Aeroplan Points at Hyatt: Transfer at 2:1, or Trade for a Free Night?

Both paths lead to the same room. They do not cost the same number of points. On a single night, the gap can reach 35,000 Aeroplan points, in either direction.

Here is how to decide, using the rates we pulled for five hotels in Categories 4 and 7.

Two mechanisms, two sets of conditions

The transfer and the free night are not open to the same members.

Transferring Aeroplan points to World of Hyatt is limited to Aeroplan Elite Status members who have linked their two accounts. The minimum is 500 Aeroplan points per transaction, with a cap of 100,000 points per day and 250,000 points per week.

The free night trade is open to any Aeroplan member who has linked their accounts, whatever card they hold and whatever their status. That is the most useful difference to remember: with no Elite status, the free night is your only route.

One detail drives the whole calculation. The free night covers a standard room whatever pricing tier applies to that date, as long as the hotel stays inside the category range. A transfer, on the other hand, leaves you paying the rate posted that day. For the rest of the agreement, see our article on the Aeroplan and World of Hyatt partnership.

The two thresholds to remember: 12,500 and 37,500 Hyatt points

The math fits on one line. At two for one, 25,000 Aeroplan points become 12,500 Hyatt points. And 75,000 Aeroplan points become 37,500 Hyatt points.

Those are your two tipping points.

• For a Category 1-4 hotel: if the night costs more than 12,500 Hyatt points, the 25,000-point free night is cheaper. Below that, transfer.
• For a Category 1-7 hotel: if the night costs more than 37,500 Hyatt points, the 75,000-point free night is cheaper. Below that, transfer.

That leaves one question: what does your night actually cost? Since May 2026, every Hyatt category runs across five pricing tiers, from lowest to top. The same hotel can therefore double in price depending on the date. The full chart is in our article on the World of Hyatt category changes.

Category 4: the free night wins four times out of five

Only one window favours the transfer: the lowest tier, at 12,000 Hyatt points. The gap there is 1,000 Aeroplan points. Everywhere else, the free night costs 5,000 to 25,000 points less.

Hyatt Regency New Orleans: 25,000 points a night

This downtown New Orleans hotel sits in Category 4. At the top of its chart, a standard room asks 25,000 World of Hyatt points.

• By transfer: 50,000 Aeroplan points
• By free night: 25,000 Aeroplan points
• Difference: you pay half

Look at that number another way: the free night handed you 25,000 Hyatt points of value for 25,000 Aeroplan points. One for one. That is the best rate available between the two programs, and it exists only at the top of Category 4.

Dream South Beach: 12,000 points a night

This Miami Beach property is also Category 4. At the lowest tier, it posts 12,000 World of Hyatt points a night.

• By transfer: 24,000 Aeroplan points
• By free night: 25,000 Aeroplan points
• Difference: transferring wins, by 1,000 points

The gap is too thin to bother with. The better read is elsewhere: your free night is worth far more than a 12,000-point stay. Save it for a date when the same hotel, or another Category 4 property, climbs to 20,000 or 25,000 points.

Category 7: the free night loses three times out of five

Category 7 flips the logic. Its lowest tier starts at 25,000 Hyatt points, well under the 37,500 threshold. The result: across the first three tiers, transferring costs less than the 75,000-point free night.

The Beekman and the Palais de la Méditerranée: 45,000 points a night

Two very different addresses, the same rate. The Beekman, in Lower Manhattan, and the Hôtel Palais de la Méditerranée, on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, both post 45,000 World of Hyatt points a night. That is the fourth tier of Category 7.

• By transfer: 90,000 Aeroplan points
• By free night: 75,000 Aeroplan points
• Difference: the free night saves 15,000 points

At the top of Category 7, at 55,000 Hyatt points, the gap widens further: 110,000 Aeroplan points by transfer, against 75,000 by free night. That is 35,000 points less, the largest gap the two methods can produce.

Park Hyatt Marrakech: 25,000 points a night

Same category, opposite conclusion. At the lowest tier, this Park Hyatt asks 25,000 World of Hyatt points.

• By transfer: 50,000 Aeroplan points
• By free night: 75,000 Aeroplan points
• Difference: the free night costs 25,000 points more

You would have spent 75,000 Aeroplan points on a night worth 25,000 at Hyatt. Three for one. That is the worst rate the two programs can produce.

The free night has no fixed rate

That is what the five rate checks show. A free night does not buy Hyatt points at a constant price: its rate depends entirely on which night you spend it on.

The Category 1-4 free night buys Hyatt points at anywhere from one for one, at the top of the category, to 2.08 for one at the lowest tier. The Category 1-7 free night runs from 1.36 for one at the top to three for one at the lowest tier.

The practical rule fits in one sentence: save your free night for the high end of its category range. A Category 4 night at 25,000 points, or a Category 7 night at 45,000 or 55,000 points.

The 2:1 transfer is for topping up, not for funding

So far we have compared point counts. Now look at value.

At Milesopedia, we value an Aeroplan point at 1.5 to 3 Canadian cents, and a World of Hyatt point at 2 to 3 cents. Transferring therefore means giving up two Aeroplan points, or 3 to 6 cents of value, to get one Hyatt point worth 2 to 3. You lose value on every transaction, without exception.

That does not rule out the transfer. It defines what it is for.

The transfer is a top-up tool. Short 3,000 Hyatt points to close a booking? 6,000 Aeroplan points solve it, and the night happens. That is an acceptable cost to release a stay you have already funded three-quarters of the way.

Funding a whole night is another matter. Transferring 50,000 Aeroplan points to get 25,000 Hyatt points means giving up CA$750 to CA$1,500 of airline value for a stay worth CA$500 to CA$750.

The Park Hyatt Marrakech case shows the nuance. The transfer costs 25,000 points less than the free night there, but both options remain poor. Pay that night with the Hyatt points you already hold, and save the free night for a 45,000 or 55,000-point stay.

The fees a points night does not cover

Four of the five hotels we checked charge a fixed amount per night on top of the points. Those fees do not vanish because the room was paid with points.

They do not change the choice between transfer and free night, since they apply either way. They change your value-per-point math. A "free" night carrying US$50 in fees is not free.

Our take

The free night is the only one of the two mechanisms worth spending on a full night, and only at the high end of its range. At the top of Category 4, it hands you Hyatt points at one for one. At the last two tiers of Category 7, it saves 15,000 to 35,000 Aeroplan points a night.

The two-for-one transfer keeps a real use, but a narrow one: topping up a short Hyatt balance. The moment you use it to fund the whole night, you lose value.

Before every booking, run the three-second check. Open the hotel page, note the Hyatt points rate for your date, and compare it to 12,500 or 37,500 depending on the category. The rest follows.

To build the balance that feeds these trades, compare the options on our best credit cards page and our best Aeroplan credit cards selection. To find where your Hyatt points go furthest once transferred, see our best World of Hyatt sweet spots. And to follow what comes next in the partnership, sign up for our newsletter.

Going further, the World of Hyatt program page and the Aeroplan program page carry our current valuations and the other ways to spend each balance. Our hotel loyalty program comparison places Hyatt against Marriott, Hilton and the rest.