Exchange Chase Hyatt Anniversary Free Night for Points
I am a big fan of the Chase Hyatt card! So much so that I have been a cardholder multiple times over for the last 4 years or so. It’s no secret that this card can be MORE than worth the $75 annual fee given the Chase Hyatt Anniversary Free Night Certificate at a Category 1-4 Hyatt property, and is worth keeping in your wallet year over year!
Whether you redeem the certificate for a last minute stay near the airport, or if you seek out specific properties in which to redeem for max value, you can be reasonably assured you’ll achieve value that exceeds your $75 investment.
This year I wanted to book a 1-night stay prior to a November wedding in Beaufort, SC at the Andaz Savannah. This would be a steal with the Anniversary Free Night Certificate, given the Andaz brand and the fact it is one of just a few Andaz properties within the Category 1-4 fence posts. This would have been a great idea… if only…
What if that Anniversary Free Night Certificate Expires?
While up until now I have never had an issue in redeeming my free night at a Category 1-4 Hyatt property, I totally blanked on the expiration date for the certificate in my wife’s account and found it just days from expiration.
Rather than plan a last minute trip to a nearby Category 1-4 hotel, or perhaps booking a stay-cation at our local Grand Hyatt – the Grand Hyatt Tampa – I was looking to grab value now that could be used in the future, beyond the certificate’s expiration… perhaps by exchanging the certificate for some World OF Hyatt points?
Can you Exchange an Anniversary Free Night Certificate for Points?
Our friends at Dr. of Credit have a great write up with a bunch of data points on exchanging both Chase Hyatt Free Night Certificates, and Anniversary Free Night Certificates Into Points. I love Dr. of Credit and this is a great guide, but in this case responses varied and exchanging certificates for points is not guaranteed… Some received points, some did not, but it was not definitive and possibly hinged on current Hyatt status.
Only one thing to do right? I decided to call Hyatt and find out for myself!
Be the data-point you wish to see in the world!
I had my wife dial up Hyatt – at 1-800-please-exchange-my-certificate-for-points… translates to 1-800-323-7249 on your phone’s keypad… and make the request to exchange the certificate for points!
After a brief hold, the representative reappeared and hit us with the following:
“Unfortunately, we have no way of converting the anniversary night to points, but once it does expire, please give us a call back. I am leaving notes in your account to issue 10,000 World of Hyatt points as compensation, if in fact you are not able to redeem the award. Just make sure you call us within 90 days of the certificate’s expiration in order to exchange for the 10,000 points.”
In summary,
– Expired Chase Hyatt Anniversary Free Night Awards (Category 1-4) CAN be exchanged for at least 10,000 World OF Hyatt points
– Chase Hyatt Anniversary Free Night Awards must be expired in order to exchange for points
– You must request an exchange within 90 days of your Anniversary Free Night Award expiration date
– Those 10,000 points will be deposited into your World OF Hyatt account to be redeemed at your lesiure! Free Nights! Points+Cash! Upgrades!
Final Thought
The Chase Hyatt is a credit card worth holding onto year after year, even when paying that $75 annual fee, considering that Anniversary Free Night Certificate!
While the Anniversary Free Night Certificate is intended to provide you a free night at a Category 1-4, if you can’t find the time and place to redeem, you CAN exchange that expired Certificate for points – 10,000 points in my experience – to be combined with your current account balance and redeemed at a later date! Redeem those 10,000 points for free nights, for points+cash redemptions, and/or suite upgrades!
Oh and hey, just a reminder, you can always cancel and re-apply for a sign-up bonus of 40k points (+5k for authorized user) after you spend $2,000 on purchases with the Hyatt Credit Card in the first 3 months from account opening… as long as you have not received the sign-up bonus in the past 24 months, of course!
Happy Travels!
DW
Thank you for this information, I was able to have noted also for 10,000 points.
Great! Glad to see this pattern continue!
This is absolutely true. I was told by the Hyatt agent when attempting to book a room after the anniversary reward expired I could call back and request points.
Thank you. I got 10k points for my expired reward certificate.
Great! Happy to hear it!
Mine expired a week ago. Has anyone had luck via Twitter or email?
Not that I have heard but worth a shot! Hyatt is typically pretty good over Twitter DM…
I’m Explorist via Mlife match. Not sure if that matters or not. I’ll give it a shot anyways.
Just called and they issued 10k points for my anniversary free night that expired last month 🙂
Yes!!! Thanks for the data point!
DW
Thanks! Hyatt didn’t inform me that I could turn my expired Reward Night into points, but I made the call and received my points without question! 😀🍀
Made a call today and they made an exception and granted me 10000 points.
Just called and they said they were not able to issue any compensation for the expired anniversary night
just called and they said that there hands are tided and could not issue points instead. they blamed chase for the problem
Called on October 3, 2019. The representative said that they used to do this, but now Chase has forbidden the practice from their end.