Should You Redeem Hyatt Points For Oasis Properties?

It’s better to have more options to redeem points and miles, right?  Well, not all redemptions are created equal.  After all, the airlines have had these bright, shiny catalogs for years where they’ll allow you to redeem your miles for iPads and toasters.  Don’t be fooled.

Earlier this week Hyatt announced the ability to redeem your World of Hyatt points for stays at Oasis luxury homes.  On its face, I think it’s a good thing.  But, it’s worth digging deeper.  I took a look at two cities and two weeks in the “busy season” to see what prices look like.

New York

One of my favorite places.  I grew up in New York and my heart will always be in Italy, the city I’ll cover next.  But, are they an Oasis for points redemptions (see what I did there)?  There are a whole bunch of properties in both cities.  Starting with New York, here are some spots to consider:

The first two properties are a lot closer to reasonable pricing than the second two.  $215 a night for a 1BR in New York is a solid deal.  But, what happens if we dig a bit deeper?

 With cleaning fee and taxes, the 3-night total comes to $878.  That works out to 60,000 points and $78, or 20,000 points and $26 bucks a night.  That’s less of a deal, but probably still at the edges of reasonable for Manhattan.

Still, I think it’s annoying that the “cleaning fee” varies by property and isn’t loaded in the first rates you see, meaning you never quite know how much a room is until you click further.

Rome

I was actually more pleased with Rome.  For starters, Hyatt had no presence in the city prior to the Oasis relationship.  Now, they have close to 3 dozen.  Not all are my cup of tea.  But, I did find a well located (and reasonably affordable) property in a neighborhood I’d like to stay.  Interestingly, there appear to be minimum stay requirements in some Rome neighborhoods.  I saw a similar disclaimer when searching New York but didn’t see a ton more properties when I expanded my date range there.

The currency conversion right now puts this room at roughly $850 for 3 nights.  That’s 20,000 points a night plus a few bucks.  That strikes me as an exceptional value for 2 bedrooms in Rome. SPG has a variety of properties ranging from 12,000 to 35,000 points a night.

I value Starpoints at about 2 cents each and Hyatt points at closer to 1.5 cents each.  That means the Le Meridien would be a bit “cheaper” if you only needed 1 bedroom where the other properties would be more expensive, including the excellent St. Regis Rome.

The Final Two Pennies

I’d like to say there was an easy answer on the value of the Oasis partnership with Hyatt.  Like many things in the miles and points world, it depends.  I definitely see enough value in certain places to make Oasis a part of your search if you have Hyatt points to burn.  Similarly, folks who have Chase Ultimate Rewards may want to think about transferring to the Hyatt program for Oasis redemptions.

Would you redeem World of Hyatt points for Oasis properties?

The post Should You Redeem Hyatt Points For Oasis Properties? was published first on Pizza in Motion