By admin 
Even if you’re only casually involved with the World of Hyatt program, you may have had opportunities to earn and use Hyatt free night awards.
Hyatt issues three types of awards: Category 1-4 free night awards, Category 1-7 free night awards and Ultimate free night awards. Although how you can earn these awards varies, the process of redeeming each type of award is similar. Here’s what you need to know.
Overview of Hyatt free night awards
Members can earn free night awards as they engage with the World of Hyatt program.
A Category 1-4 free night award is valid for a night at any participating Category 1-4 hotel. Meanwhile, you can redeem a Category 1-7 free night award for a night at any participating Category 1-7 hotel or Category A-D all-inclusive resort, and you can use an Ultimate free night award for a night at any participating Category 1-8 hotel, Category A-F all-inclusive resort or Miraval resort.
Related: Your guide to the World of Hyatt award chart
How to earn Hyatt free night awards
You can earn Category 1-4 free night awards through various methods. One of the most popular is the Hyatt Brand Explorer promotion, which gives members a Category 1-4 free night award every time they stay on a qualifying rate at five unique Hyatt brands.
You can also earn free night awards through the Hyatt Milestone Rewards program as you reach the following thresholds each calendar year:
- 30 qualifying nights or 50,000 base points: Category 1-4 free night award
- 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 base points: Category 1-7 free night award
- 100 qualifying nights: Category 1-7 free night award
- 150 qualifying nights: Ultimate free night award
You may also occasionally find Hyatt promotions that let you earn a free night award after you complete specific requirements. For example, after enrolling in a special promotion and staying two nights, my husband recently earned a Category 1-4 free night award.
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If you have the World of Hyatt Credit Card, you’ll also get a Category 1-4 free night award every year after your cardmember anniversary. Plus, you can earn another Category 1-4 award if you spend $15,000 with your card in a calendar year.
The World of Hyatt Credit Card currently has a welcome offer of 30,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first three months from account opening, plus up to 30,000 more bonus points by earning 2 bonus points total per dollar spent in the first six months from account opening on purchases that typically earn 1 bonus point (on up to $15,000 spent). However, the card occasionally offers free night awards instead of points as a welcome offer.
Related: Why I aim to spend $15K on my World of Hyatt Credit Card each year
How to use Hyatt free night awards
Redeeming a Hyatt free night award is simple. Log in to your Hyatt account, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner and click “My awards.” Then, you should see your current free night awards and their expiration dates in the middle of the screen.
To redeem a free night award for a one-night stay, search for a stay and check the “Use points” box.
Select a property in an eligible award chart category for the type of free night award you want to use. For example, with a Category 1-4 award, I could book at night at the Category 4 Andaz Mexico City Condesa. Scroll down, and if standard room types are available, you should see a free night award as one of the rate types.
Note that you may need to click to see other rate types before seeing the “Standard Room Free Night” option.
You can also use one or more free night awards to pay for part of a longer stay. To do so, search for a paid rate by unchecking the “Use points” box, clicking “View rates” for your desired property, selecting a standard room type and looking for a rate with a “Pay My Way” option.
You won’t always see the “Pay My Way” option, but when you do, you can pay for a stay of longer than one night using a combination of points, cash and free night awards.
For this stay, I could redeem 18,000 points and a Category 1-4 free night award to cover the two nights.
Finally, you can gift free night awards to other World of Hyatt members. To do so, return to the “My awards” page, where you can see your awards and their expiration dates. Click the three dots next to the award, select “Gift your award,” and enter the member number and last name of the person you want to receive your award.
Related: The best Hyatt Category 4 hotels to maximize your free night award
Bottom line
The best way to get excellent value from a Hyatt free night award is to use it for travel to a property near the edge of the award’s validity. For example, you’ll likely want to redeem a Category 1-4 award for a stay at a Category 4 Hyatt property.
However, using your free night award before it expires is essential. You may occasionally find that you need to redeem your award for a lower-category stay to get value from it before it expires. You can try asking Hyatt to exchange your award for points if it expires, but this isn’t guaranteed, and you’ll likely get less value than if you’d used the free night award at a Category 3 or 4 property.