All award travelers should earn transferable points, as they give you great flexibility in your redemptions. They also shield you from any potential devaluations, since the ability to transfer to other programs means you’re not locked into one currency. Chase Ultimate Rewards are some of the best transferable points out there, and TPG Senior Points & Miles Contributor Nick Ewen explains how you can transfer them to Hyatt for hotel redemptions.
In order to even think about redeeming these points for maximum value, you first need to know the actual process for transferring them to partners. Today I’ll kick off a new series that looks closely at the process for transferring points earned with cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred to each Ultimate Rewards partner. Our first subject is one of my favorite loyalty programs out there: Hyatt Gold Passport.
General Set-Up
Before you can begin transferring Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt, you’ll need to complete a few basic steps. For starters, you need to set up online access for your Ultimate Rewards-accruing credit card (like the Ink Plus Business Card or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card). To do this, simply go to www.chase.com and look for the “Not enrolled? Sign-up now” link at the right-hand side:
Then simply enter in the required information to complete your online enrollment.
If you already have an online credit card account with Chase, you can add a new card to it by clicking Manage Accounts in the Customer Center and then selecting Add Accounts at the top.
The other important thing to do is to sign up for Hyatt Gold Passport (though if you’ve read my points and miles mistakes post, hopefully you’ve already done this!). To do this, just visit the page to join the program and enter your information.
Once these two things are complete, you’re ready to start transferring!
Transferring to Hyatt
The actual process for transferring Ultimate Rewards points to all partners starts the exact same way:
1. Log in to your Chase account and click on the Go to Ultimate Rewards link at the top right.
(1a. If you have more than one card account, choose your desired one from the next page.)
2. Hover over the Use Points drop-down menu and select Transfer to Travel Partners.
3. Scroll down the list of Hotel partners and click Transfer Points next to Hyatt Gold Passport.
4. Enter the required information and click Add Member ID to add a new account.
5. Enter the number of points you want to transfer (must be in increments of 1,000) and click Continue.
6. Review your details on the next page and then click Confirm & Submit.
The next screen should confirm that the transfer was successful.
We recently tested how long Ultimate Rewards transfers take for each of the program’s 11 partners, and fortunately Hyatt is one of 7 partners that show up instantaneously:
Program
Transfer Time
Amtrak
Instantaneous
British Airways
Instantaneous
Hyatt
Instantaneous
IHG
1 day
Korean Air
Instantaneous
Marriott
2 days
Ritz-Carlton
2 days
Singapore Airlines
Same Day
Southwest
Instantaneous
United
Instantaneous
Virgin Atlantic
Instantaneous
Sure enough, when I logged in to my Hyatt account after transferring, the points were already there:
There are a few important things to keep in mind with these transfers:
The transfers are nonrefundable, so be certain you want to make the transfer before you click Submit.
You can only transfer to yourself or your spouse/domestic partner. This was always the policy, but as of last fall, Chase makes you indicate your relationship to the recipient of the transfer when you add an account.
You can combine points from your different cards or transfer points between your account and that of your spouse/domestic partner. For complete details, check out my post on combining Ultimate Rewards points.
Booking with Hyatt
Now that you’ve made the transfer, it’s time to actually book with Hyatt! I’ve personally found Gold Passport points to be quite valuable, and they regularly rank quite highly in TPG’s monthly valuations (pegged at 1.8 cents apiece in his latest version, second-highest among hotel loyalty programs). You can redeem them for luxurious properties like the Park Hyatt Dubai or the Andaz Maui.
Here’s a step-by-step process of how to actually book these awards:
1. Once you’ve logged in to your Gold Passport account, enter your search criteria and click Find Hotels.
2. Check the Show Hyatt Gold Passport Points box at the top of the search results page and click Select on the hotel you want to book.
3. Choose a room that’s available using points and click Select.
4. Verify all the details, check the box at the bottom to accept the cancellation policy and click Book Reservation.
The following page will display the confirmation number, and you’ll receive an e-mail shortly thereafter with complete details on the reservation and the property.
Just like the transfer process from Ultimate Rewards, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding the booking process for Hyatt award reservations. For starters, I have found that checking the Show Hyatt Gold Passport Points box doesn’t correspond to actual award inventory. Instead, it simply informs you of what the standard award rate is at that property. You actually need to click Select next to the individual hotel to verify that it has an award night available.
For example, in the above screen shot, the Andaz 5th Avenue appears to be available using points, but when you click select, you’ll get an error message:
This is because the hotel doesn’t have any Andaz Double or Andaz King rooms available for that night, which are the standard rooms at the property. As a result, no rooms are available with points.
That being said, keep in mind my experience with the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme from earlier in the year. Hyatt Gold Passport has a no blackout date policy in its terms and conditions; when a standard room is available at the Hyatt Daily Rate, it should be bookable using points. The Andaz 5th Avenue is following this policy, since it doesn’t have any standard rooms available for the date I checked. The Andaz Wall Street is the same — it only has suites available for the night of October 23rd.
However, the Park Hyatt New York is not following this policy for that same night. The property has standard rooms (Park King) available for cash on that date, but is blacking out point reservations. Here’s the paid rate:
And here’s what happens when you check the Show Hyatt Gold Passport Points box:
To make things even stranger, the previous night (October 22nd) not only has the Park King available using points, the Hyatt Daily Rate is actually more expensive than it is on the night it is blocking award reservations. My guess is that the hotel wants to restrict weekend awards (since that’s when many people tend to redeem their points), but no matter the reason, this is a violation of the Hyatt Gold Passport Terms and Conditions. If you see this, call Hyatt and ask them to force the property to open up an award reservation.
Finally, remember that you can also redeem fewer points (plus a small cash copay) by taking advantage of the program’s Cash + Points option. These rates count toward elite status qualification and also are eligible for Diamond Suite Upgrade certificates. However, I’ve struggled to find availability for these awards, and the only way to check inventory is by calling. Here’s hoping that Hyatt’s IT will join the 21st century and make this available online like just about every other major hotel loyalty program out there!
Bottom Line
Ultimate Rewards points regularly appear near the top of TPG’s monthly valuations (and for good reason). With a number of valuable transfer partners, you can get a ton of value and flexibility by collecting these points and then putting them toward a variety of different redemptions. Personally, I’ve transferred more Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt than any other program, and given the terrific experiences I’ve had with Hyatt, I don’t see that changing any time soon.
For additional information about Ultimate Rewards and redeeming Hyatt Gold Passport points, check out the following posts:
The Award Traveler’s Guide to Hyatt Gold Passport
10 Hyatt Properties that make for Awesome Award Redemptions
9 Low-Level Hyatt Properties that Make for Awesome Awards
Why Do You Recommend Transferring Chase UR Points to Hyatt?
Maximizing Ultimate Rewards with Chase Freedom, Sapphire and Ink Plus
What are your experiences transferring Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt?