Can I save points on a Hyatt award with a date change trick? Frequent Miler reader Matt wrote:
I recently succeeded in changing a Hyatt award stay to avoid cancelling and forfeiting the Hyatt points. I’m wondering if that could be a strategy to leap past the upcoming changes to the World of Hyatt program. For example, I would create a reservation using points at a Hyatt property now and change the date later for a stay that is currently not bookable because it is more than 13 months away. Has anyone successfully used this strategy in previous years when category changes were announced, avoiding the need to make up point differences due to the associated program changes at that time? I understand that this is highly prospective and perhaps wishful thinking, but it could mean a sizeable savings in Hyatt points!
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Nick, you mention at the end that if you have any points advance booking as a Globalist, that you need to pay for the stay in full prior to the category change rolling in to avoid paying the higher points. Has this always been the case? Because I had a points advance booking last year at Il Tornabuoni in Florence, and I called Hyatt to pay for it prior to my stay at the Category 7 rate (It is now Cat 8). They did it by charging me the higher rate then refunding me the points difference