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As the 2022 version of Hyatt Bonus Journeys begins, we wanted to take a look back at what I accomplished with Bonus Journeys 2021.
I couldn't believe it when I realized that earning Free Night Awards, Bonus Points, and even a Suite Upgrade Award could be accomplished with just a minor shuffling of a few reservations. At first glance, the second iteration of Hyatt Bonus Journeys wasn't nearly as generous as the first. So why would I alter our reservations around this new promotion, which I'd previously brushed aside? For the benefits, of course!
If you're interested in digging further into promotions like this, come join us over in our Facebook community, Award Travel 101. We have daily discussions on maximizing programs, promotions, and more!
World of Hyatt Bonus Journeys 2021
The second iteration of Hyatt Bonus Journeys promotion ran from March 1, 2021 through June 15, 2021. I want to share my experience and how I was able to maximize this promotion.
Earn Bonus Points on Cash or Award Rates
Our family completed four nights at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa. I mentioned in that review that both my wife and I are 60+ night Globalist members. Therefore, I often weigh out which one of us can get greater incremental value before deciding whose name a reservation should be placed in. At the time of writing, my wife had 69 nights, and I was at 75. With her four-night head start and multiple bonuses available to her, it made more sense to chase those in her name.
As part of this promotion, all World of Hyatt members earned 2,000 points for every two eligible nights stayed during Bonus Journeys in 2021. And yes, award stays counted! If you stayed two nights at a 5,000 per night Hyatt Place, you'd receive 2,000 back. That's a 20% discount. The World of Hyatt Credit Card cardholders were also eligible for an additional 500 points for every two nights.
In addition to this 4-night stay, we had a 5-night stay coming up at a brand new Mission Pacific (Joie de Vivre). These 9 nights put us one night short of two bonuses. By adding just one more night, we'd earn an additional 2,000 World of Hyatt points — pushing us to a total of 10,000 WOH points for the promotion. Plus, we would also earn a Category 1-4 Free Night Award, good for properties up to 15,000 points.
Earn A Free Night Award After 10 Nights
What would a hotel promotion be without the opportunity to earn more free nights? Bonus Journeys offered members a free night certificate for staying 10 nights (or more) on an eligible paid rate, points booking, or use of a Free Night Award. This free night certificate was a Category 1-4 Free Night Award — worth up to 15K points.
Prior to the realization that we were close to another Free Night Award, I also had upcoming one-night stays at Marriott and another at Hyatt. I decided to shuffle those nights around by canceling the Marriott night and rebooking us at a nearby Hyatt (in my wife's name) AND converting my existing reservation over to her. This would push her from 9 Elite Night Credits to 11.
I'll share more on why I switched my reservations below.
Brand Explorer
An interesting aspect of the World Of Hyatt program is that it awards a Category 1-4 Free Night Award after you've completed stays at 5 of their brands. World of Hyatt currently has 18 brands — meaning you can earn three Brand Explorer awards for the time being.
Before these stays, my wife only completed stays at Hyatt Place and Hyatt Regency. But, with these upcoming trips, she had the ability to knock out this first round fairly easily.
Add the stay at Mission Pacific (a brand new Joie de Vivre) and she reached three brands. We needed two other brands to get that Brand Explorer Free Night Award. Since I'd had a night booked at a Marriott Renaissance to meet up with friends, I canceled that and rebooked her into a nearby Hyatt House. That's four brands!
Since the last night of our upcoming trip is using a Category 1-4 Free Night Award at a Grand Hyatt, I swapped that out, so that she'd get credit instead of me. That's five brands — Free Night Award here we come!
Milestone Benefits
Starting at 20 nights, Hyatt awards members for every 10 Elite Night Credits they complete. With 70 nights just around the corner, we had an opportunity to select between two choices: 10,000 bonus points or a Suite Upgrade Award (SUA).
With the explosion of interest in hotel bookings, we are taking every Suite Upgrade Award we can get. 10,000 points could be valuable, too. But, with two kids, we find the extra space that Suite Upgrade Awards can provide to be much more valuable than 10K points.
Unlike Marriott Suite Night Awards, a Hyatt Suite Upgrade Award can be applied to a reservation the moment it's booked — even if it's more than a year into the future. Additionally, these are valid for up to seven (7) full nights, provided that a Standard Suite is available. While the savings may vary, our experience has been that SUAs provide $400-600 per night in savings when compared to cash rates.
Final Thoughts
Maximizing Hyatt Bonus Journeys in 2021 provided us with more benefits than I'd initially expected. By switching those two nights around, we managed to pick up the following:
- Category 1-4 Free Night Award: earned from spending 10 nights during the promotion period
- 10,000 bonus points: from spending 10 nights during the promotion period, earned at a rate of 2,000 bonus points per two nights spent
- Category 1-4 Free Night Award: for knocking off five different brand properties (Brand Explorer)
- 10,000 points or a Suite Upgrade Award Milestone Benefit — as the Milestone Benefit for reaching 70 nights for the year
That's a lot for just shifting a couple of nights. So, whether it's the new 2022 Hyatt Bonus Journeys promotion or another hotel promotion, it may be worth re-examining some of your upcoming reservations to determine if you too earn more and get greater value.
Have you ever done something similar? Are you excited about Bonus Journeys 2022?
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I am at 13 different brands and have earned 2 free nights so far. Getting harder to get the final free night as we don’t have plans for Mexico or China.
Forgot about the brand explorer bonus. We’ve stayed at 4 so one more for an extra free night. Thanks for the reminder.