How I Turned Hyatt’s Free Anniversary Night ($75 Annual Fee) Into $460 Value
I went on a trip to Denver earlier this year. This was only a 24-hour trip to utilize my Hyatt Credit card’s anniversary night before it expired.
The free room I booked was at the Hyatt Regency Denver and Convention Center (category 3 hotel)
Another reason why the Hyatt Credit Card should never be canceled as you can routinely find positive value from the free night. The free night can be used at any Hyatt category 1-3.
The room rate was listed at $142. So, the value saved instantly was net +$67 (Subtracting the $75 annual fee). But we aren’t done yet.
Checking in around 12am the night of check in probably helped my cause of getting a suite upgrade.
I used this strategy and it worked with the first front desk rep. Not surprising due to my charming vibe.
I had the hotel rooms available to book for the same stay pulled up on my phone and scrolled all the way down to the suites. I asked for the top suite available, the Aspen Suite. I also leveraged my Explorist status (mid-tier). You would have an easier time with Globalist and a tougher time, though a significantly lesser chance, with Discoverist (Lowest Tier/Hyatt Credit Card holder)
If you attempted this strategy without any status and were successful acquiring the top suite of the hotel, I would love to hear about it and tip my cap to your awesomeness.
She told me that a manager had to approve it. So, a manager came up and I dropped a similar line to him. He was a bit hesitant, claiming that I could use points online for a suite at booking. I said, I understood how it works online but I was only there for one night and figured that it was unlikely to be booked tonight anyway.
He allowed it. I ended up getting the *Aspen suite.
* Well technically I got the Aspen Suite. The Aspen suite is an adjoining room and both rooms on each side were taken. So, they gave me the suite and the room across. This was fine with me even though it was kind of a weird and impractical set up.
The cost of the room to book was $460 via Priceline.com. So, that’s what I will value the anniversary night at.
If only I had that room for more than 24 hours…
