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Hyatt Hotels is currently in the middle of launching its new loyalty programme ‘World of Hyatt’. One positive aspect of the changes is the opportunity to earn a free Hyatt stay at any Category 1-4 hotel after staying at 5 different Hyatt brands.

Stays have to be booked using cash or cash + points (no points bookings) to qualify towards the free night certificate. Only stays from 1st March onwards count, and it’s a once in the lifetime of your account (not annual) offer. Participating brands are as follows:

• Park Hyatt
• Grand Hyatt
• Hyatt Regency
• Hyatt
• Andaz
• Hyatt Centric
• The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
• Hyatt Place
• Hyatt House
• Hyatt Zilara
• Hyatt Ziva
• Hyatt Residence Club

Hitting 5 Hyatt brands in Europe is going to be tough (and probably expensive), but if you have a trip to the US (maybe using the new absurdly cheap Norwegian Air flights!), then it could be done quite easily and affordably.

I would focus on the Hyatt House, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt and Andaz brands, although some Park Hyatt hotels aren’t as expensive as you might think (Hamburg, Toronto etc).

The good news is that there doesn’t seem to be any time restriction in the terms – you don’t have to stay at all 5 brands in a year.

Technically, you could actually earn a second free stay certificate for staying at 10 brands, but I can’t see many people actually managing that.

I think a better way to get a second certificate (if you normally travel with a partner) would be to simply make sure that you split any 2+ night stays into separate reservations, so you both get a qualifying brand added to your account.

Hyatt is a bit of a conundrum for UK-based ‘travel hackers’ – it has historically offered the best elite benefits (for relatively few stays), has some stunning properties, decent Points earning and redemption options, and is beloved by all the big US blogs, but there just aren’t very many Hyatt hotels in Europe and rates tend to be relatively high.

The changes to the loyalty programme make earning top-level elite status much harder and unless you spend a lot of time in the US or Asia, I think it’s probably now beyond all but the most ardent European Hyatt devotees.

Bottom line

Getting a 1-night free Hyatt stay at a Category 1-4 hotel is hardly earth-shattering, but it could be worth at least ~£250 if used smartly (eg. random dates: Grand Hyatt Seattle: $380, Hyatt Regency Boston: $421 ).

Terms

Earning a 5-Brand Free Night Award. Qualifying stays for a 5-Brand Free Night Award are measured over the life of a Member’s Program membership, beginning on March 1, 2017. A Member may earn a “5-Brand Free Night Award” after paying an Eligible Rate for a completed stay of one (1) night or more at five (5) different Hyatt brands, namely: Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Centric, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Ziva, or Hyatt Residence Club. No other brand counts toward earning this award. Hotels or resorts within The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, while independently branded, will constitute a single Hyatt brand for purposes of earning a 5-Brand Free Night Award.  For example, a Member would earn a 5-Brand Free Night Award after paying an Eligible Rate for five (5) total one-night stays as follows: one at a Park Hyatt hotel, one at a Grand Hyatt hotel, one at a Hyatt Regency hotel, one at an Andaz hotel, and one at a Hyatt Centric hotel. A Member who previously earned a 5-Brand Free Night Award may earn a second award only upon completing qualifying stays at another group of five (5) different participating Hyatt hotel brands. (That is, if you stay at a Park Hyatt hotel and that stay counts towards your first 5-brand Free Night Award, future stays at any Park Hyatt hotel or resort will not count towards a second 5-brand Free Night Award.) If accounts are merged, stay and award history will be consolidated for the purposes of calculating 5-brand Free Night Awards.

B. Redeeming a 5-Brand Free Night Award. A 5-Brand Free Night Award is redeemable for waiver of the room rate for one (1) night in a standard room, only when standard rooms are available at the Standard Rate at the selected hotel or resort. 5-brand Free Night Awards are redeemable only for Category 1-4 hotels and resorts and are not valid at M life Resorts. 5-Brand Free Night Awards are valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance. 5-Brand Free Night Awards are not subject to blackout dates at Hyatt hotels and resorts.