At Frequent Miler, we keep a database of point valuations called “Reasonable Redemption Values.” These are estimates of the “worth” of airline miles, hotel points, transferable points, and more. The idea is that we try to identify the point at which it is “reasonable” to get that much value or more from your points.
This information is critical for making informed decisions. In fact, it’s a key component of the First Year Value information shown on our Best Credit Card Offers page, and it’s similarly used to show which cards offer the best value for everyday spend and which offer the best category bonuses.
The value of Hyatt points is particularly salient now, as it has recently announced a new five-tier award chart that will launch in May. The maximum amount that properties in each category can charge for a one-night award will increase significantly (by up to 67%), and we expect this to represent a devaluation of Hyatt points overall. In addition, Hyatt’s annual category changes will take effect next month, and we’ve been led to believe that many more properties will be going up in category than down.
We intend to pay close attention to Hyatt award prices over the next 12 months. We recently performed the analysis below to establish a baseline before the category and award chart changes, and we’ll check again to see where things stand once all those changes take effect.
Overview
When we first started looking at the value of hotel points, we used a laborious process that involved manually comparing the cash and award prices of hundreds of stays each year, then using those results to create RRV estimates. However, we now have a much better way of pinning down the value of Hyatt points.
Gondola is a terrific free hotel search tool that shows prices for properties in both cash and points, and it keeps data on both for searches on its platform.
The kind folks over at Gondola have made this data available to us to identify hotel program point values. Thanks to them, we now have access to results from over 560,000 domestic and international World of Hyatt award searches across almost 2,000 properties, and each one shows both the cash and award prices for the same room. Using this data, we can provide a far better estimate of the “Reasonable Redemption Value” of Hyatt points than we were ever able to obtain by using manual calculations.
Based on Gondola’s data, even with Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties included, the Reasonable Redemption Value (RRV) has decreased slightly to 1.7 cents per point, which we rounded up from 1.69.
Background
When collecting points and miles, it’s always good to have a general idea of what points are worth. Let’s say, for example, that you have the opportunity to either earn 1,000 Hyatt points or 2,000 Marriott points. Which should you go for?
If you don’t know what the points are worth, you’d likely go for the Marriott points. But, in our analyses, we’ve found Hyatt points to be worth more than twice as many as Marriott points. Therefore, on average, 1,000 Hyatt points are worth more than 2,000 Marriott points. In this post, you’ll find my best current estimate of the redemption value of Marriott points.
Methodology
In order to determine the value of Hyatt points, we looked at Gondola’s collected, real-world cash and point prices for almost 2,000 World of Hyatt properties. Since Hyatt award bookings are fully refundable, we excluded data on all non-refundable cash rates to make it a complete apples-to-apples comparison. We also used the Total Cash Rate, which includes taxes and any local fees.
Hotel Programs that Waive Resort Fees on Award Stays
Hilton, Hyatt, and Wyndham waive resort fees when you book stays using points or free night certificates. For these chains, the resort fee need not be considered separately from the Total Cash Rate (which includes it). So, the RRV calculation is as follows:
RRV = Total Cash Rate ÷ Point Price
Hotel Programs that Charge Resort Fees on Award Stays
IHG, Marriott, and many other hotel programs impose resort fees on award stays. For these chains, the resort fee must be explicitly accounted for in the calculation. We do that by having Gondola subtract it from the Total Cash Rate. The RRV calculation is as follows:
RRV = [Total Cash Rate – Resort Fee] ÷ Point Price
Gondola Data
For our hotel RRV values, we use the median observed from Gondola data. If the median is 1 cent per point, meaning that half of all searches produced a value of less than 1 cent per point, and the other half above 1 cent per point.
- Gondola Median Observed Value for Hyatt redemptions: 1.7 cents per point (rounded up from 1.69)
(based on data as of March 16th, 2026)
World of Hyatt Brand Comparison
Another cool feature of the data set Gondola provides is that we can see how point values vary across a program’s brands. There’s a decent amount of variance among Hyatt’s brands, especially with Mr. & Mrs. Smith and some of the all-inclusive properties. Here are some of the most notable examples, any brands not listed tracked within around +/-5% of the RRV:
| Brand: | RRV | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Hyatt Regency | 1.96 | +15.3% |
| Joie de Vivre | 1.96 | +15.3% |
| Hyatt House | 1.89 | +11.2% |
| Hyatt Place | 1.86 | +9.4% |
| Park Hyatt | 1.85 | +8.8% |
| Hyatt Centric | 1.84 | +8.2% |
| Hyatt without MMS | 1.83 | +7.6% |
| Dreams | 1.48 | -13% |
| Mr. & Mrs. Smith (MMS) | 1.33 | -21.8% |
| Hyatt Ziva | 1.27 | -25.3% |
| Hyatt Zilara | 1.26 | -25.9% |
| Zoetry | 1.22 | -28.3% |
| Hyatt Residence Club | 1.02 | -40% |
Much more than in previous years, Hyatt award values are showing two distinct tiers. Hyatt’s “legacy” brands, including Hyatt Regency, Park Hyatt, and Hyatt Place, all show median prices above the RRV of 1.7 cents per point.
On the other hand, some of Hyatt’s all-inclusive and Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties yield an RRV hovering in the 1.25-1.5 range. In fact, removing Mr. & Smith Properties alone raises the RRV of all other Hyatt properties by ~8%. Clearly, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the Inclusive Collection drag down the value of Hyatt points. This is a phenomenon readers have repeatedly commented on over the past couple of years: in general, Hyatt’s all-inclusive properties and MMS aren’t a great use of your points.
This isn’t a good sign, given the coming changes that Hyatt is making. My guess is that the category and price increases we see over the next few months will disproportionately affect the brands at the top of the table above, compared to those at the bottom, whose point value is already far lower.
World of Hyatt Tier Comparison
Here’s a comparison of average cents-per-point value across various redemption levels:
By far the most valuable way to use Hyatt is for lower-category hotels. That’s likely exacerbated by the relatively low values of all-inclusive properties and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which would start showing up in results in large numbers at around ~25k and above. 60k+ points per night is primarily MMS only, so it’s no surprise that values are so low.
Again, we’d expect those lower-value tiers to lower significantly once the 5-tier chart is in effect. Indeed, Hyatt spoke prominently about the need to give lower-tier properties the ability to raise award prices during peak times, when cash rates create exceptional value, as a reason for needing more pricing flexibility.
World of Hyatt Comparison by City
A new analytical feature that Gondola has added lets us check the relative value of Hyatt points across a “basket” of popular destinations.
| Brand: | RRV | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Miami Beach | 2.05 | +21.3% |
| Cabo San Lucas | 1.99 | +17.8% |
| New York | 1.99 | +17.8% |
| Orlando | 1.97 | +16.6% |
| Tokyo | 1.92 | +13.6% |
| Chicago | 1.91 | +13% |
| Washington | 1.67 | -1.2% |
| Dubai | 1.66 | -1.8% |
| Las Vegas | 1.66 | -1.8% |
| London | 1.65 | -2.4% |
| San Francisco | 1.6 | -5.3% |
| Los Angeles | 1.57 | -7.1% |
| Honolulu | 1.54 | -8.9% |
| Bangkok | 1.48 | -12.4% |
| Paris | 1.44 | -14.8% |
| Cancun | 1.4 | -17.2% |
| Barcelona | 1.39 | -17.8% |
| Rome | 1.36 | -19.5% |
| Singapore | 1.33 | -21.3% |
In general, these more or less mimic what we’d expect to see from the brand comparison. Most domestic cities and international cities with many Hyatt-branded properties, such as Tokyo and Cabo San Lucas, provide a significant bump in value compared with the worldwide average.
On the other hand, international cities with several Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties see significantly lower values, but within the same range as we see for MMS as a brand. Cancun, with its massive concentration of all-inclusive resorts, also comes in significantly lower.
Results
Point Value
| Analysis Date: | 3/16/26 | 6/9/25 | 6/20/24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Point Value (Median) | 1.7 cents | 1.8 cents | 1.7 cents |
| Minimum Point Value | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
| Maximum Point Value | 8.3 | 8.1 | 3.6 |
* Analyses starting 6/9/25 include international properties, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
The median observed point value for Hyatt points was 1.7 cents per point. This means that half of the observed results offered equal or better point value, and half offered equal or worse value. Another way to think about it is that, without cherry-picking the best awards, you have a 50/50 chance of getting at least 1.7 cents in value from your Hyatt points when booking free-night awards.
Pick your own point value
| Analysis Date: | 3/16/26 | 6/9/25 | 6/20/24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50th Percentile (Median) | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
| 75th Percentile | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| 90th Percentile | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.6 |
* Analyses starting 6/9/25 include international properties, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
When we publish Reasonable Redemption Values (RRVs) for points, we conservatively use the middle value, i.e., the 50th percentile. The idea is that just by randomly picking hotels to use your points, you have a 50/50 chance of getting this value or better.
But what if you “cherry-pick” awards? Many people prefer to hold onto their points until they find uses that represent good value. If that’s you, then you may want to use the table above to pick your own point value. For example, if you think that you’ll hold out for the best 10% value awards, then pick the 90th percentile. If you cherry-pick a bit, but not that much, you might want to use the 75th percentile (for example). We’re guessing that most cherry-pickers will land around the 75th percentile: 2.2 cents per point.
This analysis shows that those who cherry-pick good-value awards can expect to receive around 2.2 cents per point in value or better.
Reasonable Redemption Value for Hyatt points: 1.7 CPP
Our Reasonable Redemption Value (RRV) for Hyatt points has slightly decreased to 1.7 cents per point. RRVs are intended to be the point at which it is reasonable to get that much value or better for your points. Therefore, we believe the median observed value is a good choice for our RRV.
- Reasonable Redemption Value for Hyatt: 1.7 cents per point
- Targeted Redemption Value for those who cherry-pick awards: 2.2 cents per point
Points are worth less for elite members
In most hotel programs, elite members earn more points per dollar on paid stays than non-elite members do. As a result, the relative value of an award stay compared to a paid stay decreases. The following table shows the median point values with various levels of elite status.
| Elite Level | Point Bonus on Paid Stays | Median Cents Per Point |
|---|---|---|
| None | None | 1.7 |
| Discoverist | 10% | 1.7 |
| Explorist | 20% | 1.7 |
| Globalist | 30% | 1.6 |
As you can see above, points are worth a tiny bit less for Globalist members, but the small elite bonuses for lower-level members don’t move the needle. Also, keep in mind that Globalist members get free parking on award stays, so if that were factored in, Globalists would actually get better point value than others.
Overvaluing vs. Undervaluing Points
There is no perfect way to estimate the value of points. Decisions we made here, in some ways, overvalue points and, in some ways, undervalue points. The hope is that these things roughly offset each other…
Factors that cause us to undervalue points
- With hotel programs that offer 4th Night Free Awards (IHG, with some credit cards), or 5th Night Free Awards (Hilton & Marriott), or award discounts (Wyndham), we do not consider the point savings in our analyses.
- With hotel programs that offer free parking on award stays to top-tier elites (Hyatt), we do not factor this in.
Factors that cause us to overvalue points
- We do not use discount rates (other than member rates) in our analyses. In real life, many people book hotels more cheaply (and sometimes far cheaper) by using AAA rates, government & military rates, senior rates, etc.
- We do not use hotel promotional rates. Often, individual hotels have deals such as “Stay 2 Nights, Get 1 Night Free,” which can greatly reduce the cost of a stay.
- We do not use prepaid rates in our analyses. Sometimes these rates are significantly lower than refundable rates.
- We do not factor in rebates earned by booking hotels through shopping portals.
- We do not factor in extra points earned on paid stays for elite-status members.
- We do not factor in rewards earned from hotel credit card spend.
- We do not factor in hotel loyalty program promotions: Most promotions, but not all, only offer incentives for paid stays. We often see promos offering bonus points, double or triple points, free night awards, etc.
- With hotel programs that waive resort fees for top-tier elites on paid stays (e.g., Hyatt), we do not factor this in.
How can Hyatt points be worth more than Ultimate Rewards?
At the time of this writing, our Reasonable Redemption Value (RRV) for Chase Ultimate Rewards points is 1.5 cents per point. Meanwhile, our RRV for Hyatt is 1.7 cents per point. But, given that Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to Hyatt and many other programs 1-to-1, shouldn’t Chase points be valued equal to or higher than Hyatt points? And, if given the choice to earn the same number of Hyatt or Chase points, wouldn’t we pick the Chase points?
Yes and yes. We would rather have Chase points than Hyatt points (as long as we also have a card like the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve®, Ink Business Preferred, or Sapphire Reserve for Business℠, which makes it possible to transfer to Hyatt and other programs), and so, yes, Chase points are “worth” at least as much as Hyatt points.
This is part of the reason why we try, as much as possible, to avoid the word “worth” in our Reasonable Redemption Values (RRVs). Our RRVs are point estimates showing that it is reasonable to get that much value or more. With Hyatt, you’re most likely to use your Hyatt points for Hyatt stays, so, as our analysis showed, it’s reasonable to expect a value of at least 1.7 cents per point. With Chase points, however, it’s totally reasonable to use them in other ways.
If you have the Sapphire Reserve card, you’ll get up to 2 cents per point value by booking travel through Chase Travel℠, which can be a reasonable option, especially since you’ll earn both miles and elite-qualifying points when booking most flights. Similarly, it’s reasonable to transfer points to airline partners such as United, Air Canada, and Air France. However, with those programs, you might get more than 1.5 cents per point value, but you might not get as much as with Hyatt unless you cherry-pick high-value awards.
So, the final answer here is that Chase points are worth at least as much as Hyatt points… when transferred to Hyatt or to an equally valuable transfer partner. But, it’s also reasonable for our Reasonable Redemption Value of Chase points to be lower than Hyatt points because it’s absolutely reasonable to get 1.5 cents per point value from those Chase points.
Conclusion
Based on the latest analysis, the Hyatt Reasonable Redemption Value (RRV) has dropped slightly to 1.7 cents per point. If you leave out Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s properties, the RRV shoots up a little more, to ~1.8 cents per point.
The idea behind using the median for our RRVs is that you have a 50/50 chance of getting that much value or more from your award stays, and so it is reasonable to expect to get that much value or better. For those more advanced, this post’s percentile results indicate it’s reasonable to expect 2.2 cents per point or better if you cherry-pick good-value awards.
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for a traveler to asia with no access to usa cc like me, hyatt almost never made sense. the by-city data showed why.
buy points? 2.08c if 20% off. 2.16c if 20% bonus. very very few asian properties outside tokyo yielded those lofty cpp not just currently but always had been. still exactly true taking mms properties out of consideration. not to mention the lost value of earned points if cash stay.
then the cash stay…. could never bring myself to pay the vast price premium over other comparable or even favorable properties. and those exact vast price premiums padded the cpp from horrible to just bad.
no resort/destination/amenity/etc fees and most hotel guests in these parts of the world like me don’t drive, so the waived fees don’t merit in calculation.
4pm guaranteed late check-out? either replicable in other programs or still much cheaper by just paying for it at other places. same logic definitely applies to free breakfast if not much more so. suite upgrades through whatever perks/mechanisms/maneuvers? the total final cost in my cases always ended up favoring ihg, gha, accor, local chains/independant, or even sometimes lhw.
For June (3 nights), Mr&Mrs Smith:
Gamla Stan Hotel Reisen 2.81
Ghent Pillows Grand 1.81
What is a “Points Farm” Hotel?
Some properties are colloquially known as “points farms” because their business model relies heavily on guests redeeming points rather than paying cash.
Very interesting. I pretty much always get >2.5cpp, because my biggest use of Hyatt points is at a particular Cat 2 HP that I go to ~3 weekends per month. I’ll use points for the occasional leisure trip, and usually get >2cpp, but that’s not my main use. Very interesting, and I’m definitely the outlier.
Which Hyatt Place is this? I want to go.
Then, there’s the subjective value of location and convenience. Hans Christian Anderson would likely comment:
Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
You and your arithmetic
You’ll probably go far
Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
Seems to me, you’d stop and see
How beautiful they are.
I expect this model may show unchanged reasonable redemption values even as Hyatt quietly obliterates outsized value on aspirational properties.
No, you don’t understand. You see, you can get 3cpp at two Hyatt places in rural Nebraska, so that offsets the nerfs of PH kyoto and Tokyo. It’s just simple math.
This is great, but utterly meaningless at this point.
(Shoulda stayed at a HIE instead..)
As the article says, Greg ran this analysis knowing that Hyatt is changing soon so that he has a basis to compare to once the change happens.
Also, you’ve got another month and a half to make Hyatt bookings at the current award rates, so this information is useful for at least that amount of time.
Out of curiosity, is there anything stopping you from showing the calculations for ALL the Hyatt brands? Was curious about Alila, Thompson, etc
I would be very curious to see some of this data as it relates to the award category
While everyone wants a deal, I think we hobbyists endure/rationalize the subjective shortcomings of a property in the name of the almighty cents per point.
100% this. In truth, to use your points wisely, you’ve always got to weigh CPP together with “what is the actual quality of the product I’m getting for my points”, and also “what else might I do with these same points?”
If one had 100K points, and found a crappy hotel somehow way overpriced at 100K/night, but for which the cash price was $10K/night, you’d be getting a whopping 10 CPP to book there. But who cares if you don’t enjoy the place, or if you’d rather book five nights at a really good 20K/night property where you get 1.5–2 CPP. On no meaningful measure is opting for the latter a bad deal despite having an “insane” 10 CPP available to you. (Nor would opting to book just one night at the 20K property over one night at the 100K property, again, regardless of the comparative CPP.)
Obviously, this is an extreme example just to make the point that myopic focus on CPP can lull you into bad decision making at times. Undesirable properties shouldn’t suddenly become desirable just because, say, their cash price got jacked up, making the CPP for redemptions there sky high.
Since you have the data, maybe you could publish some of the better redemptions, say 5 cents and up.
We don’t actually have (or care to have) the raw results of all 580,000 searches. Gondola gives us the ability to look at the totals by program/brand based on the most recent tally of results.
However, my assumption is that almost all redemptions at that level don’t represent a property that routinely offers 5 cents or above in value, but rather an in-demand date at a property that normally is much less expensive. For instance, I occasionally travel to other cities for sporting events. I often get 4+ cents per point at Hyatt Places in smaller college towns. A property that costs 8,000 points might be selling rooms for $400+, but the rest of the year (not counting graduation), rates are a fraction of that.
Out of ~580,000 searches, only a few hundred produced 5+ cents per point value, so it’s only around 1-2 out of every 1,000 searches that’s getting a value that high.
This is a good point. This is why I prefer to use the “What would I be willing to pay for this stay if I didn’t have the points?” metric, since it forces you to actually take other viable alternative bookings into account. Booking an award stay based solely on the comparable rack rate can lead to some odd results. (I would know.) Kind of like buying a pair of jeans on sale based on how discounted the price is from the regular price, without considering how much you actually like the jeans. (I would know.)
Great analysis, especially broken down by Hyatt brands. Looking forward to seeing this data for Marriott and Hilton, who have so many brands too 🙂
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Another way to think of the Hyatt vs. Chase RRV paradox at the end is that Chase RRV is like a 1.5-cent Visa GC per point, and Hyatt RRV is like a 1.7-cent Hyatt GC per point.
I haven’t gotten into the math on this, but I suspect you can beat 1.7c pretty easily if you go to less buzzy locations. My favorite Hyatt destination is pretty easily repeatable at over 3.0c right now…but it’s not in a trendy vacation spot like most of the cities you guys are using for this methodology. (It is, however, a 5 minute walk from my favorite MLB team’s home stadium) I suspect there may be some similar results elsewhere in secondary and tertiary markets, while you won’t get nearly the extra value in places like New York, Chicago, Seattle, California, Florida, etc.