Hyatt Announces Mid-2016 Award Category Changes

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – The Hyatt Credit Card

Last week, Hyatt Gold Passport debuted its new website, making the interface and experience of using the site more user-friendly for travelers. And now, like many of the major hotel chains, including IHG, Hilton and Marriott earlier this year, Hyatt has announced that it's adjusting the award categories for many hotels within its portfolio. As of August 1, 2016, more than 100 properties around the world will either move to a higher or lower award category.

Hyatt adjusts its hotel award categories based on the current market conditions, and where possible, Hyatt Gold Passport says that it has made an effort to minimize the changes. In all, 50 properties will move to a higher award category and 56 properties will shift to a lower award category as of August 1, 2016.

Keep in mind that although all of these changes might not be positive, you can still take advantage of lower rates for the time being. If you book your stay before August 1, you can redeem points for your stay with the old rates — even for stays beyond that date. Meaning, if you plan to stay at a property that's moving up a level, you can book your stay at the old rate before August 1; otherwise, it may make more sense to wait.

Some notable changes:

Hyatt Place Asheville Downtown

This Asheville, North Carolina property is located in the heart of the city. At the hotel, you'll be walking distance from all the major attractions of Asheville and surrounded by the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains. It's changing from a Category 1 to a Category 3 hotel, requiring an additional 7,000 points per night. This is the only property in Hyatt's list that is moving up two categories.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco

This waterfront San Francisco property is located near the city's Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf attractions. The Hyatt Regency San Francisco also boasts the world's largest hotel lobby. It's moving from a Category 4 to a Category 5 property, requiring an additional 5,000 points per night.

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Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur

The Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur is located in the city's Golden Triangle shopping and entertainment district. Each room has floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the city's buildings like the Petronas Twin Towers. It's dropping from a Category 4 to a Category 3 property, requiring 3,000 fewer points per night.

Here's how Hyatt's redemptions break break down:

You can find the full list of all of Hyatt's properties and which category they belong to here. Overall, while these changes don't look to be all that bad and category changes are expected, you do have some time to book your future stays at the current rates.

Here's the full list of properties moving up:

And here's the full list of properties moving down:

The Hyatt Credit Card will also help you get free stays at properties across the world. The card currently comes with a sign-up bonus of two free nights at Hyatt properties worldwide after you spend $1,000 in the first three months. You'll get 5,000 bonus points if you add an authorized user and they make a purchase within the first three months. You'll earn 3x points on purchases at all Hyatt properties, 2x points at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airline and at car rental agencies and 1x points on all other purchases. The card comes with a $75 annual fee that's waived the first year.