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Review: Grand Hyatt Dallas DFW
If you’re just tuning in, welcome! We just flew the GRANDE FINALE of the journey of a lifetime, one taking my family around the world on a surprise trip for my mom’s 75th birthday. From start to finish she’s had no idea where she was going until she received her boarding pass! If we hadn’t had points to take this trip it would have cost $125k, but we were able to do it for roughly $5k total – for all 3 people. In the past few weeks, both of my parents have experienced Cathay First, Singapore Suites, Singapore First, Etihad Apartments and we just landed from an incredible Lufthansa First Class flight from Frankfurt to Dallas. In fact, it was my dad’s favorite flight of the entire trip! It didn’t really seem humane for my parents to have to continue traveling – they’d just flown from Nice to Frankfurt to Dallas – they needed a break before continuing on. We booked a night’s stay for them in the Grand Hyatt Dallas DFW.
We chose the Grand Hyatt DFW because its unbelievably convenient – similar to the Crowne Plaza Singapore
Exit immigration and customs and BAM! You’re right there. It’s located in the International Terminal, D. You barely make your way into the terminal and you’re hopping on elevator to take you to check-in. There is a Hyatt Regency at the airport ( I stayed there a few years ago for an FTU), but the Grand Hyatt is nicer and far more convenient.
QUICK TIP
If you’re flying AA out of DFW, but not out of Terminal D, you can save yourself a lot of trouble by exiting the hotel and checking in in Terminal D. Then, with just your carry on luggage and boarding pass, go through security ( there is a TSA PRE there) and take the tram to whichever terminal your flight departs out of.
The Deets:
- When: April 2017
- Where: Dallas DFW
- Loyalty: World of Hyatt
- Status: Explorist
- Rate: $152
- Perks: Free Water + Wifi
The whole trip was geared to make things stress free and luxurious. Being able to go straight to a nice hotel after landing meant finishing on a high note.
From the time we grabbed our bags from Lufthansa ( they pull First Class passengers bags aside and escort you through) to the time my parents were in their room was less than 15 minutes. Immigration, Customs, Check-in, elevators, walking, everything. Yes, we could have saved $30 bucks by staying at the Hyatt Regency which is adjacent to Terminal C, but it would have meant schlepping a bunch of bags across the airport after a long day of travel, and doing it all over again the next day. This way…they were settled and could relax until the next day when they were off to Phoenix for a week ( I know…tough life 😉 )
Their Room:
And the bathroom with a stand alone shower.
The restaurant/ bar downstairs – “Grand Met”
Two Cool features that no one used: The rooftop pool and solid fitness center
As soon as I got my folks checked in I made a dash for my flight to LAX. I was scheduled to continue on to LAX through SFO, but I never rechecked my bags after the Lufthansa flight. I know, terrible, but it was going to take me another 9 hours to get LAX and had an early morning scheduled. While I was in-flight I found a much earlier flight on AA and booked it with points, but it was pretty tight, and I made it to the gate after they’d started boarding.
Overall:
Fabulous location and I would say pretty much on par with Grand Hyatts in the states. There is no club lounge at the hotel, but there is a decent restaurant, room service, a pool, fitness center, and the quality isn’t lacking just because it’s “an airport hotel.” Usually the Grand Hyatt is quite a bit more expensive than the Hyatt Regency, but this time it wasn’t a big jump, and totally worth it. Being able to exit customs and head straight to check-in is really cool. Then, the next day, being able to just leave the room, hop in the elevator, and go straight to check-in is a convenience that is certainly worth a premium.
You don’t have to stop here. Check out how we paid $5k and took a $125k Surprise trip Around The World to celebrate my Mom’s 75th
Flights:
- Boston to Beijing
- Beijing to Singapore
- Singapore to Bali Roundtrip
- Singapore to Dubai
- Abu Dhabi to Cannes, France
- Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi to London ($8k)
- Etihad Airways Business Studio A380 Abu Dhabi to London ( $3500-5k)
- British Airways Club Europe A321 London to Nice
- Cannes, France to Dallas
Hotels:
- Boston
- Beijing
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
- Club King ($250)
- Singapore
- Bali
- Singapore
- Dubai
- Abu Dhabi
- Cannes, France
- Dallas
- Grand Hyatt DFW ($150)
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
Lounges
- Boston
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Singapore
- Bali
- Singapore
- Abu Dhabi
- London
- Nice
- Frankfurt
Afternoon Tea
TIPS:
- When to look for Cathay award space
- How we booked 3 Singapore Suites
- 5 things we loved doing in Singapore that avoided the heat
- Never trust the concierge
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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