Hyatt announced today that they will allow free cancellations on non-refundable hotel stays worldwide for travel through 4/30. Cancellations must be made 24 hours before scheduled arrival.
Additionally they announced that all new bookings made between 3/13-4/30 for any future travel date will be refundable, even if the rate says non-refundable. That means you can rebook refundable hotel stays using the cheaper non-refundable rate and still be able to cancel for free should you need to!
Hyatt will continue to offer the option of accepting 10,000 points in exchange for forfeiting any prepaid stay worldwide that was made before 3/9 for travel through 6/30. You won’t get a refund if you choose this option.
Hyatt also announced that they will not be expiring any points from today through 5/31 and that they will work on lowering the thresholds for elite status this year.
Hyatt will also postpone the launch of peak and off-peak award night pricing until next year. Advance notice will be provided before that launches.
Additionally, Hyatt is postponing their previously announced category changes for 2020. Instead of 217 hotels changing categories, only these 5 hotels will change categories on 3/22 at 9am ET:
- The Park Hyatt Mallorca will go down from category 6 to 5.
- The Park Hyatt Ningbo will go up from category 3 to 4.
- The Park Hyatt Shenzhen will go up from category 4 to 5.
- The Alila Yangshuo will go up from category 4 to 5.
- The Hyatt Centric Park City will go up from category 6 to 7.
All other hotels will remain unchanged.
Members who have existing award bookings for a night after Sunday, March 22 that moves to a lower award category will receive an automatic one-time refund on the point difference. Points will be refunded in members’ accounts starting on Monday, March 23.
I was looking forward to some of the hotels going down in category and kind of wish Hyatt had kept more of those. But I’m also happy that many other hotels won’t be going up in category. It does seem fair to postpone these changes.
Finally, Hyatt will also adjust elite qualification for 2020 and will communicate those changes later in the year when the full impact of COVID-19 is known.
Kudos to Hyatt for these changes!
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13 Comments On "Hyatt Will Postpone Program And Category Changes, Allow Free Hotel Cancellations On Prepaid Stays!"
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Wow leading the way!
Marriott has the same free cancellation policy in place for any booking made through April 30, regardless of when the actual stay is for
Any idea how this works with awards bookings where the policy is cancel 14 days in advance to avoid 1 night fee?
Call to cancel and reference this policy.
Any chance that the hotel chains’ free night certificates can get extended, since it will now be basically impossible to use any that are expiring in the next few months? I’m specifically asking about Marriott but it’s a valid question for Hyatt and Hilton as well, they all award free night certificates on their credit cards.
They are extended through 1/31/21!
Thanks Dan! Marriott, Hyatt, or both?
Marriott:
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/master-list-hotel-cancellation-waivers-nights-points-extensions-choice-hilton-hyatt-ihg-marriott/
I called IHG customer services yesterday to inquire about the extension for a free night certificate that will be expired in 2 more weeks and they all said they are still waiting for Chase’s decision since Chase is the sponsored bank that issued the Free night certificate, not IHG. It’s disappointed!!!
Dan thank you so so so much. I have been trying to cancel an upcoming stay at a resort that i booked with my points. The supervisor on the phone that i spoke with today HAD NO CLUE about this policy and told me I would still be charged $1,100 for the cancellation. He said ” wow they did not even bother to tell us about this” after i guided him to the Hyatt website that discusses this. He said i will be refunded my points and not be charged any penalty. B”H thank you and keep on posting!
Nice!
Do these policies apply to SLH hotels?
The notice does not mention them specifically…
Just went to book a couple nights at the Hyatt Place Ocean City, MD. Turns out they just changed from a Cat 4 to Cat 5 on June 4th. Never seen a mid year adjustment like that. Was great use of Cat 1-4 certificates. Disappointing