and Kyoto where award nights are surprisingly drying up even 10-11 months in advance. But I’m a new 60 nighter so I do it through my Concierge.
Larry’s replies were correct. You do not need access to My Hyatt Concierge to do these bookings.
I wonder if this can be used to book hotels with excessive minimum night stay requirements, ie Andaz Maui (10 night minimum), and then adjusting to fewer nights.
Yes, I just did that a couple days ago.
At Andaz? as I am not finding any nights with points in December, nov or April….THanks
There’s definitely some availability, even over Thanksgiving (e.g. 11/18 – 11/28).