Work out what your World of Hyatt points are worth against a specific stay, and how many free nights your balance actually covers at the property you have in mind.
This is the single most important thing about World of Hyatt, and the reason the program keeps its reputation while others lose theirs. Hyatt sorts its properties into categories and publishes what a free night costs in each one, with off-peak, standard and peak pricing. You can look up the number before you book. Marriott and Hilton both moved to dynamic pricing that tracks the cash rate, which means their points behave more like a fixed-rate currency and the ceiling on what you can extract is much lower.
Because the chart is fixed and cash rates are not, the value of a Hyatt point swings enormously by property and date. A category 4 hotel in a normal week is unremarkable. That same category 4 hotel over a conference weekend, when the cash rate has tripled and the points price has not moved, is where people report the numbers that make Hyatt fans out of them. Run the calculator against the specific dates you want rather than an average, because the average is not what you are booking.
Most people funding a Hyatt stay are not earning Hyatt points directly. Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to World of Hyatt at 1:1, and for a lot of travelers that transfer is the main reason to hold a Sapphire card at all. Check the current transfer bonuses before you move anything, and remember the transfer is one-way. Confirm the award night is available on Hyatt's site first, then transfer the exact amount.
Hyatt lets you cover a night with roughly half the points plus a cash supplement. On a stay where your points are already working hard, the half-points rate sometimes stretches a thin balance across an extra night for less than the cash difference is worth to you. It is worth pricing both ways rather than defaulting to a full points redemption, and our award vs cash calculator will do that comparison for you.