Hyatt has five all inclusive resorts: three family-oriented Hyatt Ziva and two adults-only Hyatt Zilara. You can redeem Hyatt points for any one of them, but they are not cheap when you have a family in tow! Fortunately there are ways to save over 50% at Hyatt all-inclusive resorts.
My family recently spent two nights at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos before Christmas. We paid cash for our stay, at such fantastic rates that even the lady who checked us in was amazed, considering it was during the holiday season.
Redemption Rates for Hyatt All-Inclusive Resorts
A standard room at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos will cost 20,000 for two people. But for a family of four with kids over 3 years old, it will cost 40,000 points a night! And if you have more than 4 people (like I do), you will need to book two rooms and that adds up fast!
Hyatt Ziva has standard rooms that include two double beds and a sofa bed, Technically it would fit all five of us, but hotel only allows a maximum of four people per room. So for my family of five, I need two rooms. It would cost a total of 50,000 points per night (20,000 for two people in one room, and 30,000 for three people in the other room). I am simply not willing to spend that kind of points for just one night!
Paying Cash v.s. Using Points
Kids 13 and over are consider adults at Hyatt all-inclusive resorts. My middle daughter just turned 13 before the trip, so unfortunately we have to pay adult price for her and her older sister. I ended up paying $214 per night for 2 adults in one room and $284 for 2 adults and 1 child in the other room. Basically, I paid $494 per night for two rooms each night instead of 50,000 points. Yes It was a good chunk of money, but I rather kept my points knowing that I can redeem them for a value much higher than 1 cent per point.
How to Save 50% at Hyatt All-Inclusive resorts
I got my fantastic rates through Hyatt’s best rate guarantees, a program that almost all major hotel brands offer. Basically if you book a room and later find that same room elsewhere for less, the hotel will either match the lower price or drop it even lower. Each hotel brand has its own guarantees and rules. With Hyatt, if your claim is validated and approved, they will match not only the lower rate but also offer additional 20% discount. I was on a roll with Marriott’s program in 2015. But in 2016 I focused on Hyatt so I can take advantage of my diamond status.
Almost everyday, I searched on Kayak.com for lower rates at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. Rates changed daily and finally one day, I found a lower rate of $355 from Getaroom.com for 2 adults and 1 child. Hyatt wanted $594 a night for the same room and same number of people. I made a refundable reservation on Hyatt.com immediately, without the intention of keeping it.
The rate on Getaroom.com had the same cancellation policy as Hyatt, otherwise it wouldn’t be approved. I submitted the claim form along with a screen shot of the rates on Getaroom.com. About 24 hours later, I received an email from Hyatt Service Desk with the good news I was hoping for! They approved my claim and discounted it by 20% to $284 a night!
I repeated the same process for the other room that I need. Hyatt wanted $355 a night, but I found $268 on Getaroom.com. My claim was also approved and my rate was adjusted to $214 a night for two people!
Save 50% at Hyatt all-inclusive resorts with best rate guarantees
Thanks to Hyatt’s best rate guarantees, I paid $494 per night for two rooms, instead of the $949, a saving of over 50%! The rate I paid included the accommodation, all taxes and fees, as well as all the food and drinks for the five of us! It was a steal! Even though I booked only standard rooms, we were upgraded to ocean view rooms thanks to my diamond status. We had a fantastic time and would definitely go back in a heartbeat.
If you are planning a trip at Hyatt all inclusive properties, it is worth looking into Hyatt’s best rate guarantees to see if you can save over 50%. I often see lower rates at both the Los Cabo and Puerto Vallarta properties. Another place to look is the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, where I also found lower rates than Hyatt website.
[5th time’s a charm – Best Western BRG finally approved!]
Before you start the process with Hyatt’s best rate guarantees, it would be a good idea to read through the Flyertalk forum to learn what works and what does not. There are rules and tricks. It will take some effort and time, but the savings is very well worth it!
Have you been able to find cheap cash rates for Hyatt all-inclusive resorts? Have you used Hyatt best rate guarantees before?
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Very iffy article, and the biggest slight of hand is you don’t warn people how bad and difficult Hyatt’s best rate guarantee has become. You were lucky they actually handled yours timeousky and didn’t search for any slight reason to refuse the guarantee. Hyatt used to be quite flexible but on 3 occasions they refused Hotels.com because of some promo banner on the rates and indicated these were not publicly available.
I agree with you that Hyatt’s best rate guarantee has become more difficult last year than prior years. I have my share of rejects but my success rates are much higher than rejects. The reason, I always do my homework before submitting the claim! I read the Flyertalk comments and know what works and what doesn’t. I also read the terms of the competing rate very carefully to make sure they are the exact same one as Hyatt’s. I never used any discount code or special rates. My rejects were usually because the competing rate was no longer available, as OTAs changed their rates constantly. You need a bit of luck and a lot of hard work to get a successful BRG.
If you and your wife sign up for the Hyatt card you can both receive 2 free nights that would cover 1 room or 4 people. For 4 nights
Unfortunately that wasn’t really a choice for us. My husband doesn’t want to open any credit cards. But yeah the Hyatt free nights will work nicely for the all inclusive.
I have had more Hyatt best rate guarantees refused then accepted. You got lucky, as they often will find some silly reason why the rate is not the same. Standard King versus King Standard room for example. Also had ones where they said you needed a membership which was not true. Also one where they said I needed to book non-refundable rate on Hyatt first before they would consider looking to match the rate.
The Hyatt BRG is NOT as good as it sounds. Too often they refuse after you wait 24 hours or more!
I love the blog! and this is a good tip as I was debating using points on one of the Ziva properties….but as an accountant, I gotta question the math here:
First, 214 + 284 = 498.
Second, 498 is 47.5% off of the rack rate of $949.
Still quite the deal!
Thank you for pointing out the math error! I accidentally did it the other way! haha… I shouldn’t include math late at night while I am writing a post.