tl;dr – A simple rundown of the recent changes to the World of Hyatt loyalty program.
Hyatt dropped some reasonably big news today – announcing several changes to its loyalty program. First, let’s cover what hasn’t changed. (Or rather, what hasn’t yet been announced).
This announcement did not include the annual category reshuffling of properties, where some hotels will move up to more expensive redemption levels and others move down.
We should learn more about which properties will change categories in April (with changes going into effect in May).
Hyatt Expands Award Chat – Adds Five Redemption Levels
What Hyatt did reveal was an expanded new award chart that is (bizarrely) still housed within its 8-category schema. Each category now includes five redemption levels – levels, Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper, and Top – which themselves correspond to the points per night needed to redeem for a free night at a given property. Let’s take a look at the new award charts for (fully) points redemptions:
And here are the new points and cash charts:
The big takeaway? With these changes, there’s quite an increase in the maximum points per night needed for redemptions at category 4-8 properties.
Changes to Applaud – Online Points Transfers and Enhance Elite Award Access
Hyatt disclosed that “later this year, members will be able to share points digitally, making it easier than ever to help a loved one begin their next adventure or turn a special occasion into a shared experience.”
This is a great (and long overdue) development. In order to transfer Hyatt points to another member now both members need to fill out a form and send it back to Hyatt.
Since Hyatt has already made it easy to transfer award certificates to other members, it makes sense that points transfer should be equally as easy.
Finally, Hyatt announced that elite members – Explorists and Globalists – will have (slightly) earlier access to book award nights.
My Take on All The Changes
The first thing thought that came to mind when I read Hyatt’s announcement was – ‘why don’t they just tear the band-aid off and switch to fully dynamic redemption pricing?’. The range between the ‘lowest’ and ‘top’ Category 8 redemption cost is 40,000 World of Hyatt Points. That’s 2/3 of the current sign up bonus on the business card!
The only reason I can see Hyatt sticking to this category schema is because they have something bigger planned. I alluded to this in the article I wrote on the fake Hyatt changes that dropped last week. Hyatt’s luxury tier is lacking. The Park Hyatt brand is solid, don’t get me wrong but it’s a bit overrated and furthermore, there’s plenty more space at the top. It feels like Hyatt’s going to make a big move to acquire an existing luxury portfolio of hotels, slot them all in neatly to the higher categories, with fixed peaks and valley redemption rates already in place.
As far as those ‘peaks’, look, it’s never great to learn that peak rates at some of the more desirable properties are going to increase (in this case dramatically). That said, my travel patterns allow me to pick and choose when and where I want to check out a hotel of interest. Thus, if I’m keen on staying at a specific property – let’s say the new Park Hyatt Johannesburg – I simply use one of my preferred tools for finding hotel award availability to find a few lower-priced nights on points. I’ll then book travel around that. Don’t get me wrong, higher (laughably higher) peak rates suck but I’ll be avoiding them either way.
I’m excited for the ability to transfer points digitally. It’ll be interesting to see what limits/restrictions Hyatt puts on this (if any), but I think this could be a true game changer, especially since there’s already quite a thriving ‘black market’ for exchanging Hyatt award certificates. If points transfers can be done instantaneously, this might actually increase the value of Free Night Certificates, Suite Upgrade Awards, and even Club Access Awards, as ‘receiving points in exchange for your certificate’ will become all that much easier.
Even as a Globalist, the earlier access to award nights doesn’t mean much to me. Rarely am I booking a trip a year out. If there’s a ‘coveted’ room that books up the second availability becomes available, I’m more likely to watch for any potential cancellations than stake out availability 12-13 months ahead.
Conclusion
Hyatt announced changes to its World of Hyatt loyalty program today – mainly focused on its award chart. You can expect higher redemption costs for Hyatt’s more upscale properties and all-inclusives. Oh, and say goodbye to that physical points transfer form!
