Think hotel stays have to be expensive? Think again! I have shared how to save 50% in the hotel accommodation when I planned our award travel with my family this summer. With a simple shift in your approach, you could slash your cash price by up to 60%. By tapping into hotel points, hotel loyalty programs and credit card perks, you can enjoy luxury stays for a fraction of the cost at all.
Today, I’m pulling back the curtain on four hotel award programs that can help you save a ton:
- World Of Hyatt
- Choice Privileges
- Hilton Honors
- Marriott Bonvoy
Ready to find out how? Let’s dive in, and I’ll show you the secrets to traveling in style without overspending!
World Of Hyatt –
Score A Sweet Stay At The Grand Hyatt Kauai
Who wouldn’t want to relax at the Grand Hyatt Kauai, a stunning resort in Hawaii? But with room rates sometimes reaching a hefty cash price $924 per night, that tropical dream can feel a bit out of reach. Luckily, if you play your hotel points right, you can snag the same hotel room for just 25,000 points per night. That’s a huge 40% savings!
Here’s the trick: transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio. Since Chase UR points are generally worth around 1.5 cents each, booking hotel stays with 25,000 points effectively costs just $375 in points value. And to sweeten the deal, you get free parking when booking with points (if you have Hyatt Globalist status), saving even more cash!
How do you collect those UR points? Right now, the Chase Ink Business Unlimited credit card is offering a limited-time bonus: 90,000 UR points after spending $6,000 in the first three months. On top of that, you earn 1.5x points on every purchase, so by the time you hit that minimum spend, you’ll have at least 99,000 points – almost enough for a four-night award stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai! There’s just one thing to keep in mind: the card has a 3% foreign transaction fee, so stick to spending in USD to avoid extra charges.
Choice Privileges –
Burning Choice Points For A Dream Stay At Laguna Beach
The stunning Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna Beach can run you up to $902 per night – even in December. But why pay that much when you can cut the cost by more than half using hotel points? Here’s how you do it! With 55,000 Choice Privilege points, you can book the free night, and if you have Citi ThankYou Rewards (TY) or Wells Fargo Rewards points, you’re in luck. You can transfer these points to Choice at a 1:2 ratio. So, it takes just 27,500 Citi TY points to score the award space. Considering Citi TY points are valued at 1.4 cents per point, the stay ends up costing just $385, which is only 43% of the cash price!
Now, let’s say you don’t have enough points. Another clever way to score points is during points sale promotions. Recently, Choice ended a 30% discount sale, where you could buy points at the price of 0.72 cents per point. If you had bought points then, that same booking would’ve cost just $396, or 44% of the cash price! Even if you missed the sale and buy points at their regular price of 1.14 cents per point, the total cost would still only be $627 – that’s still 30% cheaper than booking with cash!
No matter how you slice it, whether transferring credit card points or taking advantage of points sale promotion, burning Choice Privileges points for a luxury stay at the Surf & Sand Resort is a surefire way to enjoy Laguna Beach for a fraction of the price.
Hilton Honors –
Transferring American Express Membership Rewards Points For Luxurious Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal
Los Cabos, Mexico is a dream destination, and staying at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal makes it even more luxurious. But with room rates often soaring over $1,300 per night, that dream can seem pretty pricey. Thankfully, Hilton Honors points can be your secret weapon! While Hilton points sometimes get a bad rap, in this case, they’re pure gold. A night at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal costs just 120,000 points.
Even better, American Express (Amex) Membership Rewards (MR) points transfer to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio. Now through September 30, 2024, there’s an additional 30% bonus for transferring MR to Hilton. This boosts the transfer rate to 1 Amex MR = 2.6 Hilton Honors points! If you take the usual value of Amex MR at 1.7 cents per point, booking that $1,300 room would cost just 47,000 Amex MR points – or about $799 in point value. That’s a savings of over 40% on your stay!
Want to score a pile of Hilton Honors points quickly? The Amex Business Gold card is currently offering a 100,000 MR point sign-up bonus. With the transfer bonus, that equals 260,000 Hilton points, enough for two nights at the Waldorf Astoria Pedregal. The card’s $375 annual fee might sound steep, but you get $395 worth of credits (like the easy-to-use Grubhub credit), so it’s like staying for free at a resort that would cost over $2,700!
Not interested in applying for a credit card? No problem! Hilton often runs points sale promotion at the price of 0.5 cents per point, which means buying 120,000 points would cost just $600 – an even better deal than using the Amex MR transfer bonus!
Marriott Bonvoy –
Luxury Escape For Aegean Vacation At Kyma Mykonos
Dreaming of a luxurious escape to Mykonos, Greece for next trip? Marriott Bonvoy points might just be your ticket to paradise! Take the Kyma Mykonos, a member of Design Hotels, where it can cost 749 EUR (around $835 USD) per night! Instead of shelling out that cash, you can book the same room for 50,000 Marriott points – a serious savings opportunity. Let’s break it down: during Marriott’s current points sale promotion, 50,000 points would cost about $445, which means you’re saving a whopping 47% compared to paying in cash!
If you don’t have enough points lying around, no worries! There are plenty of ways to earn them. Right now, Amex Marriott Brilliant credit card is offering an incredible 185,000 points sign-up bonus. Once you meet the spending requirements, you’ll actually have over 200,000 points, which is enough for four free nights at the Kyma Mykonos!
If you’re looking for a card with a lower annual fee, the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy credit card also comes with a solid 155,000 points sign-up bonus.
Final Thoughts
You might think, “I don’t have hotel stays very often, so why bother with hotel co-branded credit cards or buying points?” The game-changer is by joining hotel loyalty programs and using points of these hotel loyalty programs here, you can slash 40% to 60% off your hotel expenses. The key is each hotel loyalty program – World of Hyatt, Choice Privilege, Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy – has its unique point value. So next time you’re planning a trip, consider using hotel loyalty program points to make your hotel stay not only more affordable but also more memorable. After all, who doesn’t love a little extra money in their pocket for your next adventure?
