All the different rules and restrictions between major hotel chains can be confusing. And that's true of one of the most lucrative benefits that some chains allow: combining points with another person to consolidate or book free hotel nights.
Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy make this incredibly easy with their online points transfer feature.
But what about the World of Hyatt points program? It's easily the most valuable points program of the three, but is it possible to pool or transfer Hyatt points?
The short answer is yes, but we'll break down the ins and outs of what you need to know when it comes to combining your hard-earned World of Hyatt points successfully with other program members.
Read next: When You Should (& Shouldn't) Transfer Points to Book Hotels
How to Transfer Hyatt Points Between Accounts
While you can transfer Hyatt points to other program members, Hyatt makes you jump through a few hoops to do so. Most importantly, you can't transfer Hyatt points directly from your online account.
Instead, if you want to transfer your points to another World of Hyatt member, you have to fill out the PDF form at this link with information from both the transferring account and the recipient account.
You can also find it by going to the “Loyalty Program” tab on the World of Hyatt homepage and selecting “Earn” from the drop-down menu.
Scroll down to “Purchase Bonus Points” and click “See Details.” Don't worry, you're not buying any points.
Then, scroll down to the “Share your points or eligible awards” section and click “Download Point Combining Request form”.
Hyatt does not require that you are related to the person you are transferring to, nor do you need to share the same address. That means you can transfer your points to anybody with a World of Hyatt account.
One important note: The information on the form must match the information in both members' World of Hyatt accounts exactly. If something is amiss with an address, phone number, or any other details, Hyatt will not process the transfer, and you'll have to start the process over.
Once you have completed the form, it can either be mailed in or scanned and emailed to World of Hyatt's customer service team. In my experience, email is the way to go as the turnaround time for the transfer will be much quicker. Simply email the form to [email protected] and let them know you would like to transfer points to the other member.
Once Hyatt receives the request they should process the information and complete the transfer within 2-4 weeks. In our experience, this has taken about a week to complete.
There are even more restrictions to be aware of when making a points transfer with Hyatt:
- Members can combine their points with another program member once every 30 days. Even if you want to transfer points to a different member, you'll need to wait at least 30 days before doing so. The same is true if you are accepting points from another member: You must wait 30 days from the last inbound Hyatt points transfer.
- There is no limit to the number of points you can transfer.
- There is no limit on the number of times you can complete a points transfer.
When Should You Transfer Your Hyatt Points?
Just because you can transfer your points between Hyatt accounts doesn't mean you should. However, there are a few situations where it absolutely makes sense.
Booking a longer Award stay: Perhaps the most obvious reason to combine Hyatt points is to book a longer award stay than you might otherwise be able to afford on your own. If two members each had 50,000 World of Hyatt points, combining them into one account will allow them to book a longer award stay without having separate reservations. This will ultimately remove complications.
The Hyatt Globalist Guest of Honor Perk: Do you have a friend or relative with Hyatt's top-tier Globalist status? If so, you can take advantage of what Hyatt calls the Guest of Honor perk. You can transfer points to the Hyatt Globalist member's account to book an award for you. When they do this, you will receive all the Globalist perks and a taste of Hyatt's top-tier status.
Since I hold Hyatt's Globalist status, I once completed a guest of honor booking for Thrifty Traveler Executive Editor Kyle. Once the points were in my account, I called Hyatt's customer service line to complete the booking at the Andaz Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi. Upon arrival, Kyle received a complimentary room upgrade and free breakfast each morning of his stay – something he wouldn't have received without the Guest of Honor benefit.
Reset Your Points Expiration Date: If you don't have any account activity for 24 straight months in your World of Hyatt account, any points you have will expire and be forfeited. By transferring a small amount of Hyatt points to another member, you will reset the clock on your expiration date and avoid forfeiting your entire balance.
Though Hyatt is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards, transferring points from either of those programs will be a much easier option if you have those points at your disposal.
See our master list of credit card transfer partners!
How to Earn World of Hyatt Points
Don’t worry about earning Hyatt points to cover your next award stay. You don’t need to be a road warrior to rack up Hyatt points, though it certainly doesn't hurt.
There are a few different credit cards that make earning Hyatt points relatively simple and straightforward.
First, you can earn World of Hyatt points by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to your Hyatt account. Because Hyatt is one of the airline and hotel transfer partners of Chase’s Ultimate Rewards program, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points into your World of Hyatt account at a 1:1 ratio – 1,000 Chase points gets you 1,000 Hyatt points.
And if you don’t have Chase Ultimate Rewards points, they can be earned from several personal and business credit cards. Our favorite option is the *chase sapphire preferred*, which is currently offering a valuable welcome offer that you could transfer to World of Hyatt: bonus_miles_full
Those 60,000 Chase points would instantly become 60,000 World of Hyatt points.
This card also has an annual fee of $95 which is not waived in the first year of card membership. However, the welcome offer bonus alone is worth at least $750 and often much more – especially if you use them to book Hyatt award stays.
Learn more about the *csp*.
There is also a more premium version of the Sapphire Preferred called the *chase sapphire reserve* which offer more benefits like lounge access and a $300 annual travel credit that pushes down $550 the annual fee. It also comes with a valuable welcome bonus: bonus_miles_full
Then there is the World of Hyatt Credit Card: bonus_miles_full. That’s 60,000 points total.
The card has a $95 annual fee which is not waived for the first year of card membership. But starting in year two, it offers an annual free night certificate to be used at any Hyatt category 1-4 property. This certificate alone is reason enough to justify the annual fee.
Learn more about the World of Hyatt Credit Card.
There is even a *world of hyatt business*: Earn bonus_miles_full
Learn more about the *world of hyatt business*.
Last but not least, Bilt Rewards, a program that allows renters to earn points on their rent payments without paying a transaction fee is also a Hyatt transfer partner. This is another great way to earn Hyatt points. The *Bilt Mastercard* allows you to pay your rent through Bilt and earn 1 point per $1, for up to 100,000 points per calendar year.
Learn more about the *bilt rewards card*
Bottom Line
If you and a spouse, significant other, or friend have Hyatt points in different accounts, consolidating them into one might make sense. But if you want to do right by Hyatt and follow their rules, only do it when you've got an award stay in mind.
Lead photo courtesy of the Park Hyatt Melbourne