The CAT changes are interesting and not all that devastating (at least compared to prior years).

the key inflection point for many is the Cat 4->5 which negatively impacts use of the free night certs. But I see very few hotels in this category.

on the plus side a few hotels in CA are dropping - I guess the benefit of reduced tourism LOL. China categories also dropping as US vacation visitors are nonexistent.

the only ones that may cause me pain are Japan, Andaz 5th NYC and of course my personal fav at Incline Village.

So just to confirm there are no May 7th program changes both the category changes and program changes will occur on May 20th now?

Correct.

I knew my ailing grandparents were going to leave this world at some point. Didn't make it less sad when they did.

I get the most value from Chase -> Aeroplan with 20% transfer bonus. AC has become my primary redemption program.

Yep, and same thing Hilton did when going semi-dynamic. They "promised" to not to raise rates, then starting year 2 all the sweet spots went up one by one.

Hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

The amount of copium people smoke is incredible. I can't believe the amount of ludicrous rationalizing and absurd wishful lies they tell themselves about the inevitable unrestrained profiteering they will experience at the hands of their corporate overlords.

Yeah, sure, it won't be that bad, oh they'll stop manipulating awards, they'll start honoring benefits. Good lord...yeah they're really sorry and they promise it won't happen again. They love you, you know they do.

The key word is some
Both brands have their positives and negatives but to your point Hyatt has a good number of properties that are on the decline or sub par not renovated etc
Yet a number will be priced at not only a premium but wayyyyyyyyy more than cash rates which will make it harder than ever
to justify to redeem and be as loyal to their point currency
And for some none of this may be an issue and perhaps thats what Hyatt is counting on
At the end of the day I assume Hyatt wants to cut loose price sensitive customers and show them the door and they may or may not succeed with the strategy.
I've got my popcorn out to see where this all goes.

Having said that staying 60 nights to get a certificate that expires in 6 months that I can no longer use @ Andaz 5th Avenue or similar isn't going to work for me at all.
And the only program to not let me add points to receive the award I wish.
I can do better even with the dreaded Hilton program and the annual free night with a credit card (with no stays/nights)
at any category good for a year and every 5th night free just for starters
I'm a big fan of select Hyatt hotels but shy of the devaluation I see Hyatt failing to create any material improvements
to the program and keeping up other than limited promotions
and devaluations.Programs need to evolve devaluation or no devaluation.

Hyatt has been stuck in a rut material improvement wise since Jeff Zidell left years ago and despite that Mark Vondrasek came from Starwood/SPG
over to Hyatt honestly I expected better of he and his team.Perhaps his hands were/are tied.I admired him greatly in the Starwood era.
Remember when there was excitement to be and engage in a program? Exceptional value and recognition were common and fair game.
It was a privilege to be a member.

1999 SPG burst onto the scene and I was busting out 100 nights a year like an addict.Looking back I am grateful for the wonderful decades past
and hope for our younger travelers out there that a new golden era awaits their travel relationships and experiences less the robots and corporate greed.
Remaining optimistic none the less as I do fairly well even with dynamic pricing in other programs and genuinely wish to continue a mix of Hyatt where it matters
personally to me.

More bad news. AC has just published a new award chart. A major devaluation on some of its most desirable partner awards. For example, TPAC flights (>7,500 mi) in J on a partner metal now cost more than what UA charges.

HH Tokyo Shibuya going up to cat 6 is wild. Good thing I got a stay when i could use my cat 1-4 cert.

Sure, of course. I can understand that, but at the same time, it is what it is. I don't spend a lot time raging at things beyond my control. I will adapt, improvise, and continue on. Being sad will change exactly... nothing.

Regards

These devaluations always suck. My objective remans to maximize within the given parameters.

Am HH LTD, joined back when for 4 $75 Hampton Inn stays I got 50k bonus points (maybe 2000?) that was enough for 1/2 of a 6 night ALONP award, which if I recall correctly was 6 nights in Hawaii at the HHV for me.

Moved over to Marriott and am now on track to LTP (Already LTS) and the second I saw that I would hit lifetime there, I moved to Hyatt (End of last year) - my wife calls it the Hotel Hat-trick, trying to get LT Globalist - not sure if I have enough career runway left or not, but will be close.

These programs simply never get better - it's always a devaluation of some kind - but feel like I have enough experience with those three to say there's still value, it's just much harder to find that outsized 'win'. For some that makes it less rewarding, for me It weirdly seems more so - I love those moments where I find even today a killer score (some recent examples are 11 Cents per mile for AA, or 2.5 Cents per Hilton Point) and whatever that will be for Hyatt.

I am content that they will never 'love me back' so I don't love them, just utilize to maximize and keep enough points in things to jump on great deals when I see them, but never keep enough that a devaluation like this costs me tens of thousands in value.

Wow, they literally announced that right after my post. Most major blogs haven't even had time to cover it.

It sure feels like every time we say something good about a program, it dies. There should be a rule that we only say bad things

The good old days. Obviously those, and the less amazing but still great subsequent years, were unsustainable. I'm more and more of the mind that hit it hard and enjoy while you can is the way to go in this game.