tl;dr – A tipster posted to both Flyertalk and Reddit, suggesting some big upcoming changes to the World of Hyatt program. The tipster later claimed their earlier posts to be ‘fake.’
Late the other night (at least for US Eastern and Central time zones), information was dropped (leaked) to both Flyertalk and Reddit about upcoming changes to the World of Hyatt loyalty program and the World of Hyatt/Chase Credit Card offerings. Although the tipster later claimed the information provided to be fake, if the news is actually true, it’s said these changes will be announced in the next few weeks, possibly even before the end of February. Let’s take a peek.
What Do These Changes Get At?
Before actually going through what’s changing with Hyatt, I found it interesting that the tipster was sure to include what they believed to be the ‘Strategic Direction’ of these changes:
It’s worth keeping this in mind as you read through the changes.
Changes to the World of Hyatt Loyalty Program
Introducing two higher Award Categories – Category 9 and Category 10
Allegedly, standard award pricing for Categories 9 will be 50,000 points and 60,000 points for Category 10.
In addition, “most major metro Park Hyatt properties that are already Category 8, such as Paris and Tokyo, are expected to move to Category 9.” According to the tipster, “Category 10 is not intended to be broad. Internally, it is positioned for a very small number of the most in-demand properties in the portfolio. Do not expect non-Park Hyatt properties to land in Category 9 or 10.”
Changes to Free Night Award Certificates and Award Top-Offs
With the addition of Categories 9 and 10, Free Night Certificates are also getting a bit ‘stronger’:
- Category 1-4 Free Night Awards will now be Category 1-5 Free Night Awards
- Category 1-7 Free Night Awards will not be Category 1-8 Free Night Awards
- Ultimate Free Night Awards should stay the same in that they are valid for a free night redemption at any Hyatt property, regardless of Category.
- Hyatt will also enable (allegedly) members to ‘top off’ Free Night Awards with additional World of Hyatt points (finally), functionality that Marriott introduced to its Bonvoy Program a few years back. This will be a tiered benefit afforded to Explorists and Globalists, where Explorists can top off a 1 to 5 certificate up to a Category 7 property. Globalists can top off a 1-5 Free Night Award or a 1-8 Free Night Award to any level property.
Expanded Peak Pricing for Hyatt’s Economy Brands
To accommodate for high demand event periods, Hyatt properties like Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, and Caption will have access to ‘super peak’ rates. These rates will be tied to a fixed 1.5 cents per point floor until “it reaches the peak pricing of two categories higher than the hotel’s assigned category.” Importantly, properties are limited to 10 super peak nights per calendar year.
The poster provides the following example:
“If a Category 3 Hyatt Place is retailing at 450 dollars during a major event, redemption pricing would float to 23,000 points, which reflects Category 5 peak pricing and remains below what a strict 1.5 cents per point calculation would otherwise produce.”
Changes to the World of Hyatt Credit Card
The tipster also indicated that we’d see a new World of Hyatt / Chase credit card launch – this one being a premium card offering carrying the Park Hyatt branding. Here’s what the card’s earning and benefits structure will look like:
My thoughts on these Hyatt Developments
A New Hyatt Premium Credit Card?
First off, it’s interesting to see the ebbs and flows of partnerships in the travel-banking space over the years. I’m a legacy JPMorgan Chase Ritz-Carlton cardholder. As Marriott’s bona fide premium card offering well before the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card hit the scene, the Ritz-Carlton card was ‘it’ several years ago. The leak of this premium World of Hyatt card (said to be Park Hyatt branded), coupled with the watering down of Chase’s Marriott card offerings over the years, feels like a full changing of the guard.
I’ve generally been ‘out’ on most of the latest premium credit card revamps, at least until some super compelling welcome offer comes about that represents a ‘drop everything and apply’ situation. Initially, I started to yawn. Then I looked at the card’s offerings again, and changed my mind. If this is truly what a premium World of Hyatt card looks like, I’d likely apply for it.
I’m a holder of the current World of Hyatt personal card. I stay at Hyatt properties often, and though I’ve attained Globalist status each of the last few years, if I didn’t chase Globalist status, I’d be happy enough procuring a Guest of Honor Certificate as needed via Hyatt’s ability to ‘gift’ (attain/trade for/barter for) Hyatt Awards certificates. My biggest gripe with the personal card is that its earning potential – particularly where it’s supposed to be strongest – on Hyatt stays – has been rather ‘mid’. The earnings on this new card blow the current personal card out of the water. I’d argue that to keep pace with the impending devaluation of Hyatt points (if you primarily enjoy staying at higher-end properties, the added new categories do you no favors), this premium card provides some decent ammo to ‘fight back’ in terms of earning 10X on Hyatt spend.
A $400 annual Hyatt statement credit is nothing to sneeze at, either. Additionally, if you spend $15,000 on the card, your path to ‘full Globalist’ – where you receive the added milestone perks and My Hyatt Concierge – is halved. You’d need just 30 nights.
Adding in 3X points on dining is also clutch. Save for my Amex Gold, I could easily see this premium Hyatt card being a regular ‘carry’ for any dining out I planned to do.
IMO, Hyatt points aren’t the easiest to come by, particularly if you don’t have a ton of cards that earn Ultimate Rewards and don’t bank with Bilt. So a dedicated card that has strong bonus categories on common travel purchases (dining, airfare) can do wonders in racking up Hyatt points.
The $795 annual fee is less than ideal, but at the moment, I’m somewhat of a premium annual fee-free agent. Save for the aforementioned legacy Ritz-Carlton card, I don’t hold a Sapphire Reserve, I’m no longer an Amex Platinum holder (I still have one in the household), nor do I have a Capital One Venture X or Citi Strada Elite. I even punted on the Atmos Reward Summit card. (While I value Atmos Miles and love Alaska’s growth plans, American still provides the easiest pathway to meaningful oneworld status to me.)
Thoughts on the Loyalty Program Changes?
Every year around this time, Hyatt will make changes to its award chart – so change is not new, but expected. In many ways, I think the summary the tipster provided is accurate – many of these changes do seem to be an attempt for Hyatt to position its Park Hyatt brand as the cream of the crop. On this idea alone, I have many thoughts, so let’s start there. Park Hyatt’s are solid properties, but call me crazy, I do think they are a bit overblown. In particular, the pricing at some of the more marquee properties, especially when compared with other options in competitive markets, in some cases doesn’t sit right with me, and in at least a few cases is outright bogus. For example, the Park Hyatt Kyoto is a category 10? I’d gladly save my 60,000 World of Hyatt points and check my ass right into the Mitsui Kyoto, Four Seasons Kyoto, or any of the many other luxury options in the city.
I wonder if this ‘up-leveling’ of the Park Hyatt is part of a bigger plan to make room for another luxury brand, whether that be by acquisition or conversion. Hyatt’s Unbound Collection is great, but there’s a lot of disparity in the properties. Across the soft-brand portfolio, Hyatt’s done a great job of adding intriguing properties, but there’s no denying that the Hôtel du Palais Biarritz and IL Tornabuoni Hotel are just different beasts from the Eliza Jane and Kissel Uptown Oakland. There’s a drop off between the Park Hyatt and Hyatt’s next best luxury brand. In comparison to Marriott which has the St. Regis, Ritz, Luxury Collection, and Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, all before its upscale lineups of the JW Marriott, W, and Edition; and Hilton which has Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts ahead of the Curio Collection, Tapestry Collection, Signia and Nomad; there’s a big vacuum in in the Hyatt portfolio.
I fully expect this upleveling to play into a big-time acquisition or the launch of at least one to two more premium conversion brands.
With regards to the changes to Free Night Awards, I’m a plus one. If Hyatt’s going to devalue its award chart, it’s a good move to offset some of that by simultaneously expanding the categories of properties these certificates can be used at. As I mentioned earlier, the ‘topping-off’ functionality is something that Marriott added a few years back, so it’s good to see Hyatt bring that to the table as well.
Expanding peak pricing isn’t ideal, but I do get it. I’ve stayed at a few economy-level Hyatt properties during the Final Four and other popular entertainment and business events. I can understand the desire for Hyatt to capture more of that ‘surge-pricing’ value. Capping it at 10-nights per year (if honored) doesn’t seem unreasonable.
Conclusion
On the whole, these rumored changes to Hyatt’s loyalty program and co-branded (with Chase) credit card are intriguing. Though they aren’t ‘earth-shattering’ in and of themselves to me, I do think they may lead to more aggressive moves (new brands) in the near future.
