Table of Contents
Points Miles and Bling (blog) contains referral or affiliate links. The blog receives a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your continued support. Credit Card issuers are not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details, current product information, and Terms and Conditions, click the link included.
On the heels of Aeroplan’s very comprehensive partnership with Hyatt, one of the biggest announcements is the ability to transfer Aeroplan points to Hyatt and exchange them for Hyatt Free Night Awards.
While it’s not the most lucrative transfer on the market, it does unlock a major opportunity for Canadians to explore beyond Marriott and effectively use their Aeroplan co-branded cards as Hyatt co-branded cards. After all, earning Aeroplan points means earning Hyatt points.
With that lens, let’s run the numbers to see when it makes sense to transfer Aeroplan points to Hyatt points and when it makes more sense to exchange them for Hyatt Free Night Awards instead.
Hyatt Award Chart
First, let’s consider how the award chart works. It’s fairly straightforward: there are 8 categories, and 5 possible price points within each category ranging from “Lowest” to “Top”. The price point within the category is set by Hyatt and is meant to align with seasonality and demand, although no number of dates per year is guaranteed at a certain price (so all nights can be priced as “top” in theory).
Hyatt award chart
From Aeroplan, you can transfer points at a ratio of 2 Aeroplan points = 1 Hyatt point, and you can also transfer Aeroplan for Hyatt free night awards:
- 25,000 Aeroplan points for a Category 1-4 World of Hyatt Free Night Award
- 75,000 Aeroplan points for a Category 1-7 World of Hyatt Free Night Award
Free Night Awards are powerful because you can use them whenever standard award space is available, regardless of which of Hyatt’s five price points your dates fall under.
Notice that prices overlap between categories, but Free Night Award eligibility is based on the hotel’s category, not the number of points required. For example, a Category 8 hotel at the “Lowest” price can cost fewer points than a Category 7 hotel at “Top.” However, you can only use a Category 1–7 Free Night Award at the Category 7 hotel.
Transfer Aeroplan to Hyatt Points vs. Hyatt Free Night Awards
The default line of thinking is that, because Hyatt Free Night Awards have a range of booking categories, we should only exchange Aeroplan for Hyatt Free Night Awards when redeeming in the highest eligible category, and transfer Aeroplan to Hyatt points to book lower categories.
Well, that’s not necessarily true. Take the Hyatt Category 1-4 Free Night Award, which costs 25,000 Aeroplan points. If a Category 4 hotel is priced in the “Lowest” range, it would cost 12,000 Hyatt points per night. At the 2:1 Aeroplan: Hyatt ratio, that’s only 24,000 Aeroplan points, a savings of 1,000 points compared to exchanging for a Free Night Award.
A Category 2 hotel priced at “Top” for 15,000 Hyatt points per night would require 30,000 Aeroplan points, and exchanging 25,000 Aeroplan points for a Category 1-4 Free Night Award is the right move.
12,000 Hyatt points = 24,000 Aeroplan, better to transfer Aeroplan points
Looking at the big picture, 25,000 Aeroplan points would translate to 12,500 Hyatt points, and you should exchange those Aeroplan points for a Category 1-4 Free Night Award in the following scenarios:
- Category 2 hotel at Top; priced at 15,000 Hyatt points per night
- Category 3 hotel at Moderate, Upper, or Top; priced at 15,000-20,000 Hyatt points per night
- Category 4 hotel at Low, Moderate, Upper, or Top; priced at 15,000-25,000 Hyatt points per night
22,500 Hyatt points = 45,000 Aeroplan, better to exchange 25,000 points for a Category 1-4 Free Night Award
Under the same logic, 75,000 Aeroplan points translates to 37,500 Hyatt points, and you should exchange for a Category 1-7 Free Night Award when booking the following:
- Category 6 hotel at Top; priced at 40,000 Hyatt points per night
- Category 7 hotel at Upper or Top; priced at 45,000-55,000 Hyatt points per night
Hyatt Category 1–4 Free Night Awards Work in More Scenarios
You can see that exchanging for a Category 1-4 Free Night Award makes sense in many scenarios, while at the higher Category 6 or 7 tiers, there are only three category/price-point combinations where you should exchange Aeroplan for a Category 1-7 Free Night Award rather than simply transferring Aeroplan to Hyatt.
Categories 1 and 5 stand out because, based purely on Aeroplan cost, transferring at 2:1 is always cheaper than exchanging for an applicable Free Night Award. When it comes to Category 8, there is no eligible Free Night Award, so transferring Aeroplan points to Hyatt is the only option.
Should You Trade Aeroplan for Hyatt At All?
This whole blog post centres around comparing transferring Aeroplan to Hyatt or exchanging Aeroplan for Hyatt Free Night Awards, but the bigger question is: should you be doing either?
If you have access to U.S. credit cards, probably not. Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards offer much better paths to Hyatt. Bilt and Chase Ultimate Rewards points both transfer to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.
In terms of everyday spending, earning 1 Aeroplan point per Canadian dollar effectively gives you 0.5 Hyatt points, compared to 0.75 or 1 Hyatt point per U.S. dollar with Chase. The currency difference narrows that gap somewhat, since $1 CAD is worth less than $1 USD, but we’re getting pretty nitty-gritty at that point.
For most Canadians, however, Hyatt points have historically been difficult to earn. There is no Canadian Hyatt co-branded credit card or bank transfer partner, so having another way to access the program is better than having no option at all.
Where Aeroplan to Hyatt Transfers Make Sense
The value proposition also depends heavily on whether you’re transferring Aeroplan points to Hyatt points or exchanging them for a Free Night Award.
I see the 2:1 transfer ratio primarily as a way to top up an existing Hyatt balance for an upcoming redemption. However, the relatively low cost of Hyatt’s lower categories can still make outright transfers reasonable. A Category 1 hotel costs as little as 3,000 Hyatt points at the “Lowest” price point, requiring just 6,000 Aeroplan points. Even at the “Low” tier of 4,500 Hyatt points, you’re only spending 9,000 Aeroplan points for a one-night hotel stay.
Free Night Awards offer more opportunities to stretch your Aeroplan points further. If you redeem at the top (pun intended) price tier of the highest eligible category, the effective transfer ratio becomes much more compelling. A Category 7 hotel at the “Top” price of 55,000 Hyatt points would require 110,000 Aeroplan points at the 2:1 transfer ratio. Instead, you can exchange just 75,000 Aeroplan points for a Category 1–7 Free Night Award, a savings of 35,000 Aeroplan points.
Exchange 75,000 Aeroplan points for a Category 1-7 Free Night Award instead of transferring 110,000 Aeroplan points; savings of 35,000 Aeroplan points
For me, that makes direct transfers most useful for smaller top-ups or cheap Category 1 stays, while Free Night Awards at the top end of Category 4 and 7 are where I’d consider moving a more substantial number of Aeroplan points into Hyatt.
Takeaway
Aeroplan’s new Hyatt transfer options give Canadians something we haven’t really had before: a practical way to turn a widely accessible Canadian points currency into Hyatt stays. The 2:1 transfer ratio isn’t spectacular, but there are still plenty of scenarios where the numbers can work.
Free Night Awards add another dimension, particularly because their value changes depending on the category and price point of the hotel you’re booking. The Category 1-4 award can make sense across a surprisingly wide range of redemptions, while the Category 1-7 award can deliver substantial savings at the upper end of Category 7.
Ultimately, run the numbers for the specific hotel and date you’re booking. Compare the Hyatt points price to the Aeroplan cost of the applicable Free Night Award, then choose the option that requires fewer Aeroplan points. For Canadians who previously had few practical ways to earn Hyatt points, having both options makes World of Hyatt considerably more accessible.
Featured Image Credit: Spirit Ridge – The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
