Points Reckoning
Generally good redemption values give a little ground to relatively poor availability when reckoning World of Hyatt. For the latter reason, we’re sticking with our standard 25% reduction factor, instead of lowering it like we did for Marriott and Hilton. After our hypothetical basket of award stays was compared on a cash to points basis, we assigned an ACRV of $0.0090 per World of Hyatt point. Though subjectively, we think they’re worth a bit more, especially if one is willing to be a bit flexible with their travel dates.
| 30 Days Advance Booking ACRV | $0.0094 |
| 60 Days Advance Booking ACRV | $0.0085 |
| Combined ACRV | $0.0090 |
| 30 Days Advance Booking Non-Zero | $0.0139 |
| 60 Days Advance Booking Non-Zero | $0.0142 |
| Overall Non-zero Average | $0.0141 |
| Award Availability | 85.00% |
Sadly, the spread between the non-zero average and the ACRV is due to availability. As anyone remembers from school, a couple zeros(no-availability) will quickly wreck a value
The curve above displays a decent scenario, as least compared to the narrower ones of some other hotel chains. Generally, a bell curve that looks more like a rolling hill is preferable to one that looks like a steep mountain. The former would provide a better opportunity for a high-value redemption. This month’s average was $0.012 and the standard deviation was $0.0060. This means that, theoretically, 68% of award redemptions should fall between $0.0084 and $0.0155. Quite good for a hotel loyalty program.
We’ve harped on this in the past, and it still bothers us. Hotel award space availability, or the lack thereof. We can’t understand for the life of us why a hotel chain, with cash availability, would turn their backs on their most loyal customers.
| Redemption Count | ||
| Exceptional | >$0.06 | 0 |
| Great | $0.04-0.06 | 0 |
| Good | $0.03-0.04 | 0 |
| Respectable | $0.02-0.03 | 1 |
| Acceptable | $0.01-0.02 | 14 |
| Terrible | <$0.01 | 2 |
| No Availability | 3 | |
The table above and chart below show a loyalty program in which one has at least an outside chance at a nice redemption. Our best for the month came from a week-long stay at the Park Hyatt Milan. This was offered for $4,222.20 or 180,000 points. We’d consider giving up an Ultimate Reward for that. Unfortunately, when looking a little deeper into the summer, availability at this very hotel dried up. So, in essence, it offered our best and worst value.
World of Hyatt provides the best chance for a Chase card member holding Ultimate Rewards to get a decent redemption value for them by transferring to a hotel partner. Though, truth be told, holding out for an ultra-high airline redemption is almost always preferable.
For more information about how we value airline/hotel and other award currencies, please visit our valuation method and changelog pages.
