A little piece of Heaven (and my FAVORITE hotel credit card)!!
Many of you have been following along on our “path to Hawaii”, our two-week, three-island Hawaiian adventure, where we were able to take an almost $32,000 vacation for only $3,000! For those of you who have just tuned in, you can read about the start of that plan here (the Southwest Companion Pass), and here (where we maximize every dollar spent with points)! The most incredible part of our strategy was maximizing credit card points, and using the best credit cards on the market (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred – click here)! Today, we’ll be exploring how we maximized points for our hotel stays.
The first thing I did was to research for weeks (literally) the best hotels in Hawaii. After all, if we were going to take what could be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, we wanted to do it right. And Daddy Starbucks has decided that he likes the REALLY nice hotels! There were several options, but we decided on the Grand Hyatt, Kauai. Many reviews recognize this as one of the top resorts on the planet. That seemed good enough for me! I’ll be doing a review of the Grand Hyatt, Kauai in an upcoming post, and not wanting to give away any spoilers, I’ll tell you that it DID NOT disappoint!
We knew that we didn’t just want to stay well, but we also wanted to eat well. We had heard (and researched) that eating in Hawaii was going to cost a lot of money, so I really wanted at least breakfast to be included. It turns out, eating in Hawaii can cost up to $100 per person, per day! For the length of time that we were there, that could have added another $7,000!!!
After researching further, we found that we could have Hyatt Grand Club lounge access for 33,000 points per night, per room. Club Lounge Access includes a full breakfast; snacks and drinks all throughout the day; salad, charcuterie and hor de’orves in the evening; and late-night desserts and cocktails.
The environment was elegant, the food quality and service were exceptional, and having almost exclusive access to this wonderful amenity helped us to feel like we were truly on a grand adventure. To help pay for this, my daughter applied for the World of Hyatt credit card, which at the time, earned her 60,000 World of Hyatt points. Just by having the World of Hyatt credit card, you are given Discoverist status. Each next level of status can be earned, either by charging expenses on the card, or by staying at Hyatt properties. The more you spend or stay, the greater the status that you can earn (up to two more levels – Explorist and Globalist)! Every level of status grants you more perks, amenities, savings, late check-outs and upgrades. In fact, with Globalist status, you have unlimited Club Lounge access (when it is available).
Then, upon realizing Hyatt was a transfer partner of our Chase Sapphire Preferred card, we just needed to transfer enough points to cover the balance needed for the duration of our trip, multiplied times two rooms. (See this post on how to maximize points). Was it worth 66,000 points per night x 4 nights (264,000 points)? 100%! Absolutely! Would I do it again? Not only would I, but I’m already strategizing my return!
The World of Hyatt Credit Card is an absolute must if you want to travel luxuriously. They are one of the highest rated hotel chains and offer incredible value for your points. Currently, the World of Hyatt Credit Card is offering a sign-up bonus of 50,000 points (25,000 points when you spend $3,000 in the first three months, and another 25,000 points when you spend $6,000 within 6 months of account opening).
This card does come with a $95 annual fee, but you also receive one free night per year on your card member anniversary. You can also receive a second free night if you spend $15,000 within a year of opening your card. If you are interested in finding out more, feel free to reach out to me, or if you’d like to apply for the World of Hyatt credit card, click this link! I may get a few points for referring you!