WHERE TO USE THE CATEGORY 1-4 HYATT FREE NIGHT CERTIFICATE

HyattRedeeming Points
Written By Stacy Mantellini

We’ve used our Hyatt FNA five times at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile

Hotel credit cards don’t get quite enough attention in my mind. While I recommend that the bulk of your points should be flexible or transferable points, I also teach that you should diversify your points. That means you want a variety of points from different banks, airlines and hotels.


We love our hotel credit cards. My husband and I have over 10 hotel cards between us. Each card gives us a free night award every year that we keep the card and pay the annual fee. That’s almost two weeks a year of discounted hotel nights. 


Is it REALLY A FREE NIGHt?

The banks call it a free night award (FNA) as an incentive for us to keep the credit card and pay the annual fee each year. So, while it doesn’t really make it a ‘free night award’ because we’re paying $95 a year to keep it, it does offer significant savings each year. If you plan it right, you can get much greater value out of that FNA than the annual fee. We consistently use our FNA’s for rooms that book for greater than $450-$500 a night.


HOW TO EARN THE HYATT FREE NIGHT AWARD

Hyatt has one of the most popular hotel programs among points travelers because redemptions are low. You can book a free night at a Hyatt for as low as 3,500 points a night or a $400 a night room for 15k points. Hyatt is also a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards® (our favorite points currency) which makes it easy to earn a lot of points for. 


There are two Hyatt credit cards but only one of them earns the annual free night award. This card is a keeper. My husband and I have each held ours since 2015.


The World of Hyatt Credit Card (click Categories>Hotel) Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Annual Fee: $95. Highlights of the card:

  • Receive one free night at any Category 1–4 Hyatt hotel or resort every year after your cardmember anniversary.

  • Earn an extra free night at any Category 1–4 Hyatt hotel or resort if you spend $15,000 during your cardmember anniversary year.

Don’t have a World of Hyatt credit card?

Another way to earn a free night certificate is to stay at five different Hyatt brands (Hyatt Brand Explorer). Hyatt has many different brands, like the Andaz, Destination by Hyatt, Hyatt House, Hyatt Regency, etc. all qualify.

Also, if you have 30 qualifying nights or earn 50,000 base points in a calendar year, you can earn a free category 1-4 certificate.


OTHER WAYS TO EARN HYATT POINTS

We often book longer stays by combining our FNA’s with point stays. I’ll book two free nights with both of our free night awards and then extend our stays by transferring points from our Chase account to Hyatt.

These cards all earn points that transfer to Hyatt:

  • World of Hyatt Business Card (click Category>Hotel)- Earn 60,000 Hyatt points after spending $5,000 in the first three months of account opening. Note that this card does not offer the annual free night award.

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - This card earns points that can be transferred to multiple airlines and hotels, including Hyatt. Earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

  • Ink Business Cash® Credit Card - you must have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, or the Ink Preferred to transfer points to Hyatt from this card.

  • Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card - This card earns Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to Hyatt.

  • Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card - You must have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, or the Ink Preferred to transfer points to Hyatt from this card.


    HOW TO FIND YOUR FREE NIGHT AWARD

 

Desktop view

 

On a desktop:

  • Log into your Hyatt Account

  • Click the arrow beside your name on the top right

  • Select “My Awards”

  • Your FNA should be here, with the expiration date


On the Hyatt app:

  • Log into your account on the App

  • Click on the Account ‘face’ icon on the bottom right

  • Click on Awards - your FNA will be here

 

On the Hyatt app: Log in, click on ‘Awards”, you’ll see your free night cert here if you have one

 


HOW TO BOOK YOUR HYATT FREE NIGHT AWARD


Just because you have a free night award doesn’t mean you will always find award availability. Just like normal award bookings, these ‘free night’ awards can also sell out quickly.


When conducting award searches, you must see “Standard Room Free Night” in the booking window in order to use your FNA for that night. These rooms typically book for 12,000-15,000 a night. 

 

You must see “Standard Room Free Night” in order to redeem your Hyatt FNA

 

Booking Tips:

  • Use the “Find your Hyatt” feature where you can sort by category and location. You want to search for Category 1-4 properties.

  • Search one night at a time

  • If you don’t see availability for four people, try an occupancy of three, then two, and so on. Most Hyatt’s in Europe and Asia only fit two people.

 

You can filter your search by Category in the “Find your Hyatt” tool

 


Pro Tip: I love the hotel award search tool maxmypoint. It shows award availability and really saves me hours of searching. It doesn’t update in real time so there may be cases where you see an open date on maxmypoint.com and not on hyatt.com. I still think it’s a great place to start. 


CATEGORY 1-4 HYATT PROPERTIES THAT WE HAVE STAYED AT:


Since we have held our Hyatt credit card for over eight years, we have been able to use our FNA’s at some pretty amazing properties. Remember, the FNA can only be used at Category 1-4 Hyatt properties. 

Sadly, some of our favorite Category 4 properties like The Hyatt Regency Amsterdam, Hyatt Place Moab and the Hyatt Place Old Port in old town Portland, Maine, have gone up to a Category 5 recently.

UNITED STATES

We redeemed our FNA at the HR Mission Bay in July 2024

California:

  • Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina  - San Diego. Cash rates start around $350/night. We stayed here while we attended our son’s graduation from Marine Corps Boot Camp in 2018 and again in July 2024. Rooms were spacious and hotel has huge resort style pool. Close to the beach and Sea World.

Connecticut:

  • Hyatt Place Mystic -Cash rates can run over $500/night at this property during popular leaf peeping season. Located just down the road from Historic Mystic and the fabulous Mystic Seaport Museum.

Massachusetts:

  • Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor - Located by the airport (free airport shuttle), this is a fantastic property to stay at before an early morning flight or after arriving from a late flight. In my opinion it’s too far from Boston to stay here during a multi-day visit. The views of Boston are wonderful.

Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor

South Carolina:

  • Hyatt House Charleston/Historic District - This property is connected to the Hyatt Place Charleston, and they share a breakfast area/bar and swimming pool.  Rooms are big enough for families of five and within walking distance to Historic Charleston. 

Texas:

Washington, D.C.

Rooftop pool at the Hyatt Place Washington, D.C./National Mall

EUROPE

France:

  • Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - My favorite Hyatt hotel. I’ve stayed here over six times. Each stay we used our annual free night awards. You can’t beat staying in Paris for just 15k-18k points a night in a room that books for over $400 a night.

Tokyo:

  • Hyatt Regency Tokyo - Cash rates start around $350/night. We used our two FNA’s here on our last trip to Japan. Great location - just a short walk to Shinjuku Central Park, the Tokyo Met Government Office (free overlook) and the Golden Gai. Free airport shuttle. Walking distance to Shinjuku Station


OTHER TOP CHOICES 

Views from the swimming pool at the Hyatt Vacation Club at Pinon Pointe in Sedona, AZ

United States

Arizona:

  • Hyatt Vacation Club at Pinon Point - Sedona, AZ - The FNA can only be used on their studio units that have a queen and sleeper sofa. Each unit has a kitchen.

  • Hyatt Place Scottsdale/Old Town - Perfect homebase for visiting Phoenix/Scottsdale. Close to Spring Training and my favorite Desert Botanical Gardens

  • Hyatt Place Page/Lake Powell - This is a perfect spot if you're visiting Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and continuing on to Zion or the Grand Canyon. Rooms sleep five and cash rates in summer start at $270/n.

California:

Chicago:

  • Hyatt Regency Chicago - We love Chicago. Our faves are the Shedd Aquarium, Skydeck Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum, etc. So much to do.

Colorado:

  • Hyatt Place Keystone/Dillon - Fantastic property for a ski vacation or summer in the mountains. Use your FNA and extend your stay starting at just 12k Hyatt points/night

  • Hyatt Place Boulder/Pearl Street -We just stayed her in July. Rooms are spacious and we had a great free breakfast included. Covered parking. CU campus and Pearl Street Mall are about a 5 minute drive away.

District of Columbia:

Florida:

  • Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort - (pictured above) This property is close to Disney World and has a fantastic resort style pool. Free shuttle to Disney and Universal. Tons of availability. You can extend your stay with points. Award nights range from 12k to 18k a night.

Georgia:

Illinois:

Oklahoma:

The Fordson Hotel in Oklahoma City is a hidden gem

Hawaii:

  • Hyatt Place Waikiki - Located a block or so from the beach, this property is a great option for families as it sleeps up to five people. Award nights are difficult to find. You want to find and book a year in advance

Texas:

Rooftop pool at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk

Washington:


INTERNATIONAL CATEGORY 1-4 HYATT PROPERTIES

Australia:

Canada:

Hyatt Regency Vancouver

France:

  • Hyatt Place Rouen - Coming soon - keep your eye out for this property. We love Rouen and stay there while visiting Normandy. The historic city center is lined with half-timbered buildings and is so charming.

  • Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile - mentioned above in properties we’ve stayed in

Greece:

  • Grand Hyatt Athens - with views of the Acropolis from the rooftop pool this is a popular property for those visiting Greece.

Views of the Acropolis from the pool at the Grand Hyatt Athens

Hong Kong:

Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong

Italy:

Istanbul:

Mexico:

Thompson Playa del Carmen Main House

Taiwan

Thailand

Tokyo:

United Kingdom:

  • Hyatt Regency London City East - Cash rates start at $300 a night for this property. While not located in city center, this is a fabulous value for your annual FNA


GOOD TO KNOW

  • Hyatt FNA’s are good for twelve months beginning at the card member anniversary after you have paid your second annual fee. They cannot be extended

  • Hyatt FNA’s cannot be topped off with points like Marriott or IHG free night certificates

  • If you are a World of Hyatt member (it’s free to join) you will not have to pay resort fees when you book with points or use your FNA

  • Don’t forget to search for Category 1-3 properties. Many of these properties have cash rates over $250 a night which I think is still a great value for our $95 FNA.


Happy Travels!

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Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

 
 
 
Stacy Mantellini
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