i wouldn't say it is bad in every case. I have seen full cash rates at Cat 6 and 7 hotels, which were only slightly higher than the cash part in a P+C. e.g. 350$ full cash vs 300$ in a P+C scenario. so with the new rules, the cash part in a P+C case would drop to 175$.

This went by pretty fast as I was canceling the cash + points reservation, but it looked like the Centric in Rosslyn, Virginia had already converted the cash portion to the new system. I checked some cash +points reservations at the Hyatt Regency Tysons Corner and those are still set at 75 + Tax.

Can we be confident that it also works this way? I know the new chart says 50% of the standard rate, but I wouldn't be surprised if the current cash component is the minimum. So in your example, the points plus cash would be 15k plus $300 (for a category seven).

But those were the cases where P+C was already a bad value in the first place. And it still is, unless you value 15000 points at under $175.

Interesting but I just checked the Park Hyatt Saigon on hyatt.com and their Cash & Points rate is no longer offered.

Glad I booked 2 rooms with C & P last week!

+1

I find it difficult to imagine many instances where the new P+C is going to be a better deal that the old P+C. Maybe sometimes it will be only marginally different, and it will require different comparisons vs all-pts and vs cash, but in most cases the occasional fantastic deals that were available on P+C will be gone.

Fortunately, one significant reason for preferring P+C over all-pts is no longer needed. Before all-pts stays were counted for night/stay credit P+C was very important as a means of using up some pts while still getting credit, but that is no longer relevant.

There are zero instances when P+C will be better than BOTH 100% point awards or paying the cash rate.

The main use will be deceiving people into booking P+C for a 50% discount instead of just paying with points (buying them if necessary)

You may be right, but in this day and age of trumpian claims, I'm more doubtful of superlatives such as "zero". Especially considering the limit on pt purchases and the timing for pt sales, I'm not that sure that there might still be some situations when it might be to one's advantage to book even the new P+C, especially considering T&S as high as 30% on cash portions.

I tend to think that they are just trying to weed out ultra-value seekers (eg, cheapskates, bottom-feeders, yours truly), and focus on higher spenders. The premium suite upgrade at 9000 pts is a great value for deep-pocketed customers looking to get (for example) a US$3,000-4000 suite for as low as US$700-1000, but that price range eliminates a lot of lower-end customers regardless of the comparative value.

Exactly. Using the new P+C will always give suboptimal value.If the total cash cost (incl tax) is low enough to be better value than points (using whatever your personal valuation is for a point - currently 1.7 cents for me) then paying all cash will maximize your value, and paying half in points will be a less good deal. If total cash cost is high enough to make using points a good deal, then paying half in cash will always be a less good deal than using pure points.

So the only time it would ever make sense to book the new P+C is if points are a good deal for a stay but you don't have enough to book it (and Hyatt isn't running a sale to buy them at a reasonable price).

You can always do the math on a tax-inclusive basis.

But as near as I can figure, for the marginal scenarios, you'll still end up paying cash because you'll earn more points back. (although you can adjust your calculations for that as well)

The restrictions are indeed about the limit on buying points and whether you happen to have enough points on hand whenever there isn't a buy points promo ongoing.