World of Hyatt’s new peak and off-peak award pricing is now live. This new pricing structure applies for stays as of March 1, 2022. That means for the time being you can still consistently book stays at the standard award costs, as long you travel by February 28, 2022.
Let’s go over all the details of this new World of Hyatt award pricing structure.
Details: Hyatt peak & off-peak awards
World of Hyatt has introduced peak and off-peak award pricing for stays as of March 1, 2022. Under this structure there are three points redemption values:
- Off-peak: Fewer points are required during off-peak times, starting at 3,500 points per night
- Standard: Points required during standard redemption periods remain unchanged, starting at 5,000 points per night
- Peak: When hotels are the busiest, more points are required for a free night, starting at 6,500 points per night
World of Hyatt’s peak & off-peak award charts
With these changes, peak and off-peak redemption rates have been introduced for free night redemptions for standard rooms, club rooms, standard suites, premium suites, and Points + Cash. On top of that, this variable pricing applies for all-inclusive properties, including Miraval.
The only types of awards that aren’t seeing peak & off-peak pricing are room upgrades, to either club rooms or suites. Let’s take a look at the new award charts.
New redemption rates for standard rooms
For standard room free night redemptions, we’re seeing a minimum difference of 1,500 points and a maximum difference of 5,000 points for peak and off-peak redemptions compared to standard rates:
| World of Hyatt Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 3,500 | 5,000 | 6,500 |
| Category 2 | 6,500 | 8,000 | 9,500 |
| Category 3 | 9,000 | 12,000 | 15,000 |
| Category 4 | 12,000 | 15,000 | 18,000 |
| Category 5 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 23,000 |
| Category 6 | 21,000 | 25,000 | 29,000 |
| Category 7 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 35,000 |
| Category 8 | 35,000 | 40,000 | 45,000 |
New redemption rates for club rooms
For club room free night redemptions, we’re seeing a minimum difference of 1,500 points and a maximum difference of 5,000 points for peak and off-peak redemptions compared to standard rates:
| Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 5,500 | 7,000 | 8,500 |
| Category 2 | 10,500 | 12,000 | 13,500 |
| Category 3 | 14,000 | 17,000 | 20,000 |
| Category 4 | 18,000 | 21,000 | 24,000 |
| Category 5 | 24,000 | 27,000 | 30,000 |
| Category 6 | 29,000 | 33,000 | 37,000 |
| Category 7 | 34,000 | 39,000 | 44,000 |
| Category 8 | 45,000 | 50,000 | 55,000 |
New redemption rates for standard suites
For standard suite free night redemptions, we’re seeing a minimum difference of 1,500 points and a maximum difference of 5,000 points for peak and off-peak redemptions compared to standard rates:
| Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 6,500 | 8,000 | 9,500 |
| Category 2 | 11,500 | 13,000 | 14,500 |
| Category 3 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 23,000 |
| Category 4 | 21,000 | 24,000 | 27,000 |
| Category 5 | 29,000 | 32,000 | 35,000 |
| Category 6 | 36,000 | 40,000 | 44,000 |
| Category 7 | 43,000 | 48,000 | 53,000 |
| Category 8 | 56,000 | 61,000 | 66,000 |
New redemption rates for premium suites
For premium suite free night redemptions, we’re seeing a minimum difference of 3,000 points and a maximum difference of 10,000 points for peak and off-peak redemptions compared to standard rates:
| Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 7,000 | 10,000 | 13,000 |
| Category 2 | 13,000 | 16,000 | 19,000 |
| Category 3 | 18,000 | 24,000 | 30,000 |
| Category 4 | 24,000 | 30,000 | 36,000 |
| Category 5 | 34,000 | 40,000 | 46,000 |
| Category 6 | 42,000 | 50,000 | 58,000 |
| Category 7 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| Category 8 | 70,000 | 80,000 | 90,000 |
New redemption rates for all-inclusive properties
For standard rooms at all-inclusive properties, we’re seeing a minimum difference of 3,000 points and a maximum difference of 4,000 points for peak and off-peak redemptions compared to standard rates, plus a difference of 1,500-2,000 points for an extra guest:
| Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 23,000 |
| Extra person | 8,500 | 10,000 | 11,500 |
| Category 2 | 21,000 | 25,000 | 29,000 |
| Extra Person | 10,500 | 12,500 | 14,500 |
Meanwhile for standard suites at all-inclusive properties, we’re seeing a difference of 5,000 points for peak and off-peak redemptions compared to standard rates, plus a difference of 1,500-2,000 points for an extra guest:
| Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 27,000 | 32,000 | 37,000 |
| Extra Person | 8,500 | 10,000 | 11,500 |
| Category 2 | 35,000 | 40,000 | 45,000 |
| Extra Person | 10,500 | 12,500 | 14,500 |
New redemption rates for Miraval
For Miraval properties, we’re seeing a difference of 5,000 to 10,000 points for peak and off-peak redemptions compared to standard rates, plus a difference of 2,000 to 2,500 points for an extra guest:
| Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Room | 40,000 | 45,000 | 50,000 |
| Extra Person | 17,500 | 20,000 | 22,000 |
| Standard Suite | 65,000 | 75,000 | 85,000 |
| Extra Person | 17,500 | 20,000 | 22,000 |
| Premium Suite | 95,000 | 105,000 | 115,000 |
| Extra Person | 17,500 | 20,000 | 22,000 |
How are Hyatt peak & off-peak dates regulated?
Understandably there’s some confusion surrounding how exactly peak and off-peak dates are determined, so here’s how it works:
- Free night redemption rates are identified as peak, standard, or off-peak as soon as nights are available for reservations (about 13 months in advance); these generally won’t be adjusted as the stay date approaches, but “there may be extenuating circumstances that would require point pricing to be adjusted on certain dates once they are made bookable, based on unique market conditions,” and Hyatt will “try to limit this wherever possible”
- The decision for peak and off-peak pricing is based on the geographic market, meaning that all properties within the same market adhere to the same calendar of peak, standard, or off-peak periods; the catch is that Hyatt uses Smith Travel Research’s segmentation to determine markets, and large cities can easily have three or more markets, with hotels in different markets sometimes being just a few blocks from one another
- The majority of days are set to standard redemption rates each year
- There is no minimum or maximum number of nights that a property can designate as peak or off-peak (so just under half of dates could be peak, one day could be off-peak, and the rest could be standard, in theory)
- Hyatt has introduced a points calendar, where members can easily search which dates are peak and off-peak, one month at a time
What happens to existing Hyatt reservations?
If a World of Hyatt member made a booking prior to the introduction of these award pricing changes, what happens?
- If your stay is now over an off-peak period, you’ll automatically receive a refund for the points difference
- If your stay is now over a peak period, your original award price will be honored
- If you change your award after the introduction of peak and off-peak pricing, you can expect to pay whatever the going rate is
What happens to free night certificates?
World of Hyatt issues category-specific free night certificates, some of which are valid at Categories 1-4, Categories 1-7, etc. These continue to be valid at those categories, even in peak season. So the maximum potential points value of the certificates has gone up.
Why is World of Hyatt making these changes?
In case anyone is wondering what’s in it for World of Hyatt to switch to peak and off-peak pricing, this all comes down to the economics of hotel loyalty programs. While Hyatt has management and/or franchise agreements for its properties, it doesn’t actually own a vast majority of them, but rather hotels have individual owners with individual profit goals.
When you redeem points at a Hyatt property, the amount that the hotel is reimbursed by the loyalty program can vary greatly:
- If the hotel is full (or nearly full) and you’re potentially displacing a “paid” guest, World of Hyatt compensates the hotel right around the average daily rate
- If the hotel isn’t full (and therefore you’re just occupying a room that would have otherwise been empty), World of Hyatt reimburses the hotel at a much lower cost, just a bit above the marginal cost
While peak and off-peak pricing probably loosely reflects the seasonality of hotels, it especially reflects Hyatt’s redemption costs, which are much more about occupancy levels at a given hotel.
My take on these World of Hyatt changes
It goes without saying that Hyatt’s introduction of peak and off-peak pricing is bad news for most members. Those maximizing their hotel points are often redeeming in peak season, since that’s when you get the most value.
While this is unarguably a negative development, I think things could have been worse? I redeem for standard room free night awards most often, and those are going up by 5,000 points per night at most. Yes, now the Park Hyatt Paris might cost 35,000 World of Hyatt points…
But it also might cost 25,000 World of Hyatt points…
I think my bigger issue is that Hyatt isn’t making any promises about how many nights can be peak vs. off-peak. In other words, we could theoretically see a situation where 185 nights are standard, 179 nights are peak, and one night is off-peak (and for some properties, that’s not too far off from the reality).
That being said, this is being managed by World of Hyatt directly rather than individual hotels, and it seems to me like the program is implementing this in a pretty fair way, at least in relation to what was promised. I’m seeing lots of peak days, though I’m also seeing a fair number of off-peak days. Fortunately the new points calendar at least makes it easy for members to figure out which dates offer the best value.
I can’t help but notice how arbitrary peak vs. off-peak dates seem to be at some properties, though. There are some hotels that switch from peak, to off-peak, to standard pricing over the course of several days. That doesn’t in any way reflect seasonality, and for that matter the off-peak date is actually more expensive than the peak date if paying cash. That sure makes you wonder…
These changes are negative, though I also feel like things could have been worse. I’ll certainly still get value from World of Hyatt, especially as a Globalist member.
Earning World of Hyatt points is still easy
One of the reasons that I find World of Hyatt to be so valuable is because of how easy the points are to come by.
First of all there are lots of credit cards that potentially earn Hyatt points. In addition to being able to earn World of Hyatt points with the World of Hyatt Credit Card and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, you can also transfer over points from Chase Ultimate Rewards. Being able to efficiently transfer credit card points to Hyatt makes a world of difference.
- Earn 4x Points at Hyatt Properties
- Free Night Every Year
- Complimentary Discoverist Status
- $95
- Earn 4x Points at Hyatt Properties
- Complimentary Discoverist Status
- Gift Discoverist Status up to 5 Employees
- $199
- 5x total points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x points on dining
- 2x points on travel purchases
- $95
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked direct
- 3x points on Dining
- $300 Annual Travel Credit
- $795
- Earn 3x points on travel with the first $150k in combined purchases
- Earn 3x points on shipping purchases with the first $150k in combined purchases
- Cell Phone Protection
- $95
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all business purchases
- Car Rental Coverage
- Extended Warranty Protection
- $0
- Earn 5% Cash Back at office supply stores on the first $25k
- Earn 5% Cash Back on internet, cable TV, mobile phones, and landlines on the first $25k
- Car Rental Coverage
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining, Takeout and Eligible Delivery Services
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Rotating Quarterly Bonus Categories
- $0
On top of that, Hyatt often has bonuses or discounts on purchased points.
Bottom line
World of Hyatt has introduced peak and off-peak award pricing for stays as of March 1, 2022. We knew this was coming for a long time. It’s no doubt a negative change for those looking to maximize their points, but in my opinion this could have been much worse (especially as this comes at the same time that Marriott Bonvoy announced it’s eliminating award charts).
What do you make of World of Hyatt’s new peak and off-peak award pricing? Are you noticing any interesting trends when doing award searches?
"They don't change once posted." Do we have confirmation on this? Your site is very reliable but respfully I've heard otherwise on this.
@ Francois -- I heard back from Hyatt regarding this question, and got the following response:
"We want to give members plenty of time to plan, which is why redemption rates for free nights will be announced as soon as nights are available for reservations (usually 13 months in advance). There may be extenuating circumstances that would require point pricing to be adjusted on certain dates once they are made bookable, based on unique...
@ Francois -- I heard back from Hyatt regarding this question, and got the following response:
"We want to give members plenty of time to plan, which is why redemption rates for free nights will be announced as soon as nights are available for reservations (usually 13 months in advance). There may be extenuating circumstances that would require point pricing to be adjusted on certain dates once they are made bookable, based on unique market conditions. However, we will try to limit this wherever possible, and will not charge additional points for any existing award reservation that changes to Peak."
So it sounds like pricing generally won't change, but it could in some cases. That's a bit different than what I was told when this was first announced, but it does sound like the intention isn't to change pricing much.
While I generally much prefer Hyatt to Marriott/Hilton, I've found the calendar feature lacking. I've been hoping with peak/offpeak being rolled out they'd introduce some kind of "flexible dates" feature so we could see award (or revenue) pricing for a month at a time. Doesnt seem like thats happening any time soon.
Big day today for the points and miles folks!
Arggh I was about to book 2 night stay at PH Paris Vendome for next summer at 30k points per night now priced at 35k! Was procrastinating, didnt realize it would go live now!
I did a few test bookings over weekends at a couple properties to get a sense of when the peak periods might be:
Hyatt Regency Coconut Point: Peak rates March-April, standard in May, off-peak June-October
Park Hyatt NY: Mostly standard, off-peak in March and August. Didn't see any peak rates
All in all, doesn't seem terrible and it actually may create opportunities for bargains to be had. YMMV of course
Not negative at all for me. I am a pilot and travel away from peak times and only away from peak times. Already checked and I see the Hyatt Place I love in Vegas went from 8000 to 6500 mid week. Lots of other properties around that I use went down. This is great for the off peak traveller
Are their promised calendar view online yet? At least give us a consolation prize? Its missing in 2021 is ridiculous now.
Park Hyatt Paris seems to have 30k still in place for shoulder season of May and September which is great. 35k for June and December. 25k for August which is a horrible time to go to Paris as a lot of great restaurants shut then.
I've already found on some of my upcoming trips next year that while the Andaz London is showing offpeak (April 19 - 25) the Hyatt Regency London is showing regular award rates. I hope that this is just initial rollout issues because I thought it was supposed to be by city and not by property for decisions on peak vs. nonpeak.
"That being said, since this is being done by geographic region and is being managed by World of Hyatt directly"
I see the same thing as Ekrem. LAX area in late April: Hyatt House LAX is 12,000 while Regency Long Beach is 9000 and both are category 3. Hotel Figueroa is 17,000 while Andaz is 20,000 and both are category 5.
I'm already calling BS on this being done by geographic region, unless geographic region literally differs by zip code...
For everyone who brought up inconsistent pricing within a particular market, I got an explanation from a Hyatt contact:
"We reviewed the properties that you shared based on reader feedback to ensure they were in fact in separate market tracts. To note, we utilize the global industry recognized Smith Travel Research Groups segmentation for our tracts. As expected, in all the below examples the properties are in different market tracts. Large cities can easily...
For everyone who brought up inconsistent pricing within a particular market, I got an explanation from a Hyatt contact:
"We reviewed the properties that you shared based on reader feedback to ensure they were in fact in separate market tracts. To note, we utilize the global industry recognized Smith Travel Research Groups segmentation for our tracts. As expected, in all the below examples the properties are in different market tracts. Large cities can easily have three or more tracts, sometimes just a few blocks from each other. I know this might not be the news you or your readers were hoping for, but hopefully this helps clarify why there are differing point values for nearby hotels."
I don't buy it, I think the base of their statement may be true, but individual hotels can adjust as they wish within those tracts based on conferences and events booked, which are often a year in advance.
Point about pricing being based regionally does not seem to track, unless they have a very high resolution system of geographic distinction. I am seeing multiple cases of hotels that are minutes from one another with mixed peak/off-peak pricing.
Examples (checking for early Apr, 3-6):
Hyatt house Shelton and Hyatt place Milford, both cat 1, 15 minutes drive apart. one priced at 3500 and one at 5000. HR Boston (cat 4) and Hyatt Centric...
Point about pricing being based regionally does not seem to track, unless they have a very high resolution system of geographic distinction. I am seeing multiple cases of hotels that are minutes from one another with mixed peak/off-peak pricing.
Examples (checking for early Apr, 3-6):
Hyatt house Shelton and Hyatt place Milford, both cat 1, 15 minutes drive apart. one priced at 3500 and one at 5000. HR Boston (cat 4) and Hyatt Centric Feneuil (cat 5), 10 min walks, both priced at 20K. Etc.
@ Tami -- Appreciate the data points. I've followed up with a contact about this, and will report back.
And NO promo?
I just checked hotels in Tokyo on Aug 21-21 stay. GH Tokyo is standard while Andaz Tokyo is off-peak even though they are less than 2 miles apart. I guess Hyatt's geographic market segment is very small.
I imagine as well this could be reflective of events that are annual at the hotel? Thus why you might see these anomalies with properties so close to each other. Especially so at GH's given the amount of conference bookings they have.
I really dont mind paying 35k vs 30k as long as the availability is improved and i can book award stays closer to the trip versus having to secure my reservation 6+ months in advanced.
To be clear the "extra person" charge on all inclusive applies after 2 people. The rate includes 2 people.
Go to the map search and enter the location. Under each property, there’s a “Points Calendar”.
This works, thanks!
The calendar doesn’t seem very logical yet from what little I’ve seen.
Calala all standard except for 3 off-peak nights next October. Interesting no peak.
do you think the points refund will work if I booked a guest of honor reservation before the change? I booked something at 25,000/night that is now 21,000/night but it was a guest of honor reservation
Was curious how long it will take to refund points for awards that shifted to off-peak. At the moment they owe me 84K back. Like the pilot above, as an airline retiree flying standby, I try to fly at off peak times to find open seats so overall this new pricing system is a net plus for me.
"The majority of days are set to standard redemption rates each year"
Maybe at an aggregate level across all properties, but definitely not per property. Just check Ventana Big Sur - the vast majority of next year after March is peak.
So this is how it’s done. The three Hyatts in Honolulu (city blocks apart) vary how they’ll approach the new peak rates.
Both HR and HP are at standard award rates right now for January 2022. With the constant tourist traffic coming, I suspect they’ll be at peak award rates for most of the year.
The Hyatt Centric, however, now accepts points for award stays, but ONLY for suites. There are no standard...
So this is how it’s done. The three Hyatts in Honolulu (city blocks apart) vary how they’ll approach the new peak rates.
Both HR and HP are at standard award rates right now for January 2022. With the constant tourist traffic coming, I suspect they’ll be at peak award rates for most of the year.
The Hyatt Centric, however, now accepts points for award stays, but ONLY for suites. There are no standard rooms available for points at all, despite having inventory available. You can also opt for points + cash at booking but only for suites. (The HC never accepted points or certificates at all prior to this)
HC Waikiki does stuff based on minimum stay so if your looking at 2 nights vs 3 nights you will probably find different results
Remember...the peak/off peak pricing only begins in March 2022. All dates for all hotels b4 that should follow standard rates.
This is interesting because this means the HC will be (somewhat) accepting points for bookings soon, albeit for suites only.
Thanks for the clarification though. I missed that.
My husband is globalist and we booked Kaui Grand Hyatt months ago for May 2022. We used a suite upgrade award after booking standard room. The dates we are there are in off peak now (21k instead of 25k). However, his concierge told him we can not be refunded the points (28k over 7 nights) unless she cancels and rebooks. And since she said there aren’t any suite upgrades available, we would lose that. Doesn’t...
My husband is globalist and we booked Kaui Grand Hyatt months ago for May 2022. We used a suite upgrade award after booking standard room. The dates we are there are in off peak now (21k instead of 25k). However, his concierge told him we can not be refunded the points (28k over 7 nights) unless she cancels and rebooks. And since she said there aren’t any suite upgrades available, we would lose that. Doesn’t make sense to me since we would be releasing a suite upgrade just to snatch it back up. But I’m a little irritated that they are refunded the excess points.