World Of Hyatt’s 2024 Hotel Category Changes

A few weeks ago, World of Hyatt revealed hotel category adjustments for 2024, impacting which hotels are in which categories (and in turn impacting how many points are required for free night redemptions). This is something that Hyatt does annually. I wanted to post a reminder of this, as the changes will be kicking in a few days from now, so you’ll want to make any bookings at old pricing now.

There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the total number of properties changing categories isn’t as high as in 2022 and 2023. The bad news is that the percentage of properties increasing in category (rather than decreasing) is higher than in past years.

183 Hyatt hotels changing categories on March 26

World of Hyatt’s 2024 hotel category changes will be kicking in for bookings made as of 8AM CDT on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

As of that date, 183 hotels will be changing categories, with 137 hotels shifting to a higher category and 46 hotels shifting to a lower category. You can find a full list of hotels changing categories here.

In terms of booking logistics:

• All reservations made prior to March 26 will follow the current award chart, even if you stay on a subsequent date
• Members who have stays booked at hotels that go down a category will receive an automatic one-time refund of the points difference; these points will be returned starting March 26
• Any adjustments made to bookings after the changes go into effect will follow the new pricing

As a reminder, below is the standard World of Hyatt award chart.

Some notable Hyatts changing categories

As mentioned above, we’re seeing 183 hotels shifting categories, with 137 hotels shifting to a higher category and 46 hotels shifting to a lower category. That’s rough, as 75% of hotels changing category are getting more expensive, while only 25% are getting less expensive.

On the plus side, at least the total volume of hotels changing categories isn’t as extreme as in the past couple of years. While you’ll want to take a look at the full list of properties for yourself, let me share what I consider to be some notable category changes.

Here are some of the World of Hyatt category increases that stand out most to me:

• Alila Villas Uluwatu goes from Category 7 to Category 8
• Hyatt Centric Park City goes from Category 7 to Category 8
• Alila Jabal Akhdar goes from Category 6 to Category 7
• Andaz Costa Rica Peninsula Papagayo goes from Category 6 to Category 7
• Andaz Singapore goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Grand Hyatt Kuwait goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Park Hyatt Auckland goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Park Hyatt Istanbul goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Park Hyatt Washington goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Park Hyatt Zanzibar goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• The Grayson Hotel New York goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Andaz Bali goes from Category 4 to Category 5
• Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach goes from Category 4 to Category 5
• Hyatt Regency Dusseldorf goes from Category 4 to Category 5
• Thompson Chicago goes from Category 4 to Category 5
• Park Hyatt Siem Reap goes from Category 3 to Category 4
• Hyatt Regency Belgrade goes from Category 1 to Category 2

Here are some of the World of Hyatt category decreases that stand out most to me:

• Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas goes from Category 8 to Category 7
• Magma Resort Santorini goes from Category 7 to Category 6
• Grand Hyatt Taipei goes from Category 4 to Category 3
• Tommie Hollywood goes from Category 4 to Category 3
• Hyatt Regency Cape Town goes from Category 2 to Category 1

The economics of World of Hyatt awards

If you want to make sense of these hotel category changes, it’s worth understanding how the economics of hotel loyalty programs work. Keep in mind that most Hyatt hotels are independently owned, so Hyatt’s loyalty program has to compensate individual hotels for each redemption. As a general rule of thumb, here’s how it works:

• When the hotel isn’t full, the loyalty program compensates the hotel at some reimbursement rate that’s slightly above the marginal cost of servicing a room, etc.
• When the hotel is full (think 90-95%+ occupancy), the loyalty program compensates the hotel close to the average daily rate, in recognition of the fact that the room may have otherwise been sold

For example, if a hotel has high rates but low occupancy, it might be in a disproportionately low category. Meanwhile if a hotel has lower rates but consistently high occupancy, it might be in a disproportionately high category. It’s all about World of Hyatt’s redemption costs.

In recent years, we’ve seen a huge increase in the average cash rates at hotels, especially for luxury, leisure oriented properties. So it’s not surprising to see points redemption rates increase as well, reflecting that trend.

Bottom line

World of Hyatt has revealed its hotel category changes for 2024. As of March 26, 2024, we’re going to see 183 properties shift categories, with 75% of those properties going up in cost, and 25% going down in town.

The annual category changes we see from World of Hyatt is ultimately the equivalent of a soft devaluation. Then again, the cash cost of many of these properties are increasing as well, so it’s really only a devaluation compared to previous points redemption rates, rather than compared to cash rates. Furthermore, at least World of Hyatt publishes award charts — other hotel programs just have dynamic pricing, so constantly increase redemption rates without us even knowing.

What do you make of these World of Hyatt changes?