Check in with the highest value hotel loyalty program

I’ve been a Hilton Diamond member for five years, but my run is ending. While I’ll hold onto Gold status, thanks to my Hilton Surpass Card, I’ll probably start focusing my attention on Hyatt from here on out. There are two reasons for that.

1. Two of my favorite hotels in the world are Hyatt (Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, and Hotel De Louvre, in Paris), so they’ve made a good impression

2. Hyatt’s loyalty program is the best value for hotels out there

It doesn’t have the same reach as Marriott or Hilton, but it’s growing fast and offers enormous value on reward stays. To get a faint (and extremely isolated) grasp of how much more affordable it can be, one night in the Ritz-Carlton NYC costs a minimum of 102,000 Marriott Bonvoy pointsor $809. On the same day, a night in the Park Hyatt NYC cost 35,000 points or $720. That’s almost 70,000 points cheaper.

The kicker? Chase transfers its ultimate rewards points to both Marriott and Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio. You can get almost three nights in a similarly luxurious hotel for practically the same amount of points as the Ritz. That’s huge.

Sorry Hilton, it’s been fun.