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World of Hyatt has introduced the ability to book Premium Suite Awards and has modified the way Points + Cash bookings are made; all changes take effect as of November 1, 2018. Like most program changes, some are negative, and some are positive, and how you are affected depends on your stay patterns.
Premium Suite Awards
Effective November 1, 2018, you will be able to book Hyatt Premium Suites at all categories of Hyatt properties. Awards are priced according to the following chart, with category 1 Premium Suite Awards priced at 10,000 points per night, and category 7 awards setting you back 60,000 points per night.
Points + Cash Awards
Through October 31, 2018, World of Hyatt Points + Cash bookings require half the number of points needed for a free award night, plus a set dollar value depending on the category of hotel. For instance, a category 3 property costs 12,000 points for a standard free night award, or 6,000 points plus $75 for a Points + Cash award.
Effective November 1, 2018, the points portion will remain the same at 50% of the required points. However, the cash portion will be 50% of the standard room rate at the property.
Across the board, this is a pretty significant hit. Take the category 2 Hyatt Regency Long Island, previously a standard room Points + Cash award would have set you back 4,000 points plus $55. Now it will set you back 4,000 points plus $84.50, an effective loss of nearly $30.
Things get even worse at higher-end properties. The category 7 Park Hyatt New York would have set you back 15,000 points plus $300; now the same room will set you back 15,000 points plus $497.50. That leaves you nearly $200 more out of pocket.
Our Take
To say the devaluation of the Points + Cash awards is disappointing is an understatement. The change has taken a big chunk of value out of World of Hyatt Points + Cash bookings, and if you used them regularly in the past, you might want to rethink your redemption strategies. On the other hand, the introduction of Premium Suites is excellent news, especially if you were after an aspirational redemption. How will the changes affect your World of Hyatt strategy?
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