Question: Can I Stack Free Nights From Hyatt & Amex Platinum Credits?
Our question of the week looks at whether we can stack Hyatt free nights with credits / perks from American Express. The short answer is “kind of”, but there’s more to it than that. Here’s what you can do to stack the free nights between Hyatt and The Hotels Collection but what you should realistically expect when doing this.
The Question
Our question of the week comes from Evan in our Facebook group:
Is it possible to stack Amex Hotel Collection benefits with free night certificates? (E.g., 2x Hyatt free night certs, combined into a single stay, at a HC property)
Evan wants to know if he can stack his Hyatt free night certificates and his benefits with The Hotel Collection.
Where Do You Get These Benefits From?
Before we jump into answering this question, it might be helpful to explain where these benefits come from.
Hyatt Free Night Certificates
You can get these from milestone awards and from spending on your World of Hyatt Credit Card. For the milestone rewards, you can earn a Category 1-4 Free Night after staying 30 nights in a year at Hyatt properties. After staying 60 nights, you can receive a Category 1-7 Free Night Award.
With the Hyatt credit card from Chase, you get a Category 1-4 Free Night Award every year when you keep the card and pay the $95 annual fee. You can also earn a 2nd free night (also Category 1-4) if you spend $15,000 in a year on that card.
Amex Platinum / The Hotel Collection Benefits
For those with The Platinum Card from American Express, you can get up to $200 per year in statement credits/reimbursement. This applies when you book hotel stays through AmexTravel.com and stay at either Fine Hotels and Resorts or The Hotel Collection properties.
If you book a property in the Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) collection, you get perks like breakfast, room upgrades, late checkout, etc. at over 1,000 “luxury hotels” around the world. The Hotel Collection (HC) will give–if available–an upgrade at check-in, plus up to $100 in credit to spend on dining, spa, or activities purchases at the hotel. Note that The Hotel Collection does require a minimum 2-night booking when making a reservation.
The Things You Should Consider
OK, so you can book a bunch of nights. What’s the issue?
It’s important to note here that many hotel loyalty programs say that you must book directly with them to enjoy your loyalty perks. Bookings from sites like Hotels.com or even AmexTravel.com are not guaranteed to enjoy elite perks. You can contact the hotel and ask, but it’s not a guarantee.
Thus, Evan may have some sort of status with Hyatt, and they wouldn’t be required to honor it (via free breakfast, free parking, room upgrades, etc.) for the nights booked through AmexTravel.com. Additionally, the perks from booking with The Hotel Collection (on-property credit, possible room upgrade) don’t necessarily apply to the nights booked using the free night certificates with Hyatt. Lastly, you may not earn stay credits toward elite status on the nights you didn’t book directly with the hotel.
Sure, you may get lucky. The hotel may just combine the reservations. You might not need to check out / check in again. And maybe they will upgrade you then let you keep that room the whole time. I think you get the hint that there is a lot of “maybe” here. Ask the hotel, but there are no guarantees about what might happen.
Final Thoughts
Should you stack Hyatt free nights with your Amex hotel benefits? It depends on you. Are you close to hitting that next tier of status, so you want to make sure you get those credits for staying at the hotel? Do you not care, and you just want free stays? If the hotel makes you check out/check in again, are you willing? Evaluate all of these factors to decide, based on your situation.
If you think the chips will fall in a way that makes you happy, go for it.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
bonus_miles_full
Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
So pretty much no on the question. I have status with Hyatt and I’ve done well with using Hyatt Prive. Largely the same benefits as amex fhr but elite benefits do stack.