World of Hyatt today announced the further extension of points expiration, free night certificates, suite upgrades, club lounge access awards, and the postponement of peak and off-peak pricing. This is all great news for World of Hyatt members. Furthermore, only four properties will increase in award price in March 2021.
World of Hyatt program extensions
- World of Hyatt has announced the following extensions for its members:
- Point expiration: the forfeiture of points until at least June 30, 2021. Points are forfeited if there is no activity for 24 months, but any points scheduled to be forfeited between now and June of 2021 will be valid until June 30th, 2021
- Awards with 2020 expiration: All unused Free Night, Suite Upgrade and Club Lounge Access awards with expiration dates between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 will be extended to December 31, 2021.
- Awards with 2021 expiration: All unused Suite Upgrade and Club Lounge Access awards with February 28, 2021 expiration dates will be extended to December 31, 2021. In addition, all unused Free Night awards that were earned in 2020 with 2021 expiration dates will be extended to December 31, 2021.
- Postponement of Off-peak and Peak point redemption: The introduction of Off-peak and Peak point redemption (originally planned for March 22, 2020) is now postponed until July 2021. Free-night redemptions will continue to be at standard rates through June 2021
World of Hyatt 2021 category changes
Additionally, the following award chart changes have been announced:
- The following 12 hotels will be shifting to a lower award category effective October 29, 2020:
● Stonebridge Inn, A Destination Hotel from category 5 to 4
● Wailea Grand Champions Villas, A Destination Residence from category 6 to 5
● Wailea Ekolu Village, A Destination Residence from category 6 to 5
● Wailea Ekahi Village, A Destination Residence from category 6 to 5
● Lichenhearth, A Destination Residence from category 6 to 5
● Parker New York from category 6 to 5
● Grand Hyatt Vail from category 7 to 6
● Mauna Lani Point, A Destination Residence from category 7 to 6
● Wailea Elua Village, A Destination Residence from category 8 to 7
● Kaanapali Alii, A Destination Residence from category 8 to 7
● Vail Residences at Cascade Village, A Destination Residence from category 8 to 7
● The Lodge at Spruce Peak, A Destination Hotel from category 8 to 7 - The following four hotels will be shifting to a higher award category effective mid-March 2021:
● Hyatt Regency John Wayne Airport from category 2 to 3
● Hyatt House Nashville/Downtown-SoBro from category 4 to 5
● Mar Monte Hotel part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt from category 4 to 5
● Park Hyatt Aviara from category 5 to 6
Quick Thoughts
This is all good news for members. The fact that club lounge and suite upgrade awards had still been set to expire in February 2021 even though elite status had previously been extended until February 2022 was just bizarre. It’s good to see most things extended until the end of 2021 so that members have more opportunities to use their points and awards. This is the type of customer-friendly move we’ve come to expect from Hyatt and it’s good to see them come around and fix award expiration.
It is further good to see a list of properties decreasing in category in the short term and only four properties set to increase next year. That said, I am disappointed (but not surprised) to see the Hyatt House Nashville increase out of range for a Category 1-4 certificate as that surely looked like a great use of a certificate given Nashville’s notoriously expensive hotel market.
You can find more information about these changes here on Hyatt’s site.
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How do we know if the free night certificate was earned in 2020? I have one expiring in March 2021, but I have no idea when it was earned. Maybe it has already been extended previously? I haven’t been paying attention.
When will these changes be made? My account still shows the earlier expiration dates.
See. above.
Thank you
No problem and I see that Loyalty Lobby has confirmed what I was told!
Wish they would have done this before I burned my Hyatt credit card cert for a stay i didn’t really need…oh well.
Hopefully Southwest will do the same.
Hopefully, Bonvoy will follow suit…any intelligence on this?
If my free night award cert from the Chase Hyatt card expires Jan 2021, will Hyatt extend the expiration date if I call and ask? I’ll be DP I want to see as the expiration date approaches, but wanted to see if anyone had previous success.
From the way I’m reading it, you wouldn’t have to do anything. Per the Hyatt website,
“ In addition, all unused Free Night awards that were earned in 2020 with 2021 expiration dates will be extended to December 31, 2021.
All award extensions will be generated by World of Hyatt – members do not need to take action. Visit the World of Hyatt COVID-19 FAQs for details.”
I corresponded with my wife’s Globalist Concierge, and the answer to your question is yes, if you earned that free night in 2020.
Moreover, he indicated that the switch to 12/31/21 should occur some time on or before 11/20/20.
Hope this helps….