Each year at the 40-night mark, World of Hyatt members can select another Milestone Award, which is either a US$100 gift card, 5000 WOH points, or a US$150 discount on an Find Experience Package.
I just reached my 40th night and I decided to go for the $100 gift card again as it’s the most logical and valuable choice given that I’m currently in North America to use it, but what about the other options!?
When Hyatt revamped their loyalty program into World of Hyatt they also introduced Milestone Awards, which reward members on their way up the status ladder throughout the membership year. I found this new system to be very profitable, especially the free night awards in between.
You can access World of Hyatt Benefits and Milestones schedule here.
The 40 nights threshold is one of the few where you can actually choose which award you’d like to have deposited into the account. The next choices can be made for 70/80/90/100 nights with the selection being either a suite upgrade or 10,000 points (I’d always choose the points).
The email that’s being sent to members offers the same choices as listed and the award will be distributed instantly.
I consider only option one (Gift Card) and two (points) as worthwhile alternatives here and decided to choose the US$100 gift card. The issue here is to determine which selection provides the best value.
If you don’t want to lose much time over it then either way it’s pretty much a wash as it’s almost always possible to find a 2 cent per point redemption value when redeeming Hyatt points in a sensible manner. It’s also a very universal currency that can be used worldwide while the gift card has strict geographical limitations on it (available to use in the Americas only):
Hyatt eGift Cards are issued by Hyatt Fulfilment of Maryland, Inc. and can be redeemed at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts in the Americas
Hyatt Gift Card (valid at participating Hyatt hotels in the Americas, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean)
If this limitation creates a problem for you then the choice is clear to pick the points as your award choice.
In my case, I choose the $100 gift card as I’m staying to the U.S. next month where I have the option of redeeming the $100 for pretty much 2/3 of a free night at one of my usual hotels where I like to stay. Those would cost me at least 12,000 in points per night, so I feel like the gift card gives me the best value here especially since I’m earning additional points for the entire revenue of this stay.
There was a slight change this year as far as option three is concerned. Previously Hyatt offered a 10,000 points discount for booking an experience package. Now it’s a $150 credit. I’ve never used one and likely never will but that’s something to keep in mind if it interests you.
Conclusion
It’s a nice extra to be able to pick pretty much a free night at a medium-range property just for hitting 40 nights with WOH, especially as with 30 I already received a free night at a Cat 4 property. The next free night Cat 1-7 would be at 60 nights when re-qualifying for Globalist, but since that’s not necessarily required this year (BILT Rewards Challenge) I adjusted my stay pattern for now. I might still end up with 60+ nights this year but the 40 night threshold was easy.
As far as the gift card is concerned, there are a few properties at the 5,000 and 8,000 points level where it’ll be easy to exceed the $100 value by selecting the points. For myself, I’ll just make the giftcard work as outlined above.
What would you pick?