A big change is coming for your World of Hyatt points, so you may want to book your award stays with your Hyatt points before it's too late.
Way back in early 2020, Hyatt announced its plan to roll out a new peak and off-peak award pricing system. That means using points to book award stays through the hotel chain will cost you more points during busier times … or fewer points during quiet stretches. Hyatt has confirmed that this new pricing format will launch on Tuesday, Oct. 26.
Even once it goes live, you won't see the new pricing structure until stays starting March 2022. But whether you've got a Hyatt award stay in the works for this winter or in March and beyond, you're better off booking now with your Hyatt points than waiting.
- Book an award stay using World of Hyatt points that subsequently increases in price after this change? Hyatt won't charge you more.
- Book something that drops in price due to off-peak pricing? Hyatt will refund you the difference.
At the same time, Hyatt is expected to unveil a new set of award category changes – shuffling hundreds of properties between categories that could also increase or decrease the cost of a nightly stay using points.
Let's take a deeper look at what's on tap with Hyatt.
Breaking Down Hyatt's Brewing Changes
Peak- and off-peak pricing is a bummer when it comes to using hotel points – especially for World of Hyatt, which easily has the most valuable and predictable award rates among the major hotel chains.
Fortunately, peak pricing premiums will be mild at no more than 5,000 additional points during a busy time (or discounts of 5,000 during off-peak stays).
For reference, here's a look at the new peak and off-peak rates coming soon for stays starting in March 2022.
Staying with points at one of Hyatt's great all-inclusive resorts, Hyatt Ziva and Zilara? Changes are on the way there, too.
Hyatt's Points + Cash bookings are also getting hit with peak and off-peak pricing.
Even this introduction of dynamic pricing is much better than what you'll get from other hotel chains. With Hilton Honors points, award rates can change not just daily but hourly based on demand. You see wild swings in award rates based on when you travel since Marriott introduced peak pricing in 2019 – and the chain regularly retools what qualifies as a “peak stay” as demand changes.
With Hyatt, the chain says that peak and off-peak periods will not change from the time hotel reservations open, roughly 13 months in advance. That means Hyatt won't constantly tweak the award rates to charge more over time – what you see immediately is what you'll get. And that's far more customer-friendly.
Plus, Hyatt has given members plenty of lead time to lock in award stays now before this new pricing structure takes effect. Consider this your final warning: It takes effect tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 26.
What this Means for Using Hyatt Points
Let's be clear: This isn't the end of the world. Many of these increases are pretty mild. After they take effect, you may even come out ahead if you're traveling during an off-peak time.
Hyatt is also giving travelers many months of notice before the changes take place. And they've structured this variable pricing in a way that should make it easier to understand.
Still, this stings. Hyatt has stood out for years because of its low, predictable award rates. A free night at a basic Hyatt starts at 5,000 points per night. A night at a ritzy hotel like the Park Hyatt Tokyo or Park Hyatt New York will cost you 30,000 Hyatt points, every time.
That predictability will disappear later this year. And while the award rates will still be reasonable for booking a free night during peak periods, there's no way to disguise a 5,000-point increase as anything other than bad news.
Bottom Line
The end of Hyatt's predictable award pricing system is here.
Hyatt will introduce peak- and off-peak award pricing on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, meaning your stay at a Hyatt property (starting in March 2022 and onward) could cost as many as 5,000 points more during busy times – or 5,000 fewer points.
That means now's the time to lock in your Hyatt award stays. Come tomorrow, that exact same redemption could cost you more points.