Update: The Park Hyatt Maldives is back to being a Category 6 property.
Hyatt's 2015 Category Changes have been released, and fortunately there are no major devaluations: no new categories, like last time (see Hyatt Award Chart Devaluation: New Category 7 for 30K Points, Pricier Awards).
Key details:
- You can make reservations from now through January 21, 2015 at the current Hyatt Gold Passport rates for stays through January 21, 2016
- On January 22, 2015, Hyatt's 2015 Category changes take effect and the new Gold Passport points amounts will apply
- For existing reservations for stays after January 21, 2015, you will receive a refund of the points difference if the Hyatt hotel you're staying at moved to a lower category.
The main changes worth highlighting are that the Park Hyatt Maldives moves from Category 6 to Category 7, and a couple good Category 4 properties that were nice uses for the Hyatt Visa Annual Free Night at Category 1-4 go to Category 5: the Park Hyatt Seoul and the Grand Hyatt Macau.
Since the Park Hyatt Maldives is also a Virtuoso property, a good strategy there can be to use the 2 free nights from the Hyatt Visa (see Best Travel Credit Cards), with remaining nights booked with Virtuoso benefits, which include:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Daily full breakfast, for up to two in room guests
- $100 USD Spa Services credit, to be utilized during stay
- Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
As a recap, here's the award chart showing a standard room award night, suite night award and the Hyatt Points + Cash award price. A few notes:
- Suite night awards can only be booked for stays of at least 3 consecutive nights
- Hyatt Cash and Points awards are capacity limited: a property may not make them available even when standard rooms are for sale. Cash and Points awards do count as paid nights for promotions and Diamond Suite upgrade certificates.
Hyatt Category |
Standard Room Award |
Suite Award |
Cash and Points |
Category 1 |
5000 |
8000 |
2500 + $50 |
Category 2 |
8000 |
13,000 |
4000 + $55 |
Category 3 |
12,000 |
20,000 |
6000 + $75 |
Category 4 |
15,000 |
24,000 |
7500 + $100 |
Category 5 |
20,000 |
32,000 |
10,000 + $125 |
Category 6 |
25,000 |
40,000 |
12,500 + $150 |
Category 7 |
30,000 |
48,000 |
15,000 + $300 |
Key Hyatt Hotels Increasing a Category
- Park Hyatt Maldives from Category 6 to Category 7
- Andaz Amsterdam from Category 5 to Category 6
- Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Mediterranee from Category 5 to Category 6
- Park Hyatt Seoul from Category 4 to Category 5
- Grand Hyatt Macau from Category 4 to Category 5
- Grand Hyatt Baha Mar (Bahamas) from Category 4 to Category 5
- Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo from Category 3 to Category 4
- Grand Hyatt Taipei from Category 3 to Category 4
Key Hyatt Hotels Decreasing a Category
- Park Hyatt Washington, DC from Category 6 to Category 5
- Mandalay Bay (included due to the M Life and Hyatt Gold Passport partnership) from Category 6 to Category 5
- Grand Hyatt Washington from Category 5 to Category 4
- Hyatt French Quarter from Category 5 to Category 4
- Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Orlando) from Category 5 to Category 4
- Hyatt Regency La Jolla (San Diego) from Category 5 to Category 4
- MGM Grand (included due to the M Life and Hyatt Gold Passport partnership) from Category 5 to Category 4
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