Last Chance To Book Awards Before Hyatt 2019 Annual Category Changes, Lock In Lower Rates And Anniversary Nights At Hotels Getting More Expensive Now!

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Update: These changes will go into effect at 11:01pm CDT tonight (12:01am EDT), book now before prices go up on popular Hyatt hotels!

Originally posted on 2/11:

Hyatt 2019 Annual Category Changes

Most hotels chains reorganize their categories yearly to keep them current with the average rates that they charge. Hyatt hotels have no capacity controls on standard rooms. The good part about that is that if a major event is in town and rates are quadruple what they normally are, you can still use the regular amount of points as long as the hotel is not sold out of standard rooms.

130 hotels are going up in category while 129 hotels are going down in category this year. That’s a whole lot more fair than Marriott’s ridiculously lopsided 2019 changes. But there are still lots of pain points here.

Book stays before 3/18 at 11:01pm CT (12:01am ET on 3/19) to lock in current rates for future stays at hotels that are going up.  You can book stays up to a year in advance. Almost all hotel stays are cancellable for free until a certain amount of time before the stay (read the fine print).  If you have a reservation at a hotel for after 3/18 that is going down, you will automatically receive a points refund.

Note that you won’t be able to change the dates on a reservation after the price goes up, your only options are to use the stay or cancel it and get your points back.

Hotels going up from category 4 to 5 will no longer be bookable with anniversary nights from the Chase World of Hyatt credit card. You can read more about the new World of Hyatt card here.

The Chase World of Hyatt credit card also offers bonus free nights upon reaching several spending thresholds, those too are limited to category 1-4, which makes hotels climbing from category 4 to 5 particularly painful.

You can also instantly transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards cards like Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred to Hyatt. Read more about maximizing Chase card spending here.

Hyatt’s current award chart is below and it now includes SLH hotels, which is why they added a category 8 recently. Luckily none of Hyatt’s properties are creeping into category 8 with this change.

Highlights:

• Newly eligible hotels for anniversary nights include Hyatt Regency Jersey City, Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort Spa and Marina, Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach, Andaz San Diego, Park Hyatt Istanbul, Park Hyatt Zanzibar, and Hyatt Centric Chicago.
• Luxury Andaz hotels in London, NYC, San Diego, drop from a category 6 to 5.

Lowlights:

• A lot of the most valuable and popular anniversary night hotels are going away. Those include the Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami, Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa, Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo, Hyatt Regency Amsterdam, and Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui.
• Maui gets hit hard, with the Andaz climbing to category 7 and the Hyatt Regency climbing to category 6.
• Category 5 luxury bargains like the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, Park Hyatt Mallorca, Park Hyatt Seoul, Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, and the Andaz Mayakoba near Cancun all become less of a bargain, going up from category 5 to 6.
• Tokyo loses a highly rated bargain as the Andaz joins the Park Hyatt there at category 7.
• A true Maldives bargain, the Park Hyatt, will also climb to category 7.
• No top-tier category 7 hotels are going down in category.
• My kids will be bummed that their pool around the corner at the Hyatt Place Legacy Village has climbed up from category 1, which means I’ll be less inclined to book a room there for a pool day 😉

Sample hotels going more expensive:

• Hyatt Place Cleveland/Lyndhurst/Legacy Village, was 1, now 2
• Hyatt Regency Cleveland at The Arcade, was 2, now 3
• Hyatt House Anchorage, was 2, now 3
• Hyatt House across from Universal Orlando Resort, was 2, now 3
• Park Hyatt Mendoza, Argentina, was 2, now 3
• Hyatt Place Pittsburgh-North Shore, was 3, now 4
• Hyatt Place Washington DC/White House, was 3, now 4
• Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa, Vietnam, was 3, now 4
• Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami, was 4, now 5
• Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa, was 4, now 5
• Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco, was 4, now 5
• Hyatt Regency Boston, was 4, now 5
• Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown, was 4, now 5
• Grand Hyatt DFW, was 4, now 5
• Grand Hyatt Seattle, was 4, now 5
• Hyatt at Olive 8 Seattle, was 4, now 5
• Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo, was 4, now 5
• Park Hyatt Hamburg, Germany, was 4, now 5
• Hyatt Regency Amsterdam, was 4, now 5
• Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui, was 4, now 5
• Hyatt Regency Guam, was 4, now 5
• Andaz Napa, was 5, now 6
• Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa, was 5, now 6
• Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, was 5, now 6
• Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino, was 5, now 6
• Hyatt Centric Park City, was 5, now 6
• Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, Argentina, was 5, now 6
• Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya, Mexico, was 5, now 6
• Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort, Mexico, was 5, now 6
• Hôtel du Louvre Paris, France, was 5, now 6
• Park Hyatt Mallorca, Spain, was 5, now 6
• Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, UAE, was 5, now 6
• Hyatt Regency Kyoto, Japan, was 5, now 6
• Park Hyatt Seoul, South Korea, was 5, now 6
• Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, was 6, now 7
• Hôtel Martinez, Cannes, France, was 6, now 7
• Andaz Tokyo, Japan, was 6, now 7
• Park Hyatt Maldives, was 6, now 7

Sample hotels going less expensive:

• Hyatt Place Fair Lawn/Paramus, NJ, was 2, now 1
• Hyatt Place Baltimore/BWI Airport, was 2, now 1
• Hyatt Place Baltimore/Owings Mills, was 2, now 1
• Hyatt Regency Houston Intercontinental Airport, was 2, now 1
• Hyatt Place Austin Airport, was 2, now 1
• Hyatt Regency Sharm El Sheikh Resort, Egypt, was 2, now 1
• Hyatt Regency Greenwich, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Regency Atlanta, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Place Baltimore/Inner Harbor, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Regency Houston, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport, UK, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport, Germany, was 3, now 2
• Andaz Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi, UAE, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Regency Dubai, UAE, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Regency Shanghai Global Harbor, China, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Regency Perth, Australia, was 3, now 2
• Hyatt Regency Orlando, was 4, now 3
• Hyatt Regency Chicago, was 4, now 3
• Hyatt Regency New Orleans, was 4, now 3
• Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was 4, now 3
• Grand Hyatt São Paulo, Brazil, was 4, now 3
• Park Hyatt Siem Reap, Cambodia, was 4, now 3
• Grand Hyatt Beijing, China, was 4, now 3
• Andaz Delhi, India, was 4, now 3
• Grand Hyatt Manila, Philippines, was 4, now 3
• Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, Thailand, was 4, now 3
• Hyatt Hotel Canberra – A Park Hyatt Hotel, Australia, was 4, now 3
• Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, was 5, now 4
• Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina, was 5, now 4
• Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, was 5, now 4
• Andaz San Diego, was 5, now 4
• Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, was 5, now 4
• Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile, was 5, now 4
• Park Hyatt Istanbul, Turkey, was 5, now 4
• Hyatt Regency Kiev, Ukraine, was 5, now 4
• Park Hyatt Zanzibar, Tanzania, was 5, now 4
• Andaz Wall Street, was 6, now 5
• Grand Hyatt New York, was 6, now 5
• Andaz London Liverpool Street, UK, was 6, now 5
• Andaz Singapore, was 6, now 5

Which hotels will you book before rates go up?

HT: zagguru, via DDF