Hotels

How using Ultimate Rewards for a Hyatt Place has been one of my most valuable redemptions

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I thought it apropos to tell this story on Father’s Day since it involved fulfilling a bucket list trip for my dad. This past April we were fortunate to acquire tickets to the Masters. After overcoming that incredible difficult obstacle, the 2nd biggest and cost prohibitive is a place to stay. I have no idea how this happened, but the Hyatt Place Augusta had rooms available for just 12k points a night at a time when cash rates averaged out at $1000 a night for the weekend. My Hyatt account was nearly zero, and in principle, I’d never imagined I get such an incredible value transferring Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt for a Hyatt Place redemption. But, this was one for my record books. An Ultimate Rewards redemption worth nearly 9 cents a point…at a Hyatt Place

a hand holding a pair of tickets

In total: 24k points = $2000+ in value. Over 9 cents a points.

a screenshot of a bed

a screenshot of a bed

The hotel is a 10-15 minute drive from Augusta National and near a shopping mall, restaurants, etc.

a map of a city

An outstanding reason you should always keep your points in flexible currencies. You never know when the opportunity will present itself to execute a killer redemption. And they don’t all have to be 5 star hotels and first class flights to facilitate a bucket list item. Happy Father’s Day Dad ( thanks Mom 🙂 ) BYAH at the Masters!

two men standing in front of a building


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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

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.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

2 Comments

  • SuperTraveler June 17, 2018

    Agree wholeheartedly! At the end of the month, I’m staying at the Hyatt Place Seattle for a night at 12K points, moved from Chase UR. Hyatt inexplicably wanted over $600 cash for that room… for no other reason than it’s a Saturday night in high season.

  • James K June 17, 2018

    Great snag!

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