I think the changes are absolutely fair. Rates in the Bay Area are astronomical and I'm surprised there weren't more jumps. No Starwood prooerty is less than category 5. I agree that a lot of the cat 1 to cat 2 changes were in the USA but the American economy is strong and hotel rates are high and going higher.

The fact that Hyatt always has more downs than ups and always limits changes in the top categories makes me respect them a lot. Every time Starwood has their annual changes ups outnumber downs almost two to one and the "good" properties always go up. Hyatt is much more balanced. So for those of you threatening to go elsewhere, the grass is definitely not greener--at least not with the program's I use (Club Carlson, Starwood & Hilton) which is why my credit card spend goes 80+% to Hyatt.

I fully agree with you. I think these changes are very moderate and Hyatt is fair with their changes. There will always be personal losers and winners.... but to "threaten" to switch hotel brands (like some have stated below) because "their" most visited hotel is affected is simply ridiculous...

I would agree overall these seem moderate. I was thrilled to be able to use my Hyatt Card Cert + Cat 4 level points at the HR SF last year when the cash rate was $400 (conference was going on there).

Was hoping to use mine this year at the HC Centric so will have to firm up those plans if I'm going to do that before August 1st

I know it's semantics, but I nearly spit out my coffee this morning when I saw an email titled "award chart changes". Maybe it's just me but "award chart" for me is "Category 1 = 5,000 points, Cat 2 = 8,000 points, etc." not "HR SFO is a Cat 3 hotel".

Hyatt can call things whatever they want (and I could have sworn that this thread had a different title yesterday), but am I the only one who thinks the terminology is a bit "off"?

The e-mail was titled "Hyatt Gold Passport Award Chart Updates". It's an award chart and there are changes/updates, so nothing to spill your coffee over .

There are 17 domestic properties moving from 1->2 -- and 16 moving from 2->1, including a couple of full service properties.

The real hit is actually 2->3 -- 18 domestic properties going up, and only 1 going down. 12k a night for the Hyatt Place Ft Worth Historic Stockyards is a bit of a stretch.

That said, there is now a Cat1 Park Hyatt (Chennai) -- which makes it fairly clear to me that Hyatt is being fair about picking their categories. Contrast that with HHonors that has *two* domestic properties in Category 1...

Glad that the hotel I visit the most is going up two cats, the only hyatt on the Globe to do so. Terrific.

I can live with these changes as they are mainly on the low-end properties which I typically do not use points at.

Even though these changes hit home for me, it's still worthwhile TO ME to stick with Hyatt. But I don't see anything "simply ridiculous" about anyone else leaving because it is personally disadvantageous to them. Why would someone stay if they can get better value elsewhere?

For me the takeaway is the reminder to not hoard points.

My only hope is that some some, especially Bay Area, this means more P+C options. This was true of the Hyatt Santa Clara. So a loss was a bit of a gain. Before increasing I could nearly never find P+C. The Hyatt Place in Portland at PDX is so overpriced. But, it seems, as the only Hyatt it gets every Hyatt loyalist to the only Hyatt between Sac and Seattle. So demand affects price (and points) is all I can think. Speaking of no P+C, they were the leaders on that. I once found one night, a low cost Sunday, and gave up on that hotel entirely with so many others (other chains) nearby.

My thought too. Actually i have no interest to stay at any HP or HH at all.

I'm surprisingly pleased with the changes, as long as availability levels stay the same. One of my go-to HP went from a 2 to a 1 (and it's $200/night in peak season, so I have a note in my calendar to book it on August 1), the HR Dulles went from a 2 to a 1 (although it's usually dirt cheap on weekends, it can be $200 if you want to stay there on a Thursday or Sunday night), and the HP where I stay two weeks a year (Durham Southpoint) stayed at a 1.

The only sad one for me is the GH DFW, but net for me it's a positive set of changes. Again, as long as availability doesn't get throttled back.
That's why the Hyatt program is great. For me, the HP, especially the new construction HP, are perfect for 1-2 nights when I'm in a suburb someplace in a smaller city. Especially at Cat 1, it's a stay credit for $50+2500 points for a quick overnight, and I earn 875 back.

I just don't eat the HP breakfast... easier to pretend it's not there.

Looking at Lost Pines, and it is currently $125 and 10,000 points, but it is moving from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4.

The announcement specifically calls out points, but I'm not finding anything about P&C.

I would assume it means that if I book it today for a stay in mid-August, I will ultimately have to pay $100 and 7,500 points, even though the website says $125 and 10,000.

Do you good folks think my assumption is correct?

yes, award category is used for both....

Yes

In this post Hyatt GP Concierge said to PM them about getting a refund on the cash portion. I think one of the earlier posts said the point difference should be automatically refunded

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/26873848-post31.html