7 Reasons Why I’m Ditching World of Hyatt for Hilton Honors This Year

The World of Hyatt program is one of the darlings of the points and miles community thanks to its reasonable award chart, ability to transfer points in from Chase Ultimate Rewards, and the valuable perks you receive from Hyatt Globalist status.

I should know, as I spent 5 years as a Hyatt Globalist and enjoyed generally good experiences during my stays with Hyatt. Despite that, I decided not to requalify for Hyatt Globalist status last year.

Breaking up is always hard to do, and Hyatt, it’s not me, it’s you.

Here are the reasons why I’m shifting my focus to the Hilton Honors program this year.

1. Small Luxury Hotels of the World vs. Mr and Mrs Smith

You might be surprised that I’m leading with this reason, but Hyatt losing its partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World, or SLH, was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.

I’m a big fan of the SLH portfolio, and some of my most memorable award stays have occurred at its hotels, including Hotel Villa Franca, the Grand Hotel Bristol Resort and Spa, the Flemings Mayfair, Hôtel Grand Powers, and one of my favorite properties, Villa La Madonna.

Earning and redeeming World of Hyatt points at these properties and receiving elite benefits like room upgrades and complimentary breakfast were big perks for me and my travel habits. To Hyatt’s credit, it did form a partnership with Mr and Mrs Smith, which I’d hoped would make up for what it was losing with SLH.

Unfortunately, that ended up not being the case. It was later announced that Mr and Mrs Smith properties would not follow the World of Hyatt award chart and instead operate with a dynamic pricing model. That limited you to receiving roughly 1.2 to 1.3 cents per point at Mr and Mrs Smith properties — far from ideal for award travelers looking to score outsized value.

Meanwhile, the SLH integration into the Hilton Honors program has gone comparatively well, aside from some delays with certain hotels being bookable through Hilton’s channels. Weirdly, some hotels are still bookable with both programs, but our recent analysis showed that, in most cases, booking SLH hotels with Hilton offered better value than booking through Hyatt.

2. Hilton Has Better Free Night Certificates

Hilton is the last of the 4 major hotel loyalty programs to offer a (mostly) uncapped free night reward certificate that can be used at nearly any hotel in the Hilton Honors portfolio. And while you will, on occasion, run into standard award stays not being available at your desired hotel, there is no doubt that these free night reward certificates are far more valuable than what Hyatt offers.

Plus, you can earn these free night awards in a variety of ways. For instance, those with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card* receive 1 free night reward each year during their card renewal, and can earn a second and third free night reward after spending $30,000 and $60,000 on their card in a calendar year, respectively. Further, those with the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card can earn a free night reward after spending $15,000 on their card in a calendar year.

Additionally, it’s possible for a couple traveling together, or even 1 person, to hold multiple Hilton Aspire cards and Hilton Surpass cards, allowing you to stack multiple free night reward certificates that you could use to extend a single stay or use across multiple trips.

*The information regarding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

When we compare this to World of Hyatt, only one of its credit cards, The World of Hyatt Credit Card, offers an annual free night certificate when you renew your card, with the ability to earn a second certificate after spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year.

Unfortunately, Hyatt free night certificates are significantly more limiting, as they can only be redeemed at Category 1-4 properties. This removes the possibility of using these awards at some of the most desirable Hyatt hotels.

Though there used to be many popular sweet spots to redeem these Category 1-4 certificates at properties like the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort, Costa Rica, the Chicago Athletic Association, and the Confidante Miami Beach (now the Andaz Miami Beach), recent Hyatt devaluations in 2023 and again in 2024 have severely limited the number of desirable Category 1-4 hotels.

To be fair to Hyatt, it does offer better free night certificates, including a free night certificate that can be redeemed at a Category 1-7 or Category A-D all-inclusive property after you’ve earned 60 elite qualifying nights and again at 100 qualifying nights. Plus, you get an Ultimate Free Night Award that can be redeemed at any property in the World of Hyatt portfolio, but that’s only earned after a massive 150 elite qualifying nights.

Put simply, Hilton free night certificates are easier to earn and far more valuable.

3. Hilton Has Better Credit Cards

So, the free night certificates that you can earn with Hilton credit cards are better than Hyatt’s, but what about everything else each program’s credit cards have to offer?

Hyatt doesn’t offer a no-annual-fee card or a premium card, so to make it a fair fight, we will compare the Hilton Surpass card to the World of Hyatt card, and The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card against the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card.

Hilton Surpass Card vs. World of Hyatt Card

Here’s the value you could get from these cards, according to Upgraded Points’ valuations of Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt points:

Both the Hilton Surpass card and World of Hyatt card are evenly matched in many ways, especially when it comes to return on card spend. Determining which is better comes down to what you prefer to receive from your card.

Some might prefer the more straightforward setup of the World of Hyatt card with its more reasonable annual fee and a complimentary free night certificate that requires doing nothing more other than renewing your card each year.

In my view, however, the Hilton Surpass card is better because it comes with a more valuable complimentary elite status, Hilton Gold versus Hyatt Discoverist, quarterly Hilton statements credits to help offset the annual fee, and a much more valuable free night certificate — despite requiring $15,000 in annual spend to earn it.

Hilton Business Amex Card vs. World of Hyatt Business Card

Here’s the value you could get from these cards, according to Upgraded Points’ valuations of Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt points:

The Hilton Business Amex card and the World of Hyatt Business card are similar in their annual fees and how rewarding they are for spending at their respective hotels.

If you’re looking to work your way toward Hyatt Globalist status, the World of Hyatt Business card might be a great option. You’d earn elite qualifying nights for spending faster with it than you would with the personal card.

While neither card is all that interesting, when you pit them head to head, I’d have to give the edge to the Hilton Business Amex card because it again offers a more lucrative elite status automatically, and its annual credits allow you to receive positive value after accounting for the annual fee, while the World of Hyatt Business card does not.

Hilton Aspire Card: The Best Hotel Rewards Card

While Hyatt does not offer a premium card, I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss the Hilton Aspire card here because, in my view, it is the very best hotel rewards card on the market.

We’ve already discussed how the card offers the best free night award certificate just as a benefit of holding the card, and the ability to earn second and third certificates with annual spend on your card. Now, let’s outline all of the other great perks the Hilton Aspire card offers.

For starters, the card earns 14x points at Hilton hotels. When combined with your complimentary Hilton Diamond status, which offers 20x points on Hilton stays, you receive a total of 34 points per dollar spent. Plus, you receive 7x points on flights booked directly with airlines or AmexTravel.com, on car rentals booked directly from select companies, and at U.S. restaurants, along with 3x points on all other purchases.

While the annual fee for the Hilton Aspire card can be off-putting, keep in mind you also receive up to $400 in annual statement credits at participating Hilton Resorts (up to $200 in statement credits semiannually), a $200 annual airline credit (up to $50 per quarter) that can be applied toward flights, a $100 annual statement credit at Waldorf Astoria and Conrad properties (on stays of 2 or more nights), and an annual CLEAR Plus membership.

4. Hilton Elite Status Is Easier To Earn (But Less Valuable)

Where you have to give the World of Hyatt program its flowers is that, to many, World of Hyatt Globalist status is the most valuable (publicly attainable) hotel elite status that one can achieve.

I generally agree with this sentiment, and I certainly enjoyed Hyatt Globalist benefits like guaranteed suite upgrades, waived award fees, 4 p.m. late checkout, Hyatt Club access, complimentary breakfast, and ancillary benefits like guaranteed Suite Upgrade Awards and Guest of Honor awards.

By comparison, with Hilton Diamond status, you still can receive suite upgrades (though it is up to each individual property to decide whether they want to upgrade you), a daily food and beverage credit or continental breakfast (though this varies by brand and region), and no guarantee of late checkout.

However, all you need to do is hold the Hilton Aspire card to qualify for top-tier Hilton Diamond status. That’s it.

Further, many cards offer complimentary Hilton Gold status (the second tier of the program), like the Hilton Surpass card, The Platinum Card^® from American Express (enrollment required), and The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express (enrollment required), which many would argue is quite a bit more valuable than the low-level complimentary Hyatt Discoverist status you receive with either Hyatt credit card.

Hyatt Globalist, on the other hand, despite being more valuable than Hilton Diamond, requires you to reach 60 elite qualifying nights in a calendar year. While the World of Hyatt card gives you a 5-elite-night credit headstart, for many people, this means they need to spend dozens of nights in Hyatt hotels each year or spend tens of thousands of dollars on one of the Hyatt co-branded cards in order to qualify for Hyatt Globalist.

Often, this means going out of your way regularly to remain loyal to Hyatt. This could include spending more on one of the Hyatt credit cards instead of earning more rewards on another card or making compromises regarding where you stay during your travels.

Hot Tip:

Occasionally, the World of Hyatt program offers a status match or challenge promotion that offers you temporary Hyatt Globalist status, which you can then extend for staying a certain number of nights within a given period — often 90 days. When these promotions come up, this is an excellent way to take Hyatt Globalist status for a spin on a few trips to help you decide if it’s worth pursuing each year.

5. Hilton Offers Your Fifth Night Free on Award Stays

This one should be relatively straightforward. To date, Hyatt is still the only major hotel loyalty program not to offer your fifth night free on award stays. Both Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy offer your fifth night free, and IHG One Rewards leads the pack by offering the fourth night free — provided that you hold one of the IHG co-branded credit cards.

Of course, this perk is immaterial on short-term stays or extended weekend trips. But on longer trips, where you’re staying at least 5 nights — you know, like a vacation — this can offer you up to 20% more value on your Hilton award bookings than it can with your Hyatt award bookings.

6. Hilton Has a Larger Footprint

Another essential element of a hotel loyalty program is how many properties the program offers where I can earn and redeem points and take advantage of any elite status benefits I have.

In this case, it really isn’t much of a fair fight, with Hyatt offering over 1,300 properties worldwide and Hilton offering a staggering 8,300-plus properties worldwide — that’s over 6 times more properties.

Depending on where you most often travel, this might not matter much to you, as both chains may offer plenty of properties where you like to go. That said, if your travel habits are diverse and you enjoy having a lot of hotel choices, the Hilton Honors program is likely to offer far more options on these trips.

7. Hilton Points Are Easier To Earn and Burn

Without getting too caught up in status games, at the end of the day, the name of the game in the world of points and miles is earning and redeeming points for award travel, both to travel to more places and upgrade to travel experiences that you might not have been able to afford otherwise.

Through this lens, I’d argue again that Hilton would be the better program for most award travelers.

From an earning perspective, we discussed how Hilton cards can be more rewarding for your stays at its respective hotels over what Hyatt cards offer at its hotels, especially when accounting for those who hold the Hilton Aspire card.

But beyond what you can earn from each program’s co-branded cards, Hilton offers far more promotions throughout the year, often allowing you to earn double points on your stays. While Hyatt runs promotions as well, they are rarely as lucrative.

When it comes to transfer partners, Hyatt has both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards, both of which transfer at a 1:1 rate. Hilton also has Bilt Rewards at a 1:1 rate and American Express Membership Rewards at a 1:2 rate. American Express often runs 30% to 40% transfer bonuses to Hilton Honors a few times per year, allowing you to boost that transfer rate to 1:2.6 or even 1:2.8.

Even when it comes to purchasing points, which can be helpful if you need to top off your account to make an award booking or are taking advantage of price arbitrage, Hilton often wins by offering 100% bonus promotions, dropping the price per purchased point down to 0.5 cents — equal to our valuation of Hilton points. To date, the lowest price we’ve ever seen Hyatt sell points for is 1.7 cents per point, which is still 13.3% above our valuation.

When it comes time to burn your points, we’ve already discussed how Hilton offers far more properties in more locations worldwide for you to redeem your points at, and perks like your fifth night free on award stays offer you even more value for your points.

Final Thoughts

Though I am switching my loyalty focus, this doesn’t mean I’ll no longer be staying at Hyatt properties. In fact, the World of Hyatt program still offers many excellent properties that I look forward to visiting. I’ll still have the option of using Hyatt Guest of Honor awards on these stays to replicate the Globalist benefits I’ll be giving up.

When it comes to rewards credit cards and loyalty programs, what is best for one person might not be best for you. Furthermore, the best program for you this year may not be next year.

As you plan out your travels for the rest of the year, let this post serve as a reminder that it is OK to reevaluate your travel goals and break away from convention.