Hyatt Gold Passport members can choose to earn one free night award or 5,000 bonus points after every two eligible stays at Hyatt worldwide through June 30, 2010 with Hyatt’s Big Welcome Back promotion. Free night awards are valid through Aug. 31, 2010 without blackout dates and can be redeemed at any Hyatt hotel or resort worldwide. There is no limit to the number of free night awards or bonus points you can earn during this promotion.

Registration is required and once you register and select your preference of earning either bonus points or award stays, you cannot change your preference. You must use your free night awards by Aug. 31, 2010 and they are not transferable. In addition to the bonus points or award nights, you will also earn the standard five points per dollar spent during your stay (or 500 miles per stay with most airlines if that’s what you choose).

Members should allow 10 days after each of your second eligible stays for the free award night to be posted to your Gold Passport account before attempting to redeem the free night’s stay. (Allow two to three weeks for awards to post from stays outside the U.S.) Visit http://www.goldpassport.com to register for the promotion.

Bottom line: Should you choose the free night’s stay or the points? Undoubtedly, if you do not plan to use your free night stay award by Aug. 31, 2010, the bonus points are the way to go. We applaud Hyatt for making the promotion retroactive for anyone who has reservations during the promotional period regardless of when the reservations were made (as long as you register for the promotion).

And you do not have to register for the promotion before your stay, so you can wait until close to the end of the promotion to decide if you’d rather have the points or award nights–but don’t wait too long.

Overall, members are thrilled with this latest bonus, such as FlyerTalk member, pitbrian, who said, “Loving it Gold Passport. The little side thing I currently have going on with you is about to turn into a full-blown affair.”