Hyatt introduces Off-Peak, Standard and Peak awards (26 Oct 2021)
 

Introducing Off-peak and Peak Point Redemption

Starting in March 2020, World of Hyatt will introduce Off-peak and Peak point redemption for free night awards. Under this new structure there will be three point redemption values, which will allow members more flexibility when it comes to getting the most out of their points for free nights at more than 1,000 hotels worldwide.

1. Off-peak: Fewer points will be required during Off-peak times - starting at 3,500 points per night (the best value when hotels are less busy)
2. Standard: Points required during standard redemption periods will follow today’s point requirements - starting at 5,000 points per night
3. Peak – When hotels are the busiest, more points will be required for a free night - starting at 6,500 points per night and will be no more than 5,000 points above the Standard point requirement

More to Know

1. This new structure will be true for all types of award nights, including free nights in a standard room, club-access room, standard and premium suites.
2. Points + Cash awards will also offer Off-peak and Peak rates and will still require 50% of the standard cash rate and 50% of the points required for a free night.
3. If a member has an existing award booking for a night that changes to Off-peak in March 2020, they will receive an automatic one-time refund on the point difference. Members will not be charged more if their existing award booking changes to Peak.
4. Free night point redemptions will be identified as Peak, Standard or Off-peak as soon as nights are available for reservations (usually 13 months in advance) and will not change once posted.
5. Our hotel award categories are not changing and will remain 1-8.

This is horrible and a devaluation undercover. I wouldn't be surprised to see andaz Maui bump up to peak all the time meaning essentially a new category.

Can we assume that this won't impact free night certs, so that cat 1-7 would be good for a peak night at a cat 7 property, etc.?

BTW, what properties are cat 8 now?

Also will the higher category points nights be -1500 for off peak and +1500 for peak or will these differences depend on the category and vary more in absolute terms for points redemptions at higher category hotels? Or will it be -30% and +30% for all categories? Or some different formula?

My reading is Level 8 is Off Peak 35,000 Standard 40,000 or Peak 45,000 per night. See here - https://world.hyatt.com/content/gp/e...n-updates.html

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...df5c79a3d4.jpg

Something not really highlighted in these devaluations is Hyatt has seemed to have fully built out the reward redemption chart for Category 8. Before Category 8 was an incomplete chart that showed standard redemption, and nothing else was given as far as club access/standard/premium suite redemption.

I think the bigger devaluation is that some Hyatt-branded properties (not from SLH or Two Roads acquisitions) are going to creep up to the Category 8, which in turn some properties will slowly creep up another category. i.e. 5 to 6, 6 to 7, 7 to 8.

Agreed. Not liking this change. :(

My, how things have changed since the days of Faster Free Nights!

+1 to the question of what happens to free night certs. These are tough to redeem for decent value as-is. If Hyatt goes the Marriott route and makes peak cat-4 properties ineligible for cat-4 cert redemptions, that will be an absolutely brutal devaluation.

If I understand correctly, a property has to have standard nights at least 50% of the time. The other 50% can presumably be at peak, as I saw no requirement that off-peak rates be made available.

This will probably only have a minor impact on me. At least half of my travel is either off peak or standard. If it's peak, I don't want to go :)

Obviously not great but not screwing us over with monthly changes a la Marriott

see OMAAT. Hyatt confirmed they will be good for Peak dates still. Unlike Marriott screwing folks with the 35k cap.

Yikes, also this little nugget in there:

• There is no minimum or maximum number of nights that a property can designate as peak or off-peak

I am gonna go out on a limb and guess we will see WAY more peak dates vs off peak dates for any half way desirable property.

This amounts to roughly a 17% increase in redemption rates.

Suppose some can once again say that, comparatively, Hyatt is letting us off ‘easy’ vs competitors but it (Hyatt’s slowly but surely approach) is a pattern for last 2-3 years so we have lost lots of accumulated value.

Though the way hotels and airlines now treat their loyal members, I do appreciate Hyatt not completely going Bonvoy on us, but that’s not a high bar to achieve since most other programs have chosen to completely alienate their customers.

This will be interesting to watch. A 3500 redemption when they are giving back 1000 per stay, and/or for Globalists who get 10K extra at 70, 80, 90, 100 will make for a pretty cheap stay.

OT, but does anyone know what happened to Jeff Zidell and what he's doing now?