Nothing in life is certain besides death, taxes, and … World of Hyatt‘s annual award chart changes. Don’t shoot the messenger, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that something bigger – and more painful – is on the horizon this year.
Each and every spring, the hotel chain beloved for its ultra-valuable loyalty program reshuffles its award chart, moving hundreds of properties up and down: Some hotels get cheaper when redeeming points while fare more move up in price. And it’s gotten seemingly worse each year, hitting many of the best all-inclusive resorts, high-end properties, and top-rated Park Hyatt locations you can book with points.
Yet while the other big hotel chains long ago moved toward dynamic award pricing – setting award rates based largely on the cash price, meaning their points don’t go nearly as far – Hyatt has held out. Is 2025 the year that finally changes?
To be clear: We don’t have any inside intel here. But looking back at Hyatt’s moves in the last year, we’re concerned that it’s been laying the groundwork for the biggest and worst change yet.
Hyatt’s Golden Egg: Its Award Chart
Ask virtually any points and miles aficionado and they’ll say the same thing: Hyatt is the best hotel loyalty program … by far.
Its beloved primarily for its shockingly cheap redemption rates. While other hotel programs like Hilton, Marriott, and IHG may charge upwards of 40,000 points per night even for low-end properties, Hyatt redemptions start as low as just 3,500 points a night. Even at some top, five-star hotels and resorts that may charge $2,000 or more a night, you can book for no more than 45,000 points … when other chains charge 100,000 (or much more) for similar stays.
Combined with the ability to transfer Chase points straight to Hyatt, they’re some of the best deals in the world of points and miles.
Hyatt began inching toward its competitors a few years back by introducing peak- and off-peak award pricing, with higher award rates during busier times (or lower when things are slower). And those annual award category changes made some of the best deals more expensive, but left many others intact. That award chart is still Hyatt’s North Star, the goose’s golden egg.
But within just the last year, we’ve been seeing warning signs that it may not last.
Recent Moves Spell Trouble
Hyatt fans hoped the company’s acquisition of Mr. and Mrs. Smith – a collection of hundreds of boutique properties around the world – would ease the sting of losing Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) to Hilton.
They were wrong.
Rather than folding these new properties into its existing award chart and pricing them similarly to everyday Hyatts, they’re all priced dynamically: The more a night costs in cash, the more World of Hyatt points it’ll cost you. Free nights could go for as few as 8,000 points … or well north of 100,000.
The consistent award charts – the cheat sheets for what a free night will cost – and great points redemptions we’ve come to know and love with the World of Hyatt program are nowhere to be found here. So while a night at the Park Hyatt Kyoto may top out at 45,000 points per night – even when it costs $2,000 or more a night – getting the same outsized value with your Hyatt points at Mr. and Mrs. Smith just isn’t possible.
For example, a free night at the Calabash Hotel in the Caribbean island of Grenada this spring starts at 77,000 points per night … despite the fact that you could book that same stay for just over $900. To book Hermitage Bay in Antigua – an amazing property you can now also book through Hilton for 150,000 points – you’d have to fork over more than 200,000 Hyatt points a night because nightly rates are north of $2,000.
It got worse as 2024 went on.
Hyatt again inspired hope by bringing Under Canvas – truly cool glamping sites positioned near many U.S. National Parks – under its umbrella via Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But yet again, award rates are set dynamically.
Take the Under Canvas Columbia River Gorge, opening soon in Washington state this year, for instance. A night of close to $500 would cost you about 40,000 Hyatt points…
That’s enough points to stay at some of the best five-star brands in Hyatt’s portfolio. So why would I use 40,000 precious Hyatt points to stay in an (admittedly very nice) tent when I could stay at a Park Hyatt, Alila, or Andaz that costs much, much more?
For a third and final flop, Hyatt announced a partnership with The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, allowing travelers with Hyatt points to book both The Venetian and Palazzo, earn Hyatt points on paid stays, and even enjoy some elite benefits. But yet again, these redemptions are dynamically priced, so your Hyatt points won’t go very far.
For instance, you could book a Luxury King Suite for around $460 per night, with all the taxes and fees included.
Using points, that same room would cost you more than 50,000 points per night. Ouch.
What’s Next for Hyatt?
If this new pricing system stops with these new partnerships, then we have little to worry about.
But here’s why we are worried: Hyatt now clearly has a framework in place to determine award rates based upon the cash price … and there’s nothing stopping the hotel chain from expanding that system across its entire portfolio.
Now, that doesn’t mean this is a sure thing or that Hyatt will flip the switch and go fully dynamic in 2025 – in fact, we highly doubt that. But when you look at how much poorer the points programs are at Hilton and especially Marriott and IHG, Hyatt could make some major changes without losing a competitive edge.
Maybe Hyatt will lean even further into its peak- and off-peak pricing, creating larger pricing bands that hit members even harder during busy times. Or maybe they’ll take a page out of Hilton’s book and create some kind of hybrid award pricing system: Much higher, dynamic pricing at times while reserving a subset of cheaper, “saver” award nights that still follow the award chart.
Hyatt typically unveils its big award chart changes in late February or early March each year, giving members a three- to four-week grace period to make some moves before everything changes.
After everything Hyatt has done over the last year, we’ll be watching extra closely in the weeks to come.
Bottom Line
While no one knows for sure, the writing is on the wall: Hyatt’s loyalty program is bound to get worse this year.
Just how bad will it get? We’ll just have to buckle up, then wait and see. But for the first time in … well, ever, the chain ditching its beloved award chart feels like a distinct possibility.
