Overview
Hyatt has long been the golden child of hotel loyalty programs. In fact, it’s in with a strong argument to be the best loyalty program full-stop. Its simple award chart system has been immensely generous, offering travelers the rare chance to grab luxury hotels and budget stays for rock-bottom award rates around the world.
I push the program more than any other for that reliability. But is that all about to change? Well, kind of.
On May 20th, World of Hyatt is revamping its award chart system, tweaking the way we find value and adding some new obstacles. Overall, it’s not good news, but thankfully, the bar was set so high that it’s still one of the best options out there.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about the World of Hyatt program changes.
- Best for: Hyatt Hotel Lovers
- Annual Fee: $95
- APR: 19.24% - 27.74% Variable
- Reward Rate: 1X - 4X
- Recommended Credit: 690-850
World of Hyatt Credit Card
Earn up to 60,000 Bonus Points
Offer Details:
Earn up to 60,000 Bonus Points. Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.
Why we like it
The World of Hyatt Credit Card is a wonderful card to have in your wallet, not least because Hyatt points are one of, if not the most, valuable hotel points out there. Plus, its intro bonus allows you to earn up to 60,000 bonus points. With the bonus, and a free night certificate doled out each year, and an extra free night certificate after spending $15,000, you’re getting a card that packs a punch.
Reward details
4 bonus points per $1 spent with your card at Hyatt hotels, including participating restaurants and spas.
2 bonus Points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airlines, on local transit and commuting and on fitness club and gym memberships
1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Pros & Cons
Pros
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Get 1 free night each year after your Cardmember anniversary at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort.
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Enjoy complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as your account is open, which includes bonus points on paid Hyatt stays, premium internet, and 2 pm late checkout.
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Receive 5 tier qualifying night credits towards status after account opening, and each year after that for as long as your account is open.
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Earn an extra free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel if you spend $15,000 in a calendar year.
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Earn 2 qualifying night credits towards tier status every time you spend $5,000 on your card.
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Earn up to 9 points total for Hyatt stays – 4 Bonus Points per $1 spent on qualified purchases at Hyatt hotels & up to 5 Base Points per $1 from Hyatt as a World of Hyatt member.
Cons
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Points-earning potential isn’t too strong, especially beyond the intro period.
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Hyatt has fewer properties than the likes of Marriott and Hilton, so you may be more limited to where you can redeem your points.
Terms Apply
What’s Shifted?
Generally speaking, there are two sides to this shift. One is an expected yearly occurrence, while the other is a major overhaul that impacts almost every aspect of the redemption process. Before we dive into the changes, here’s a quick overview of how the program currently works.
Award chart
Hyatt assigns every hotel under its banner a category from 1 to 8, with Category 1 properties generally being budget stays or in developing markets, and Category 8 hotels being the most luxurious.
The award rate for a standard room in each of those categories is set automatically based on off-peak, standard, or peak dates. A Category 1 hotel on an off-peak date costs just 3,500 points, while a Category 8 hotel would cost 35,000 on the same type of date. Peak dates see Category 1 stays rise to 6,500 points and Category 8s to 45,000. Everything else falls between those figures.
From there, you can book Club Rooms, Standard Suites, and Premium Suites using a similar pattern.
It’s simple, and it offers tremendous value across the board, especially in standard rooms.
The Big Change: More Pricing Tiers
The current award chart will remain in place until May 20th, 2026. After that, everything will change. The good news is that it is still an award chart, which means you can still find an outweighed value. Other hotels and airlines have ditched theirs completely, leaving rates to fluctuate based on whatever metric they fancy.
The bad news is that the hotel is introducing new pricing tiers. Instead of the simple three-tiered approach, there will now be five distinct date types:
Lowest
Low
Moderate
Upper
Top
Hyatt’s spin on the changes is that having five tiers allows for more precision when pricing rooms. The logic is that maybe a date isn’t fully classed as peak, but in the past, they would round it up. Adding two extra tiers in the middle means you won’t have to pay as much. In reality, it’s likely to work the opposite way, but right now, we have no clue how they’ll actually implement it. Maybe the rates will be just as good. We’re just not sure yet.
On paper, though, it means Hyatt now has over 70 different award price points. It’s far from simple, and it gives it a lot more room to charge more.
Have the rates themselves changed?
It depends on where you look. For some properties, there is good news. Category 1-6 all have slightly fewer points on “lowest” dates in the system compared to the “Off-peak” rates in the old one. On the other hand, moderate rates have gone up across the board, and “top” dates have jumped astronomically.
A Standard Room in a Category 8 used to max out at 45,000. The new system jumps to 75,000, with “low” still costing 45,000 points. Some of the higher-end stays are looking at increases of up to 67%.
Again, we still don’t know how the new rates will be deployed. But if Hyatt wants to, it can squeeze the points out of its customers.
Is there a good side to this?
It’s hard to tell, for the same reasons we just mentioned. If the “lowest” tier is used regularly, devaluations can be lessened. Points and cash options are also down, but we generally don’t advise using these.
If we look at the big picture, it’s still a good thing that the award chart exists. Fixed pricing is so valuable in the current landscape. Hilton, Marriott, and IHG have long done away with their own charts, so Hyatt is still positioned at the head of the pack in that respect. Even the highest award rates in World of Hyatt will beat a comparable stay with Hilton in most scenarios.
It just kinda hurts because it was so good before. There was always a feeling of it being the last program standing. Now, it’s kinda lopsided, and maybe limping a little.
Category Changes Kick In, Too
On the same day, you’ll also see some category shifts across Hyatt’s portfolio. This isn’t surprising news; it does this every year, shuffling different properties up or down based on some business metric of its choosing.
This year, 136 properties are shifting, with 112 of them moving up a category and just 24 going down. You can check out the full list of category changes on this page. Just scroll right to the bottom and click on the region you want to look at.
Pretty much every style of hotel has been impacted in some way. The Hotel du Louvre, one of my favorite hotels on the planet, has jumped to a Category 8, making it less likely I’ll be staying there in the near future, while The Standard, in Singapore, has dropped from a 5 to 4, making it a slightly better option for me on any of my visa runs.
If you have any interest in staying at any of the changed properties this year, book it before that date or see them rise even more. If you do book and the Category drops, they’ll actually refund you the points, which is lovely.
Where Does This Leave World of Hyatt?
When you set the bar as high as Hyatt did, you leave a lot of room for error. Regardless of how much the program may have just been devalued, it’s still by a considerable distance the best hotel loyalty program — at least in terms of redemptions.
How the new system will be used remains to be seen, but the same advice will work. Be flexible, work with the best dates you can, and do your research.
Generally, I use Hyatt for cheaper stays. It’s been a helpful strategy for me while traveling to get cheaper flights or crash somewhere in between long bus or train journeys without eating into my budget. In that regard, it could help me immensely, assuming those “lowest” dates aren’t as few and far between as I’m worried they will be.
The Point
Hyatt has definitely devalued its loyalty program. But things could be a lot worse. The award chart is still intact, albeit in a worse state than it was, and can be used to grab insane value, especially when compared to other hotel programs. Just make sure to book any getaways you had in mind before that May 20th cutoff date to save some extra points.
by your friends at The Daily Navigator
