Honestly surprised HR Rome isn't being bumped to cat 5 or higher, but I suppose it helps it's not open yet. HP Santa Barbara needs to come down to cat4 to really make my certs useful

Overall a lot less damage than expected from cat changes, except the majority of damage was done with the release of the new chart anyway.

For now the damage is to the currency, but I am looking forward to future enhancements to the program

Appreciate your post and perspective. I thought the same initially.
When I spoke with Chase they shared that destination fees not listed in the booking means you won't pay them.
I will be following up with them and have it documented!
In my early perception Chase has it all over Amex if you consider though its really only for 2 or 3 bookings that participate.
My understanding Hyatt is also coming on board with Edit soon to be offering more properties.
Considered canceling my Chase S Reserve until I looked and studied more intently and then booked!
I'm all in on CSR again after getting past the sticker shock! And their lounges are nicer than many Hyatt Clubs that are left!
Albeit potentially with a line to get in

Rooms in NYC this June are averaging 500 dollars a night and up even for the dumps.
Through Edit I was able after doing the math get a 250 dollar credit on the booking, points with the hotel program and 8 MPD in Ultimate Reward Points in CSR
100 dining credit, free breakfast and a one time annual additional 250.00 credit that IHG and some other hotel companies negotiated bringing my rate effectively to 200 plus dollars a night @ The Intercontinental
That is 500 dollars off my 1000 dollar booking even before free breakfast and the 100 dollar dining credit and the double dipping in 2 programs!

Agree many of the properties are grossly inflated but not all properties.Gary Leff brought up in" View From a Wing" fame brought up some great points
about moving away from Hyatt Visa and going all in on S Reserve when booking hotels.There is strength in flexible currency as Hyatt continues down this new path of devaluation
I see the CSR points more valuable than earning Hyatt points which are becoming def less valuable going forward.

One thing is certain my relationship with Hyatt will likely never be the same as I flee to other booking platforms as I am already doing.
If you asked me would I book on 3rd party platforms a year ago I would have said never!
A suite is not mandatory for me especially a poor one which can be the case in some properties .Late check out is important and a solid quality breakfast.
Being able to go out and enjoy a proper breakfast and not be subjected to lower quality and variety
has its appeal more than ever as Hyatt quality in a number of select properties have seriously declined in some important key destinations
Yet costs for revenue and redemption shooting up leaping actual inflation.

Agreed. I mean look, the points and miles game is literally taking hits by the day (heck sometimes by the hour) and anyone that believed that WoH would somehow be immune from everything happening was probably a tad naive. I'm glad Hyatt held out as long as they did, but I knew these times were coming.

Regards

The value of Chase UR is highly dependent on the value of Hyatt points, as Chase's other transfer partners aren't that valuable. With this massive Hyatt devaluation, Chase UR is being devalued nearly proportionally.

Overall I would agree with you however to expand
I feel Chase has done a terrible job explaining their value proposition.
I'm still learning and I clearly missed the boat early on.Its taken me months to understand what they are doing since they launched late last year
As their partner Hyatt sinks low Chase is essentially competing and yet still partnering with Hyatt
Chase Points boost when redeeming may be cheaper than booking through Hyatt
The problem we all faced is that we were used to transferring points to Hyatt or earning them on their credit card that isn't and at times wont be the best way to go in the near future consistently
Especially as Hyatt's new seasonal redemption takes hold a faux version of dynamic pricing

Most of us are deeply disappointed by Hyatt's actions.But all these years they had us where they wanted us with many booking directly.
Their counting on Hyatt addiction to stick
Speaking only for myself I have broken the chains and have become an equal opportunity program to program user and 3rd party to 3 rd party booking platforms
Even using Ultimate Reward points a non edit hotel I saved hundreds of dollars booking a Mr & Mrs Smith hotel (Azur) New Zealand through the Chase portal and not Hyatt.com
The hotel offers free breakfast to all guests and doesn't offer upgrades or late check outs.

In closing as Hyatt points go the way of the Peso in some regards I now pay cash skip or utilize the program depending, negotiate with hotels directly and use my points not transferring to hotel points
Ex transferred 100k to United and booked Polaris to Australia.That might have gone to Hyatt otherwise.
Having options of multiple transfer partners keep you from being financially exploited by greedy programs
Hyatt has made a choice and so must all of do whats in our best interest and cherry pick.

I'm still dreading may 20 and how bad it'll be but at least for me the category changes were ok as a lot of properties in China/Macau (and good ones) are going down. PH Sanya and Andaz Macau..

Of course that could be moot of the category rates are all at high end. My guess is Hyatt will lull us in year 1 before killing us in yr 2-3. Kind of like what Marriott did before total merger.

Imn still trying to send points. Down to 700,000 from 800,000.

Don't know where to put credit card spend anymore. I pit a lot on chase

This isn�t that terrible in and of itself, but the promise with the new awful semi-dynamic award chart was that we�d see fewer category changes. So it remains awful overall.

I retain a tiny degree of hope that all of this will mean they won�t allow properties to play as many games with availability. That�s it pretty faint hope, though.

I hear what you're saying, and I agree with a lot you said. Transferable currencies are inherently more valuable as they have embedded options. The only problem with Chase UR is that it has too few valuable partners compared to some of its competitors and its value is too dependent on the value of Hyatt points.

Personally, I don't put any meaningful spend on any hotel or airline credit card, even for direct purchases from them, unless I need status points in their programs or I'm targeted for a spend promotion. For earning transferrable currencies, I make decisions based on which of their partners that I would potentially transfer to in the near future. For example, if I need NH miles in the near future, I'd put spend on AmEx. I used to put a lot of spend on Chase for Hyatt points, but this Hyatt devaluation forces me to reevaluate.

Have you looked at the cash rates at these hotels? Their category changes make sense. Generally speaking, Hyatt category changes are based on cash rates in the past 12 months.

Totally bummed with the Seattle options going up a Category (HR Seattle 4 to 5, and LW HR going from 3 to 4). No downtown hotels in Seattle to use Cat 1-4 FNA anymore. Interesting point from Gary Leff in discussing the changes, that even those hotels that went down in category are basically staying status quo compared to this year. For instance mid-tier Cat 5 to 4 prices will stay at 20k and Cat 7 to 6 midpoint pricing will still be 30k once the new charts going into effect May 20.

As someone mentioned above, I was bracing for much worse, so in that sense it's good. But regardless of Category changes, all hotels (except those that dropped a category) will increase in price May 20th. And those that went up a Category it's a double whammy. For instance a Cat 5 to 6 change would go from a midpoint rate of 20k today to 30k on May 20 (5k each for the category change and the new pricing structure. That sucks. Those Cat 7's that went to 8 go from 30k up to 55k at the mid-tier pricing.

Super curious to see if they do something on the earning end, especially if tied into program engagement and not just credit card spend. Only charge on my Hyatt credit card the past month was my stay at the HC Portland this week. Rest of my spend has gone to other cards.

Pleasantly surprised PH Maldives didn't cat up.

Chase UR has gotten more complex but I think their value proposition has always been clearer. That�s why it�s been so popular. Most people I know how have the CSR don�t even transfer to Hyatt.

What other program has both a spending multiple and a base value of at least 1 cent per point?

People were used to 1.5ccp before but at 1.25cpp it�s still significantly higher than alternatives. Multiple that by 8x on Chase Travel or 3x on dining/hotel/air. That�s a very high rate of return.

I completely missed that. What a joke. Should be a Category Zero property as you note.

We assume all programs make changes to redemption amount based on cash rates but that wasn't always the case with Hyatt.
It was the smaller program that could outdo all programs for many years It was nicknamed the Little Program that could (anyone here old enough to remember lol
For those of us that remember Hyatt's most expensive redemption was 15,000 points for decades even at Park Hyatt Sydney.
After that period in my discussion with the Hyatt folks through the years there was a time when the most redeemed popular properties had the highest redemption rate.

At what point did Hyatt decide to be Marriott or Hilton with a much smaller footprint?
We have been fed a narrative that cash rates are reflective of what redemption rates will be or are.
However that isn't necessarily true either when a hotel for revenue costs less than half if paying cash.Granted their peak and valleys based on occupancy/seasonal etc
In my decades of observation there is some mighty fuzz math behind the pearly gates at the home office in Chicago and its only getting worse.

Not that this makes it right but Marriott was the Delta airlines of loyalty programs following their lead corrupting an entire industry in gutting their members value
All the rest seemed to follow and just like the airlines greedy monkey see monkey do behavior is the order of the day (sigh)
Hyatt once the most trusted amongst those in the know is clearly heading down a new path and the only thing I could add is it all seemed to stem from when you
could earn Hyatt points through credit card spending.That was the good and the bad of it................
One thing is certain "The Times they are a changin" and not likely for the better (double sigh)

At least Delta had some of the best products and decent routes. Hyatt has average hotels and a terrible footprint.