Hyatt 2016 Category Changes

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Update: The new rates go into place tomorrow. If you have your eye on a hotel that is going up in category, be sure to book it now. Most hotels allow you to cancel and get a refund of your points until 1-3 days before the stay, 


Originally posted on 7/5:
Have A Hyatt Credit Card? Get 10% Back On All Point Redemptions Through October! Plus: A Unified Hyatt Award Chart With 10% Off Calculations


Hyatt 2016 Category Changes Linky

Effective 8/1/16 there will 50 Hyatt hotels that go up in category and cost more points and 56 hotels that will go down and cost fewer points.

It’s a pretty painless change this year and there’s even a few bright spots, like the Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami falling from category 6 to 4, which makes it valid for Hyatt anniversary nights.

You can lock in lower rates on hotels getting more expensive by booking future reservations by 7/31/16.

If you booked a hotel that is going down in price, Hyatt will automatically credit you the point difference.

Here is the Hyatt award chart:

Hotel CategoryStandard Room AwardSuite Night AwardPoints+Cash Standard Room AwardCost of points saved with P+C Award
15K8K2.5K+$502 cents/point
28K13K4K+$551.38 cents/point
312K20K6K+$751.25 cents/point
415K24K7.5K+$1001.33 cents/point
520K32K10K+$1251.25 cents/point
625K40K12.5K+$1501.2 cents/point
730K48K15K+$3002 cents/point

When booking a points+cash reservation I included a metric in the chart above that shows the rate that you’re effectively buying your points back at.  The category 6 rate is the biggest points+cash bargain. You “buy” back or save 12.5K points per night for $150.  Effectively you paid just 1.2 cents per point ($150/12,500) to save those 12.5K points per night.  The category 1 and 7 points + cash deals are the worst as you are effectively paying 2 cents per point.

Note that standard awards have no blackouts or capacity controls on standard rooms and suites.  However points+cash reservations are capacity controlled.  A nice benefit of points+cash rooms is that they are considered a paid rate, so they qualify for all promotions that apply to paid hotel stays and you can use a diamond suite upgrade certificate to confirm them into a suite.

Suite nights require a 3 night minimum stay and can only be booked over the phone.

You can transfer Chase points to Hyatt if you or your spouse has a Sapphire Preferred or Ink Plus card. You can also earn points and get an annual anniversary night valid at category 1-4 Hyatt hotels on the Chase Hyatt card.

Sample hotels getting more expensive:
-Hyatt Regency San Francisco goes from category 4 to 5.
-Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson goes from category 4 to 5.
-Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago goes from category 4 to 5.
-Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport from category 2 to 3.
-Hyatt Place Chicago South University goes from category 2 to 3.
-Hyatt House Atlanta/Downtown goes from category 2 to 3.

Sample hotels getting less expensive include:
-Hyatt Place Pittsburgh Airport goes from category 2 to 1.
-Hyatt Place Tempe/Phoenix Airport goes from category 2 to 1.
-Hyatt Regency Washington/Dulles Airport goes from category 2 to 1.
-Park Hyatt Chennai, India, goes from category 2 to 1.
-Hyatt Place Secaucus/Meadowlands goes from category 3 to 2.
-Park Hyatt Hyderabad, India goes from category 3 to 2.
-Hyatt Regency Phuket Resort goes from category 4 to 3.
-Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami goes from category 6 to 4.

HT: dandu16, via DDF

11 COMMENTS

Older First
  1. YitzyS

    Ouch! Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson was the reason for my willingness to pay the annual fee on my Chase card. Gotta look for another category 4 hotel for my free night. Any suggestions in NY or NJ area?

  2. Ilana

    Hi dan
    There was a strange glitch last week and I was able to book a few free reservations using my phone on the Hyatt website . Meaning I had 10k points in my account and was planning on booking part points part cash But I couldn’t find that option on the mobile site so I chose the 20,000 point option and clicked submit , thinking that I would flyer an error message that would direct me to the point and cash option. Instead it went through and I got a confirmation. I realized it was a glitch so I booked a few more nights and then it stopped working. I called Hyatt and they confirmed the reservation and confirmed that I still had the 10k points in my account.

    In the meantime I received an email for the one of the reservations saying its not fully confirmed that I need 10k more points than what I have in my account to complete the reservation I made using 20.000 points (the points weren’t deducted and I chose the 20,000 points option with only 10,000 points in my account)

    Would you attempt to get Hyatt to honor the glitch – the mobile site let me book rooms on points without using any points and when I didn’t have enough points in my account. How would u go about it ? Or would u not attempt it bec it would lead to Hyatt seeing the other few reservations and possibly cancel or flag those as well. Out of 5 reservations I have received emails about two the of reservations. Unclear if the rest will come.

  3. M M

    @Ilana:

    Are you Diamond? If so, they allow you to book the reservation but points must be on your account before the travel date.

  4. Dan's the Man

    Looks like all the Hyatt Place hotels in the Phoenix area are all going to be only 5,000 points. It looks like the Hyatt Place Chandler, AZ is only 5,000 points per night and appears to be in the eruv in Chandler and only 1 mile walk from Chabad. Anyone ever stay there on Shabbos?

  5. Yossi

    Does anyone know off hand the policy for refund of points if I book now and cancel before the trip? How long before the stay would o have to cancel to get my points back on a standard reservation? Thanks in advance!

  6. Dan

    @Dan’s the Man:
    Hyatt Places are great point bargains.

    @Yossi:
    Every hotel has different cancellation policies that you can view when making a reservation.

    But typically if you cancel 24 hours in advance you get a full refund.

  7. R

    Any way to get the a hotel to release standard rooms in March? Don’t see any availability at a hotel I have my eye on that’s about to go up in price.

  8. Yisroel

    Are u referring to McCormick place? I just booked the wrong dates and hope to change when it becomes available

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