Should you purchase Hyatt Points for a 30% bonus?

Through December 10, 2014 Hyatt Gold Passport is offering a 30% bonus on purchased points. The bonus applies to purchases of 5,000 points or more. Up to 55,000 points can be purchased per calendar year. So should you purchase Hyatt points during the 30% bonus point promotion? Unless you have an upcoming stay that is less than a month away and absolutely need those points, I wouldn’t bother, for the following reasons:

No Category Bonuses

Hyatt Gold Passport point purchases are processed by Points.com, so you will not earn extra points for using a rewards card with a travel category bonus. It makes more sense to take the cash you’d spend on points and use it on a paid stay instead…

Money is Better Spent on a Paid Stay

The cost of purchasing the minimum eligible 5,000 points (which comes with a 1,500 point bonus) is $120. These points are enough for a Category 1 hotel. Considering a night at a Category 1 hotel goes for around the same amount, you’re better off paying for the stay outright rather than buying points. This way, you’re also earning points, which can add up during a bonus point promotion.

Just looking to top off your account for a higher category hotel stay or to bump yourself up to a better room? T then it might make sense to buy points. But only if the cost of buying points is significantly less than the cost of paying cash. And if you would normally consider paying the cash rate.

Sometimes people get too caught up in value and think, “I’m saving $1,000 at the Park Hyatt Paris. Buying $552 worth of points for a stay makes sense.” Only if you would, in fact, pay $552 for a hotel stay. Personally, I would never buy more than 1,000 – 3,000 Gold points. It just doesn’t make sense to pay more than $72 for points if I could instead use that money to cover a stay. Especially, with 10% discount Hyatt is currently offering on gift card purchases.

Book Points + Cash

Thanks to Hyatt’s introduction of Points + Cash awards, there’s rarely ever a need to top off your account for an award. Or to book an all-points award, period. As I’ve outlined in a previous post, in terms of spending (manufactured or otherwise) it’s always cheaper to book a Hyatt stay on Points + Cash rather than redeeming a point award. With the fewer points required for a Points + Cash award, you’re better off saving that $72+ and putting it towards the cash portion of a P+C award than using it to earn more miles. Another advantage of booking Points + Cash? You’re eligible to earn points and use your Diamond suite upgrade certificates on your stay.

You Can Generate Points for Less

Have a week or so before your Chase statement closes and before your stay needs to be booked, pick up a couple of gift cards to earn those points for less. Those 6,500 points selling for $120? You can earn the same number of points for $38.35 by purchasing Simon Mall Visa gift cards instead.

Under the present circumstances, when Hyatt is offering a generous bonus point promotion, a discount on gift cards, the option of Points + Cash awards, and the cost of generating points is far less, buying 5,000+ points really isn’t necessary.