Yesterday, Hyatt announced its (annual?) category award adjustments. Overall, they aren’t horrible, and much better than the pit in my stomach when I saw an email entitled “World of Hyatt Free Night Award Chart Changes” (i.e. it could have been WAY worse!)
Of course, with any changes of this sort, there are winners, losers and the different spin on things. In Hyatt’s email to me, they noted that 130 hotels are moving up in category (all of the ones I saw were going up only 1 category) and 129 hotels are moving down (again, all the ones I saw were just a change of 1 category). The cynic in me feels compelled to note that 38 of the 129 hotels moving down (30%) are in Asia, including 20 in China and 6 in India. Though just because the joke is always that all the hotels that go down in category are in China, doesn’t mean it’s not potentially useful – the Grand Hyatt Beijing, where my daughter and I stayed last year was a GREAT hotel with a GIGANTIC indoor pool (pictured below) and is moving down from Category 4 to Category 3
I do at least appreciate that we were given notice; these changes will go into effect on March 18th, so about a month away
- For bookings between now and March 18, your reservations will follow the current free night award chart
- Reservations made on or after March 18 will follow the new free night award chart with the changes
- Existing reservations for nights on or after March 18 will receive a refund for the point difference if the hotel moved to a lower category. I’m being told this will be done automatically.
- For more information see the Hyatt FAQs, and the full list of hotels changing category can be found here.
18 hotels you won’t be able to use your Category 1-4 free night certificates
One of the biggest losses is those hotels moving from Category 4 (or lower) up to Category 5. That means that you will no longer be able to use Category 1-4 certificates (like the ones you’d get from the Hyatt 5 Brand award or the new World of Hyatt credit card) at these hotels after March 18th.
Here is the list of those 18 hotels
- Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco
- Hyatt Place Dewey Beach
- Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami
- Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa
- Hyatt Regency Boston
- Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown
- Grand Hyatt DFW
- Hyatt House Virginia Beach / Oceanfront
- Grand Hyatt Seattle
- Hyatt at Olive 8
- Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo
- Hyatt Regency Cologne
- Park Hyatt Hamburg
- Hyatt Regency Amsterdam
- Hyatt Regency Sochi
- Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui (SEE ALSO: Snagging an upgrade at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui)
- Park Hyatt Busan
- Hyatt Regency Guam
12 hotels you now CAN use those certificates on
On the flip side, there are 12 hotels where you now CAN use those Category 1-4 certificates, as they are dropping down from Category 5 to Category 4
- Andaz San Diego
- Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego
- Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach
- Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile
- Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago
- Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina
- Hyatt House Jersey City
- Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson
- Park Hyatt Istanbul – Macka Palas
- Hyatt Regency Kiev
- Park Hyatt Zanzibar
- Park Hyatt Hangzhou
What do you think of these changes? Any hotels changing category worth mentioning? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
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