Hyatt Improves ‘Pay My Way’ With the Ability To Select Which Free Night Award You Prefer To Use

Hyatt has improved its “Pay My Way” feature — the feature that allows World of Hyatt members to book hotel stays using a combination of free night awards, cash, and points in a single reservation.

With the latest update, you can now choose the specific free night award that you want to apply to a booking. Here’s what to know about this incremental but important change for Hyatt members.

Hyatt’s Updates to ‘Pay My Way’

Pay My Way gives travelers the flexibility to use a combination of points, award certificatess, and cash when booking a single Hyatt reservation. While not all rates qualify — and you must book at least 2 or more nights to use this feature — it’s useful for guests wanting to maximize value for their Hyatt stays.

Now, World of Hyatt members can select the eligible free night award they would like to apply to their reservation when using the Pay My Way feature, rather than the booking site automatically using the eligible award that will expire first.

Previously, using an award online would automatically select the free night award expiring soonest. However, with 2 types of free night awards in the program (those valid at Category 1-4 properties and awards valid at Category 1-7 properties), the system couldn’t differentiate between them. For instance, you may only want to use a Category 1-4 certificate for a stay next month, but the system would select a Category 1-7 award expiring sooner — despite the fact it could be used on another, later stay for more value.

This new functionality now removes the need to call Hyatt customer care to change the award that was automatically applied. It also prevents travelers from realizing they used the wrong award after checkout — when it’s too late to do anything about it.

How To Earn Hyatt Free Night Awards

With the World of Hyatt program, you have several ways to earn Category 1-4 free night certificates.

The easiest option for getting a Category 1-4 night certificate is by holding The World of Hyatt Credit Card. Every year that you pay the $95 annual fee, you’ll receive a Category 1-4 free night certificate. Also, by spending $15,000 on the card in a year, you’ll earn an additional Category 1-4 free night certificate, providing a total of 2 free night awards.

In addition to the credit card route, you can earn a free night certificate by staying at 5 different Hyatt brands (known as the Hyatt Brand Explorer). Finally, staying 30 qualifying nights or earning 50,000 Base Points in a calendar year is yet another way to earn a free Category 1-4 certificate.

Final Thoughts

Hyatt has now improved its Pay My Way feature, and guests can select which specific free night award to use for a given reservation. Note that this only works for stays of 2 nights or longer. If you’re making a 1-night reservation, ensure that you’re using the award you intend to assign to that booking.