Hyatt vs. Marriott Reward Programs Overview

World of Hyatt 

What is World of Hyatt Loyalty Program?

The World of Hyatt program is geared toward leisure and business travelers who visit major cities within the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico and Asia. The Hyatt portfolio comprises more than 1,100 properties worldwide, with hotels concentrated in major U.S. destinations like Atlanta, Chicago, New York City and San Francisco. The network of brands includes JdV by Hyatt, Thompson Hotels, Hyatt Regency, Andaz, Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt, among others. 

As a World of Hyatt member, you will accumulate points to use for free nights, room upgrades, airline miles, car rentals, dining and spa and fitness services. If you have a World of Hyatt Credit Card from Chase Visa, you can earn additional points for everyday purchases (including dining, flights and car rentals) and charges made at Hyatt hotels.

Highlight: Members can redeem points on visits to Hyatt’s 100-plus hotel spas.

 World of Hyatt Loyalty Hotels

Joining World of Hyatt

Sign up for a free World of Hyatt membership here. You can start earning points right away.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Hyatt Loyalty Program

Summary

Some of the World of Hyatt rewards program’s most notable features include points worth an average of 2.21 cents apiece, a wide range of redemption options and bonus points on bookings for members from the second membership tier onward.

World of Hyatt is good for travelers who:

• Collect Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

• Want luxury stays in popular destinations.

• Don’t often book hotels in smaller cities or remote locations.

• Want a ton of all-inclusive hotel options.

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Marriott Bonvoy

What is Marriott Bonvoy?

Marriott Bonvoy is the Marriott hotel company’s loyalty program, allowing you to earn and redeem points for stays at Bonvoy brands including The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott, Sheraton, Westin and Renaissance Hotels.

It’s free to join the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program, and all members can book hotels at discounted rates, enjoy free Wi-Fi and earn points toward free nights. Once you rise in Marriott Bonvoy status, you’ll get additional Marriott Bonvoy benefits such as late checkout, free breakfast, lounge access and more.

Highlight: You can earn and use Marriott Bonvoy points at 30 different hotel brands that span nearly 8,000 properties in 139 countries and territories.

Marriott Bonvoy Hotels

Joining Marriott Bonvoy

Register online for a free Marriott Bonvoy account.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Marriott Bonvoy Program

Summary

Some of the Marriott Bonvoy rewards program’s biggest strengths include points worth an average of 0.98 cents apiece, lots of redemption options and few earning limitations.

Marriott Bonvoy is good for travelers who:

• Aren’t sure where in the world they plan to travel.

• Want a huge collection of luxury properties.

• Want a selection of unique, non-”cookie cutter” hotels.

• Frequently redeem points in five-night increments.

• Want to book extended stay hotel rooms.

• Want to turn their points into airline miles.

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Hyatt vs. Marriott Loyalty Programs :Comparison Side by Side

1.A closer look

World of Hyatt

With more than 1,000 hotels in 69 countries and counting, there are several World of Hyatt properties out there, but the number is still dwarfed by other programs. The loyalty program counts 20 different brands within its portfolio, not including loyalty partnerships with other hotel groups like MGM and Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

Hyatt's elite status program delivers familiar benefits like space-available upgrades, late checkout and breakfast. Its top elite level, Globalist, is known to be especially rewarding.

Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott has 30 brands and more than 7,000 hotels in 131 countries and territories within its global portfolio. These include design-focused boutique hotels and meeting and convention behemoths.

Its most frequent guests earn coveted elite status, which comes with benefits like space-available upgrades and club lounge access.

2.Loyalty programs Difference

Earning points

Members in both programs earn points on the base room rate plus any eligible room charges. Of course, if you have elite status in either program, you’ll earn more bonus points. To earn points, guests need to make a reservation via a hotel’s own channel (online, phone, etc.) instead of using a third-party booking website

How to Earn Hyatt points?

For every eligible dollar spent, members earn 5x points. This earning rate is available at all World of Hyatt brands.

World of Hyatt offers these ways to earn points:

• Hotel stays

• Credit card bonuses and spending

• Car rentals with Avis

• Experiences, including cruises

• Dining and spa services

• Events

• Transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards

• American Airlines flights

• Purchasing points

• Partnerships and promotions

How to Earn Marriott Bonvoy points?

For every eligible dollar you spend at most Marriott brand hotels, members earn 10x points. The exceptions are Element, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, and Homes & Villas by Marriott International, where members earn 5x points per eligible dollar.

Marriott Bonvoy offers these ways to earn points:

• Hotel stays

• Credit card bonuses and spending

• Car rentals with Hertz

• Cruises

• Dining

• Events

• Transfer partners, including Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards

• Purchasing points

• Partnerships and promotions

Winner: Hyatt

Both Marriott and Hyatt members can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to either hotel program, but Marriott has a partnership with Amex Membership Rewards points as well. This could be useful in certain circumstances, though it’s not typically recommended because Membership Rewards are often valued higher than Marriott points, so it might be a waste to transfer them to your Marriott account.

For Hyatt, you have the unique option to earn Hyatt points when flying with American Airlines. This can be useful if you’re an American Airlines AAdvantage member because you can earn AAdvantage miles and Hyatt points at the same time.

Overall, Hyatt wins this round because you can effectively double dip on earning more rewards with the American Airlines partnership. 

Redeeming points

The end goal of earning points is being able to redeem them, so what redemption options do you get from Marriott and Hyatt?

How to Redeem Hyatt Points?

In March 2024,  Hyatt introduced peak/off-peak pricing for points redemptions, making certain award stays more expensive.

World of Hyatt offers these ways to Redeem points:

How to Redeem Marriott Points?

Marriott uses dynamic award pricing, so points rates will vary based on demand.

Marriott Bonvoy offers these ways to Redeem points:

Winner: Hyatt

Remember that even if the two programs earn points at different increments, they also redeem them for stays at different levels, too. Just because World of Hyatt earns 5x points per dollar spent doesn't mean that the points are inherently less valuable.

Without Marriott’s award charts, it is harder to plan in advance to save up points for a redemption. This gives World of Hyatt an edge since members can use the category-based award charts to get an idea of how many points it takes per night.

Elite Status Perks

World of Hyatt

The World of Hyatt program offers four elite status tiers, including the basic Member level that has no requirements to achieve. If you want to move up membership levels, you have to stay a certain number of hotel nights, earn base points, or hold a certain number of qualifying meetings or events at Hyatt properties. Base points can be earned when paying for eligible charges, such as Hyatt stays and experiences at Hyatt properties.

Requirements

These are the benefits you can receive for the different World of Hyatt elite status tiers:

Marriott Bonvoy

The Marriott Bonvoy program is divided into six membership levels based on paid nights per calendar year: member, Silver Elite, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite. To qualify for Ambassador Elite status, you must also spend a certain amount of money with Marriott annually.

Requirements

These are the main benefits you can receive in the Marriott Bonvoy program depending on your elite status level:

Winner: Marriott

Both Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt offer valuable benefits for their members, including the opportunity to earn lounge access and room upgrades. However, Marriott seems to offer a slightly more robust experience for its members because of its increased number of status tiers and a few additional perks.

3.Hotel Credit Card

Hyatt Credit Cards

Hyatt partners with Chase for its two credit card options, The World of Hyatt Credit Card and The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. Both cards fall within the mid-tier range of travel credit cards because of their annual fees — $95 for the World of Hyatt and $199 for the World of Hyatt Business.

Who Should Consider the World of Hyatt Credit Card?

MoneyGeek named the World of Hyatt credit card one of the Best Airline & Hotel Credit Cards. Despite its annual fee, it has solid benefits like no foreign transaction fees and high reward points when you stay at Hyatt hotels, making it a great choice for the following people:

• Those looking for an easy way to earn the Hyatt Discoverist Elite status.

• A vacationer or business traveler who chooses to stay at Hyatt properties. Even if you stay at Hyatt hotels a couple of times in a year, this card will quickly pay off.
  

Marriott  Credit Cards

Marriott offers six credit card options, including five personal cards and one business card. All these cards can help you earn bonus Marriott points, but you’ll find more travel benefits on the cards with the higher annual fees. Marriott partners with both Chase and American Express for its credit cards.

Who Should Consider the Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card?

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card credit card is not among MoneyGeek's top travel or rewards cards. However, the card is more effective if you fall into one or more of these categories:

• Those looking for an easy way to earn the Hyatt Discoverist Elite status.
  

• A vacationer or business traveler who chooses to stay at Hyatt properties. Even if you stay at Hyatt hotels a couple of times in a year, this card will quickly pay off.

Winner: Marriott

Compared with World of Hyatt’s sole card offering, Marriott Bonvoy stands out. Marriott Bonvoy has more credit cards in its portfolio to appeal to different market segments.

4.Travel Considerations

Family Travel

World of Hyatt

Hyatt has lots of family-friendly Category 1 and Category 2 Hyatt Place hotels around the world. Standard award stays at these hotels cost 5,000 to 8,000 points per night, and budget-conscious families can find great deals at these lower-cost hotels. Plus, World of Hyatt members will get free breakfast at Hyatt Place hotels when booking through Hyatt, including award stays.

Plus, Hyatt offers myriad hotels with bunk beds you can book with points — which can be handy for families.

Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott has numerous brands that serve families well, like Residence Inn, which comes with kitchen and living rooms, and TownePlace Suites, which has a partnership with Weber for those who want to grill their meals.

Amenities like pools and free breakfasts can be appealing to large groups of travelers (like a family). Marriott has more than 2,500 hotels with free breakfast in the U.S. alone.

Winner: World of Hyatt

Marriott Bonvoy deserves credit for its size, but World of Hyatt’s addition of so many all-inclusive resorts makes it a more enticing program for families, especially those in vacation mode.

Business Travel

World of Hyatt

The program has a strong loyalty program that takes care of elite members very well, and many Hyatt brands have club lounges that are popular with road warriors. The meetings business is also important for Hyatt, and it has a strong portfolio of properties with conference venues. So business travelers have options, just not as many.

Marriott Bonvoy

With 30 brands, Marriott has numerous hotels designed for corporate travelers, whether you’re focused on luxury or cost. Plus, given the density of Marriott hotels in many travel destinations, you’ll typically have multiple options when deciding which property to book. Business travelers on extended stays may prefer Residence Inn hotels, which have larger accommodations.

Winner:Marriott Bonvoy

Targeting the corporate traveler is important business for hotels. Both hotel brands do this well, but Marriott Bonvoy wins for its increased number of brands and locations around the world. In addition, it has several brands that directly target business travel.

5.Transfer Partners

Both Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt have transfer partners that can make it easier to boost your hotel points totals.

World of Hyatt

These partners allow transfer to World of Hyatt:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio

Marriott Bonvoy

These partners allow transfers to Marriott Bonvoy:

• Amex Membership Rewards at a 1:1 ratio

• Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio

• Diners Club International Club Rewards at 1.25:1.5 ratio

Winner: Tie

Overall, Marriott has more transfer options, but a transfer to Hyatt is likely more valuable than a transfer to Marriott. Because the actual value you get from these transfer partners depends on your situation, this category ends up as a tie.

6.Pricing

When it comes to booking hotels, there’s really no one-size-fits-all model for pricing. Prices can vary greatly based on location, time of booking, seasonal factors, days of the week, hotel brand and tier, and a hundred other things.

Marriott and Hyatt both have hotel brands that start around $100 per night in the budget-friendly or extended stay categories. Both also have brands that average around $700 per night in the luxury category. But when we compiled searching for a week-long stay in New York City, we found prices for most brands were in the $125-$250 range. Our biggest takeaway was that Marriott offers a slightly wider selection of prices thanks to its higher number of brands.

Which is better:Hyatt or Marriott ?

Marriott is a much larger company than Hyatt, with far more brands and properties around the world. As a result, World of Hyatt packs on generous perks, especially for its top-tier Globalist members, to make up for its relatively smaller size. So Is Hyatt better than Marriott?

• The better hotel group depends on your personal preferences. You might prefer certain Marriott brands, such as The Ritz-Carlton, over Hyatt brands, like Park Hyatt. If so, Marriott and its much larger portfolio of properties might be the better choice for you.

• But if you’re not a fan of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program, the World of Hyatt program is generally well-known and liked. This, and the increased value of Hyatt points over Marriott points could mean Hyatt is the better option.

Tips for World of Hyatt Members:

• The best way to redeem World of Hyatt points is for Hyatt stays. Points are worth 2.21 cents apiece that way.

• Pool or transfer points if it makes sense. World of Hyatt allows members to pool their points together for easier redemption. This is especially helpful for family members with individual World of Hyatt memberships who often travel together.

• Take advantage of status perks. The assorted small perks with which members are rewarded for their financial loyalty can be a big selling point for hotel rewards programs, but they are often forgotten by users as time goes by.

• Consider applying for a Hyatt credit card. The World of Hyatt Credit Card could save the average person well over $3,500 during the first two years of use.

• Try the Island Approach with your credit cards. The World of Hyatt Credit Card offers competitive earnings on hotel reservations (within the Hyatt family). On other purchases, you’ll actually get a lower value. 

• Make sure to read Hyatt reviews & World of Hyatt FAQs. Learning from experts and fellow travelers will help you pick up some helpful tips as well as avoid tricks and pitfalls.

• Compare your hotel options if you’re not wedded to Hyatt. Hyatt is not the only worldwide hotel chain with a rewarding loyalty program.

Tips for Marriott Bonvoy Members:

• The best way to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points is for Marriott stays. Points are worth 0.98 cents apiece that way.

• Pool or transfer points if it makes sense. Marriott allows members to pool their points together for easier redemption. This is especially helpful for family members with individual Marriott Bonvoy memberships who often travel together.

• Avoid buying Bonvoy points, if possible. Marriott points cost more to purchase than they are worth when redeemed, on average. However, it could be worth buying a small number if it puts you over the top for a free night.

• Take advantage of status perks. The assorted small perks with which members are rewarded for their financial loyalty can be a big selling point for hotel rewards programs, but they are often forgotten by users as time goes by.

• Consider applying for a Marriott credit card. The best Marriott credit card could save the average person roughly $3,000 over the first two years of use.

• Try the Island Approach with your credit cards. The Marriott Card offers competitive earnings on hotel reservations (within the Marriott family). On pretty much everything else, you’ll actually get a lower value. That’s why you should put an everyday rewards card into your wallet as well. 

• Make sure to read Marriott reviews & Bonvoy FAQs. Learning from experts and fellow travelers will help you pick up some helpful tips as well as avoid tricks and pitfalls.

• Compare your hotel options if you’re not wedded to Marriott. Marriott is not the only worldwide hotel chain with a rewarding loyalty program. 

No matter which program you choose, the more loyal you are to its brands, the better benefits you can expect to receive. Consider where your travels take you most often and use that as a road map to determine which program makes more sense for you.

FAQs

1.How much are Hyatt points worth?

Hyatt points are typically worth 1.7 cents per point. With this valuation, 10,000 Hyatt points would be worth $170.

2.How Much Are Marriott Points Worth?

Marriott points are worth 0.98 cents each on average, according to WalletHub’s research. The average Marriott point value is exactly the same for both weekday and weekend reservations.

3.Can you transfer points from the World of Hyatt to the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless?

No. The points earned through the World of Hyatt card cannot be transferred to Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card, and vice versa. Both cards' rewards programs operate independently of one another.

4.Is Hyatt a luxury brand?

Hyatt is a hotel group that has 20 different hotel brands and more than 1,000 properties worldwide. Its luxury brands include Park Hyatt, Andaz, Alila, Thompson Hotels, Miraval, Grand Hyatt, The Unbound Collection, and Destination by Hyatt.

5.How do you get a free night at Hyatt?

Free nights at Hyatt start at just 5,000 points for a standard room at a Category 1 property, and you can also get a free night every year as a holder of the World of Hyatt credit card.

6.How do you earn Hyatt status?

You can earn Hyatt elite status by staying the required number of nights or earning the required number of points. For example, the lowest true elite level (beyond just being a “member”) is Discoverist, which you earn after staying 10 nights or earning 25,000 points.

7.Is Marriott Bonvoy free?

Yes, it’s free to join the Marriott Bonvoy program, though you must provide your email address to join.

8.Is Marriott Bonvoy the same as Marriott Rewards?

Sort of, yes. Thanks to a huge hotel merger, the Marriott Rewards, SPG and Ritz-Carlton Rewards programs joined forces; in 2019, they combined to become the Marriott Bonvoy program.

9.Do Marriott Bonvoy points expire?

Yes, Marriott points expire after 24 months of inactivity. "Activity" includes both earning and spending points, so you can reset this expiration date either way.

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