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Hyatt 2014 Award Chart Changes
Link: Hyatt 2014 Award Chart Changes
As expected, Hyatt has increased and decreased the number of points needed for a free night. These changes won’t impact most folks looking to redeem points with their family, but the high-end hotels will require more (but not substantially more) points.
As a reminder, this isn’t the blog if you’re looking for me to get angry about the changes, write 10 posts on how bad the changes are, indulge in a few stream-of-consciousness rants, and pretend that I’m the smartest person in the world. There are other places for that!
Sure, just like anyone else, I don’t like paying more. But I don’t expect my miles and points to remain the same for years and years while the prices of everything else increase. Airlines and hotels are businesses and changing the redemption levels follows a familiar cycle.
This is the blog where we’re thankful for taking advantage of a good deal for so long and figure out how to play the game with the new rules. The miles and points game is far from over.
Change Highlights
– No changes to standard room redemptions for category 1 to 4 hotels. – Category 5 hotels increase by 2,000 Hyatt points for a regular room from 18,000 points to 20,000 points. – Category 6 hotels increase by 3,000 Hyatt points for a regular room from 22,000 points to 25,000 points.
6 Hotels to Cost 30,000 Points (36% Increase) in New Category 7
6 of Hyatt’s most expensive and talked about Park Hyatt hotels will cost 30,000 points for a standard room, from January 7, 2014 instead of 22,000 points. This is an increase of 8,000 points or 36%.
Remember that you can still book at the old rate of 22,000 points up to January 7, 2014.
- Park Hyatt Beaver Creek
- Park Hyatt Milan
- Park Hyatt Paris Vendome
- Park Hyatt Sydney
- Park Hyatt Tokyo
- Park Hyatt Zurich
Emily and I have stayed in the Milan, Paris and Zurich Park Hyatt hotels. We’re glad we redeemed points to stay in a $600+ hotel room which wouldn’t be possible if we paid cash.
I’m not surprised to see these hotels move to a new category 7 chart, but I am surprised that the expensive Park Hyatt in the Maldives is still a category 6 hotel.
Hotels Moving Categories (More Points for Same Hotel) ~21 hotels (excluding the 6 hotels in the new category 7 above) are changing to a higher category and will require more points for a free night.Sure, the number of Hyatt points for a free night increases, but they aren’t increasing by a LOT of points. This isn’t as drastic as the Hilton changes earlier this year.
It was only a matter of time before the Hyatt Chicago Magnificent Mile increased along with the hotels in New York (Hyatt Union Square and Hyatt 48 Lex).
However, the hotels jumping from category 4 to category 5 and category 5 to category 6 get a double increase – one from the new rates for category 5 and 6 and the other by jumping categories.
Category 1 to Category 2
From January 7, 2014, you will need 8,000 points instead of 5,000 points for these hotels. This is a 60% increase.
- Hyatt Place Columbus/OSU
- Hyatt Place Dallas/Arlington/Grand Prairie
- Hyatt Place Dublin/Pleasanton
- Hyatt Place San Antonio North/Stone Oak
Category 2 to Category 3
From January 7, 2014, you will need 12,000 points instead of 8,000 points for these hotels. This is a 50% increase.
- Grand Hyatt Jakarta
- Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo
- Hyatt Place New Orleans Convention Center
- Hyatt Place South Bend/Mishwaka
- Hyatt Place West Palm Beach
- Hyatt Regency Osaka
Category 3 to Category 4
From January 7, 2014, you will need 15,000 points instead of 12,000 points for these hotels. This is a 25% increase.
- Grand Hyatt Melbourne
- Hyatt Regency Cambridge
- Hyatt Regency Louisville
- Hyatt Regency Perth
Category 4 to Category 5
From January 7, 2014, you will need 20,000 points instead of 15,000 points for these hotels. This is a 33% increase.
If you had the Chase Hyatt card, you could redeem for a free night at a category 1 to 4 Hyatt hotel every year. This change means that you will not be able to redeem your free night at these hotels. But you can lock-in a booking at the old rate up to January 7, 2014.
- Andaz West Hollywood
- Hyatt Chicago Magnificent Mile
- Hyatt Place New York/Midtown South
- Park Hyatt Melbourne
Category 5 to Category 6
From January 7, 2014, you will need 25,000 points instead of 18,000 points for these hotels. This is a 39% increase.
- Andaz Liverpool Street London
- Hyatt 48 Lex
- Hyatt Union Square New York.
Hotels Moving Categories (Less Points For Same Hotel)
I’m glad to see that 17 hotels will cost fewer points. For example, the Hyatt Regency in Maui will cost 20,000 points instead of 22,000 points.
Hyatt says that you will automatically get back the extra points if you’ve already booked a hotel which will cost less points after January 7, 2014. That said, it doesn’t hurt to check your account and call Hyatt to get back the extra points!
Category 6 to Category 5
From January 7, 2014, you will need 20,000 points instead of 22,000 points for these hotels. This is a 9% decrease.
- Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa
- Park Hyatt Changbaishan
- Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe
- Hyatt Regency Maui
Category 5 to Category 4
From January 7, 2014, you will need 15,000 points instead of 18,000 points for these hotels. This is a 17% decrease.
- Hyatt Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi
- Hyatt Regency Changbaishan
Category 4 to Category 3
From January 7, 2014, you will need 12,000 points instead of 15,000 points for these hotels. This is a 20% decrease.
- Park Hyatt Chennai
- Park Hyatt Hyderabad
Category 3 to Category 2
From January 7, 2014, you will need 8,000 points instead of 12,000 points for these hotels. This is a 33% decrease.
- Hyatt North Houston
- Hyatt Regency Incheon
Category 2 to Category 1
From January 7, 2014, you will need 5,000 points instead of 8,000 points for these hotels. This is a 38% decrease.
- Hyatt House Chicago/Naperville/Warrenville
- Hyatt Place Chicago Warrenville/Naperville
- Hyatt Place Cincinnati-Northeast
- Hyatt Place Dallas/Grapevine
- Hyatt Place Fort Worth/Cityview
- Hyatt Place San Antonio Airport/Quarry Market
- Hyatt Place San Antonio-Northwest/Medical Center
More Points for Suite Upgrade on Paid Stays
One of the best uses of Hyatt points is to upgrade paid stays to a Club room for only 3,000 points and to a suite for only 6,000 points.More importantly, you pay a flat rate of 6,000 Hyatt points for up to 4 nights!
And you can confirm the suite upgrade at the time of booking, so you’re not biting your nails wondering if you’ll get a suite or not.
This was a heck of a deal because there were many ways to get 6,000 Hyatt points including buying 6,000 Hyatt points for $144.
We used this many times including upgrading Emily’s mom to a suite in Goa.
However, after January 7, 2014, you have to pay 3,000 points for an upgrade to a club room or 6,000 points for an upgrade to a suite, PER NIGHT (instead of previously where you paid a flat rate for up to 4 nights).
This is a reasonable increase to me, and the old flat rate of 6,000 points for a suite upgrade of up to 4 nights was so generous, that it was only a matter of time before it was increased. Remember that if there is a deal which is too good to be true, it usually is, so take advantage of it, and don’t be angry when it goes away!
This is still very low – even with the increase (300% if I wanted to whip you in a frenzy!) – and is much better priced than other hotel changes.
For example, Suite upgrades at Starwood hotels start at 3,000 points per night in a Category 1 hotel and can cost as much as 35,000 points per night in a Category 7 hotel! And you can confirm them only 5 days in advance.
You can buy 6,000 Hyatt points for $144, so you’re effectively paying $144 a night to upgrade to a suite.
$144 more per night is often less than the retail price to book a suite, and you can fit in more people (kids!) in a suite and also get access to the lounge which could save you money.Bottom Line
It was only a matter of time before Hyatt increased the number of points needed for a free night. The good news is that there are no changes in the number of points needed for category 1 to 4 hotels.
But the more popular and higher-end hotels will require more points. However, this isn’t a very drastic increase like when Hilton changed their award chart. Only 6 Hyatt hotels will cost 30,000 points (instead of 22,000 points). Suite upgrades on paid stays increase as well, but it still costs fewer Hyatt points to upgrade to a suite or club room, on paid stays, compared to other hotels.
Sure, I don’t like paying more points, but on-the-whole these changes are reasonable.
And there is a big increase in the number of Hyatt points needed to book a Club room (with lounge access) or a suite. But I usually never redeemed my points for a Club Room or suite, so this isn’t a big deal to me.
Remember that you can still lock-in the old rate, by booking your awards before January 7, 2013!