Hyatt 2016 Category Changes

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Update: The new rates go into place tomorrow. If you have your eye on a hotel that is going up in category, be sure to book it now. Most hotels allow you to cancel and get a refund of your points until 1-3 days before the stay, 

Originally posted on 7/5:
Have A Hyatt Credit Card? Get 10% Back On All Point Redemptions Through October! Plus: A Unified Hyatt Award Chart With 10% Off Calculations

Hyatt 2016 Category Changes Linky

Effective 8/1/16 there will 50 Hyatt hotels that go up in category and cost more points and 56 hotels that will go down and cost fewer points.

It’s a pretty painless change this year and there’s even a few bright spots, like the Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami falling from category 6 to 4, which makes it valid for Hyatt anniversary nights.

You can lock in lower rates on hotels getting more expensive by booking future reservations by 7/31/16.

If you booked a hotel that is going down in price, Hyatt will automatically credit you the point difference.

Here is the Hyatt award chart:

When booking a points+cash reservation I included a metric in the chart above that shows the rate that you’re effectively buying your points back at.  The category 6 rate is the biggest points+cash bargain. You “buy” back or save 12.5K points per night for $150.  Effectively you paid just 1.2 cents per point ($150/12,500) to save those 12.5K points per night.  The category 1 and 7 points + cash deals are the worst as you are effectively paying 2 cents per point.

Note that standard awards have no blackouts or capacity controls on standard rooms and suites.  However points+cash reservations are capacity controlled.  A nice benefit of points+cash rooms is that they are considered a paid rate, so they qualify for all promotions that apply to paid hotel stays and you can use a diamond suite upgrade certificate to confirm them into a suite.

Suite nights require a 3 night minimum stay and can only be booked over the phone.

You can transfer Chase points to Hyatt if you or your spouse has a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Ink Plus card. You can also earn points and get an annual anniversary night valid at category 1-4 Hyatt hotels on the Chase Hyatt card.

Sample hotels getting more expensive:
-Hyatt Regency San Francisco goes from category 4 to 5.
-Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson goes from category 4 to 5.
-Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago goes from category 4 to 5.
-Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport from category 2 to 3.
-Hyatt Place Chicago South University goes from category 2 to 3.
-Hyatt House Atlanta/Downtown goes from category 2 to 3.

Sample hotels getting less expensive include:
-Hyatt Place Pittsburgh Airport goes from category 2 to 1.
-Hyatt Place Tempe/Phoenix Airport goes from category 2 to 1.
-Hyatt Regency Washington/Dulles Airport goes from category 2 to 1.
-Park Hyatt Chennai, India, goes from category 2 to 1.
-Hyatt Place Secaucus/Meadowlands goes from category 3 to 2.
-Park Hyatt Hyderabad, India goes from category 3 to 2.
-Hyatt Regency Phuket Resort goes from category 4 to 3.
-Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami goes from category 6 to 4.

HT: dandu16, via DDF