Originally Posted by GrayAnderson

Speaking from experience, there is only one Hyatt "on" I-95 between Savannah and Richmond (in Florence, SC; there are some properties in the Charleston area, one in Sumter, and two in Columbia. Hyatt has nothing in NW Florida (e.g. Ocala, Gainesville, etc.) between Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee. There's nothing between Biloxi and Baton Rouge. Nothing in Montgomery. Only a single property on I-20 between Birmingham and Dallas (Jackson, MS). Nothing in NH, only a single property in Maine (now Cat 5), and only a single (resort) property in VT. Nothing in Syracuse, Binghamton, Scranton, Harrisburg, Chattanooga, Little Rock...West Virginia...Montana...

Now, this doesn't get into "there's a Hyatt but no full service Hyatt", at which point you start getting quite a few states. And it gets higher if you exclude some of the resort properties from the mix as well (which, while full-service, aren't generally oriented towards someone wanting a day to relax while "on the road" as much as "destination travelers"). At that point I could point to some massive gaps.

Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound

II believe many of us are still digesting what Hyatt has thrown our way with what on the surface may be the largest devaluation
I've ever seen from Hyatt historically.
Its higher than the national rate of inflation. And that is really bad

Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound

I've been with Hyatt since 1994 and staying in their hotels long before that with no rewards/points being offered
All that said I have never seen the Hyatt program as dysfunctional to this degree where frequently it simply just doesn't make a whole lot of sense
Sticker shock along with declining in house services, shrinking elite dining breakfast benefits/closed clubs/limited menus and no welcome amenity points
that I receive in every other program at a number of major locations/brands.

Originally Posted by strickerj

My biggest concern was always transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards - given that they transfer to both Hyatt and Marriott at the same ratio, but Hyatt points are worth at least twice as much, I figured it was only a matter of time before the ratio got adjusted.

Originally Posted by Visconti

I only care where it affects me and the Cat 7 - 8 for PHNY & PH Vendome certainly isn't good for me. Based on my recent stays, both those properties are no longer worthy of, in my very humble opinion, handing over my hard earned $$ for, and have been relegated to the "only points" category. With this increase, perhaps it's just best to write them off entirely because, again from my experience, I seem to recall both were much better even 5 or 6 years ago.

While I haven't stayed nearly as long as you have, I have pretty fond memories of my first year as a newly minted Hyatt Diamond. I agree with all of your points and can only hope this erosion hasn't or will not taint the Hyatt experience in SE Asia.

Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound

Agreed
Hyatt has pushed me into discovering other brands/programs more closely and unlocking some better experiences
examples like Canopy by Hilton an awesome brand and select Kimpton properties
In this case my migration over to Canopy happened as a result of a Hyatt Regency with a closed restaurant other than grab and go
and a line out the door under staffed
With 5th night free with Hilton and 4th night free with IHG plus a 10% points rebate on any night(s) booked Hyatt looks the same
or higher most of the time now.
And unless the breakfast and upgrade are stellar I'd rather spend the $$$ and go out of house as long as I don't sacrifice value
and a good stay experience
Hotel breakfasts have typically gone downhill since the pandemic
I prefer to be a free spirit equal opportunity traveler.We all have to do what is best for all of us individually.

Originally Posted by Hydro88

Yes and globally it's the same. Think about Northern Europe, London, UAE and pretty much all of Africa, Australia, Hong Kong... Hyatt is either woefully lacking in these places or has (in my opinion) clearly inferior options qualitywise than Marriott.

The reason I still stay more with Hyatt than with Marriott is that a) in some places I go to frequently, I prefer the Hyatt properties and b) Hyatt has the far better loyalty program. That's why I think WoH needs to be better than Bonvoy - it has to compensate for less, and often less attractive (for me, I understand this is personal) choices.

I actually don't mind the category changes just announced. I care more about the status benefits than the points. There's a clear devaluing of the Cat. 1-7 cert, but that the points are adjusted to cash prices is understandable.

Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound

I'm not so certain award charts protect us anymore.

Originally Posted by Boraxo

Yes 30k and even 40k per night are a bit tough to swallow at Hyatt. But even at those rates I can still stay free at properties that go for $1k+

Originally Posted by Visconti

The only viable strategy I see is to try to keep earning points faster than their pace of inflating it.

Originally Posted by AndyKehn

As long as Hyatt is 1:1 transfer partner to Chase this is not a problem. You can earn millions of chase pts a year between SUBs and various other means. A 10k increase from 30k to 40k just means you need to spend 2k more at Office Depot or Staples.

Originally Posted by AndyKehn

As long as Hyatt is 1:1 transfer partner to Chase this is not a problem. You can earn millions of chase pts a year between SUBs and various other means. A 10k increase from 30k to 40k just means you need to spend 2k more at Office Depot or Staples.

Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound

I'm not so certain award charts protect us anymore.
While Hyatt is still important to me as a program member every program even those that are disliked by many here have their sweet spots.
And the biggest mistake many members make is only taking into account only the point redemption on the surface amount of those
redemption's sometimes a very big oversight IMO
To ignore the variety of options and benefits of competitors and not keep an open mind is to limit experiences and overpay should that matter to some.

I believe many of us are still digesting what Hyatt has thrown our way with what on the surface may be the largest devaluation
I've ever seen from Hyatt historically.
Its higher than the national rate of inflation. And that is really bad

Are we paying off their pandemic losses going forward?Will they contribute to mine?
On a 30k Cat 7 redemption even a 10% increase would be 3000 additional points 20% at 6000 30% 9000 etc
For those that say Marriott may be worse we will soon see the bad or the good of that offering.If they massively fail so be it.
They may hurt their bottom line if to aggressive

I've been with Hyatt since 1994 and staying in their hotels long before that with no rewards/points being offered
All that said I have never seen the Hyatt program as dysfunctional to this degree where frequently it simply just doesn't make a whole lot of sense
Sticker shock along with declining in house services, shrinking elite dining breakfast benefits/closed clubs/limited menus and no welcome amenity points
that I receive in every other program at a number of major locations/brands.
Where once I saw Hyatt as my # 1 above all others I now see them as a possibility instead of a must when I do the bottom line analysis
I'm booking away from Hyatt over 50% of the time now and the massive devaluation will just accelerate all that sadly.
The only way I see this working is what the HH execs did years ago which is to overprice rewards but then offer far more promotional earnings by staying
Granted things may get worse and the playing field may level at some point making me shift back.

It seems as if Hyatt execs want to slowly work there way to the Delta airlines program model where revenue may make far more sense
then using point redemption's
Realistically if I had to guess this thing the strategy @ present is fighting internally between dynamic pricing and blaming everything
on seasonal awards the old Starwood/SPG way of doing things
Where aspirational properties are wildly overpriced shifting the redemption's to lower end properties
Historically the key to Hyatt wasn't just the experience it was higher point value currency than other programs.
You had to sometimes frequently go out of your way to stay @ Hyatt
"The little program that could" You had to stay and earn Hyatt points because they were far more valuable.

More properties now seem illogical as one such example I booked nights in Dallas airport non Hyatt
Here is just some of their bizarre pricing revenue vs reward points bookings.Not a big fan of the Regency in that market.Its a maybe as its tired

Hyatt Regency DFW Points 9,500 or 290.00 dollars plus tax (Obviously the points make great sense here) Must be a high demand time
Grand Hyatt DFW Points 23,000 vs 313.00 dollars plus tax throughout this past year I was able to book most of the time for 220 dollars per night.
The property had previously offered 20k redemption consistently
Despite it being a cat 4 for many years @ 15 k which still makes some sense based on the past years revenue rates if they matter
at all anymore and apparently they don't!

Originally Posted by AndyKehn

As long as Hyatt is 1:1 transfer partner to Chase this is not a problem. You can earn millions of chase pts a year between SUBs and various other means. A 10k increase from 30k to 40k just means you need to spend 2k more at Office Depot or Staples.

Originally Posted by Boraxo

Concur. The Hyatt transfer deal is a much better deal than Marriott, as you typically need 3x as many MR points to redeem for the Hyatt equivalent (e.g. St. Regis v. Park Hyatt).