Vacation Deals at Hyatt Hotels: Free Nights for The Recessionista Traveler

It’s summer vacation time for most of us around the world, and I know many of you are looking for ways to beat the heat that is plaguing most of the US and the world. Although I usually write about fashion  here, I think finding travel deals right now that are easy on the wallet are of high  interest to my readers.  That’s why I want to share two good deals from Hyatt Hotels that I recently stumbled upon.   Hyatt Hotels is currently offering several incentives to lure in travelers looking for price breaks on their vacation. The first deal is the offer of a Free Night at a participating Hyatt when you have already booked a stay where you are paying for nights.   For some of us  that means we can enjoy one more shopping trip, a museum visit or just some time to recharge at the pool or the spa.  Use code FRTIME until December 30th to book your stay.

The second deal that I have discovered from Hyatt Hotels is to receive two free nights when you sign-up and are approved for a Hyatt Gold Passport credit card. As a Hyatt Gold Passport holder I found out about this deal when I called their 800 number to reserve a Hyatt stay. For a $75.00 fee to “get” the card, you earn the two free nights, platinum Hyatt status, and extra Hyatt Passport points for each stay.  I signed up for the card, and recently tested the offer of the two free nights.  First, I booked my hotel stay at the Hyatt Santa Barbara, then I worked on getting the card and receiving the two free nights applied to my hotel stay.  Everything worked out as planned, and I did receive my two free nights at the Hyatt Santa Barbara (a great destination for a vacation).  I did have to push to get those nights honored via @HyattConcierge on Twitter and the hotel’s Hyatt Passport Customer Service number.   Although I was at first told that the Hotel was sold out and they couldn’t honor the free nights, when I insisted that I already had a reservation, the offer of the 2 free nights was honored.   How does this deal work if you are not a famous blogger? The same way. My friends who got the Gold Passport credit card  received their two free nights, they just had to insist upon it with Hyatt reservations.  It’s good to know that the deal is not just a “bait and switch” marketing tactic and that consumers can get the free nights as advertised.  You might have to talk to a manager at the Hyatt reservations number, as my friends did, to get the offer of the free nights honored, but it’s well worthwhile to reap the vacation deal. If you try this one, just remember to pay your credit card bill on time, as even the $75.00 initiation/sign-up fee can carry steep penalty and finance charges if you don’t pay it on time.   But, if you pay the bills on time and are looking for vacation deals, this is one deal that I can recommend. 

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, the Hyatt Hotels sent wine and cheese to my room upon arrival.  However, I didn’t receive any payment from them for writing this post, and they didn’t pitch me on this deal.  This is a deal that I discovered and tested, then decided to share with my readers.  I paid the $75.00 fee to get the Hyatt Gold Passport Credit Card and for incidentals during my stay.