Through December 31, 2014 Hyatt is offering 1,000 bonus points for bookings made through their new mobile app. Stacking this bonus with the current Hyatt Gold Passport promotion (which effectively earns 2,500 points per night) along with the Hyatt Diamond Challenge and the corresponding elite bonuses can add up to quite a point haul – well over 166,000 if you max out the quarterly promotion bonus and complete the Diamond Challenge. Here is how it breaks down on 20 single night stays (the maximum eligible for this quarter’s Gold Passport promotion):
- 12,000 points earned at a rate of 5 points per $1, on an average rate of $120 per night.
- 3,600 bonus points earned as part of the 30% Diamond bonus.
- 6,000 bonus points from the Hyatt Diamond Challenge for the first 6 nights.
- A minimum of 4,800 or 7,200 points. Depends on whether stays are charged to the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Hyatt Visa credit cards.
- 20,000 bonus points for choosing the Hyatt Diamond amenity at check-in. (Assuming the challenge is completed based on stays, rather than nights).
- 50,000 bonus points if you can manage weekend stays at hotels where the club lounge is closed.
- 50,000 bonus points from the current Gold Passport promotion.
- <20,000 points for using the Hyatt mobile app to book 20 stays.
I have booked stays with Hyatt’s old mobile app and found it very easy to use, so you’re definitely not giving up ease and convenience. As is the case with the Hyatt website, the mobile app can’t accommodate Points + Cash awards. Those will need to be booked over the phone.
The only thing members are giving up by booking through the mobile app are shopping portal bonuses. Currently, the highest cash back amount of 3% is offered by TopCashBack (my affiliate link). Valuing Hyatt Gold points conservatively at 1 cent per point, booking through the Hyatt mobile app would get you about $10 worth of value. With that valuation in mind, it makes more sense to forego the mobile booking bonus and use a shopping portal if a stay costs more than $333. Hyatt’s My Elite rates are not eligible for shopping portal bonuses, so keep that in mind when deciding whether to use a portal or the mobile app.
Overall, the 1,000 point mobile app booking can be lucrative depending on the cost of stay. It’s worth noting that the 3,000 point booking bonus offered by the Club Carlson app is a bit more generous, as it gets you a third of the way to a free night at a Category 1 hotel. Considering Hyatt’s bottom tier hotels require 5,000 points per night, the mobile app booking bonus gets you just a fifth of the way there.
The new Hyatt mobile app is available for download on iTunes and Google Play.
Not impressed, Ariana, this is wildly confusing, and less than helpful.. Yes, nice to know about all the OTHER Hyatt promotions that really aggressive folks, who essentially live in hotels, could “stack” with the new app promotion….. but “get real, will ya?” The headline of your essay asks, is the “1,000 Point Bonus for using the Hyatt Mobile App”… “Worth it?” Alas, your long-winded, complex “answer”….. obfuscates the original question. Could you try again, say in two sentences? That is, is the promotion for the app itself “worth it?” (in and of itself, before you change the subject)
PS: while you’re at it, is this one of those new apps (like the IHG app) that only works with newer android smartphones (the ones having “gingerbread” or higher)? (re. the IHG promotion, you can still find older app version via Amazon — but not certain if it will qualify for their promotions)