2019 World of Hyatt Category Changes to Take Effect March 18

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It's safe to say that 2019 has already been a year of hotel program devaluations. From Marriott's upcoming category changes to the IHG Rewards Club's award chart changes in January and Radisson Rewards' upcoming adjustments, many travelers have likely been left with trepidation any time a program announces new pricing for stays booked using points.

Well, the World of Hyatt program is now joining the fray, as it has released hotel category changes that will take effect March 18, 2019. While it looks like a relative wash between properties moving up and those moving down, a closer look reveals that we're facing yet another devaluation in the coming weeks.

The Basics

Let's start with the base information. These changes impact 259 hotels in the World of Hyatt program, with 130 hotels moving up one category and 129 moving down one category. It's worth noting that no properties are moving into the program's newest tier (Category 8), which is still reserved solely for select properties from the Small Luxury Hotels of the World partnership. In addition, all of the changes fall into Hyatt's brands, so no SLH properties are increasing or decreasing in price. Please see the end of this post for a full table of properties going up in price and a separate table for properties dropping in price, or you can download the Excel spreadsheet I created with the full list.

When you consider that there are currently 973 properties listed on Hyatt's website (including SLH), over 25% of them are changing categories, with a roughly even split between those going up and down.

Some other interesting numbers:

• The average nightly price increase for the 130 properties going up a category is 3,900 points.
• The average nightly price decrease for the 129 properties doing down a category is ~3,558 points.
• The overall average nightly price change across the entire portfolio of Hyatt is +185.33 points.

The changes take effect for all stays booked on or after 11:01pm Central Time on Monday, March 18, 2019. This gives you exactly five weeks to lock in your stays at the current award rates for properties increasing in price. Note that Hyatt allows you to book roughly 13 months in advance, so you should be able to utilize current rates for stays through mid-April 2020. Again though, you must book before 11:01pm Central Time on March 18 to do so.

Keep in mind too that, as is often the case with these award chart adjustments, any changes to reservations after this date and time will be subject to the new award pricing, so you can't just redeem your points now and then firm up your plans later. You should do everything possible to finalize your dates before March 18.

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However, one very nice aspect of these changes is that you won't need to rebook your reservations for hotels that are dropping a category. Here's the statement we received from Hyatt along these lines (emphasis mine):

"For members who have existing reservations for nights after March 18 at any hotels moving to a lower award category that will require fewer World of Hyatt points, we will proactively refund the point difference. Points will be refunded in members' accounts starting on Tuesday, March 19."

This is a very user-friendly approach to these changes, as members shouldn't have to take any formal steps to get their points back.

Properties Increasing in Price

As noted above, there are 130 properties increasing in price with these changes, including the following:

• 18 are moving from Category 1 (5,000 points) to Category 2 (8,000 points).
• 39 are moving from Category 2 (8,000 points) to Category 3 (12,000 points).
• 34 are moving from Category 3 (12,000 points) to Category 4 (15,000 points).
• 18 are moving from Category 4 (15,000 points) to Category 5 (20,000 points).
• 17 are moving from Category 5 (20,000 points) to Category 6 (25,000 points).
• 4 are moving from Category 6 (25,000 points) to Category 7 (30,000 points).

As you can see, the majority of properties undergoing increases fall into the lower tier of Hyatt's award chart; exactly 70% of them are Category 1-3. However, there are a couple of big implications with the other three categories, as we'll explore more fully below.

Properties Decreasing in Price

Almost exactly the same number of properties (129) are decreasing in price with these award category changes. Here's a breakdown of how these fall:

• 52 are moving from Category 2 (8,000 points) to Category 1 (5,000 points).
• 36 are moving from Category 3 (12,000 points) to Category 2 (8,000 points).
• 23 are moving from Category 4 (15,000 points) to Category 3 (12,000 points).
• 12 are moving from Category 5 (20,000 points) to Category 4 (15,000 points).
• 6 are moving from Category 6 (25,000 points) to Category 5 (20,000 points).
• None are moving from Category 7 to Category 6.

Once again, the bulk of these changes are clustered to the bottom, though it's even more pronounced here.

So what are the practical impacts of these changes? Let's take a closer look.

Free Night Certificates

One of the harder pills to swallow will apply to credit card holders. The World of Hyatt Credit Card (and the old Hyatt Credit Card, which is no longer available to new applicants) both offer a free night certificate every year upon renewal of the card, and this award is valid at Category 1-4 properties. Starting March 18, 2018, you have a net loss of six properties that are eligible for this perk. Even though that represents a tiny portion of the program's overall portfolio, there are still some very notable hotels shifting from Category 4 to Category 5:

• Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo
• Grand Hyatt Seattle
• Hyatt at Olive 8 (also in Seattle)
• Hyatt Centric Fisherman's Wharf (San Francisco)
• Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami
• Hyatt Regency Amsterdam
• Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa (Florida)

I've personally redeemed a free night certificate at the Grand Hyatt Seattle in the past, and I've been eyeing the Andaz in Costa Rica for a while now. Losing the ability to use your certificates at these properties is a major blow to the value proposition on the card.

That being said, I do see some solid properties dropping from Category 5 to Category 4, thus making them eligible for these free night certificates:

• Andaz San Diego
• Two Hyatt Centric locations in Chicago
• Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach
• The Hyatt House and Hyatt Regency in Jersey City
• Park Hyatt Istanbul - Macka Palas
• Park Hyatt Zanzibar

Again, a net loss of six hotels isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things, but if you were eyeing any of the 18 moving up to Category 5 as a possible target for your free night award, you'll be out of luck after March 18, 2019.

(Note: If you're expecting your free night certificate to arrive after March 18, you could try to book one of those properties now using points and then try to swap the points and the certificate at a later date. However, I'm almost certain that such a plan won't work, since that would likely be considered a change to an existing reservation and thus be subject to the new award rates).

Other Luxury Increases

There are some other notable properties that are jumping in price with these changes. While everyone has their own list of desirable Hyatts, here are the ones that jump out to me:

• Park Hyatt Mallorca (Category 5 to 6): I had a phenomenal stay at this property with my family shortly after it opened in 2016, so I'm not surprised to see it moving up a category.
• Andaz Maui (Category 6 to 7): This change is a bit of a head-scratcher. It's already notorious for restricting award availability and has relatively few rooms even classified as standard accommodations, so I'm not sure why it needed to jump to an even higher category.
• Park Hyatt Maldives (Category 6 to 7): This change is one that many probably saw coming. There was general shock back in 2015 when it dropped down to Category 6, as paid rates typically start at $600+ per night. Picking up a massive, 165-square-meter villa for just 25,000 points per night was a terrific deal, so it's no surprise to see the increase.

Again, for a full list of these award changes, you can see the tables below or download the Excel spreadsheet I created to filter the properties or crunch the numbers in other ways.

Bottom Line

It's always nerve-wracking to learn about a hotel program's category changes, since it almost always means that award sweet spots are likely being devalued. That appears to be the case here with World of Hyatt, as many top properties are increasing in price. However, you have almost an equal number of hotels dropping in price, and the program is providing over a month's worth of notice. If you've been thinking about a trip to one of the properties jumping a category, now's the time to book before the new prices take effect on March 18.

Table of Properties Increasing in Price

Table of Properties Decreasing in Price