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.
