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 Chase Sapphire Preferred® CardSapphire 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.

Hotel (Click on category for list of hotels)Standard Room AwardPoints+30%-50% of Cash RateStandard Suite Night AwardPremium Suite Night Award
Category 1
3.5K Off-peak
5K Standard
6.5K Peak
1,750 Off-peak
2,500 Standard
3,250 Peak
6.5K Off-peak
8K Standard
9.5K Peak
7K Off-peak
10K Standard
13K Peak
Category 2
6.5K Off-peak
8K Standard
9.5K Peak
3,250 Off-peak
4,000 Standard
4,750 Peak
11.5K Off-peak
13K Standard
14.5K Peak
13K Off-peak
16K Standard
19K Peak
Category 3
9K Off-peak
12K Standard
15K Peak
4,500 Off-peak
6,000 Standard
7,500 Peak
17K Off-peak
20K Standard
23K Peak
18K Off-peak
24K Standard
30K Peak
Category 4
12K Off-peak
15K Standard
18K Peak
6K Off-peak
7.5K Standard
9K Peak
21K Off-peak
24K Standard
27K Peak
24K Off-peak
30K Standard
36K Peak
Category 5
17K Off-peak
20K Standard
23K Peak
8.5K Off-peak
10K Standard
11.5K Peak
29K Off-peak
32K Standard
35K Peak
34K Off-peak
40K Standard
46K Peak
Category 6
21K Off-peak
25K Standard
29K Peak
10.5K Off-peak
12.5K Standard
14.5K Peak
36K Off-peak
40K Standard
44K Peak
42K Off-peak
50K Standard
58K Peak
Category 7
25K Off-peak
30K Standard
35K Peak
12.5K Off-peak
15K Standard
17.5K Peak
43K Off-peak
48K Standard
53K Peak
50K Off-peak
60K Standard
70K Peak
Category 8
35K Off-peak
40K Standard
45K Peak
17.5K Off-peak
20K Standard
22.5K Peak
56K Off-peak
61K Standard
66K Peak
70K Off-peak
80K Standard
90K Peak

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

Leave a Reply

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

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

Harry

Just locked in the Hyatt Regency in Amsterdam in May before change 🙂 Couldn’t get free nights at Waldorf and Intercontinental as they were sold out 🙁

I can\'t complain

Definitely some pleasant surprises and disappointments, but all reasonable changes. A far cry from Marriott’s massacre of raising nearly 346 properties and lowering 37 (including approx. 80 category 5 to cat 6’s (and lowering just 3 of them).

Mountain Man

Hyatt Place Cleveland/Lyndhurst/Legacy Village, was 1, now 2.

Ouch

Eliteflyer

Will miss redeeming nights at the excellent Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica and Hyatt Regency Coconut Point.

abey

andaz papagayo 🙁

Danny T

Brother just moved to Lyndhurst so we stayed at Legacy village for a whole week on points. Unreal that it was only 5k/night.

HelpMe

Any info on Ziva or Zilara.

Harry

Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica is the real killer

Ericmedschoolgnd

I agree

Joey

Hyatt Regency Coconut Point. Their water parks are amazing. Book three rooms there for the grandkids every spring break using my suite upgrade awards for two of the rooms. My cost would be $800 a night per suite. Total cost $11,200 plus $3200 for the third room so $14,500. Plus no resort fee or parking fee as I am Globalist. Breakfast in the club is awesome as are the snacks for the kids all day. We eat dinner in the club with the grands when we babysit as the appetizers are substantial. Point total is 270,000 as I use three of my free night certificates. Now it will be 420,000 and I won’t be able to use the category 1-4 free night certificates. Big difference.

Shaul

Hyatt place fair lawn is in the eruv and walking distance from 2 shuls. So definitely a cheap point option for anyone who needs to be in the nyc suburbs over shabbos.

johnson

are all major hotel chains capacity controlled? like hilton,hyatt marriott. they all have same prices for standard rooms ,only stash rewards is different?

abe

Very excited about Hyatt Regency On The Hudson moving to cat 4. Its stunning hotel! Now can use the anniversary free night.

A

Cheers for the Hyatt Place Paramus and Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay!

Eitan

At least the confidante Miami Beach was spared!

Usernamechuck

so sad, our kids have love coconut point. But the good news is that this happened in time for us to recalibrate, we just snagged 3 nights there while kids are off from school in April. SW and jetblue = 11k rt per person. Fll not so close but fewer miles for us coming from Chicago. hmm… 17k miles vs an extra 1.5 hours each way.

Kaylee

Dan, do you know anything about the Hyatt Place Portland- old port. Looking to go in August but will Book now if it’s going up a category.

M

If you book a free night stay before 3/18 and want to change the date once it already has moved into a cat 5 will hyatt allow that?

globalist

Can anyone advise if it’s even possible to become a lifetime globalist? and what’s the best way to earn 100,000,000 points with this card? I was spending a lot on this card and barely got 100,000 points.

David

Category changes page has been deleted already WOW

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