Mayday: Hyatt to launch a brutal new World of Hyatt chart in May 2026

Hyatt has today announced the next evolution in World of Hyatt, with a new award chart set to debut sometime in May (“before the end of May” is as specific as they would be). Hyatt frames this as a set of changes that enable them to keep an award chart and avoid dynamic pricing, but with the introduction of five different pricing levels within each category that enable a range of as much as 40,000 points per night within a single category, it is hard to think of the award chart as being anything but dynamic. Hyatt bundles this news with a couple of small bright spots that, frankly, feel like too little too late to soften the blow of what will, in some cases, be a devastating devaluation.

New World of Hyatt Award Chart debuts in May 2026

The new World of Hyatt Award Chart is set to debut in May 2026. When it does, Hyatt will maintain 8 categories, but will introduce 5 pricing bands within each category — lowest, low, moderate, upper, and super duper peak top. Hyatt provided the chart below that shows the comparison of today’s award chart and the “evolved” award chart debuting in May.

Hyatt gets bonus points for transparency here, not only for announcing these changes 2-3 months in advance but also for providing a simple graphic that owns the change, making it easy to reference and understand the significance of the changes. And, for what it’s worth, they say that when the new chart launches in May, the initial pricing we see should more or less be set for the rest of 2026. If only any of that made the pricing changes sting less.

If we just take the middle column of the charts — today’s “standard” versus the May 2026 “Moderate” price, each category increases by 20% to 37.5%. Ouch. And that’s probably the least painful way to look at things.

The swings within an individual category are absolutely brutal here. A category 8 property may cost as few as 35,000 points per night or as many as 75,000 points per night — a difference of up to 40,000 points per night. To put that in perspective, the price of a Category 8 property starting in May could vary by as much as more than the peak cost of a Category 7 night today. And it means that an individual property could double in award price from its lowest price to a super peak “top” night. That’s insane from an award redemption planning standpoint.

Hyatt explains that they recognize the importance of an award chart to members and say that they wanted very much to maintain an award chart, particularly in a market where other chains have abandoned them, but the pricing swings here tell a different story. While chains like Hilton and Marriott have abandoned official award charts altogether, award pricing at individual properties doesn’t vary by nearly so much at individual properties.

Hyatt’s explanation for the different pricing levels within a category is to make it such that a property that has specific high peaks in demand can avoid needing to move up in category to account for those periods. For instance, imagine a property in a college football town that likely has incredibly high demand during home football game weekends. Today, those peak demand periods might cause a property like that to increase in category, whereas in the new award chart, that property could live within a lower category that may fit the property more appropriately for most of the year, while creating the capacity to account for those brief high peak periods with increased award pricing at those times. I could imagine a similar situation in a market like Las Vegas, where midweek days are priced at the low end of the spectrum, but weekends are priced at the higher levels.

That mirrors the way that pricing varies when using cash….which is more or less the definition of dynamic pricing.

Hyatt insists that pricing won’t be dynamic in the sense of being a constantly moving target, but rather that it will be fairly predictable and not constantly changing as to when properties will be priced toward the upper end of their category spectrum. That is generally good news. In other words, if you take a specific date far in the future — say February 20, 2027 — the award price for a particular property for that date isn’t expected to vary over time. Rather, the award price should more or less be set in advance. It isn’t expected that award pricing will increase or decrease unpredictably over time, but rather that the February 20th date should generally be expected to remain at the same level within the category (assuming awards are available). While that will probably be the case in most situations, I can easily imagine things deviating from expectations in some circumstances. For instance, the moment when a new Taylor Swift tour is announced, I would be shocked if we didn’t see the price of every hotel in a host city move from whatever level at which they had been set to the new “top” level within their category.

To quantify just how much things vary here in dollars and cents, take Category 5 as an example. Based on our Reasonable Redemption Value of 1.8c per point for Hyatt points, a Category 5 award will vary from $270 worth of points per night (15K points at 1.8c per point) to $630 worth of points per night (35K points at 1.8c per point). That. Is. Insanity. Again, while Hyatt tries to frame this as “not dynamic pricing”, I don’t know how you could look at that as anything but incredibly dynamic. We don’t see that kind of variance from any other program.

To put things in perspective, our valuation for Marriott points is 0.76 cents per point. In other words, 1 Hyatt point is worth about 2.37 Marriott points. Multiplied out, that means that 15,000 Hyatt points (the “lowest” Category 5 pricing) are worth roughly 35,000 Marriott points. The swing at Hyatt Category 5 is roughly equivalent to the difference between 35,000 Marriott points and 83,000 Marriott points. I’ve never seen a Marriott property vary by that type of margin from one season to the next. Marriott’s dynamic award pricing simply isn’t nearly as dynamic as this new World of Hyatt award chart. That is really bad news for Hyatt fans. Even if Hyatt points are still worth ~1.8c per point as compared to cash rates, the high end of the spectrum will decrease the upside of outsized value.

Hyatt was asked whether there will be a commensurate opportunity to earn more points, such as for paid nights, to keep those higher-end properties within reach. They are “looking at many different things” made possible by the new award chart, but no word yet as to enhanced earn, just increased burn.

Hyatt does not guarantee that properties will have any nights at the low end of their category

Disappointingly, there does not appear to be any limit as to how many nights per year can be priced at the top end of a category spectrum, nor does Hyatt guarantee that any minimum number of nights will be priced at the lower levels.

I interpret that to mean that properties in year-round markets, like Hawaii, will likely be priced at the upper end of category levels almost all the time.

To be fair, I fully expect that there will be properties that live closer to the low end of the spectrum for most of the year. The college football example is a perfect one to illustrate that: there are numerous “football towns” that wouldn’t be top tourist destinations for 80-90% of the year, but which see a sudden spike in demand for home game weekends. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of those properties live near the bottom of their categories for most of the year. And there probably will be value to be had there during most of the year, just as there sometimes is at the “off-peak” level today. Unfortunately, given the relative rarity with which I see off-peak pricing at properties where I am actively excited to stay today, I don’t have a lot of hope to see nights priced at those lower levels at aspirational properties in the future.

It is disappointing that Hyatt neither caps the number of super peak nights per year, nor guarantees a minimum set number of “lowest” nights per year.

Free night certificates and upgrade awards not affected

Good news for those with Free Night Certificates and upgrade awards, as those will not be affected by these award chart changes. That is to say that Category 1-4 free night certificates and Category 1-7 free night certificates will continue to be valid at their top category even when the new “Top” pricing is in effect. Suite upgrades will still be valid when a standard suite is available, even when it is at top pricing.

By some measure, that increases the potential value of a free night certificate in terms of the number of points it can save you, and it makes those certificates incredibly valuable during those peak demand periods that would otherwise require parting with many more points (or a lot of cash), particularly if the new chart keeps some of those properties within the Category 4 and 7 levels.

Almost all of the award charts (including the all-inclusive and Miraval charts) get the same treatment

Sadly, this same treatment gets applied nearly across the board. Here is the new chart information for Hyatt all-inclusive properties:

To pull out a single example, a Category E property today costs 45,000 points per night when peak-priced. Under the new chart, the top level will be 75,000 points per night. That is a 67% increase at peak pricing. That’s eye-watering. At the time of writing, we haven’t yet seen the increase in price for additional guests in the room beyond two, but assuming a similar 67% increase in price (which is what we expect), a single peak night for a family of four will increase in award price from 91,000 points per night (45K for double occupancy + 23K per additional person) to almost 152,000 points per night.

And here is the new chart for Miraval properties:

The changes to both charts are similarly brutal to the general award charts.  There isn’t much to add here other than “ouch”.

Paid night upgrades unaffected

One small bright spot here is that the cost of upgrading paid nights will not increase.

Hyatt has a separate lesser-discussed chart for upgrading paid nights. It is possible to upgrade a paid night to a club room for 3,000 points per night, a standard suite for 6,000 points per night, or a premium suite for 9,000 points per night.

Unfortunately, those awards are not always available. However, when they are, they could present incredible value in the new chart, where suites can cost an astronomically high number of points, if a property has an otherwise reasonable cash rate.

Category changes coming in April 2026, but 7 properties change without notice today

We are told to expect new Hyatt category changes in April 2026. However, 7 properties have changed in price without prior notice, effective today.

Those properties include five that move up one category:

• Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach
• Hyatt Centric Malta
• Hyatt Regency Kotor Bay Resort
• Hyatt Place San Antionio-Northwest/Medical Center
• Grand Hyatt Incheon

One hotel increases two categories without notice today:

• Grand Hyatt Grand Cayment Resort & Spa, opening in 2026

One hotel shifts down one category:

• The Barnett, part of jdV by Hyatt

I have long appreciated the advance notice Hyatt provides of category changes each year. While this is a very limited list, I nevertheless hate no-notice category increases.

The good news is that we have a couple of months to book most properties at current rates before new category changes happen in April and the new award chart debuts in May.

As always, award reservations at pre-existing levels will be honored, and if a property decreases in award price, members should expect an automatic refund of the difference.

Elites and cardholders will get an expanded booking window

In addition to the new award charts, Hyatt also announced a couple of changes expected to come later this year. One of those changes is that Explorist and Globalist members, as well as World of Hyatt credit card holders, will be getting a 1-month head start on award booking. Whereas general members can book awards 12 months in advance, Explorists and above,e and cardholders will be able to book awards as far as 13 months in advance.

I think that’s a really smart incentive to offer, and I’m frankly surprised that other programs haven’t implemented something similar. It’s a great incentive for a member to either be loyal or get the credit card, and it is a meaningful benefit for members that doesn’t pose any real cost to Hyatt. This will theoretically make it a little easier for Hyatt loyalists to scoop up award availability at properties that are otherwise hard to find available, so long as a member is able to plan far in advance. Were it not for the big award chart changes, this is an incentive that would feel more exciting for Hyatt regulars.

We don’t yet know when this will launch, but it is expected to happen this year.

Hyatt will finally introduce digital points sharing, but don’t expect instant transfers

One really nice thing about Hyatt is that members can share points. There isn’t a hard cap on the number of points that can be transferred from one member to another, and Hyatt does not charge a fee. A member can only transfer points out or receive points one time every 30 days (either type of transaction locks you out of moving points for 30 days).

The key limitation of this process is that Hyatt requires the submission of a paper form signed by both parties: one has to print, fill out, and sign a form, and then fax it or email it to Hyatt and wait. Sometimes, the transfer takes a few days. Sometimes, it can take a week or more. It is a slow, antiquated process.

The good news is that Hyatt will digitize this process in 2026. We don’t yet know when this will launch, but it will be possible to move points online at some time this year.

Unfortunately, we don’t yet have additional details. When specifically asked whether transfers will be instant so that a spouse without status could transfer points to the spouse with status and immediately book an award, Hyatt sidestepped the question, noting that they are working out the details. We’ll see when this launches, but I’m not convinced that we should expect instant transfers. Hopefully, Hyatt underpromises and overdelivers here.

Will Mr. & Mrs. Smith join the new award chart?

Given the incredible pricing range of the new award chart, I specifically asked whether this would allow Hyatt to finally incorporate Mr. & Mrs. Smith in the award chart. Hyatt’s response indicated to me that we definitely shouldn’t expect that at launch, but that it is something at least under consideration.

I have no information to suggest this is the case, but I wonder whether Mr. & Mrs. Smith has been something of an experiment to gauge the reaction of making multiple room types available at different redemption levels. Whether they continue on that path or eventually move those properties to this new award chart might just depend on what the member reaction has been to the pricing methodology.

Bottom line

World of Hyatt has announced a huge overhaul of its award charts today, with prices set to vary by a large margin within each category. Hyatt frames this as making its award chart sustainable for years to come and is careful to set the expectation that points will continue to maintain their high value, though with some properties set to swing in price by as much as 40,000 points per night during periods of peak demand, it is impossible to see this as anything but a devaluation. Perhaps this chart makes it possible for more properties to continue to live within Categories 4 or 7, which could maintain good value for free night certificate holders, but there is no doubt that the most aspirational properties are going to see huge price increases in the long-run. Expect price changes to be moderate in 2026, but from 2027 and beyond, it looks like you’re going to need a lot more Hyatt points for those high-end stays. Hyatt points will probably still be much more valuable than Marriott or Hilton points when compared to prevailing cash rates, but they will no doubt have much less upside than they have historically had with a tighter award chart.

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