Wyndham Diamond status offers valuable perks on Wyndham stays. Even if you don't frequently stay at Wyndham hotels and resorts, you might benefit from Wyndham Diamond status — especially since it is easy to earn via two different avenues. Here's what you need to know.
My first redemption: How I used Chase Ultimate Rewards points to vacation in Hawaii
29.05.2024 - 01:49 / thepointsguy.com / Marriott Bonvoy / Chase Sapphire-Preferred
As anyone at TPG will tell you, one of the best ways to maximize your award travel is by using credit cards that earn transferable points. You can often get the most value out of these points when you transfer them to hotel and airline transfer partners.
That's what I did in 2022 when I made my first award redemption, using 105,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to spend a week at Hyatt's Lahaina Shores Beach Resort on Maui — entirely free. Here's how I did it and how you could plan a similar trip.
Related: How to book flights to Hawaii with points and miles
When I initially planned this trip in late 2021, I was a newbie to the world of points and miles. I recently got my first travel card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, because of its valuable and versatile Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
At the time, the Sapphire Preferred was offering a welcome bonus, and currently, it is offering an elevated bonus: You can earn 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in your first three months of card opening. After a few months with the card, I had accumulated roughly 107,000 Chase points. My partner and I decided to use them toward a week-long beach vacation to celebrate our anniversary.
So, armed with my brand-new stash of Chase points and a basic grasp of points and miles, I got to work on researching how to best maximize my points to book my dream vacation.
Related: Best credit card welcome offers
While you can book and redeem Ultimate Rewards points for hotel stays through Chase Travel℠, my points would only be worth a fixed rate of 1.25 cents apiece. Therefore, using one of Chase's transfer partners is the best way to maximize points.
I started by researching Chase's hotel transfer partners: Marriott Bonvoy, IHG One Rewards and World of Hyatt. I soon zeroed in on World of Hyatt, which is popular for its high-value redemptions. Unlike its competitors, Hyatt still operates using an award chart (as opposed to dynamic pricing), which can lead to some great redemption opportunities.
The only downside is that Hyatt's footprint is significantly smaller than that of the competition (IHG and Marriott) which meant my hotel choices were limited.
When researching Hyatt properties in Hawaii, I found a few affordable options, including Lahaina Shores Beach Resort on Maui. Rooms were going for $330 or 15,000 points per night in February, providing a solid value of 2.2 cents per point. (TPG values Chase points at 2.05 cents each.) Seven nights would cost me a grand total of 105,000 points — right in my budget. Plus, since Hyatt waives resort fees on award stays, I didn't have to pay a dime.
Well, I still had to pay for flights, but since I'd just saved more than $2,000 on my hotel stay, I didn't mind
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