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Hyatt’s Milestone
So when you go to redeem your Hyatt Free Night Awards, how can you be sure Hyatt pulls the right certificate from your account? It’s a small detail that can make a big difference — helping you unlock better value now and save your most flexible awards for future high-end stays.
Here's how to make sure you're using the right Hyatt Free Night Award at the right time.
Different Types of Hyatt Free Night Awards
Travelers earn several types of Free Night Awards through the
- Free Night Award (Category 1-4): Redeemable at Category 1 through 4 hotels.
- Free Night Award (Category 1–7): Valid at Category 1 through 7 hotels or all-inclusive resorts A through D.
- Ultimate Free Night Award (Category 1–8): Usable at Category 1 through 8 hotels or all-inclusive resorts A through F, and Miraval resorts.
- Brand Explorer Free Night Award (Category 1–4): Redeemable at Category 1 through 4 hotels.
Hyatt generally defaults to using the certificate that expires soonest, but that may not always be the one you want to use. Since each award has a different redemption ceiling, it pays to be strategic.
For example, if you're booking a Category 3 hotel, you're better off using a Category 1–4 Free Night Award and saving a Category 1–7 or Ultimate Free Night Award for a higher-category property.
How To Earn Hyatt Free Night Awards
Along the way to elite status, Hyatt offers Free Night Awards through Milestone Rewards along with benefits like Suite Upgrade Awards, Club Access Awards, and Guest of Honor Awards. Each has its own expiration and best-use strategies.
But let's focus on how you'll earn Free Night Awards:
- Free Night Award (Category 1-4): Earned after 30 qualifying nights or 50,000 Base Points.
- Free Night Award (Category 1-7): Earned after 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 Base Points, with another awarded after 100 qualifying nights.
- Ultimate Free Night Award (Category 1-8): Earned after 150 qualifying nights.
- Brand Explorer Free Night Award: Earn a Category 1–4 Free Night Award for every five unique Hyatt brands you stay with over the lifetime of your membership.
In addition, cardholders of The World of Hyatt Credit Card receive a Category 1–4 Free Night Award each year after their cardmember anniversary. You can earn an additional Category 1-4 free night certificate each year you spend $15,000 on the card.
- Earn up to 60,000 Bonus Points. Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.
- Enjoy complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as your account is open.
- Get 1 free night each year after your Cardmember anniversary at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort
- Receive 5 tier qualifying night credits towards status after account opening, and each year after that for as long as your account is open
- Earn an extra free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel if you spend $15,000 in a calendar year
- Earn 2 qualifying night credits towards tier status every time you spend $5,000 on your card
- Earn up to 9 points total for Hyatt stays - 4 Bonus Points per $1 spent on qualified purchases at Hyatt hotels & up to 5 Base Points per $1 from Hyatt as a World of Hyatt member
- Earn 2 Bonus Points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting and on fitness club and gym memberships
- Member FDIC
- Up to 9X points total per $1 spent at Hyatt - 4X points per $1 when you use your card at Hyatt hotels & 5X points per $1 you can earn as a World of Hyatt member
- 2X points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airlines tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting and on fitness club and gym memberships
- 1X point per $1 everywhere else
When do Hyatt Free Night Awards expire?
Most Hyatt Free Night Awards earned through Milestone Rewards expire 180 days from the date they're issued. Brand Explorer Free Night Awards are more generous, giving you one year from the date of issuance.
Keep in mind that these awards must be used for a stay with a checkout date on or before the expiration date.
Track your World of Hyatt Free Night Award expiration and get email alerts before they expire by signing up for a free AwardWallet account and linking your World of Hyatt account.
How Do You Make Sure Hyatt Pulls the Right Certificate?
Since Hyatt awards must be used for stays with a checkout date on or before their expiration, it’s important to apply the right one. Fortunately, there are a few ways to choose which award you use.
On the Hyatt mobile app
This is my favorite, and possibly the most millennial way to ensure you’re applying the right award.
Start by opening your Hyatt app, selecting “Account,” then tapping on the “Awards” tab. This will display all of your available awards and show their expiration dates.
To make sure you're using the right award, just tap on the award you've decided on and then tap “Redeem.”
From there, enter your destination and dates to search for an eligible stay.
Alternatively, you can start a reservation as usual from the “Book” tab. Enter your destination and dates, then choose your preferred room and rate.
On the Rooms & Rates screen, you'll see an “Available Awards” section if you have eligible awards. If you have more than one, they'll appear with their respective expiration dates.
Select the award you want to use and complete your reservation.
Call Hyatt directly or go through My Hyatt Concierge
You can also call Hyatt directly to have a specific award applied to your reservation. Members can contact the Global Care Center, while Globalists with access to a My Hyatt Concierge can reach out to their concierge.
While this is definitely an option, you won’t get real-time visual confirmation that the correct award was used until after it’s been applied. So it's more of a “trust but verify” situation. After booking, double-check your account to make sure the intended award was applied.
On the Hyatt website
If you’re more comfortable using Hyatt’s website, know that it's not the best (or easiest) way to use your awards. In my experience, the site typically defaults to applying the award that is closest to expiring, which may or may not be the one you actually want to use.
There is a workaround that involves using the certificates you want to save on placeholder bookings, leaving only the award you want available for your actual reservation. You can then cancel the placeholder reservations to have those awards redeposited.
While we've seen anecdotal reports of this working, we don't recommend it. Using the app or calling Hyatt is far simpler and leaves less room for mistakes.
Bottom Line
The World of Hyatt
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
