I entered December with 33 elite nights with Hyatt, but I really wanted to stretch for 40 nights to earn some specific milestone rewards. Is it worth it to spend money or points chasing a Hyatt milestone reward? What is the most cost-effective way to get there? What kind of value could be had with the right milestone reward?
What are Hyatt Milestone Rewards?
One nice thing about some programs, including Hyatt, is the ability to earn specific rewards beyond just elite status after hitting different requirement tiers. For Hyatt, rewards start at 20 nights and increase in value with each additional 10-night increment. While you earn Explorist status and a free category 1-4 free night certificate at 30 nights, the choice milestone rewards are pretty “meh”. But, at 40 nights, things start to get interesting! Beyond the Guest of Honor award, one of the choices is a Suite Upgrade Award (SUA) good for a confirmed suite at time of booking on a trip up to 7 nights. You can view all of the different milestone award options here.
How would I use the a SUA?
Mapping out our travel plans for 2026; I have a specific Hyatt redemption in mind where the SUA would come in very handy. I won’t share where until after I get it booked, but cash rates are currently over $900 per night for a base room (or 25k points which is my plan).
However, some really amazing suites are available that would cost $3-4k per night. I am only planning a 5-night trip, so the cash value of the SUA could be up to $15k over the 5 nights. I don’t value it at $15k; it’s just a good example of the type of opportunity available with these types of awards.
What’s the cost to earn it?
As I mentioned in the intro, I entered December at 33 nights. I need 7 more to hit 40 and earn the SUA and Guest of Honor awards. What will it cost me to earn it?
I had 2 nights already booked in December so that will get me to 35, so I only need to mattress run 5 more nights to hit the milestone. I didn’t want to spend any cash even considering a $500-600 outlay for the value of the SUA is probably reasonable. Instead, I went searching for category 1 properties that had 5 nights consecutively at the off-peak rate of 3500 points.
Fortunately, I found a property I would be near (so I could check in) in Texas that did have 5 consecutive nights at 3500 points per night. I made sure to let them know I may be coming and going and to not check me out early even if the room looked unoccupied. Total cost: 17,500 points. I suppose it was even a bit better because I also earned 2k points from this stay based on my 20-night milestone rewards of “2k next award stay” which further lowers the cost. Based on my recent surprise 30k bonus point earning, I had plenty of Hyatt points to work with already.
If you value Hyatt points close to 2 cents per point value, I am trading off $350 worth of future stays to manufacture these elite nights and earn the milestone rewards. $350 worth of points for the SUA and Guest of Honor award received at 40 elite nights is a no-brainer based on my planned use!
TL;DR: I am essentially trading $350 worth of points to avoid spending $500-600 cash in order to earn reach 40 elite nights with Hyatt. This will earn a Suite Upgrade Award and Guest of Honor award. With a specific plan already in mind, I should easily get > 10X the value from those awards in 2026, making my 5-night mattress run a very each choice.
