How I saved $3,250 on a trip to Kauai, Hawaii

Hyatt is my favorite way to redeem Chase Sapphire points.

Last year, we decided to go to Kauai, Hawaii after a recommendation from a friend.

I logged onto Hyatt’s website and was stunned when I saw the hotels were $900/night (Hawaii is expensive, I know this now!)

Immediately, I switched over to the point redemption rate and noticed it was only 25K a night. Hyatt has been cracking down on their point redemptions, so I immediately transferred my Chase points over to Hyatt to secure 5 nights for 125K points. That is a redemption rate of $0.036 (or 3.6 cents) per point.

By transferring my Chase Sapphire points to Hyatt, I saved us $3,250 over 5 nights.

Unfortunately, I have found some of these amazing point redemption rates are a thing of the past. But I have been eyeing a 29,000/point a night redemption (compared to cash rate of $800) at Hyatt in Maui for a beach vacation next year.

I find that the Hyatt family of properties (Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt Place, etc.) as well as their all inclusive brands (Dreams, Secrets, etc.) still have the best point redemption rates. Their luxury hotels (like Mr. and Mrs. Smith) do not have as advantageous rates.

If you are unsure of where you want to go, I highly recommend searching the entire state or country you are looking to travel to on the Hyatt app. Once populated, filter by the nightly point redemption levels. By being flexible on location, you can still find some crazy good Hyatt deals in several destinations.

If you don’t already have a Chase Sapphire card in your wallet, I highly recommend signing up for it here.

Let’s wander wiser together.