Hyatt Stay Certificates and Weekend Certificates are potentially a huge rate savings at some hotels. These fixed-cost certificates cover room and tax. No elite qualification or points credit are earned on certificate stays.

Hyatt Stay Certificate Levels and Price Chart - Dec 13, 2011.

A property like my local Hyatt Carmel Highlands is available at the $249 per night Elite level certificate. These are capacity controlled certificates so you will need to check for room availability using the certificate. I can tell you though that Carmel Highlands Inn is rarely below $249 after tax and any night when you can redeem a $249 Elite certificate is probably going to save $100 or more per night. Read More…

Hyatt Stay Certificates and Hyatt Weekend certificates are a prepaid payment option for Hyatt Gold Passport stays. There has been a slight increase in the cost of Hyatt Stay Certificates for the three lower tiers of the five tier certificate program.

Hyatt Stay Certificates are available at 5 price levels: 

• Classic $109 (formerly $99)
• Choice $145 (formerly $135)
• Premier $185 (formerly $165)
• Elite $249 (no increase)
• Inspire $319 (no increase) 

Hyatt Hotels are sometimes available with a Hyatt Stay or Weekend Certificate for a lower price than the prevailing room rates offered for the dates of your stay. 

The best strategy for your wallet may be ‘forget the points and save money’. Hyatt Stay and Weekend Certificates are a prepaid option to remember when the room rate at the Hyatt Hotel is quite high for your dates. This strategy will not always work for the hotel you want, but when it does the savings can be significant. 

The biggest savings are likely to be found with hotels at the Hyatt Stay Elite and Inspire level certificates. These prepaid stay certificates cover room and tax. 

Hyatt Stay and Weekend Certificates – List of Participating Properties 

Booking Stay and Weekend Reservations 

Hyatt’s reservations website has a “Redeem Gift Certificates” tab for checking hotel availability if you already have purchased certificates and have codes to enter into the reservations webpage. 

If you have not purchased certificates yet, then call Hyatt Reservations and check availability over the phone before purchasing Stay and Weekend certificates. These prepaid Stay certificate nights are capacity controlled so you need to check certificate stay availability for your dates with Hyatt reservations.

There is no credit given for using a higher priced certificate for a hotel property that accepts lower priced certificates. The best strategy is to check availability for certificate nights before you purchase the appropriate certificate for your stay.

Hyatt Stay Certificate Saves Hundreds at New York Andaz 5^th Avenue  

Hyatt’s Andaz 5^th Avenue, New York, for example, is listed as a participating property at the Stay Certificate Elite ($249) and Inspire ($319) level. 

Monday March 7 – Wednesday March 9, 2011 is available at the time of writing for booking using a Hyatt Stay certificate Elite ($249/night). A two-night Hyatt Elite Stay certificate is $498 and covers room and tax.

Hyatt Andaz 5^th Avenue, New York

Monday March 7 – Wednesday March 9, 2011

Hyatt Stay Two-night Elite Certificate = $498 (room + tax)

Hyatt Lowest Paid Rate = $798.84

$300.84 saved using Elite Stay Certificate 

Are you going to get $300 value from a stay credit and bonus points?

You should still receive your elite benefits on a Hyatt Stay Certificate stay. Unless you plan to use a Diamond elite confirmed suite upgrade certificate necessitating a paid stay, there is little reason to pay an extra $300 for this two-night stay. 

Saturday May 7 – Monday May 9 are dates available using Hyatt Stay Elite certificate.

Hyatt Andaz 5^th Avenue, New York

Saturday May 7 – Monday May 9, 2011

Hyatt Stay Two-night Elite Certificate = $498 (room + tax)

Hyatt Lowest Paid Rate = $1,028.36

$530.36 saved using Hyatt Elite Stay Certificate

Hyatt Stay Certificates come in 5 price levels. 

Classic ($109/night)

Some Classic level Hyatt Hotels include the

• Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
• Hyatt Regency Cleveland
• Hyatt Place Portland Airport PDX
• Hyatt Regency Cancun
• Hyatt Place Phoenix Airport
• Hyatt Place Atlanta Buckhead
• Hyatt Manila, Philippines 

Choice ($145/night)

Some Choice level Hyatt Hotels include the 

• Grand Hyatt Denver
• Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, Florida
• Hyatt Dulles Airport
• Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Canada
• Hyatt Regency Dubai
• Hyatt Regency Casablanca, Morocco
• Hyatt Regency Cologne, Germany
• Hyatt Regency Auckland

Premier ($185/night)

Some Premier level Hyatt Hotels include:

• Hyatt Regency Newport Rhode Island
• Grand Hyatt Dallas DFW
• Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, South Africa
• Hyatt Regency Warsaw, Poland

Elite ($249/night)

Some Elite level Hyatt Hotels include the

• Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, Nevada
• Grand Hyatt San Antonio
• Grand Hyatt Seattle
• Park Hyatt Philadelphia
• Park Hyatt Washington D.C.
• Park Hyatt Istanbul
• Andaz London
• Hyatt Regency London The Churchill

Inspire ($319/night)

Inspire level Hyatt Hotels include the

• Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow
• Park Hyatt Dubai
• Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
• Grand Hyatt Mumbai
• Grand Hyatt Tokyo
• Park Hyatt Melbourne
• Park Hyatt Sydney
• Hyatt Regency Aruba
• Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
• Hyatt Regency Maui
• Grand Hyatt Kauai
• Park Hyatt Chicago
• Hyatt Regency Paris Madeleine 

Hyatt Stay Certificates can be purchased for one, two, or three night stays. There is no discount for purchasing a multi-night Stay Certificate, so it is advisable to purchase single night certificates and combine them if needed.  You do not retain any residual credit if you burn a three night certificate for a two night stay. 

Participating Hyatt Hotels for Hyatt Stay Certificates accept different levels of certificates. Stay certificates are capacity controlled. For this reason it is best to check availability before purchasing the certificate to be sure you have the correct level for your desired hotel.

The main caveat in using Hyatt Stay Certificates is no points are earned on the paid certificate portion of the hotel stay.  Certificates count like free nights for Hyatt Gold Passport.

Hyatt Weekend Certificates  

Hyatt also offers Hyatt Weekend Certificates for hotels in USA and Canada. These 2-night or 3-night certificates are valid for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights and include breakfast. Far fewer properties participate in the Weekend Certificate offer, however, this option is sometimes cheaper than the Stay Certificate. Compare prices.

Hyatt Select Weekend Certificate US $298 for two nights ($447 3-nights) 

Hyatt Prestige Weekend Certificate US $418 for two nights ($627 3-nights)

Interestingly, there are some properties listed as accepting a Prestige Weekend Certificate that otherwise would require an Elite level Stay certificate.

There is an obvious advantage to the Hyatt Weekend Certificate at $209 per night including breakfast compared to $249 per night without breakfast for an Elite Stay Certificate at some Hyatt hotels. 

The following hotels are classified as Elite level Hyatt Stay ($249/night) and offer Hyatt Prestige Weekend Certificates which include breakfast for two and three night stays ($209/night).

• Park Hyatt Toronto
• Hyatt Grand Champions Resort (Palm Springs, CA area)
• Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Florida (Naples area)
• Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Orlando, Florida
• Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort, New Mexico
• Grand Hyatt San Antonio
• Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, Texas
• Grand Hyatt Seattle
• Hyatt at Olive 8, Seattle
• Grand Hyatt Washington, D.C. 

Link to Hyatt Stay Certificates

Link to Hyatt Weekend Certificates

Link to List of Hyatt Certificate Participating Hotels and Hotel Level

There is potential for saving money on the hotel room rate if you are willing to forego points and stay credit. Elite benefits should still apply on these stays.

Sometimes the best strategy for your wallet is to forget the points and save money. Hyatt Stay and Weekend Certificates are a prepaid option to remember when the rate at the Hyatt Hotel is quite high for your dates. This strategy will not always work for the hotel you want, but when it does the savings can be significant.

Hyatt Hotels are sometimes available with a Hyatt Stay or Weekend Certificate for a lower price than the prevailing room rates offered for the dates of your stay.

The biggest savings are likely to be found with hotels at the Inspire-level Hyatt Stay certificates for $319 per night rates. Some of these hotels will likely have rates well in excess of $319 per night over the next year.

There are also a number of hotels in the US where a Hyatt Weekend certificate including breakfast at $209 per night will be a significant savings and even less than the cost for the corresponding Hyatt Stay certificate.

Hyatt Stay Certificates come in 5 price levels 

Classic ($99/night)

Some Classic level Hyatt Hotels include the

• Hyatt Regency Minneapolis

• Hyatt Regency Cleveland

• Hyatt Place Portland Airport PDX

• Hyatt Regency Cancun

• Hyatt Place Phoenix Airport

• Hyatt Place Atlanta Buckhead

• Hyatt Manila, Philippines

Choice ($135/night)

Some Choice level Hyatt Hotels include the 

• Grand Hyatt Denver

• Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, Florida

• Hyatt Dulles Airport

• Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Canada

• Hyatt Regency Dubai

• Hyatt Regency Casablanca, Morocco

• Hyatt Regency Cologne, Germany

• Hyatt Regency Auckland

Premier ($165/night)

Some Premier level Hyatt Hotels include the

• Grand Hyatt New York

• Hyatt Regency Newport Rhode Island

• Grand Hyatt Dallas DFW

• Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

• Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, South Africa

• Hyatt Regency Warsaw, Poland

Elite ($249/night)

Some Elite level Hyatt Hotels include the

• Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, Nevada

• Grand Hyatt San Antonio

• Grand Hyatt Seattle

• Park Hyatt Philadelphia

• Park Hyatt Washington D.C.

• Park Hyatt Istanbul

• Andaz London

• Hyatt Regency London The Churchill

Inspire ($319/night)

Inspire level Hyatt Hotels include the

• Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow

• Park Hyatt Dubai

• Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

• Grand Hyatt Mumbai

• Grand Hyatt Tokyo

• Park Hyatt Melbourne

• Park Hyatt Sydney

• Hyatt Regency Aruba

• Park Hyatt Buenos Aires

• Hyatt Regency Maui

• Grand Hyatt Kauai

• Park Hyatt Chicago

• Hyatt Regency Paris Madeleine

Hyatt Stay Certificates can be purchased for one, two, or three night stays. There is no discount for purchasing a multi-night Stay Certificate, so it is advisable to purchase single night certificates and combine them if needed.  You do not retain any residual credit if you burn a three night certificate for a two night stay.

Participating Hyatt Hotels for Hyatt Stay Certificates accept different levels of certificates. Stay certificates are capacity controlled. Even if a hotel shows it accepts a Premier Stay Certificate, you may need an Elite Certificate for the date of your stay. For this reason it is best to check availability before purchasing the certificate to be sure you have the correct level for your desired hotel.

The main caveat in using Hyatt Stay Certificates is no points are earned on the paid certificate portion of the hotel stay.  Certificates count like free nights for Hyatt Gold Passport. Unless you are looking at saving hundreds of dollars, you probably want to wait until after January 2010 when the current Hyatt Gold Passport promotion for a free night after every two Hyatt stays ends before taking advantage of Hyatt Stay certificates.

Hyatt Weekend Certificates

Hyatt also offers Hyatt Weekend Certificates for hotels in USA and Canada. These 2-night or 3-night certificates are valid for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights and include breakfast. Far fewer properties participate in the Weekend Certificate offer, however, this option is sometimes cheaper than the Stay Certificate. Compare prices.

Hyatt Select Weekend Certificate US $298 for two nights ($447 3-nights)

Hyatt Prestige Weekend Certificate US $418 for two nights ($627 3-nights)

Interestingly, there are some properties listed as accepting a Prestige Weekend Certificate that otherwise would require an Elite level Stay certificate.

There is an obvious advantage to the Hyatt Weekend Certificate at $209 per night including breakfast compared to $249 per night without breakfast for an Elite Stay Certificate at some Hyatt hotels.

The following hotels are classified as Elite level Hyatt Stay ($249/night) and offer Hyatt Prestige Weekend Certificates which include breakfast for two and three night stays ($209/night).

• Park Hyatt Toronto

• Hyatt Grand Champions Resort (Palm Springs, CA area)

• Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego

• Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Florida (Naples area)

• Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Orlando, Florida

• Hyatt Regency, Lake Tahoe, Nevada

• Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort, New Mexico

• Park Hyatt Philadelphia

• Grand Hyatt San Antonio

• Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, Texas

• Grand Hyatt Seattle

• Hyatt at Olive 8, Seattle

• Grand Hyatt Washington, D.C.

Link to Hyatt Stay Certificates

Link to Hyatt Weekend Certificates

Link to List of Hyatt Certificate Participating Hotels and Hotel Level

Travel Front and Affronts: Hyatt has My Loyalty, United has My Cash

In August I earned a Hyatt free night credit for any hotel systemwide.  I had planned to use it for the Carmel Highlands Inn.  The credit expires December 30.

My travel plans didn’t take me to some high priced city like Chicago or New York this year or some great international city or resort.  Vancouver or Seattle would have been options for my free Hyatt stay last month, but I had my Starwood Hotels plan in Vancouver and staying with my sister in Seattle seemed like the better alternative to cashing in my free night with Hyatt.

 I figured all along the Carmel Highlands Inn would be my backup stay.

Yesterday I called Hyatt to redeem my certificate for any day at the Highlands Inn over the next two weeks.  The agent told me the computer said no.  No rooms for an award night at the Highlands Inn until February.  So I tried Colorado for a little ski resort ambience.  Earliest room availability was Steamboat Springs for January 11.

Now I know the Carmel Highlands Inn is not doing a brisk mid-week business right now in the middle of December.  What good is a certificate that can’t be used in the low occupancy period of a resort hotel? No room availability even for a top level Diamond.

At least Hilton had Diamond desk service that always handled award reservations for high demand nights like New Year’s Eve.

So I tried again this morning and the customer service agent put me on hold and a few minutes later came back with a room confirmation for the Highlands Inn.

A $550 value room for free.  That is why Hyatt still has my loyalty.

United Airlines Has My Cash

I have nearly 600,000 lifetime miles with United Airlines.  I was Premier Executive or 1K with Mileage Plus from 2000 through 2006.  Back in 2004 I thought I would have 1,000,000 lifetime miles by 2010. 

I have flown United once in 2008.  I purchased tickets from San Jose to Denver last February. 

I made a bonehead mistake at the time when I was searching Denver airfares.  The problem with some websites when making computer searches is the search dates can automatically change when using the back button during a search.  I frequently get this with hotel websites.

I saw a fare drop in my searches last February and purchased two SJC-DEN tickets for $219.  Then I realized the dates I had been searching were not the same dates shown on my ticket purchase.

No problem I thought.  This has actually happened to me before and United allows a ticket to be cancelled within 24 hours.  I called up and cancelled the ticket with an agent over the phone.

10 minutes later I purchased two more tickets online for the correct dates.   The new ticket price was $236.99 each.

The next morning I check the Denver fares and the ticket for the same fare code was $183.00.  I called United and asked for a credit refund.  This is the part of the story I told in this Loyalty Traveler post – Nickel and DImed By United.  My United 2008 story ended last February with a promise for a credit voucher worth $53.99 on a future UA ticket.

Or so I thought.

Yesterday I went to book my second United flight of the year.  I called up United and after interminable automated messages, which can be truncated by just pressing ‘0’ for an agent, I found myself talking to a woman, apparently in India by her accent, and she told me I must have the credit card number or a ticket number to locate the credit voucher information. 

After an hour of searching emails and paper files I located the credit card statement, the emails, and my file on United.com.  This was the shocking part.

United never credited my canceled tickets for $438.00.  United never processed my $53.99 credits.

I was actually charged for four tickets to Denver last February at a total cost of $911.98.

I could understand the non-cancelled tickets mistake by itself, but the issue is a little more complicated.  My United.com e- receipt for these flights shows a charge for four tickets – 2 tickets at $236.99 and 2 tickets at $183.00 for a total Denver ticket fee of $839.98.  My e-receipt shows two sets of tickets with the same names for the same flights.

So how will this be resolved?

United says I need to send them my credit card statement and I can receive two more credit vouchers good for one year.

United – as I said back in February,  I would really just like my cash back.

$455.99 was a little excessive on your part for a ticket to Denver. 

A million miles lifetime elite status seems a United flight too far for this loyalty traveler.

After more than two weeks of living, breathing, staying, and eating Hyatt, I was wanting to write about something else for a change. But I feel compelled to write another post about Hyatt. The most interesting hotel stay cost-cutting strategy on my mind today is the Hyatt Stay Certificate program.

The United e-fares weekly email yesterday had an advertisement for the Mileage Plus VISA card with an offer for 21,000 bonus miles and a free Hyatt stay certificate after charging $250 on your new card.

Visions of a luxury Hyatt hotel night in some exotic foreign city motivated me to investigate the details of this offer.

Frequent guests need to add Hyatt Stay certificates to the list of strategies for reducing the cost of hotel stays. There are some bargains to be had with Hyatt Stay certificates.

First, I will continue with a quick analysis of the Hyatt stay portion of the United Mileage Plus VISA offer. The fine print of the offer states the cardholder will receive a Hyatt Stay Certificate good for one night at a Choice selection hotel after spending $250 on the card.

What is a Hyatt Stay Certificate?

A Hyatt Stay Certificate is a prepaid hotel night certificate covering room and taxes for the length of the stay designated on the certificate.

Hyatt Stay Certificates are available in 7 types. There are 5 levels of a nightly stay certificate and 2 levels of weekend multi-night stay certificates (weekend certificates are only accepted in USA and Canada at most Hyatt Hotels).

Most Hyatt hotels participate in the program and each Hyatt hotel is designated as accepting a specific minimum level of certificate, or any certificate in a more expensive level.

Nightly stay certificates come in 5 price levels:

Classic $99 per night
Choice $135
Premier $165
Elite $249
Inspire $319

The United Mileage Plus Visa card offer will provide a Hyatt Stay Certificate-Choice Category free night.

What is the value of a Choice Hyatt Stay certificate?

About half of all Hyatt hotels worldwide will accept this level certificate for a free night.

The Hyatt Regency Monterey will accept Stay certificates in Choice level and above. The Hyatt Stay Choice certificate would have a value of $280 if used on July 21, 2008 for the Monterey Hyatt Regency (4-2-08 Hyatt reservationist found 7-21-08 available after two other dates in July and August were not available using a Hyatt Stay Certificate. Room rate $279/night + $11 resort fee). That is quite a valuable bonus on top of the 21,000 Mileage Plus frequent flier miles.

The limitations of Hyatt Stay Choice level certificates are only about half of the Hyatt Hotels in the world accept the Hyatt Stay Choice level certificate. The other half require a higher priced level Hyatt Stay certificate.

Other points to remember about Hyatt Stay Certificates:
- Hyatt Stay certificates are not valid at Hyatt Place or Summerfield Suites.
- There are only a handful of Hyatt hotels worldwide that do not accept Hyatt Stay certificates which improves their value.
- Hyatt Gold Passport points and stay credit are not earned for Hyatt Stay certificate hotel stays.
- Upgrade certificates can’t be used in conjunction with a Hyatt Stay certificate.
- Certificate is only good for a single stay. Imagine you buy a three night Premier Hyatt Stay Certificate and then you decide you can only make a two night stay. Your 3-night certificate can be used for a 2-night stay, but you lose the value of the third night.
- You can use a higher-priced Stay Certificate for a hotel that accepts lower priced certificates, but you don’t get any credit for the higher cost certificate. Assume you buy a 3-night Elite certificate because you had planned to use it in London and then cancel that trip. Your trip to Monterey could be booked with a Choice Hyatt Stay certificate at $135/night, but you are afraid the Elite certificate might expire before your next trip so you decide to use it for the Monterey Hyatt. Even though you paid $249 night for an Elite Hyatt Stay certificate and you may still be saving money on the cost of the hotel stay, you do not get any credit for the $114 extra your Elite certificate cost compared to the Choice certificate you could have used to book the Monterey Hyatt room.

USA/Americas, 129 hotels

44 accept Classic Hyatt Stay certificates (or higher)

34 accept Choice Hyatt Stay certificates (or higher)

21 accept Premier Hyatt Stay Certificates (or higher)

20 accept Elite Hyatt Stay Certificates (or higher)

8 accept Inspire Hyatt Stay Certificates

2 hotels, Hyatt Regency New Orleans and Hotel Victor, Miami do not accept Hyatt Stay Certificates.

Europe/Middle East/Africa region has 34 Hyatt properties.

Of these hotels, there are no properties that accept the Classic level Hyatt Stay certificate.

7 properties accept Choice level Hyatt Stay certificates.
16 hotels accept the Premier level.
4 require the Elite level,
2 accept the Inspire level (Paris, Dubai), and
5 hotels do not accept Hyatt Stay certificates.

Asia/Pacific 51 Hyatt Properties

14 accept Classic Hyatt Stay certificates (or higher)
5 accept Choice Hyatt Stay certificates (or higher)
8 accept Premier Hyatt Stay Certificates (or higher)
17 accept Elite Hyatt Stay Certificates (or higher)
7 accept Inspire Hyatt Stay Certificates

214 Hyatt hotels worldwide

(Hyatt Stay certificates are not valid for Hyatt Place or Hyatt Summerfield Suites)
Of 214 Hyatt Hotels worldwide
17 hotels only accept Inspire certificates (7.9%)
41 hotels accept Elite certificates (19.2%)
45 hotels accept Premier certificates (21.0%)
46 hotels accept Choice certificates (21.5%)
58 accept Classic level (27.1%)
7 hotels do not accept Hyatt Stay certificates (3.3%)

Classic level stay certificate ($99) good for 58 of 214 Hyatt hotels
Choice level stay certificate ($135) good for 104 of 214 Hyatt hotels
Premier level stay certificate ($165) good for 149 of 214 Hyatt hotels
Elite level stay certificate ($249) good for 190 of 214 Hyatt hotels
Inspire level stay certificate ($319) good for 207 of 214 Hyatt hotels

Example savings #1:
Hyatt Regency Philippines May 15, 2008 $140 + 23.5% tax and fees = $172.90/night and this stay is only $99/night for a Classic Hyatt Stay Certificate.
Savings using Hyatt Stay certificate = $74/night

Example Savings #2:
Hyatt Regency London, The Churchill
May 15, 2008
280GBP + 17.5% tax = $658/night

Elite level Hyatt stay certificate is $249/night.
Savings using Hyatt Stay certificate = $409/night

Example Savings # 3
Hyatt Regency Monterey
July 21, 2008
$279/night compared to $135 night using Choice Hyatt Stay certificate.
Savings using Hyatt Stay certificate = $144/night

London on the Cheap

The Churchill, Hyatt Regency, London was available for a Hyatt Stay Elite-level certificate 7-night stay at the cost of $249/night. $1,743 for a 7-night hotel stay when I checked today.

What would it cost to book this hotel through a regular paid reservation for the same period?
1,815 GBP + 17.5% tax = $4,265 for a 7-night paid stay at the Churchill.

Remember that no Hyatt Gold Passport points are earned on a Hyatt Stay certificate hotel stay. For a savings of $2,522 by using the Elite Hyatt Stay certificate, I think most of us would be willing to forego the points for a 7-night stay in London. Get your ducks in a row, and with a little bit of luck and availability, the Hyatt Stay certificate option may have you flying off to a new land at remarkable savings for your hotel stay.

Participating hotels and details of the Hyatt Gift Cards and Certificates program can be found at https://www.certificates.hyatt.com/