Update 5/12/26: Just a quick reminder that both Hyatt’s category changes and changes to how its overall award chart will work will be effective as of 8am CDT on May 20. In past years we’ve sometimes seen those changes go live slightly earlier than the specified time, so it’d be best to lock in current award redemption rates by May 19.
That means you have a week from today to make your reservations, whether those are finalized plans or speculative bookings. Remember: if the award pricing drops once these changes have taken effect, Hyatt will proactively refund you the difference in points, so there isn’t really any risk to making speculative bookings provided you aren’t booking a rare property with a non-refundable award booking policy.
~
Not content to simply obliterate its award chart, World of Hyatt today announced its award category changes for 2026. The good news is that “only” 136 properties are affected. The bad news is that 112 of them are going up in price. The really bad news is that Hyatt’s new, nearly dynamic award chart means the average point prices for the “unchanged” properties will almost certainly be going up as well.
The category and award chart changes will take effect on May 20th, 2026, at 8:00 am CDT. Several significant US category 4 hotels will be affected; if you have World of Hyatt free certificates, it’s worth taking a look and booking before the change.
The full list of properties changing category can be found here. Hotels worldwide are affected, and 5 will move to category 8 for the first time.
World of Hyatt award category changes
14 hotels will no longer be eligible for the Category 1-4 annual free night certificate.
This certificate is an annual benefit of the World of Hyatt credit card and is also awarded after staying 30 nights in a year or after staying at 5 different brands. 14 may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but the US is particularly tough with 9 properties moving to category 5, including:
- Hyatt Regency Seattle, the last category 1-4 left in the center of downtown Seattle.
- Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, across the water from Manhattan
- Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort, a highly-regarded family favorite in Florida
- Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale
- Hyatt Regency Coral Gables
- Hyatt Place Santa Cruz
On the flip side, only 2 US hotels are moving down into categories 1-4, for a net loss of 7 domestic 1-4 properties. It’s yet another blow to the utility of Hyatt’s free night certificate in North America.
5 hotels moving to category 8
Hyatt’s Category 8 continues to expand, and several properties will no longer be bookable with a Category 1-7 certificate. and the list includes some of the most aspirational Hyatt properties in the world:
- Andaz 5th Avenue
- Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino
- Hôtel du Louvre, Paris
- Hotel Fluela Davos, Switzerland
- Park Hyatt London River Thames
It’s very disappointing to see these properties no longer bookable with certs and potentially costing up to 85,000 points a night in peak season with the new award charts. When Hyatt originally introduced a Category 8, it said it would be strictly confined to Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) properties, which were then part of World of Hyatt. It then started reclassifying its own properties as Cat. 8s in 2022, and it’s steadily grown since then. A substantial chunk of Hyatt’s most aspirational properties worldwide is now out of reach for the 1-7 free-night certificate awarded to members upon reaching top-tier Globalist status…including the Hyatt Regency Aruba?
Is there any good news?
Not in the US
Only 8 hotels are dropping a category in the US. It’s nice to see the Hyatt Centric in Austin and the Dream Hotel in Nashville now bookable with a Category 4 cert. But overall, the changes in the US are broadly negative. Over 60 properties are increasing category and, in a blow to mattress-runners everywhere, a whopping 19 Category 1 hotels are moving up.
Asia has some appealing options
Half of the 24 hotels going down in category are in Asia, and there are 3 new category 4 hotels, two of which are in relatively expensive locations:
- The Standard, Singapore
- Andaz Macau
- Hyatt Regency Dharamshala Resort
I’m thrilled to see a hotel in Singapore back in 1-4 cert territory. That said, it does feel like we’re reaching a bit for positive news, doesn’t it?
Book hotels that are increasing categories now
Hyatt has always been good about providing notice of these category changes and handling pre-existing award bookings. If you make a reservation before May 20th, you will lock in the current pricing for hotels increasing in category. If you make a reservation for a property that decreases in price, Hyatt will refund you the difference, so you’ve got nothing to lose by making prospective reservations now.
Bottom line
This is a smaller change than many World of Hyatt category adjustments. Despite the size, it’s a tough one, especially when combined with the upcoming award chart changes. The pillaging of US category 4s continues, and this announcement is a tough one for folks who find value (or elite nights) at domestic category 1 properties. Spend those Hyatt points while ye may.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Closing my WOH Chase card. Cat 1-4 is dead, unless you like a Hyatt Place off I-95 in Florence, SC.
I’ve never seen any availability at the Hotel de Louvre in Paris.
whats everyone booking? just got Hyatt Regency Kotor hot tub suite booked for next year
HR Lisbon. Not because it’s “aspirational”, but because it fits well w/ what i need.
If I book a hotel now that is actually going down in category level will it automatically refund me the points?
Yep. If it doesn’t automatically, you can contact Hyatt and they’ll do it manually.
Thats a strange auto? 😀
Hyatt House Shibuya going to a cat 6 is absolute madness, that hotel was reasonable when it was a 4 but in no way does it justify being so high anymore, other than trying to take advantage of overtourism and robbing people of their points. The Tokyo Bay property also going to a 4 is annoying, it’s really just a Tokyo Disney hotel and nothing else and there are much better placed hotels in the area not even counting the ones on the monorail so the 3 was fairly reasonable. I wonder if this is just taking advantage that it’s the only hotel with the name ‘Tokyo’ (hotel is not in Tokyo) that can be booked with a cert.
The Jersey hotel is also really painful, when I go into the City that was my mainstay, you could get insane value out of those certificates by staying there and taking the train in.
Well, at least Toronto wasn’t touched.
Oh man, the Hyatt regency coral gables and grand cypress moving to category 5 really sinks my battleship. Those moves may be the final nails in the coffin for me continuing to pursue globalist or being loyal to hyatt. Such a bummer.
I suspect that the only reason this very bad news is not a whole lot worse this year is that now Hyatt can charge huge amounts of points within a category anyway when they feel like it. To make things even more painful, Hyatt has said that the big devaluations haven’t even hit yet this year, so next year on should actually be much worse.
I’m basically committed to Hyatt for this year with 60+ nights booked or already stayed but it’s not looking good for me continuing to be loyal to Hyatt when they’re increasingly being less loyal back.
To paraphrase Winston Churchill: World of Hyatt is now the worst hotel loyalty program, except for all the other ones.
That may be so but this is definitely not their finest hour.
An iron curtain has fallen over points and miles
Yep, pretty much over so far as I can see. If you ever wanted to come to LEX for our Horse and Bourbon DO, where we tour around and have lots of points/miles talk, October is the time and you should book today. Details at Flyertalk Community Buzz.
Going forward, let’s say that a person can cherry pick Hyatt for outsized redemptions. Not every stay but select stays. Is Chase the best conduit for Hyatt points? UR SUBs are restricted and UR earn rates are weak. (Other than the CIC, if one wants to play that game.)
I scratch my head over the UR platform.
And, DoC has an update on the 2.5cpp points boost redemptions. While Chase raised a dozen +/- properties, they lowered points boost for a whole swath of other properties and apparently eliminated it completely for AA.and DL bookings.
When Chase refreshed the CSR, it seemed as if a group of incompetents handled it. Now, after so much has unfolded, it all seems quite intentional and calculated. For us, it didn’t take long for us to determine it was no longer a fit. But, for so many, it is just now sinking in.
It is pretty incredible how between the CSR refresh and the Hyatt award chart disaster, it only took a single year for the CSR value proposition to plummet into the abyss. Just laughably poor value compared to 2024 and earlier.
I am so glad that I canceled my Chase Hyatt last fall. There was never a good Cat 4 property anywhere we travel. Now I just need to spend my UR points on a points boost booking before I downgrade the sapphire reserve this summer.
So my favorite Cat 1 will be going from 6.5K peak to a Cat 2 with a top price of 15K.
Hyatt expects I won’t notice or care enough to change my spending habits.
They’re mistaken.
Safe to say the the one hotel that was keeping be loyal to hotel was the Hyatt regency Grand Cypress, well bye bye Hyatt, 10 years of globalist will be gone after 2027 (probably will qualify for next year due to burning Hyatt points this year and next).
RIP Hyatt. It was a good ride
If I have my math right, a full quarter of the properties going down are in mainland China. This is effectively a disaster for anyone else.