Hyatt’s award costs are going up tomorrow – book now to avoid higher rates

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This is a reminder that Hyatt’s 2022 award category changes come into effect from tomorrow, 22 March, and that means that we have less than 24 hours in which to lock in the current award prices at 70 World of Hyatt properties that will soon cost considerably more.

On 14 February, Hyatt announced its hotel category changes for 2022 and the headline news was far from good. The big takeaway was that a number of highly aspirational Hyatt properties will soon cost a lot more, in points, than they do right now and that Hyatt is now happy to move its own properties into the highest World of Hyatt category (previously mainly reserved for SLH properties).

Here’s a look at what this means.

The headlines

As of 22 March 2022, 146 Hyatt properties will be moving award categories.

• 70 hotels will move to a higher category
• 76 hotels will move to a lower award category.
• 9 Hyatt properties will join a number of SLH hotels that are already in Category 8
• The Hyatt properties moving to Category 8 properties are:
  • Alila Napa Valley
  • Alila Ventana Big Sur
  • Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort
  • Park Hyatt Kyoto
  • Park Hyatt Milan
  • Park Hyatt New York
  • Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono
  • Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme
  • Park Hyatt Sydney
• The Hôtel Lou Pinet (an SLH property in France) will also be moving to Category 8
• For bookings made before March 22, reservations will follow the current free night award chart.
• For bookings made on or after March 22, reservations will follow the new free night award chart.
• Existing reservations for nights on or after March 22 will receive a refund for the point difference if the hotel moved to a lower category.

Link to the current Hyatt award chart

• Hyatt Private Sale: Save 25% at over 975 properties worldwide
• Get 20% back on select award bookings with the World of Hyatt Credit Card

The numbers

We know that the latest set of changes to the World of Hyatt program will see 146 properties moving categories and that of those movers, 70 properties will move to a higher category, and 76 properties will move to a lower award category, but to get the whole story, we have to take a look at where the category changes are being made and which properties are moving categories.

Changes by location

United States:

• 47 properties moving up
• 13 properties moving down

Asia:

• 13 properties moving up
• 24 properties moving down

Europe:

• 6 properties moving up
• 23 properties moving down

North America (ex. USA) & Caribbean:

• 2 properties moving up
• 7 properties moving down

Australia:

• 1 property moving up
• 1 property moving down

Africa & the Middle East:

• 1 property moving up
• 8 properties moving down

What we can clearly see here is that the United States is home to most of the World of Hyatt properties that are moving up a category (67%) while in most other regions, more properties are moving down a category than moving up.

If you’re a Hyatt fan based in the US, this is clearly not great but the news is better for travelers who enjoy burning World of Hyatt points in regions like Europe and Asia.

Changes in key categories

Category 8 (35,000 – 40,000 – 45,000 points per night):

10 properties are moving up from Category 7 to Category 8 and 9 of these properties are Hyatt properties while 1 is an SLH property.

The new Category 8 properties

• Alila Napa Valley
• Alila Ventana Big Sur
• Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort
• Hôtel Lou Pinet
• Park Hyatt Kyoto
• Park Hyatt Milan
• Park Hyatt New York
• Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono
• Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme
• Park Hyatt Sydney

2 properties are moving down from Category 8 to category 7:

• The Trident Hotel in Jamaica
• Boheme Hotel in Greece

This is where the biggest hit is to be seen. All 10 of the properties moving up to Category 8 will now cost up to 45,000 points per night, every Hyatt property that’s moving up to Category 8 is one of Hyatt’s “aspirational properties”, and most Hyatt properties on this list represent the very best Hyatt options in their respective areas.

Considering these properties have all been bookable for no more than 30,000 points/night for stays up until the end of this month and considering they were set to cost no more than 35,000 points/night from 1 March onwards, this can only be viewed as a big World of Hyatt devaluation.

Some Hyatt fans may be able to take solace in the fact that the Park Hyatt Maldives hasn’t been moved up to Category 8 (leaving us with at least one aspirational property that will continue to cost no more than 35,000 points/night), but that’s just a very thin silver lining to an otherwise very grey cloud.

Category 7 (35,000 – 40,000 – 45,000 points per night):

Just 3 properties are moving up to Category 7.

• Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas
• Carmel Valley Ranch
• Hyatt Centric Key West Resort & Spa

With just 2 properties moving down to Category 7 (from Category 8) and with 10 properties moving up out of Category 7 (to Category 8), the World of Hyatt will soon have 5 fewer Category 7 properties than it does right now.

I guess we could try to look at this in a positive light and thank the miles and points gods that more properties haven’t been moved up to Category 7 and that properties like the Park Hyatt Maldives, the Hyatt Carmel Highlands, and the Viceroy Bali will all remain bookable for no more than 35,000 points per night, but it’s still hard to turn a blind eye to all the amazing properties that have been moved up from Category 7 to Category 8. That hurts.

Category 4 (12,000 – 15,000 – 18,000 points per night):

Category 4 is included in my list of key categories because it’s the highest category that can be booked using the free night certificates that can be earned by crediting 30 elite nights to the World of Hyatt program, through card_name (review), and through Hyatt’s Brand Explorer program.

In this set of changes, 14 properties are moving from Category 4 to Category 5 and 21 properties are moving down from Category 5 to Category 4 so we actually have some good news here – the World of Hyatt program will soon offer more properties that are bookable using Category 1-4 certificates than it does right now.

Everyone will have their own opinion on which properties are the key movers in and out of Category 4 but for me, these are the ones that stand out:

The Hyatt Place Santa Barbara, the Hyatt Regency Monterey, the Park Hyatt Zanzibar, and the Park Hyatt Istanbul are all moving up to Category 5 so will not be bookable using a Category 1-4 certificate. All four of these properties have offered World of Hyatt members very good value while in Category 4 so it’s sad to see them moving up.

Also, it’s worth noting that with Gild Hall (a Thompson Hotel) moving up to Category 5, Manhattan will be losing its final property that was bookable using a Category 1-4 free night certificate – bad news for Hyatt fans looking for an affordable stay in the heart of NYC.

The Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui, and the Hyatt Regency Sydney are both moving down to Category 4 and will soon cost no more than 18,000 points per night and will be bookable using Hyatt’s Category 1-4 certificates.

With the Park Hyatt Sydney moving up to Category 8 and now more out of reach to a lot of World of Hyatt members than ever before, it’s good to have a new Sydney property that’s bookable with a Category 1-4 certificate and that won’t cost a fortune in points. Likewise, I’ve always thought that the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon) offered a good option for Hyatt fans (I stayed there back in 2016) so it’s great to see it bookable for as little as 12,000 points/night.

Other notable movers

A significant number of hotels that are moving categories are SLH properties about which I don’t know enough to comment so I’m going to restrict what I say in this section to Hyatt properties only.

The Hyatt Regency Tokyo has long offered fantastic value as a Category 3 property in the middle of Shinjuku (12,000 points per night), but that value is soon to be eroded a little as it moves to Category 4 where it will cost up to 18,000 points/night.

I know a few people who have enjoyed good stays at the Hyatt Regency Malta which, as a Category 2 property (8,000 points/night), was a steal for anyone looking for reasonably priced accommodation in the Mediterranean. As a Category 3 property (9,000 – 15,000 points/night) the property should still offer good value…albeit a little less than before.

In better news…

The Grand Hyatt Muscat in Oman and the Hyatt Regency Danang in Vietnam are moving from Category 4 to Category 3 and will now cost from as little as 9,000 points/night.

The Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit, the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, the Alila Ubud, and the Andaz Delhi are all moving down to Category 2 where they will cost between 6,500 and 9,500 points per night

The two Hyatt properties closest to Heathrow Airport (Hyatt Place London Heathrow and Hyatt Place West London Hayes) are both moving to Category 1 and will cost from as little as 3,500 points/night.

The Grand Hyatt Bali and the Hyatt Regency Bali are both moving from Category 2 to Category 1 and will cost no more than 6,500 points/night.

Overall

If you primarily use your Hyatt points for stays in the United States or for stays at Hyatt’s more aspirational properties, the category changes that are coming on 22 March 2022 are unquestionably bad news for you and that’s why you should be considering your plans for the next year and making sure that if any of them include stays at properties that are about to go up in award cost, you make your bookings before the changes are live tomorrow morning.

This doesn’t mean, however, that there isn’t still value to be had out of the World of Hyatt program as despite being incredibly disappointed to see that Hyatt will soon be charging up to 45,000 points/night for a variety of properties that I was hoping to visit in the next couple of years, I’m taking some comfort in the fact that some of the properties that I would choose to visit in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East will soon cost fewer points than I was expecting them too.

How you view the new World of Hyatt category changes will almost certainly be dependent on where you’re based but as most active World of Hyatt members are based in the US, most active world of Hyatt members will almost certainly be feeling pretty bad about the news that Hyatt has dropped.

For others, the news isn’t so bad, but with some truly fantastic properties now costing up to 50% more than they did before, it’s hard to get away from the impression that the World of Hyatt program is a little worse today than it was just a few days ago.

Check your plans. Check which properties are going to cost more. from tomorrow. Go ahead and make what bookings are needed to ensure that you avoid paying more for your upcoming trips than you have to.