The loyalty program offered by World of Hyatt has a great benefit that comes in the form of a Free Night Certificate. This certificate, also known as the Free Night Award, can be earned and redeemed by members of the loyalty program at participating Hyatt hotels or resorts for a complimentary stay. While the concept of the award is straightforward, using it may become a little confusing. In this post, we will take a closer look at the different types of Hyatt Free Night Awards and how you can earn and redeem them.
What is Hyatt Hotel’s Category
The first thing to notice about the Hyatt Free Night Award is that it can be applied to Hyatt hotels in different Categories: 1-4, 1-7, or 1-8. But what do these Categories mean?
Each Hyatt hotel is assigned an award category from one to eight (Category 1-8). This category indicates the price per night, whether you are paying with cash or redeeming your points. Meanwhile, the specific Hyatt brand or collection, such as Park Hyatt or Andaz, sets expectations for the quality of your stay.
Hotels
If two Hyatt hotels are in the same category, they will both require the same number of points for redemption. The Hyatt Award Chart below shows the Standard, Peak, and Off-Peak amounts of points needed to book a Standard Room.
| Off-peak rate | Standard rate | Peak rate | |
| Category 1 | 3,500 | 5,000 | 6,500 |
| Category 2 | 6,500 | 8,000 | 9,500 |
| Category 3 | 9,000 | 12,000 | 15,000 |
| Category 4 | 12,000 | 15,000 | 18,000 |
| Category 5 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 23,000 |
| Category 6 | 21,000 | 25,000 | 29,000 |
| Category 7 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 35,000 |
| Category 8 | 35,000 | 40,000 | 45,000 |
Note that All-Inclusive Resorts and Miraval Resorts have their own Award Chart.
All-inclusive resorts
| Off-peak rate | Standard rate | Peak rate | |
| Category A | 12,000 | 15,000 | 18,000 |
| Category B | 17,000 | 20,000 | 23,000 |
| Category C | 21,000 | 25,000 | 29,000 |
| Category D | 25,000 | 30,000 | 35,000 |
| Category E | 35,000 | 40,000 | 45,000 |
| Category F | 42,000 | 50,000 | 58,000 |
As you can see, the higher the category of the hotel, the more points you’ll need to redeem per night for your stay.
So when you earn a Category 1-4 Free Night Award, you can redeem it at the Hyatt Hotel Category 1, 2, 3, and 4. The same rule applies to earning and redeeming Free Night Award Categories 1-7 and 1-8. Aiming for the highest category or the most expensive cash rate to make the most value out of your award would be best.
💡 Good to know
When redeeming your Free Night Award for a multiple-night stay, apply it to the night that requires more points per night (peak night) to save points!
How to earn and redeem a Hyatt Free Night Award
Milestone awards
30 qualifying nights or 50,000 base points
After you stay 30 nights at any Hyatt hotel or earn 50,000 Base Points, you’ll receive one Category 1-4 Free Night Award. This certificate can be redeemed for a free night at any Hyatt property in Categories 1-4. It must be used within 180 days at participating hotels.
60 qualifying nights or 100,000 base points
Upon achieving Globalist status in the World of Hyatt program by staying 60 nights or earning 100,000 Base Points, you’ll receive one Category 1-7 Free Night Award. This can be used at any Category 1-7 Hyatt hotel or Category A-D all-inclusive resort within 180 days.
100 qualifying nights
When you reach 100 qualifying nights at Hyatt in a calendar year, you’ll earn another Category 1-7 Free Night Award to redeem in any participating Category 1-7 hotel or Category A-D all-inclusive resort. This award also expires within 180 days, so be sure to use it quickly.
150 qualifying nights
Hyatt’s top offered Free Night Award is the Ultimate Free Night Award after you stay 150 qualifying nights. This Award can be redeemed at any Category 1-8 hotel, Category A-F all-inclusive resort or Miraval wellness resort, and expires in 180 days.
Credit card awards
Chase World of Hyatt Card anniversary award
The World of Hyatt Credit Card from Chase offers a Category 1-4 Free Night Award each year after your account anniversary. You don’t need to stay any nights to earn this award, and it’s valid for one year from issuance. Read more about Maximizing Credit Card Free Night Awards here.
Chase World of Hyatt
The Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card gives you an automatic Discoverist status with Hyatt, which has valuable benefits such as a 2 pm late checkout and a daily bottle of water. Right now, you can earn 5 Free Night Awards when you open this card!
REWARDS RATE
1x-4x
BONUS VALUE
$1,500
SIGN-UP BONUS
5 Free Nights
ANNUAL FEE
$95
Chase World of Hyatt Spending Bonus
When you spend $15,000 on your World of Hyatt Credit Card in a calendar year, you’ll earn another Category 1-4 Free Night Award valid for one year.
Brand Explorer
Finally, when you stay at 5 different Hyatt brands (such as Hyatt Regency, Andaz, JdV, Grand Hyatt, and others), you get one Category 1-4 Free Night Certificate valid for one year. The Brand Explorer Bingo does not reset every year, however, by staying at any new five different Hyatt hotels, members can earn more awards.
Restrictions
Hyatt Free Night Awards must be redeemed before their expiration date. This means that for your stay, you need to check out before your award expires.
💡 Good to know
You can not combine Suite Upgrade Awards with Category 1-7, Category 1-4, or Ultimate Free Night Awards. Actually, that is one of the reasons we do not redeem our Free Night Award because we want to apply our SUA to the reservation to secure the Suite before our arrival.
However, you can use a Suite Upgrade Award for eligible nights that you have either paid for or redeemed points for a standard-room or club free night award, or a standard-room Points + Cash award.
Examples
Over the years, we have redeemed our Hyatt Free Night Awards at many great Hyatt properties. You can also apply several Free Night Awards to your reservation and use Hyatt points or cash for the rest of your stay.
Note that Hyatt has its annual Chart updates where some hotels change their Categories (some go up, while some go down). This means some of the Hyatt hotels are no longer in the Category to redeem the Award.
Here are some of the Hyatt properties we stayed at using the Free Night Award:
- Park Hyatt Istanbul – Maçka Palas. We redeemed our Category 1-4 Hyatt Free Night Award; this hotel is currently a Category 5 Hyatt hotel.
- Thompson Chicago. We redeemed our Category 1-4 Hyatt Free Night Award.
- Carmel Valley Ranch. We redeemed our Category 1-7 Hyatt Free Night Award; this hotel is currently a Category 8 Hyatt hotel.
- The Eliza Jane. We redeemed our Category 1-4 Hyatt Free Night Award; this hotel is currently a Category 5 Hyatt hotel.
- Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows. We redeemed our Category 1-7 Hyatt Free Night Award.
Bottom line
In summary, Hyatt’s Free Night Awards are a great perk of their loyalty program. You can earn certificates for free nights at Hyatt properties by reaching milestones like nights stayed or base points earned. The World of Hyatt credit card also provides anniversary and spending free nights. As you earn awards, strategically choose higher category Hyatt hotels to maximize their value. And remember to use the certificates before they expire! With thoughtful planning, Hyatt’s Free Night Awards can really pay off, providing free nights at properties you may not otherwise be able to afford.
