World of hyatt award gift restrictions
Hyatt’s New Award Gifting Rule Just Made My Life Harder…
World of Hyatt is limiting the gifting of awards, a move that will adversely impact me, but does make sense considering the ease in which these awards are transferable.
Hyatt is unique in letting its World of Hyatt members gift most types of awards to other travelers. This includes most awards earned through Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards program, including:
Club Access Awards
Free Night Awards
Guest of Honor Awards
Suite Upgrade Awards
Currently, there are no restrictions on the transfer of these awards: they can be transferred instantly to anyone and without limits…not just members of your family or within a “household account” (as some other loyalty programs have done to reduce the buying, selling, and bartering of these awards).
Of course, that creates a parallel market for these awards…a lucrative business for those who game the system and that undermines the value of the program for others since room space or suite upgrades are capacity-controlled.
Starting June 7, 2025, World of Hyatt members will be limited to receiving 10 gifted awards per calendar year.
This
Hyatt limits number of award gifts members can receive
World of Hyatt is the loyalty program that keeps on giving, usually without restriction.
That's starting to change, though, thanks to new language in the program's terms and conditions limiting the number of gifts a member can receive, as first reported by One Mile at a Time.
A new line in the terms and conditions states: "As of June 7, 2025, a Member may be gifted a maximum of ten (10) transferred awards per calendar year in accordance with the process described above. This restriction applies only to the receipt of transferred gift awards. Members remain able to transfer as many eligible awards as they choose."
Most types of Hyatt awards, including suite upgrade awards, club access awards, free night awards and Guest of Honor awards, have been giftable to another World of Hyatt member since January of 2024. And with the new rules, members can still gift as many awards as they want. The major change is that one single member can only
receive
a maximum of 10 gifts per year.
Still, World of Hyatt is considered the most award-friendly hotel program, thanks to its use of an award chart to price out aw
Quick Points: How to gift World of Hyatt awards
In late November 2023, World of Hyatt announced several loyalty program changes. One of these changes was the upcoming ability to gift most award types — including suite upgrade awards, club access awards and Guest of Honor awards — to another member through the World of Hyatt app or website.
In January, World of Hyatt flipped the switch to "on" for gifting select awards to other members. So, here's what you need to know about gifting World of Hyatt awards.
What Hyatt awards can you gift?
You can gift most types of Hyatt awards — including suite upgrade awards, club access awards, free night awards and Guest of Honor awards — to another member. You can also transfer Hyatt points to another member.
The two types of Hyatt awards you can't gift to another member are My Hyatt Concierge and the 2K Next Stay award, which you can earn through Hyatt's Milestone Rewards program.
Related: Why I aim to spend $15K on my World of Hyatt Credit Card each year
How to gift a World of Hyatt award
World of Hyatt has made gifting awards to other members easy via the Hyatt website or app. To gift an award on the Hyatt
In 2023, World of Hyatt added a feature allowing members to gift awards to each other. Receiving a free night or upgrade award is a nice perk for improving your stay.
Unfortunately, the system has experienced a fair amount of fraud, and Hyatt will impose limits on these awards going forward.
You can still gift as many awards as you like. However, members will have a limit on the number of awards they can receive after June 7, 2025.
A Quick Overview on Hyatt’s Transferable Awards
You can earn free night awards with Hyatt in several ways, while other awards are specifically available through Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards program, which provides choice benefits after a set number of stays each year.
These benefits can be incredibly valuable, offering complimentary perks such as upgraded rooms, daily breakfast, free parking, and more.
Hot Tip:
World of Hyatt To Limit Award Transfers
As of June 7, 2025
, World of Hyatt will limit the number of awards a member can receive annually, as Loyalty Lobby first reported.
Members will only be able to receive 10 awards in a calendar year
; there’s no limit on how many awards a member can gift.
Hyatt added the ability to gift awards