Best Hyatt Category 7 Point Redemptions

Hyatt’s World of Hyatt program categorizes Hyatt hotels into 7 categories.  Category 1 requires the least amount of points for free nights and category 7 hotels require the most amount of points for a free night redemption.  So what is the best option for maximizing your points within Hyatt category 7 hotels?

Since I like to make my points go as far as possible, I wanted to figure out that answer and take advantage of the best opportunities next time I travel.

Redemption Options

Hyatt offers three main options when redeeming points:

1. Redeem points for a free hotel stay.
2. Redeem a combination of points and cash for a free night stay.
3. Pay for a standard room and upgrade into a suite using points.

When staying at category 7 hotels, each of those options would cost:

1. 30,000 Hyatt points for a free night.
2. 15,000 Hyatt points and $300 cash for a free night.
3. 6,000 Hyatt points and you are required to pay for the standard room cost in cash.

*It is also possible to use 48,000 Hyatt points for a free night in a suite.  I didn’t include this option because that redemption requires a minimum of 3 consecutive nights at the hotel; one or more of those nights could include the free suite upgrade with 48,000 points.

Best Category 7 Hotels for Points

In order to calculate the best redemption values, I used hotel rates based on Hyatt’s web site as of 4/1/17.  Although not a perfect measure due to seasonal and general fluctuations, I believe it represents a reasonable estimate of value.

Free Night with Points			4/1/17
Location	Hyatt	Points Cost	Standard Room Cost	Value per point
Japan	Park Hyatt Tokyo	30,000	$1,491	$0.0497
Australia	Park Hyatt Sydney	30,000	$991	$0.0330
New York	Park Hyatt New York	30,000	$975	$0.0325
France	Park Hyatt Paris Vendome	30,000	$713	$0.0238
Italy	Park Hyatt Milan	30,000	$554	$0.0185
Colorado	Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa	30,000	$510	$0.0170
Switzerland	Park Hyatt Zurich	30,000	$429	$0.0143

Based on the information in the chart, your top three point redemption options would be:

1. Park Hyatt Tokyo with a redeemed point value of $.0497 per point.
2. Park Hyatt Sydney with a redeemed point value of $.033 per point.
3. Park Hyatt New York with a redeemed point value of $.0325 per point.

I previously stayed and wrote about my experiences at the Park Hyatt Sydney and the Park Hyatt New York.

*Note: I did not include 4 category 7 hotels that have not yet opened:

Not Yet Open
Colorado	Hyatt Place Keystone
Florida	Hyatt Place Sarasota / Lakewood Ranch
Georgia	Hyatt Place Athens / Downtown
St. Kitts & Nevis	Park Hyatt St. Kitts

I also highly doubt the three Hyatt Place hotels will be category 7 hotels when opened.

Best Category 7 Hotels for Points and Cash

The next chart focuses on the best values when redeeming category 7 hotels with points and cash.  Although the order is the same as the 1st chart, it is interesting to compare whether it makes more sense to redeem a free night entirely with points or whether you should redeem a free night with a combination of points and cash.

Points & Cash			4/1/17
Location	Hyatt	Points Cost	Cash Cost	Cash Saved by Using Points	Value per point
Japan	Park Hyatt Tokyo	15,000	$300	$1,191	$0.0794
Australia	Park Hyatt Sydney	15,000	$300	$691	$0.0461
New York	Park Hyatt New York	15,000	$300	$675	$0.0450
France	Park Hyatt Paris Vendome	15,000	$300	$413	$0.0275
Italy	Park Hyatt Milan	15,000	$300	$254	$0.0169
Colorado	Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa	15,000	$300	$210	$0.0140
Switzerland	Park Hyatt Zurich	15,000	$300	$129	$0.0086

Before you interpret the results, I want explain how I arrived at the final values per point.  I used the standard room cost from the 1st chart and subtracted it by $300.  That difference represents the amount of cash saved by using the 15,000 points rather than paying the normal room cost.

I divided the cash saved by using points value by the 15,000 points needed for the redemption, resulting in the value per point column on the right side of the chart.

Similar to the first chart, your best options would be:

1. Park Hyatt Tokyo with a redeemed point value of $.0794
2. Park Hyatt Sydney with a redeemed point value of $.0461
3. Park Hyatt New York with a redeemed point value of $.0450

So Which is the Best Option: Points or Points & Cash?

What is interesting about the two charts is which of the two options represents the better choice.  There are two clear conclusions:

• You are better off using points and cash to redeem hotel stays at the most expense hotels: Park Hyatt Tokyo, Park Hyatt Sydney, Park Hyatt New York, and Park Hyatt Paris Vendome.
• You are better off using just points to redeem a free night at the more modestly priced hotels: Park Hyatt Milan, Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa, and Park Hyatt Zurich.

Best Suite Upgrades for Category 7 Hotels

I decided to look at a third scenario.  Since I like using hotel points to stay in suites, I wanted to see if it could make sense to pay cash for a standard room rate and upgrade into a suite using points.

I used the same date and hotel cost assumption that I used in the first two examples:

Suite Upgrade			4/1/17
Location	Hyatt	Points Cost	Standard Room Cost	Entry Level Suite Cost	Cash Saved by Using Points	Value per point
Japan	Park Hyatt Tokyo	6,000	$1,491	$3,376	$1,885	$0.5626
Switzerland	Park Hyatt Zurich	6,000	$429	$1,627	$1,198	$0.2712
Italy	Park Hyatt Milan	6,000	$554	$1,359	$805	$0.2265
France	Park Hyatt Paris Vendome	6,000	$713	$1,221	$508	$0.2035
New York	Park Hyatt New York	6,000	$975	$1,150	$175	$0.0292

*I excluded Park Hyatt Sydney and Park Hyatt Beaver Creek from the above chart because suite upgrades are excluded at those two hotels.

The results from this final chart can be a bit deceiving, if you don’t consider the results carefully.  On the one hand, your three best options to maximize your 6,000 points would be:

1. Park Hyatt Tokyo at $.5626
2. Park Hyatt Zurich at $.2712
3. Park Hyatt Milan at $.2265

However, it’s important to be aware that I based those values on the advertised suite cost at the hotel and subtracted that by the cost of a standard room at the hotel.  So even though the Park Hyatt Tokyo offers the best value, you would still be required to pay $1,491 for the standard room cost before using 6,000 points to upgrade to the suite.

Paying $1,491 to stay in a suite for one night doesn’t feel like a great deal regardless of how much the actual suite might cost.  In fact, I would not really be interested in paying $400 or $500 just to stay in a suite for a night.  However, if my hotel cost would be reimbursed by an employer, I might be interested in using the points to upgrade into a suite.