Is buying Hyatt points with 30% bonus points a good deal?

Hyatt Gold Passport has a 30% bonus points offer when buying points by August 31, 2015. Members in Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty program can normally buy up to 55,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points in a calendar year. The current offer allows the purchase of 71,500 points for $1,320.00.

Regular price for Hyatt Gold Passport points = $24.00 per 1,000 points. This August promotion sells you 1,300 points for $24 to bring the promotional rate down to $18.47 per 1,000 points.

• Regular rate = $24.00 per 1,000 points; 55,000 points maximum.
• Promotional rate = $18.47 per 1,000 points; 71,500 points maximum.
• Hyatt Gold Passport category 1 reward 5,000 points  = $93
• Hyatt Gold Passport category 2 reward 8,000 points = $148
• Hyatt Gold Passport category 3 reward 12,000 points = $222
• Hyatt Gold Passport category 4 reward 15,000 points = $277
• Hyatt Gold Passport category 5 reward 20,000 points = $370
• Hyatt Gold Passport category 6 reward 25,000 points = $462
• Hyatt Gold Passport category 7 reward 30,000 points = $554

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

The question you need to ask yourself is: Can you find hotels where the cost to buy points for reward nights is lower than the nightly room rates?

Is buying Hyatt points with 30% bonus points a good deal?

There are many ways to analyze the value of hotel points. Bottom line is what can you get for Hyatt Gold Passport points.

I know what I have found for Hyatt Gold Passport points in my searches this summer. My analysis for Hyatt Gold Passport points purchases in this post looks at two redemption opportunities. The first Hyatt redemption was one I considered last month for Boston. The second redemption study is a look at hotel rates in Malaysia, a destination I have scheduled for November.

Hyatt Regency Boston or Hyatt Boston Harbor at Logan Airport

I almost booked a reward night at the Hyatt Regency Boston for my last night in Boston. One Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Boston, Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor is actually at Boston Logan Airport and Hyatt Regency Cambridge are all category 4 hotels at 15,000 points per reward night.

My summer has been booked with nearly every hotel chain, except Hilton and Hyatt. I almost booked Hyatt Regency Boston for 15,000 points, then made a choice to redeem to use Choice Privileges 25,000 points for Boston Comfort Inn. I might have had a better hotel redeeming Hyatt points and been better off in cash savings, considering I had to buy 25,000 Choice Privileges points for $192.50 last week to complete reward night reservations in Norway.

A quick analysis shows my replacement cost for 25,000 Choice Privileges points for a hotel stay at Comfort Inn & Suites Boston Logan Airport was $192.50. I should have used Priceline or Airbnb for that last hotel night, but the convenience of a 4am free airport shuttle for a 6am flight caused me to overpay in points for a hotel. Room rates that night around Boston averaged about $250 to $300. Boston is a big tourism city and hotel rates are among the highest in the USA.

Hyatt? Apparently, I made the better Choice!

The cost to buy 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points with this 30% bonus points sale is $288.00 for 15,600 points. Given the same Boston circumstances, if I had redeemed 15,000 points for Hyatt Regency Boston, then my replacement cost would be $288.00 to buy 15,600 points.

Looks like I made the better choice in redeeming 25,000 Choice Privileges points ($192.50 cost) rather than 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points ($288). Both Hyatt hotels in Boston had room rates close to $300 after tax. Comfort Inn Boston Logan was about the same $300 price.

Hyatt Hotels and Hyatt Gold Passport in Malaysia

Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur is $190 per night or $221 USD after tax. This hotel is Hyatt Gold Passport category 4 at 15,000 points per night. The cost to buy 15,000 points for $288 makes this a poor redemption value at that points level.

Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabulu is $122 per night or $485 for a 4-night stay. The hotel is category 1 at 5,000 points per night. Even better is the option to book a Club King room for 7,000 points per night. This room category is $740 after tax for a four night stay.

Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabulu, Malaysia

Hyatt Gold Passport category 1 hotel

The purchase price for 5,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points at $93 makes this a good redemption value for a $122 room night.

Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabulu Club King room for 7,000 points is a $130 room night at the purchase price for Hyatt Gold Passport points during August. The cost to buy 28,600 points = $528.00 during this promotional sale.

The published rate for this 4-night stay at Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabulu in a Club King room = $739.85.

Buying Hyatt Gold Passport points during this August 30% bonus points offer for a 4-night reward stay in a Club King room at Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabulu saves $211.85 on the cost of the hotel room. The 30% bonus points results in a 28.6% hotel rate discount for this hotel.

Buying points is always best when you have a hotel stay plan to redeem those points quickly. In my examples, buying Choice Privileges points was less costly to me than replacing Choice Privileges for a reward night I made last month in Boston. Hyatt Gold Passport points do not provide a good redemption value in Kuala Lumpur either at the 15,000 points per night reward rate.

Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabulu is a good deal with an opportunity to save over 25% on the hotel room rates when buying points for a reward stay with the option to upgrade to Regency Club benefits for 7,000 points per night.