A few days ago I wrote about rumored changes that Hyatt is making to Points + Cash awards, as well as the introduction of both upgrade and free night redemptions for premium suites. Hyatt has officially confirmed this information today, so let’s go through the changes.
Continue reading: Hyatt Confirms HUGE Changes To Suite Awards, Destroys Points + Cash Redemptions
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Are the new cash + points rates capacity controlled as well? I could see it being a slight positive if they eliminated the capacity controlled aspect. Also, they would be better suited to making the points portion of cash+points an option after selecting the rate one wants - it would keep the cancellation penalties, AAA/WoH discounts/etc., but it would just allow the member to pay half of the rate as points at checkout, with the points amount varying based on standard room/suite/premium suite.
Also, hopefully Hyatt includes some requirements for how hotels can define their standard/premium suites.
I think it's safe to say that if you book a premium suite, you're going to get the lowest tiered one available. It's a shame considering that there is such a broad range of premium suites at some Hyatts (e.g. Park Hyatt Tokyo, where there are five different premium suites ranging from 140 square meters to 290).
@Lucky
Is there any option to use a Globalist Suite upgrade and then pay the difference between standard and premium suite in points to go up one level?
Do you get to pick the premium suite you get booked into?
Yea... I'm looking at the Nassau Grand Hyatt now. With my wedding booked there, I'll get on the bookings C+P rates this week. Thanks, Lucky.
But I don't think the changes are all bad (as long as UR remain a transfer partner). We're looking at the Park Hyatt or the Hotel Louvre when it re-opens to stay at during a portion of our honeymoon in France. Suites are now available when they weren't previously. Depending on capacity controls, this could be a good redemption if you can book 9-12 months out.
My biggest beef is that the hotels have gotten stupidly tickytacky in how they define rooms which is making this a much more frustrating game. As you mention a “premium suite” in most cases is just a suite with a slightly more favorable view. This will only cause more hotels to start playing this game.
Will the change in C+P affect current reservations? I already have reservations for Grand Hyatt Kauai for March 2019 (already charged and paid for 2 nights per terms) and Park Hyatt in Hamburg for June 2019.
Chase comes out with a new WOH card that gets sold hard and then guts the program a few months later. The gutting of loyalty programs after issuing new cards is getting old really quick.
Lucky, thought I notify you on this deal: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/premium-fare-deals/1936742-ws-las-lgw-r-t-starting-us-1-500-new-787-outbound-y-return-business.html
I don’t use points plus cash very often because I use citi 4th night free but with only 10 months remaining to cash that in I can see the value of points plus cash. However the ability to upgrade to premium suites is nice and I am overall very happy with Hyatt as a Globalist. This isn’t a huge devaluation.
Lucky, your example doesn't exactly show what you think:
" With the new system, outright redeeming for a free night represents a significantly better value."
If you're paying 25000 for the whole award and 12500 for half, that's exactly the same value whether points+cash or just points.
@roundtree
. The regular rate aspect vs hyatt member/aaa/senior rate means you are getting less than half of the rate for free (I.e for points) . Not to mention free parking on award stays for Globalists
@roundtree
Lucky values hyatt points at 1.5cents/p
25000p = $375
Old System 12500p + $149 = $336.5
New System 12500p + $230 = $417.5
That is why outright redemption is better value.
As long as cost in points dont increase for award stays we will be ok. Being a Globalist and with parking as much as $50 a night in some places, always make sense to book full points. And if it is a low cost hotel just book cash. Hyatt points are easy to get with Chase cards (Lucky, post referral card here). What other options we have? Go to Marriott or Hilton 100.000 points a night?
Can we speculatively book a P + C rate now and cancel later, getting the points back if we decide not to use the booking?
"...plus $149, which is an excellent deal." now goes to $230 and that qualifies for the "destroys" adjective in the headline? Where does "reasonable" fit in that range?
MarkG, if you think the costs of points for award stays won't increase, you are very naive! Classic bait and switch. The next thing that will happen are hotels starting to go up in categories. Watch and see...
@John...of course will happen some day! Look at Marriott, Hilton, or IHG. What I mean is that it is not happening NOW. Hyatt isnt creating a new more expensive category. Top tier hotels still cost 30k
@dmodemd destroys is the proper adjective because under the new system, there is no reason you would ever book points plus cash. If the value of the points is less than the cost of the room, you will book all points. If the value of the points is more than the cost of the room, you would book all cash. Previously, points plus cash bookings were a good value because the cash portion was less than the value of points it was offsetting.
Between this, which has to devalue Chase points even more after losing Korean as a partner, AMEX giving out insane points on common spend, then a week later Citi declaring "hold my beer" throwing points out the window for people to pick up on the sidewalk, the whole points landscape is all shook up.
Hyatt still represents pretty good value as a transfer partner for Chase even with this devaluation (consider, 25,000 points for a regular Cat. 6 room versus say $500 w/ Hyatt compared to the same $500 room costing 2-3x as many points w/ Marriott at the same transfer ratio), but I got a reasonable amount of value out of Cash + Points in the past (oh, sweet Park Hyatt Vienna...) and was earning exclusively with Chase. Chase doesn't really offer a good way to get to Europe in biz/first.
But with AMEX and Citi points so much easier to earn, I do wonder if I'm better off earning primarily with them and, if so, which is better: AMEX with their large portfolio, frequent transfer bonuses, but lower earn rate; or Citi with their more niche portfolio, higher earn rate, but tech snafus like that time I almost missed a Virgin Atlantic booking because they couldn't transfer my points over and they couldn't figure out why. AMEX to me still offers more value, just because of the ANA chart. But the extra point/dollar makes Citi w/ Avianca potentially competitive in some scenarios.
In other words, a big ass chart would be really helpful right about now.
Can you make a points and cash booking at current rate and later modify date of reservation?
@Bogan : Hyatt is taking advantage of the fact that often people don't have enough points to cover the whole booking so will need to add in cash. For that option Hyatt is building in a premium.... just like buying points. It is still a viable option for those short on points.
Pretty bummed about this after doing more miles + points bookings thanks to OMAAT.
The c+p deval is a bummer but , when you think about it, it's not that surprising they're devaluing it now. With Marriott and SPG merged and Marriott sticking to their crappy C+P scheme, I'm sure Hyatt saw that their own c+p was too good compared to the competition. Now, marriott's and hyatt's c+p are fairly comparable.
I think when Hyatt introduced c+p, I think they did it with the intention of competing more with SPG since their c+p scheme was pretty valuable too.
Agree it basically means C + P would never be used. If booking multiple nights better to combine a free night or two with a paid night (I get corporate discount for Hyatts that puts the HK Grand Hyatt at $304/night - so definitely not worth $230 + 12,500 points). But nice to have the option to upgrade to a premium suite when the regular suites are not available.
I have several C&P's booked are they not going to honor them? I like using C&P so sad they are hugely devaluing this tool. What are they going to do with reservations already on the books?
Dear Hyatt- okay, don’t love it, but this isn’t going to discourage my ongoing Globalist status. But it would be great to sweeten the pot for your high value guests. Perhaps those 60/70/80/90/100 night tier-based additional awards should offer a one stay premium suite instead of a standard one. Give me an upside and a reason to choose the upgrade certificate. That is all.
It looks like the points are going up for categories. For example, a category 4 is currently 12k. Now it says 15k. Is this correct? So its not just points plus cash but points by themselves too?
This is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE for globalists. The point and cash change is not going to build my loyalty. I will be exploring other programs that rewards consumers for their business !!
Well, too bad. I have randomly looked up some Hyatt properties in Asia, the Points+Cash redemption is now way too expensive. Grand Hyatt Hong Kong club room requires $350 + 3000 pts. for award redemption, for example. Gee..