Hyatt Categories No Longer Matter
And so it begins. We have all been a bit up in arms with the recent World of Hyatt changes. They made their award chart more confusing and a lot more expensive, at least in theory. Initially the prices seemed mostly around the same. As we discussed a bit on the MTM Travel podcast, I think the changes will start to show its fangs as the new booking calendar continues to roll out. It already seems like Hyatt categories no longer matter much outside of free night certificate stays.
Checking Hotels For New Orleans
We are planning on going to New Orleans with some friends for a buddy’s 40th birthday party later this year. I am leaning towards burning some Hilton free night certificates at The Roosevelt Waldorf Astoria there. Even when I have a plan in place I like to check other programs to see if there happens to be a much better deal somewhere. Hotel Monteleone with Choice Hotels & Preferred Hotels partnership is definitely in play! Having said all of that, my buddy has mostly Ultimate Rewards points which means Hyatt is the likely answer for him.
While searching the Hyatt award map I noticed something strange. There was a Hyatt category 3 hotel just blocks away from a category 4 hotel. That isn’t unique on its own, but the pricing is what stood out to me.
The category 3 hotel was going for 20,000 points a night (old category 5 pricing) and the category 4 hotel was going for 15,000 points a night (old category 4 standard pricin). I would have thought those prices would have been reversed. It is the same dates, in the same town – heck, just blocks from each other. How can one be in the Top category and the other the Low category? Wouldn’t hotels right by each other be in the same category on the award chart when searching the same dates? I guess not … and that is a little concerning.
Hotel Categories No Longer Matter Outside Of Free Night Certificates
Don’t get me wrong, Hyatt hotel categories still matter a little bit because they set some boundaries. But those boundaries are now pretty vast, crossing over multiple older category prices. This new set up is eerily close to the dynamic pricing we see at Hilton and Marriott in that sense. At least when they have standard rooms available.
The thing that surprises me though is the fact that the hotels seem to be able to pick their levels within the category, and it doesn’t even have to match up to other Hyatt hotels in the area. How can one be the highest price possible while the hotel next door is almost the lowest price possible? Are Hyatt hotels now able to shift their category designation as the hotel fills up? Does it shift as cash prices go up? I wouldn’t be surprised if all of those questions are answered with a resounding Yes.
Free Night Certificates Are More Valuable Than Ever
The last time the World of Hyatt card was offering 5 free night certificates as the welcome offer I encouraged people to jump on it. I said that the offer would be more valuable than ever going forward. That is because each one of those certificates is worth up to 25,000 points now, or the Top level of a category 4 hotel. The old peak redemption was just 15,000 points not too long ago, which could now be a category 2 hotel night.
The free night certificate sitting in my account would be able to book both of these hotels. Whether I decided on the category 3 hotel at 20,000 points or the category 4 hotel at 15,000 points I would be all set. It is just weird to say that a category 3 hotel down the street from a category 4 hotel offers us a better value overall.
That means that the construct of categories doesn’t really mean what it used to. Especially if you consider the points price, which is a majority of everyone’s bookings.
Hyatt Categories No Longer Matter: Final Thoughts
There is no more need to check Hyatt hotel categories before you travel if you are using points. They really don’t mean much anymore for most of your stays. Not when a category 2 hotel (15K Top) could end up costing you more than a category 4 hotel (12K Lowest) in the same city, on the same dates.
If World of Hyatt is allowing hotels to pick their categories, regardless of what other hotels in the area are doing, then all bets are off. You just need to focus on getting the best deal out of the options available to you.
That is unless you have a free night certificate. Even then, a category 3 hotel could end up being a much better redemption for your cert going forward. That was never the case in the past when everyone was hunting the best category 4 hotels to use their FNCs at.
If you look at the cash rates in your screenshot, it makes sense. The Hyatt House cash rate says $538/night and the Barnett says $395 a night.
Given its about 35% more in cash, being about 33% more in points makes sense?
That is my point though, the actual categories of the hotels no longer matter. They used to keep hotels locked in even when prices increased. Now as the price goes up the points go up. It is pretty close to fully dynamic with how wide the pricing categories can be. Especially if hotels within the same area can categorize their pricing level independent of each other and can continue to make adjustments as the hotel fills up. The really messed up thing is it is unlikely that the hotel owner gets paid any differently in the process from Hyatt unless they get passed the 90% full level.
Even with the old chart, a standard category 4 and a high category 3 overlapped. Peak cat 3 was 15k, and normal cat 4 was 15k. Low cat 4 was 12k points. Every category’s PEAK was higher than the next category’s OFF-PEAK. Would you have stayed in the hyatt place over the barnett if they were the same points price?
I get your point, but I consider “best alternatives” when doing point redemptions vs cash and I don’t think I would have. 20k points for a $538 room is still good value, though I’d obviously just stay in the Category 4 instead at 15k points a few blocks away.
I’m just saying I’m glad that hotels haven’t arbitrarily picked the highest point rates arbitrarily, and it’s instead linked to the cash rate. It’s impossible to know if that hotel would have just turned off point redemptions under the old system, and I’m not sure that’s better.
I think there was less chance of this example happening in the same city before. Especially that far in difference from top price to almost lowest price.
I was just making a point that searching out categories doesn’t really matter any more – just look at the award price per night. I think people would search by category in the past and would at least assume the lower category is going to be cheaper.
What bothers me more is the transfer rate from Chase Ultimate Rewards is no longer going to be 1:1. That bothers me greatly. I’ve been an Explorist member for several years now. I’ve also brought several couples and individuals with me on my trips, and I’ve sent others on their own. I now feel very cheated. I cannot believe Hyatt would do this to their biggest fans….
I have a feeling that was more Chase’s decision versus Hyatt’s.
Fully dynamic soon enough.
And, what becomes of Chase?