Which 40 Hyatt Nights Milestone Reward Should You Choose?

What Are Hyatt 40 Nights Milestone Reward Choices? 

Hyatt rewards members on staying 40 qualifying nights in a calendar year. The milestone reward consists of three (3) choices and you’ll need to pick one: 

• 5,000 World of Hyatt bonus points
• $100 Hyatt gift card 
• 10,000 points saving on a FIND experience

Hyatt is very fast in issuing a milestone reward when your Hyatt’s account is updated with the amount of qualifying nights. In this case, once 40 qualifying nights hit your World of Hyatt’s account, Hyatt send an email right away to congratulate you on staying 40 nights and present you with those 3 rewards choices. 

So on the look out for the email including junk mails to ensure you get your milestone reward’s email from Hyatt. Simply click through the “Choose Your Reward” button in your email to choose your award. 

Once the 40 nights Milestone Reward email is sent by Hyatt, you have 90 days to choose your award.

After selecting your reward through the link in the Hyatt’s email: 

• 5,000 bonus Hyatt points will be credited right away. 
• $100 Hyatt gift card will take 3-5 days to receive in a form of an e-gift card. 
• 10,000 points saving on a FIND experience is a promo code sent to your email address on file with Hyatt. The code is good for 180 days or 6 months. You provide that code when you make a FIND experience’s reservation. 
• Please note that, due to COVID 19 – all FIND experiences have been suspended until further notice. 

Frankly, everyone’s situation is different. But below are my two cents on each reward choice: 

Personally, I value Hyatt points at 1.5 cents a piece. So 5,000 Hyatt points are worth about $75 cash value to me. Once the points are credited to Hyatt’s account, they are subjected to Hyatt’s expiration policy. This is a good option if you need to top off your account for a specific redemption in mind. It is cheaper this way than to buy points directly through Hyatt. 

Unless you can get a Hyatt gift card with a discount during some sales, $100 Hyatt gift card is worth $100 cash at the face value. The good thing about Hyatt gift card too is that it does not expire. But do keep in mind that, the gift card is only valid at participating Hyatt hotels in the Americas, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. 

I felt that it was an interesting partnership when Hyatt introduced FIND experiences. If you are not sure what it is, FIND experiences is a collection of activities that range from yoga, cooking to paragliding, walking with wolf (yes wolf), expedition cruises and more. You can use World of Hyatt points to redeem for an activity. 

You can go to FIND experiences page and look up the activities that are offered and interest you. You can filter and sort those activities by location and price (points), etc.

So if you are able to find an activity that you can do and utilize the 10,000 Hyatt points saving on FIND promo code within 180 days after the code is issued, you may be able to get the value out of it more than $100 gift card value. You potentially will save money on an activity and create a memorable experience at the same time. 

All in all, I think there’s no rush to choose a reward yet given that you have 90 days to make a final decision after receiving the email. Just be sure to pick one before the 90 days deadline is up. According to Hyatt customer service representative, once the selection deadline is gone there’s no way to get it back. 

Once you have stayed 40 nights with Hyatt and those 40 qualifying elite nights hit your Hyatt’s account, you’ll receive an email with three (3) choices of Milestone Rewards to choose. You have 90 days to make your pick. Whichever reward you pick is really based entirely on how you value 5,000 Hyatt points, $100 gift card and how soon you can use the 10,000 points saving promo code on a FIND experience. 

Personally, I’d pick a reward based on this order: 

• $100 gift card – straight forward redemption as $100 face value. No expiration date. 
• 10,000 Hyatt points saving on a FIND experience if only I have an activity in mind that I’d like to do. The downside of this reward is that, it expires 180 days after the promo code is issued. 
• 5,000 Hyatt bonus points are worth about $75 to me. So unless I have the need to top off my World of Hyatt’s account for a specific redemption in mind, “point currency” is not meant for a long term investment and cash is the king. That is why I am leaning towards the reward choice of $100 Hyatt gift card.