Matt4200

Yes, Hyatt definitely is taking the timing perfectly as the calendar only allows bookings 13 months in advance. Guessing not an accident.

xooz

Was there ever specific clarification that a certificate (e.g Cat 4 or Cat 7) will be accepted during a peak time?

Matt4200

Yes, Free Night Certificates are valid for the Categories designated regardless of Peak or Off Peak dates.

Matt4200

Anyone think they will announce Category changes tomorrow as well? They usually announce in November (IIRC) but with this going into effect tomorrow for March stays and with March being the Category change month I’m wondering.

OsakaWino

That would be extremely stupid PR

Matt4200

So better to announce it in 2-3 weeks? Doesn’t seem much better, especially if they are announcing it with a Q4 Promo.

nsx

I just posted in the Andaz Maui thread that today I found single nights available for points in November 2022. In case you want to beat the increase in the last 15 hours of flat rate pricing.

GUWonder

Given the "competitive" landscape, it seems like Hyatt has decided that they don't need to care that much about negative PR. It's gross that Hyatt is devaluing the program points at this point, but it seems like Hyatt is pulling a Delta Air Lines thing: counting on elite status members (and elite status benefits) being sufficient draw to enable it to devalue the points on a time schedule that suits the company and to do so without facing a large enough customer revolt to really matter to it. When the head of the Hyatt program says some "complimentary" things about Delta or Hilton's loyalty program management figures, I take that as a warning sign. A warning sign that they don't really care about the PR around devaluing the points.

If Hyatt is trying to maximize its fleecing of customers via point devaluations from now until the end of 2022, then they will stagger the use of the devaluation vehicles -- first, by implementing this multi-tier pricing scheme for each hotel category; and then a bit of time later, Hyatt will use the other vehicles (and maybe this one too) to deliver additional devaluations (at customer expense, for Hyatt's short-term gains).

Matt4200

“

Peak and off-peak dates announced

Hyatt stunned the loyalty world when it announced in December that it would be introducing standard, peak and off-peak pricing beginning in March 2020. We now have a date when those changes will take effect: March 22, 2020. While this new pricing scheme is much more predictable than the dynamic award pricing we see from hotels like Hilton or airlines like Delta and United, it still represents a devaluation for some customers.

Related: Big changes coming to World of Hyatt: Peak and off-peak pricing added in March 2020

Many of Hyatt’s Category 1 properties are Hyatt Place properties, but there are a few Hyatt Regency hotels. Taking advantage of Hyatt’s previously generous Category 1 award chart meant that you could get a steal on one of Hyatt’s upscale brands.

As TPG’s Ethan Steinberg previously reported, Category 1 hotels will see the largest pricing change with a 30% increase on peak dates. That means properties such as the luxury Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty in India or The Studios at Alila Seminyak in Bali will jump from 5,000 points for standard night to 6,500 points for a peak night.

There is one silver lining: World of Hyatt members who have existing award bookings for a night after Sunday, March 22 that changes to off-peak or at any hotels moving to a lower award category will receive an automatic, one-time refund on the point difference. Hyatt says this process will begin on March 23.

Award chart changes

Hyatt also announced category changes at 217 hotels. 117 hotels will shift to a higher award category and 100 will shift to a lower award category. Most notably, all of the new Category 8 properties belong to the Small Luxury Hotels of the World family — so Hyatt continues to make good on its promise to keep Hyatt-branded locations out of this top-tier category. You can find the list of affected hotels here.”

https://thepointsguy.com/news/world-...-changes-2020/

Both were announced in the same announcement in October 2019 for March 2020 implementation. So it doesn’t seem too far off to suggest they’d do it again…

GUWonder

What timing, and a sign of a lousy competitive landscape for consumers: Marriott uses this same day to announce its elimination of traditional award charts and schedules the hit from March 2022 too. Let's see how long it ends up being before Hyatt pulls a Hilton (and Marriott) in making the loyalty program points go the way of Delta SkyMiles.

GUWonder

Some of the more popular destination properties have had their award space availability for proper suites disappear online in the run-up to this devaluation.

abcx

Seems not to have been rolled out yet?

GUWonder

It's already rolled out, at least in part. I'm seeing off-peak dates for Stockholm in April already showing up. 3500, 6500, 12000, and 17000 points per night.

Seen it since at least around 2 minutes before 11 am NYC time.

abcx

Oh, I see it now. It seems to be a bit bizarre. At one hotel, I get 9500/nt over the weekend but 8000/nt if I book the weekend and into the following week, to the point that I could add a night for 'free' as it pushes the price from peak to standard. So it doesn't seem like it's one night, one award price. Seems to vary with length of stay and/or perhaps revenue rates.

EDIT: Also, where is the calendar Hyatt promised us?! I have to check every damn date which is irritating.

Warriorconcept

Glad I booked hakone in japan...regret not transferring and booking the park hyatt kyoto tho, up to 35 for my trip...