World of Hyatt has announced its annual award category adjustments. The changes will take effect on March 28, 2023.

Although the news isn’t good, it’s worth pausing to remember that no other major hotel chain makes these announcements – because they have already moved to “dynamic award pricing”.  (which allows them to increase award pricing at any time – which they do!)

372 hotels will be changing categories, with 214 hotels moving to a higher category and 158 hotels moving to a lower category. You can find a full list of hotels changing categories here.

How Can I Avoid The Increases?

• All bookings made prior to March 28th will follow the current award chart, even if your stay comes later
• If you’ve already booked a hotel that will go down a category, you will receive an automatic refund of the points difference starting March 28
• Any adjustments made after the changes go into effect will follow the new pricing – if you have any doubt about your dates, therefore, you should book each award night individually

Notable Changes

When paying with points, any increases are merely inflationary. The most painful changes are hotels moving from Category 4 –> 5 and hotels moving from Category 7 –> 8.  This takes hotels out of range of free night certificates available from credit cards and staying 30 or 60 nights in a calendar year.

4 –> 5 Changes

• Andaz San Diego
• Hyatt House Naples / 5th Avenue
• Lahaina Shores Beach Resort, a Destination by Hyatt Residence
• Chicago Athletic Association
• The Eliza Jane
• Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Puerto Rico
• Hyatt Place Moab
• Grand Hyatt Sanya Haitang Bay Resort and Spa
• Grand Hyatt Jeju
• Grand Hyatt Seoul
• Park Hyatt Saigon
• Mexico City Downtown
• Hotel La Compañia (Panama City)
• Park Hotel ai Cappuccini  (Umbria, Italy)
• Hyatt Regency Amsterdam
• Thompson Madrid

7 –> 8 Changes

• 7Pines Resort Sardinia (Destination by Hyatt)
• Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas
• Carmel Valley Ranch (The Unbound Collection by Hyatt)
• Hotel Martinez (The Unbound Collection by Hyatt)
• Hyatt Carmel Highlands, Overlooking Big Sur Coast & Highlands Inn
• Hyatt Centric Key West Resort & Spa
• Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa
• Park Hyatt Zurich
• The Lodge at Spruce Peak (Destination by Hyatt)
• Several SLH hotels

Bottom Line

These changes were inevitable. Room rates at many luxury hotels are increasing rapidly – if those hotels also fill up with guests redeeming points, Hyatt must pay substantially more to the hotel owner / operator.

Even though you might not feel much better, it is worth remembering that World of Hyatt still offers many sweetspots – it might just be a little bit harder to find them starting on March 28th…