Hotel Rate Arbitrage on Hyatt Points

Remember my post on airfare arbitrage, which is split into Part 1 and Part 2? Well, it seems hotels have got into the game as well with selling points. Hyatt sells its points for the Gold Passport program, which I shall refer to as GP Points. I have collected these points for free nights and will utilize them for my upcoming stay in the Maldives, and at a Park Hyatt too! Compared to other hotel chains, Hyatt stands out for consistency in its standard of hotels worldwide and their Park Hyatt brand is perhaps one of my favourite hotels ever. I have stayed in the Park Hyatt Melbourne, Shanghai and Seoul, and all 3 are amazing properties.

So when Hyatt announced it is having a promotion that ends on the 6th of February on having an up-to 30% bonus on points purchases, I thought it is worth highlighting to some of the arbitrage opportunities. The point purchases are only applicable if you have plans to stay in the top-end Hyatt Hotels like the Park Hyatt Maldives, Sydney or Paris where rooms retail for rates of more than US$500 consistently per night. It just requires 22,000 GP points to stay at these top-tier hotels per night, and that means 44,000 GP points for 2 nights.

To purchase 44,000 points, it required US$816 using Hyatt’s latest promotion on purchasing of points. However these points could be used to pay for 2 nights at the Park Hyatt Maldives which would otherwise cost US1,768 for 2 nights, as I show on a random date which I selected below. All other taxes and fees are excluded here but it is just another point to show how high-end luxury properties can be obtained for a cheaper rate. While US$816 might seem outrageous to pay for 2 nights in a hotel, one needs to remember it will be a villa in the Maldives, managed by Park Hyatt. Of course, if you remain loyal to Hyatt and chooses to stay at their hotel and register for their promotions diligently, it is not that difficult to attain 44,000 points easily, and staying at these aspirational properties can be had for much less.