Hyatt’s Award Chart Shake-Up: Hidden Winners and Losers Revealed After Analyzing 1,078 Properties—What It Means for Your Next Stay

When Hyatt announced its May 20 award chart overhaul, complete with a shift from three to five pricing tiers and 136 properties switching categories, many of us clutching our points wallets held our breath. Would this shakeup drain the sparkle from one of the most beloved loyalty programs? Spoiler alert: It turns out, the dreaded apocalypse wasn’t quite on the horizon.

After pouring over data from a sprawling 1,078-property sample supplied by Gondola, a nifty platform for travelers hunting the best cash and points deals, I’ve uncovered a tale not of wholesale devastation but of survival—and even opportunity. Sure, some redemptions have pinched the purse strings more tightly, especially at peak-tier properties. Yet many hidden gems, those sweet spots in Hyatt’s lineup, remain intact. Some hotels have even lowered their points price, inviting savvy planners to seize a bargain.

So, is your stash of Hyatt points still a treasure chest or has it morphed into a riddle wrapped in a mystery? Let’s unpack the shifts category by category, discovering where the value lingers and which properties now demand a more cunning strategy. Pull up a chair and dive into the nitty-gritty of Hyatt’s latest evolution—it might just reshape how you plan your next getaway.

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Ahead of the May 20 World of Hyatt award chart changes — which included a switch from three pricing tiers per category to five and 136 properties changing categories — many loyalists feared the program would lose much of its value.

Luckily, the changes haven’t been as bad as many feared. TPG’s Nick Ewen wrote about his first impressions of the Hyatt award chart changes on May 20. Two days later, we used data from Gondola (a free hotel search and direct booking platform for frequent travelers) to discuss how award pricing changed at 19 popular Hyatt properties.

Now, we’re back with more data from Gondola — this time across 1,078 properties, including every property that changed categories May 20 and a broad sample of other properties. This data shows that while some redemptions became dramatically more expensive, many Hyatt sweet spots survived, and some properties even became cheaper on points.

Effect of the Hyatt award chart changes by category

I frequently redeem points at low-category Hyatt properties, such as Hyatt Category 1 hotels. So, although our previous stories focused on high-category and aspirational properties, I was eager to see how award pricing and redemption rates changed on a category-by-category basis.

The chart below includes data across 1,018 properties with standard room rewards that price according to the Hyatt award chart for hotels and resorts (i.e., all Hyatt options excluding Miraval, all-inclusive collection and dynamically priced properties). Properties that changed categories on May 20 are listed under their pre-May 20 category.

Properties	Previous average award rate (in points)	New average award rate (in points)	Change in average award rate	Previous average redemption rate (cents per point)	New average redemption rate (cents per point)	Change in average redemption rate (cents per point)
203	5,331	5,704	Up 7%	2.43	2.32	Down 0.11
268	8,269	8,782	Up 6%	2.14	2.05	Down 0.09
215	12,393	12,684	Up 2%	1.93	1.88	Down 0.05
119	15,489	17,088	Up 10%	2.02	1.84	Down 0.18
101	20,203	20,826	Up 3%	1.73	1.67	Down 0.06
51	25,380	26,377	Up 4%	1.86	1.81	Down 0.05
40	30,410	33,458	Up 10%	2.13	2.03	Down 0.1
21	43,616	48,951	Up 12%	2.14	1.86	Down 0.28

Importantly, these averages reflect both Hyatt’s new five-tier pricing structure and the annual category adjustments.

Hyatt Place Kyoto in Japan. SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

The median-night data tells a much more encouraging story for most travelers. Because Hyatt added more lower-priced tiers alongside the new Upper and Top tiers, travelers with flexible dates may see little change — or even lower award pricing — on many stays.

Properties	Previous median award rate (in points)	New median award rate (in points)	Change in median award rate	Previous median redemption rate (cents per point)	New median redemption rate (cents per point)	Change in median redemption rate (cents per point)
203	5,000	4,500	Down 10%	2.25	2.23	Down 0.02
268	8,000	7,500	Down 6%	1.95	1.91	Down 0.04
215	12,000	12,000	0%	1.72	1.74	Up 0.02
119	15,000	15,000	0%	1.81	1.68	Down 0.13
101	20,000	20,000	0%	1.59	1.58	Down 0.01
51	25,000	25,000	0%	1.71	1.67	Down 0.04
40	30,000	30,000	0%	1.94	1.87	Down 0.07
21	40,000	45,000	Up 13%	1.57	1.48	Down 0.09

Even so, it’s obvious that the properties in categories 4 and 8 before May 20 are the ones that fared, on average and by median, worst. It’s interesting that low category (categories 1 and 2) and Category 7 properties had and kept the best redemption rates based on average and median.

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Effect of the annual Hyatt category changes

On May 20, 136 properties also changed categories. Of the ones that follow Hyatt’s standard award chart (so excluding Miraval, all-inclusive collection and dynamically priced properties), 108 moved up in category and 21 moved down.

By sheer point cost, the worst category changes were to high-category properties. Here’s a look at some of the worst increases on an average points per night basis:

Property	New category	Previous average award rate (in points)	New average award rate (in points)	Change in average award rate (in points)
Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino	8	36,892	53,333	Up 16,442
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome	8	40,342	55,000	Up 14,658
Hotel Fluela Davos in Switzerland	8	32,869	45,000	Up 12,131
Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya	6	21,293	31,667	Up 10,374
Andaz 5th Avenue in New York	8	32,255	42,273	Up 10,018
Hyatt Regency Lisbon in Portugal	5	17,049	25,250	Up 8,201
Hyatt Regency Seattle	5	15,526	22,909	Up 7,383
Park Hyatt Zurich	8	41,156	48,333	Up 7,177
Andaz Mayakoba in Mexico	7	27,512	34,222	Up 6,710

However, the largest percentage changes were at low-category properties. Here’s a look at some of the worst changes on a percentage basis:

Property	New category	Previous average award rate (in points)	New average award rate (in points)	Percentage change in average award rate
Hyatt Regency Kuantan Resort in Malaysia	2	4,926	8,375	Up 70%
Hyatt Place Sumter / Downtown in South Carolina	2	5,667	9,545	Up 68%
Hyatt Place Kyoto in Japan	3	8,713	14,600	Up 68%
Hyatt House Monterrey Valle / San Pedro in Mexico	2	5,026	8,333	Up 66%
Hyatt Place Mount Laurel in New Jersey	2	5,187	8,500	Up 64%
Hyatt Place Rouen in France	2	5,118	8,375	Up 64%
Hyatt Regency Columbus in Ohio	3	8,142	13,200	Up 62%
Hyatt Place Dubai Jumeirah	2	4,908	7,955	Up 62%

I’ve stayed at the Hyatt Regency Kuantan Resort twice, and I love the property. But with this massive increase in the average award rate, I’ll likely book at a paid rate instead of redeeming Hyatt points for my next stay. After all, paid rates are still low at this property on many dates.

However, it’s not all bad news. Twenty-one properties that use the standard Hyatt award chart dropped in category. And, as you can see in the following chart, the points and percentage decreases are massive for some of these properties.

Property	New category	Previous average award rate (in points)	New average award rate (in points)	Change in average award rate (in points)	Percentage change in average award rate
Andaz Macau in Macao	4	19,503	14,000	Down 5,503	Down 28%
Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica in California	5	25,776	21,111	Down 4,665	Down 18%
The Standard, Singapore	4	20,321	15,833	Down 4,488	Down 22%
Andaz West Hollywood in California	5	26,194	21,818	Down 4,376	Down 17%
Hyatt Centric Congress Avenue Austin	4	20,118	15,833	Down 4,285	Down 21%
Commune by the Great Wall in China	2	11,909	7,750	Down 4,159	Down 35%
Hyatt Place London City East	3	15,010	11,000	Down 4,010	Down 27%
Hyatt Place Santa Barbara in California	5	25,515	21,667	Down 3,849	Down 15%

The category decrease for the Hyatt Centric Congress Avenue Austin, Andaz Macau and The Standard, Singapore is particularly exciting, as now you can redeem Category 1-4 certificates at these properties.

Hyatt award chart changes left sweet spots

One of the biggest fears of many Hyatt loyalists was that the Hyatt award chart changes would kill most sweet spots. But, among 50 of the highest cents per point properties in pre-May 20 data that didn’t change category on May 20, the typical (median) night moved 0 points and the average nightly rate increased just 209 points from 11,913 to 12,122 points.

Interestingly, the average cents-per-point across these 50 properties increased slightly (from 2.68 to 2.75) because the paid rates also increased slightly.

Park Hyatt Maldives pool — Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa. KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY

If we zoom out to the larger 1,078-property sample, 163 properties still offer an average redemption rate of 2.5 cents per point or higher. Here are a few notable examples:

Property	Current category	Previous average award rate (in points)	Current average award rate (in points)	Previous average redemption rate (cents per point)	Current average redemption rate (cents per point)
Hyatt House Nairobi Westlands in Kenya	1	5,604	5,455	4.17	4.76
Hyatt Regency Rochester in New York	1	5,089	4,625	3.82	4.43
Hyatt Regency Merida in Mexico	1	5,159	4,875	3.50	4.04
Park Hyatt St. Kitts Christophe Harbour	7	28,664	30,333	3.60	3.82
Park Hyatt Milan	8	41,856	46,000	4.42	3.73
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome	8	40,342	55,000	4.62	3.71
Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa	7	30,595	27,857	4.12	3.68

It’s impressive to see that the average award rate not only went down at Category 1 properties like the Hyatt Regency Rochester and the Hyatt Regency Merida, but also at an aspirational property like the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa. I absolutely loved my stay at the Park Hyatt Maldives and will be looking to return on Lowest or Low dates.

Bottom line

The May 20 Hyatt award chart changes certainly affected all property tiers, but the impact was uneven. Although average nightly award rates increased in every category, the effect ranged from a modest 2% increase in Category 3 to a 12% increase in Category 8. Some properties — primarily those that changed category or occupy higher categories — did see significant increases in their average award rates. But some specific properties, including several in Category 1 and at least one in Category 7, saw decreases in their average award rates.

I, frankly, never expected to see the average award cost of the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa decrease in this set of Hyatt award chart changes. But, when you think about it, the Maldives has serious peak and off-peak seasons, and resorts often have low occupancy on some off-peak dates. So, in the case of the Park Hyatt Maldives, we’re likely seeing those dates gain the Lowest award pricing tier for Category 7, while other nights keep approximately the same rates as before.

In short, this set of Hyatt award chart changes will sting for travelers who can only travel on peak dates and hence will need to redeem at the Upper and Top award tiers. However, in general, most travelers will still be able to find high-value ways to redeem Hyatt points.

Hyatt redemptions now require more strategy than before. But for travelers with flexible dates, World of Hyatt remains one of the most valuable hotel loyalty programs.

Gondola is a free hotel search and direct booking platform for frequent travelers, making it easy to compare cash and points rates across brands while earning up to an extra 7% cash back.