World of Hyatt has just announced some major changes to award pricing. While the program is maintaining published award charts, these changes have the potential to be pretty brutal, especially as time goes on. Separately, I’ve covered a couple of minor positive program updates, related to points sharing and early access to awards.
In this post:
World of Hyatt hugely increases award pricing
World of Hyatt has announced plans to introduce new award charts for stays booked as of May 2026 (there’s not yet an exact date as of which these changes will be implemented). This is the first time that Hyatt is updating its award chart in around five years, since 2021.
With these changes, World of Hyatt is keeping the same number of award categories that there are now. Instead, what’s changing is that we’re going from three to five redemption levels within each tier:
- Currently, each hotel has off-peak, standard, and peak pricing
- Under the new system, each hotel will have lowest, low, moderate, upper, and top pricing
To rip the band-aid off, below is what the new award chart looks like for standard room redemptions, compared to the old award chart.
As you can see, the idea is that off-peak, standard, and peak pricing under the old award chart, corresponds somewhat closely to lowest, low, and moderate pricing under the new award chart. For example, comparing redemption costs per night for standard rooms:
- Category 1 properties will go from costing 3,500-6,500 points, to costing 3,000-9,000 points (14% decrease to 38% increase)
- Category 2 properties will go from costing 6,500-9,500 points, to costing 6,000-15,000 points (8% decrease to 58% increase)
- Category 3 properties will go from costing 9,000-15,000 points, to costing 8,000-20,000 points (11% decrease to 33% increase)
- Category 4 properties will go from costing 12,000-18,000 points, to costing 12,000-25,000 points (up to 39% increase)
- Category 5 properties will go from costing 17,000-23,000 points, to costing 15,000-35,000 points (up to 52% increase)
- Category 6 properties will go from costing 21,000-29,000 points, to costing 20,000-40,000 points (up to 38% increase)
- Category 7 properties will go from costing 25,000-35,000 points, to costing 25,000-55,000 points (up to 57% increase)
- Category 8 properties will go from costing 35,000-45,000 points, to costing 35,000-75,000 points (up to 67% increase)
Note that all award charts are changing, including those for suite and club redemptions, as well as the award charts for Miraval, all-inclusive properties, and more.
Free night awards (including Category 1-4 and Category 1-7 certificates) will continue to be valid for stays at properties within each tier regardless of the pricing level, as long as a standard room is available.
Hyatt notes how it will continue to have annual hotel category shifts in the future, as it does now, with yearly changes announced in April. However, over time, expanded redemption levels are intended to reduce the need for larger category shifts.
How will World of Hyatt’s expanded five tier pricing be used?
It goes without saying that these changes have the potential to be massive. On the very low end, we’re seeing some award costs go down by 8-14%, while across categories, we’re seeing some award costs go up by 33-67%. The devil is in the details here, of course, and what really matters is how pricing will be split up between the five tiers. So let’s talk about that a bit.
In this announcement, World of Hyatt is emphasizing how it plans to continue having published award charts, which “reinforces its commitment to transparency, predictability and lasting member trust.” For some background, here’s how Hyatt describes the logic for these award pricing changes:
This update enables more precise alignment at the hotel level within clearly defined category caps, and the added levels allow the program to manage peak demand more precisely by reducing the need for broad increases or major category shifts in the future. While the updated framework takes effect in May, World of Hyatt will implement the changes thoughtfully, with limited hotels moving a limited number of nights into the Upper and Top categories in 2026 and broader adoption in the years that follow.
After five years without a meaningful structural update, this evolution reinforces long-term stability and protects the integrity of the program rather than fundamentally changing it. This adjustment allows the program to grow into the updated chart for years to come.
What should we expect from the pricing tiers in practice? Based on a briefing with Hyatt executives, here are a few points that were clarified:
- There will be no limit on how many nights per year will go into each of the five pricing tiers for a particular property, so there’s no assurance that the “top” pricing will only be used for X nights per year
- Hyatt’s assurance is simply that executives at the program understand the extent to which good value redemptions are something that members value, so they’ll keep that in mind as they design the program and price awards, and “maintain the trajectory of the value of points”
- Hyatt executives note how this new pricing system could cause some hotels to ultimately move to lower categories over time; the idea is that some college town limited service properties may have previously been in a disproportionately high tier due to very high demand during limited periods, while the new five tier structure allows that to be addressed more efficiently
- Hyatt states that this is an “award chart [they] will live in and grow into in the years to come” without making further changes, and pricing in the “upper” and “top” tiers will be gradual, with a limited number of properties and dates moving up initially
My take on how bad these World of Hyatt changes are
World of Hyatt is a program that offers great value, and in particular, I appreciate how it’s the only major hotel loyalty program where you can efficiently earn points through transferable points currencies. As competitors have fully moved to dynamic award pricing and have eliminated award charts, I appreciate Hyatt’s continued commitment to keeping award charts.
As I view it, there’s the question of what award pricing will look like come May, and then maybe what award pricing looks like a few years down the road. I think the most telling thing here is Hyatt’s plan to “grow into” the new award chart.
The idea is that initially only a limited number of dates and properties will have pricing in the “upper” and “top” tier, which is really where pricing gets brutal. But several years down the road, I imagine that a majority of nights at a majority of properties will fall into the upper part of the award chart, rather than the lower part of the award chart. As a matter of fact, I imagine that the next time we’ll see a new award chart is when there’s not much room left in this new award chart to move to higher pricing bands.
But look, no matter how you slice it, these changes are brutal. Even if you just compare the current “standard” pricing to the future “moderate” pricing (which seems like the most apples-to-apples comparison, based on the information we have so far), it’s really rough. Category 4 goes from 15,000 to 20,000 points per night, while Category 8 goes from 40,000 to 55,000 points per night.
I can’t say I’m surprised to see these changes, given what we’ve seen at competitors. But still, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be happy about them. And while I appreciate the idea of still having an award chart, that definitely provides a lot less certainty than in the past, when the same category of hotel can cost 3,000 or 9,000 points per night.
Bottom line
As of May 2026, World of Hyatt is introducing new award pricing. While the program will maintain an award chart with eight categories of hotels, we’ll see a move from three pricing bands to five pricing bands within each tier. Unfortunately on the high end, the increase in award costs is massive, and members will be paying up to 67% more points than before.
Only time will tell how bad the increases are at first — Hyatt is promising that the use of the higher tiers will initially be limited, but I guess we’ll see how this all plays out.
What do you make of these World of Hyatt changes?
Hyatt gotta be careful.
Their footprint is tiny, not many people outside of the US cares about their hotels.
Their hotels are not that great, the clout of faux luxury only blinds loyalists.
Their program was what had people hooked - take that away - and Hyatt is exposed for what it is - a small chain of mediocre hotels.
If they start messing with Globalist - its over.
Before the pandemic I always thought Accor was the worst program because points were simply direct proxies for cash - 1000 points was worth 20 EUR off your room cost. No gaming the system. No opportunities.
Now I think it's the best program for the same reason. While there's been massive devaluation across all the other main programs, Accor still maintains its fixed exchange rate of 1000 points to 20 EUR. That's the central principle...
Before the pandemic I always thought Accor was the worst program because points were simply direct proxies for cash - 1000 points was worth 20 EUR off your room cost. No gaming the system. No opportunities.
Now I think it's the best program for the same reason. While there's been massive devaluation across all the other main programs, Accor still maintains its fixed exchange rate of 1000 points to 20 EUR. That's the central principle that their rewards program is based on.
That means I don't have to worry about the value of my points stash suddenly being vaporised (like Radisson to their points) and can accumulate without having to burn them quickly. The only cost to hoarding points is that hotels get more expensive over time, but I'd face the exact same issue with cash in my bank account.
And I think it's very unlikely they'll ever break this foundational principle, because it would completely immolate their program at a stroke. People saw the smoke and rubble that Radisson Rewards turned into and I doubt they want to emulate that.
That rumor Reddit post wasn't fake.
It was a leaked or failed A B attempt.
Then trying to cover it up just like Pritzker-Epstein.
Shame on Hyatt.
If my math is right a Hyatt globalist doing 100 nights a year at $230 per night, he or she is getting 149,500 points per year on stays. If the same person had Marriott ambassador status, they would earn 402,500 points per year. That’s probably an extreme example. My guess is more people are like 40-70 actual, butt-in-bed nights at $125-$175 per night.
I'll add to my prior comment - one thing I think Hyatt risks (and this is WLOG to other programs) is people saying "Eff this" and shifting to booking via OTAs and/or reducing credit card usage.
If I didn't have extant Globalist status with Hyatt, I'm not sure why I would book direct versus going via Chase (or another portal). I'm already there with Hilton and getting there with Marriott...
I'll be honest - if Hyatt had a general commitment here to cap the upper tiers at (say) 10-20% of nights each, I wouldn't be too fussed. Ditto if this had come with a promise that there would be significant net category reductions this year and/or next year to compensate (particularly at the 4/5 threshold).
I'm glad for the chart staying, but otherwise this is nasty.
Sooooo all are these influencers still going to toe the line and maintain the “value” of Chase and BILT???
Why would they devalue BILT? Alaska, JAL, rent day promotions (up to 125% to JAL!!), etc. BILT is the unequivocal top dog, with or without Hyatt. But I have almost entirely given up on Chase.
For those of us who can use Chase points at 1.5c for travel redemptions, that 75000 Hyatt points room equals $1125. There may be several other nice hotels in the vicinity which would be worthwhile booking directly.
I spent almost all of my post-pandemic Hyatt points in 2022-2024 after I retired. Only 5600 left. I will probably transfer 1000 over from CSP and book a 6500 Cat2 for one night in April and then just delete the app. I had zero stays in 2025 as the properties were just not competitive where I was staying.
Just like the rest of hotel chains and airlines, Hyatt is giving the finger to their loyal customers. I don't understand why people are still chasing status to only be told by these greedy companies to go screw themselves.
Globalist still has a lot of explicit bells and whistles (particularly blocking resort/destination fees).
Blew out a 175k points for an upcoming 5 night stay at the Alila Maldives. Glad I was able to get that in before the devaluation, as that same stay will probably go to 275k. Sadly, this was inevitable, as other have noted...
I've lost most loyalty at this point. Just like an economy, when the government starts to habitually devalue the currency on a whim and without explanation or apology, you start to lose trust in it.
Nothing like having 5 tiers of pricing and 8 category levels. So dumb
Oy Vey this is honestly terrible! We have to pushback!
Bring back Hyatt Passport, Bring back SPG! I miss those days!
The Reddit thing was weird. What’s most frustrating is this news today didn’t also announce the allegedly fake ultra premium Hyatt credit card.
Laurie Blair insists the "trajectory of the value of our points is not changing." Let's examine that claim.
1. Twenty years ago, a night at the Park Hyatt Tokyo cost 15,000 points. Under this new chart, it costs 75,000. That is a 400% increase. An annualised inflation rate of 8.38%. On a loyalty currency that earns at fixed rates.
2. 78 price levels. The program now contains 78 price levels. At what point does an...
Laurie Blair insists the "trajectory of the value of our points is not changing." Let's examine that claim.
1. Twenty years ago, a night at the Park Hyatt Tokyo cost 15,000 points. Under this new chart, it costs 75,000. That is a 400% increase. An annualised inflation rate of 8.38%. On a loyalty currency that earns at fixed rates.
2. 78 price levels. The program now contains 78 price levels. At what point does an "award chart" become a marketing fiction? Blair calls this a "long-term sustainability effort." Members might call it something else.
3. The highest tier prices rise by up to 67%. Not at obscure properties. At the properties members have been saving for, planning around, valuing their points against. And crucially, as the comment from OMAAT makes clear, there is no cap on how many nights a property can place at the top tier. Zero. None. The floor has been removed.
4. Blair pushed back on the word "devaluation." But when the same points buy fewer nights at fewer properties on fewer dates, what precise word would she prefer?
5. Hyatt remains more transparent than Marriott. That is a low bar, and clearing it is not an achievement worth celebrating. The direction here is unmistakable, the pace is accelerating, and the program's CMO declining to commit to any improvement on the earning side tells members everything they need to know.
TL;DR - Cash out of Hyatt now.
Very accurate analysis!
@All Due Respect I think you need to mention the increase in the cash price in your first point. The PH Tokyo was probably about $400/night 20 years ago and probably will be $1000 average/night when it reopens. Also, all spending on the card results in increased points earning vs 20 years ago due to 60%+ inflation.
Still a bad change though.
That's pretty awful. Glad I got my points booking for the Hyatt Place Waikiki before this went. Hyatt was essentially my last bastion of accessible and decent "low end" points properties while still having high-end properties available for decent value (excellent compared to the competition). The low-end properties are still there, at least for now for the CC free night, but on the high end and especially down the road it feels like the high...
That's pretty awful. Glad I got my points booking for the Hyatt Place Waikiki before this went. Hyatt was essentially my last bastion of accessible and decent "low end" points properties while still having high-end properties available for decent value (excellent compared to the competition). The low-end properties are still there, at least for now for the CC free night, but on the high end and especially down the road it feels like the high end properties are going to be like trying to book a Conrad or Waldorf Astoria on points.
what is the "value" of spending 200k to get lifetime globalist for this?
Free breakfast and waived resort fees. Which is, TBH, nothing to sneeze at.
World of Hyatt is a program that USED to offer great value.
Very sad to see the “Hyatt hack” so diminished in value. It was the only program left for me where redeeming points for an overnight stay directly through the hotel affinity program almost always made more economic sense than paying in cash or redeeming via CC. For example, I am staying at Park Hyatt Zurich later this year. Under the current regime and available cash rates booked directly through Hyatt, my points based hotel stay...
Very sad to see the “Hyatt hack” so diminished in value. It was the only program left for me where redeeming points for an overnight stay directly through the hotel affinity program almost always made more economic sense than paying in cash or redeeming via CC. For example, I am staying at Park Hyatt Zurich later this year. Under the current regime and available cash rates booked directly through Hyatt, my points based hotel stay is valued @ approx 3/cents USD per point redeemed. It looks like post April ‘26, the value would drop to 2 cents or less. As a comparison, as a Chase Sapphire card holder, under “The Edit” program the value per point varies from 1.65 to 2 cents. But even at the lower redemption rate, I get free breakfast (I have no Hyatt status so this is very valuable to me), a 100 USD hotel stay credit and I earn points for my stay. So, at best, I become nearly agnostic as to whether I redeem my points directly through Chase or transfer them to Hyatt. However, going forward there are likely to be many instances where the incremental benefit of transferring to Hyatt vanishes altogether and I am better off paying for my hotel directly through the Chase program.
I imagine this is the end of booking a week at a nice Hyatt ski hotel during the season. Three nights at a place like the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek is going from 100k points a couple years ago to now over 200k.
*If* this translates to a substantial devaluation in the likely value of Hyatt points, how relevant will the Chase ecosystem be given this and all of the other changes it has seen?
Without credit card transfers, how does anyone just starting this points game with Hyatt ever earn enough points for a week at some aspirational property?
There will be no justification soon. The only thing worse than this devaluation is the attempted gaslighting. Don't get played for a sucker.
I think what makes this awful is the fact that there’s no tangible addition or improvement of defined elite status benefits. They should have thrown a bone to globalists. Something. And of course, globalist concierge service is awful — even Marriott Bonvoy has better service for ambassador elites than Hyatt does for globalists.
Early access to devalued award nights?
That's only valuable if you (a) book super far in advance and (b) prioritize resorts. Most people I know book vacations 3 months in advance.
Enshitification of the hotel loyalty programs comes to Hyatt. #sad
seems like they have changed categories of some hotels today(?) as well in sync with these announced changes... I had booked a reservation at hyatt in kotor and it was a cat 4 and today it is showing as a cat 5 (15k vs 20k pts) and that could theoretically go higher in May with these changes...
I think they announced 7 hotel shifts.
Still better than other programs. Categories 1-4 are still the sweet spot when you can find them. Don't think I will be staying at any Cat 7 or 8 when they're above 50K points per night.
Every time I read posts like this it makes me smile with my decision to ditch loyalty for hotels and airlines a long time ago.
i've come to view Hilton and Marriott points as virtually worthless, as it's not practical to collect them in the quantities needed for luxury experiences at Marriott; looks like Hyatt is just about there too... my loyalty strategy (and the existence thereof) needs a rethink this year
This brings WOH points to the same valuation as the competition = around half a cent each. It was inevitable. They could not sustain being the outlier indefinitely. It was nice while it lasted.
lol ok calm down
How do you figure this? Not true at all
Are the points required going to fluctuate with demand or is there still gonna be a calendar (showing 12 months out) which night(s) fall into which 'tier'? (i.e., Is it possible that two people who book the same room type, on the same night going to pay two different award prices?)
Curious what their target deval is. From about 2cpp to 1.6?
This also has a major impact on the chase cards. Hyatt is the reason many of us have chase. Will points boost become a better redemption often times at these hyatts?
At a certain point they should just admit that they've moved to dynamic pricing.
They also bumped GH Cayman from 6 to 8 overnight (along with a few others). I was actually planning a trip here and it's very disappointing they gave no heads up like they usually do for category changes to allow people to lock things in.
Unpopular opinion - but this doesn't sound too bad. They haven't had a devaluation in 5 years.
At least the rates are still fixed. Hopefully this should lead to less demand for awards and more access
lol you must be new here. it never leads to less demand for awards and more access. ever. demand is only going in one direction. theres hundreds of thousands of people that just this month have earned 60k+ Bilt points, transferrable to Hyatt. That's tens and tens of millions points created out of thin air to potentially transfer
They have devaluations every year in the Spring when they move the hotel categories up. As far this change, if you do think paying up to 67% more points for the same room, good for you.
Justice for the fake reddit college kid!! he almost nailed it!!
I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in this article LOL
Absolutely brutal. Glad I've managed to enjoy some of the great value stays. Hopefully can lock in a few more before the chart goes live