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Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards program offers a variety of Free Night Awards as you climb the tiers of elite status — and beyond. But, not all certificates are created equal. Some are valid only at Category 1–4 hotels, while others can be redeemed at Hyatt’s top-tier properties worldwide.
So when you go to redeem a Free Night Award, 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 are our tips for how to utilize the right Hyatt Free Night Award at the right time.
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Different Types of Hyatt Free Night Awards
Travelers earn several different types of Free Night Awards through the World of Hyatt program:
- 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.
- Brand Explorer Free Night Award (Category 1–4): Redeemable at Category 1 through 4 hotels.
Hyatt’s system will generally default to using the certificate that expires soonest, but that may not always be the one you want to use. Since each of these awards has a different ceiling (in terms of value), it’s smart to be strategic.
For example, if you're booking a Category 3 hotel, it's better to use a Category 1–4 Free Night Award and save your Category 1–7 or Ultimate Free Night Awards for higher-value bookings later on.
How to Earn Hyatt Free Night Awards
Along the way to elite status, Hyatt also gives out awards through Milestone Rewards. These include Suite Upgrade Awards, Club Access Awards, and Guest of Honor Awards. Each of these has its own expiration timelines and best-use strategies. But let's focus on how you'll earn Free Night Awards:
- Free Night Award (Category 1-4): Earned upon completing 30 qualifying nights. It expires 180 days after the award is chosen.
- Free Night Award (Category 1-7): The first is earned when reaching 60 qualifying nights, the second upon reaching 100 qualifying nights. It expires 180 days after the award is chosen.
- Ultimate Free Night Award (Category 1-8): Earned when achieving 150 qualifying nights. It expires 180 days after the award is chosen. It expires 180 days after the award is chosen.
- Brand Explorer Free Night Award: Earned after staying at five different brands within the Hyatt portfolio. Expires 1 year from the date of issuance.
In addition, cardholders of The World of Hyatt Credit Card receive a Category 1–4 free night certificate each year just for holding the card and paying the annual fee. 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
- Rates & Fees
- 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?
Thanks to all of the ways you can earn Hyatt Free Night Awards, expiration dates will be relative to the date on which you received or selected the award. Each one you earn will have a different expiration date based on when you earned it.
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. There are a few ways to ensure you’re using the right Hyatt award, and it generally depends on the award you’re trying to use.
On the Hyatt mobile app
This is my favorite, and possibly the most millennial way to ensure you’re applying the right award.
You can start by opening your Hyatt app and heading straight for your ‘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.'
The next screen you’ll be presented with is the search functionality, so that you can select your desired destination and dates to make your booking.
An alternative way of using your awards is to flip those previous steps around and start by following the normal steps to book a reservation. In the ‘Book' tab, select the destination and dates, choose your preferred room type and rates.
When you get to the Rooms & Rates screen, if you have any awards that can be applied to this reservation, you’ll see an ‘Available Awards’ section listing your awards. If you have multiple, they’ll all show with their respective expiration dates.
All you have to do is select the award you want to use and finish making the reservation, guaranteeing the right award was used.
Call Hyatt directly or go through My Hyatt Concierge
Another way to make sure you're using the right award is by calling Hyatt directly. It might not be as easy as using the app, but it beats using the website. Members can contact the Global Care Center, while Globalists can reach out to their My Hyatt Concierge to have the right award applied to a reservation.
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. You’ll notice one award disappear from your account, and you'll want to double-check that it was the one you intended to use.
On the Hyatt website
If you’re more comfortable using Hyatt’s website, know that it is not the best (or easiest) way to use your awards. The site typically defaults to applying the award that is closest to expiring, which may not be the one you actually want to use.
There is a convoluted way to force the website to pull the right Free Night Award, but we strongly advise against it. It involves making future bookings using the certificates you may want to save, so that the only one left is the award you want to use for your actual reservation.
Once the right award is applied, you can then go back and cancel those placeholder bookings to have your other awards redeposited. But again, this is not something we recommend. With far better options available, there’s really no reason to go this route. It adds a lot of extra steps and opens the door to mistakes, like accidentally booking a non-cancellable rate or making a mess of your reservations.
Bottom Line
The World of Hyatt loyalty program can be rather rewarding if you know which levers to pull. By understanding both the potential value and expiration date of your certificates, you can make sure you’re using them wisely. That way, you’re always getting the most from your hard-earned rewards without worrying about leaving anything on the table.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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