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World of Hyatt has seen major changes recently with an overhaul as of March 1, 2017, followed by its first promotion last week. Apparently, World of Hyatt is now aiming to compete with the likes of SPG and Marriott and is introducing its first experiential award redemptions.
AFAR Experiences Tokyo & World of Hyatt
The first World of Hyatt experience is offered through AFAR experiences Tokyo. The experiences feature discussing art with museum curators, learning from local art aficionados, as well as fine dining with some of the finest and most innovative chefs in Tokyo. While the exact details of the experiences have yet to be confirmed, the site announced that these should be released soon. The key terms of the offer are as follows:
- The experience date is from November 10-13, 2017
- There are 75 spots available
In terms of payment, there are three packages you can choose from; two point redemptions and one is a cash-only package:
- 200,000 points will give you four nights at the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, in a single occupancy standard room. You will also have access to one of the experiences.
- 300,000 points will give you the same four nights as above, in addition to access to two of the experiences.
- $3,900 will give you access to all the experiences, but exclude accommodation, transportation, and airfare. There will be a discounted rate available at the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills.
Our Take
This could be a great opportunity to sample some of the delights of Tokyo and discover some great cultural or dining experiences. In terms of value, you are best of using points for the booking, since the advance purchase rate for a standard room at the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills will set you back $2,750.
If you are short on points, remember that World of Hyatt is a transfer partner for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, as well as the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, at a ratio of 1:1. With limited spots available, if you are thinking of taking advantage of this offer it is worth signing up for the redemption sooner rather than later since they will likely go quickly.
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Sounds like a terrible value based on the price and penalty for cancellation. Andaz is a category 6 and you can get the same nights for 2 for only 100,000. Will pass.
Always great to see options, but no thanks. I’ll stick to using my points where I get the most value.
Since the whole “World of Hyatt” conversion, I’m kind of soured on the program in general. Focusing on Marriott/SPG, with some Club Carlson thrown in for at least the next couple of years, as we have a Spain/Portugal trip on the Horizon, and Hyatt is worthless there anyway.
I love to see more redemption options!
I do see most hotels doing these experiences now. You think they are just trying to have people burn points? Don’t get me wrong, I like the extra options! I love all the options that Marriott has too! All the experiences and items.
Hyatt has always asked for a ton of points, this included. Looks like they’re just trying to say they offer another option when in reality it’s not practical for most people!
Need to do a lot more to get in the same league as SPG!
I guess the value for points depends on exactly what they are offering. 200K Hyatt points is a VERY big chunk of points
Seems like a great experience, but I don’t have that many points!
In theory this sounds great! However, I do not come close to having 200,000 Hyatt points and I am saving my miles to go to Europe.
I find this article rather fascinating. Gives me a whole new perspective about my miles/points hobby.
Meh. Color me not impressed.
This probably won’t appeal to most Americans, but there will be a market nonetheless probably. But regardless, it’s a step in the right direction and the uniqueness of the package is pretty nice and hopefully a sign of things to come.
Nice to dream about these options, way too high a points price for me 🙂
I’ve received emails from AFAR for some time now. Although I have yet to avail myself of one, they do appear to have some intriguing offerings. This could be a interesting partnership going forward.
I wonder if the effort to put these things together really pays off, especially since 99%+ of Hyatt members probably don’t have 300K points or the ability to visit Tokyo in November so won’t give this a second glance…