World of Hyatt is one of the few major hotel loyalty programmes that still uses an award chart (as opposed to dynamic pricing), and they’ve just unveiled their annual hotel category changes for 2024 which come into effect from 26 March 2024.
Compared to 2023 when 372 hotels changed category, this year’s changes are relatively modest: 183 hotels will be changing categories. However, 2023 saw 58% of hotels moving up and 42% of hotels moving down. This year, the ratio is much more skewed: 75% of hotels are moving up, and 25% of hotels are moving down.
There’s still time to lock in your reservations at the current prices, so read on for what’s changing.
World of Hyatt 2024 category changes
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| World of Hyatt 2024 Category Changes |
World of Hyatt’s category changes kick in from 26 March 2024, 10 p.m SGT.
All bookings made prior to this date will follow the current award chart, even if your stay dates fall after the new chart kicks in.
- If you’ve booked a stay at a hotel moving down a category, you’ll receive an automatic one-time refund of the points difference from 26 March
- If you’ve booked a stay at a hotel moving up a category, no further payment will be required. However, if you subsequently change this booking from 26 March, you’ll need to pay the new prices
As a reminder, here’s World of Hyatt’s current award chart.
| Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
| 1 | 3,500 | 5,000 | 6,500 |
| 2 | 6,500 | 8,000 | 9,500 |
| 3 | 9,000 | 12,000 | 15,000 |
| 4 | 12,000 | 15,000 | 18,000 |
| 5 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 23,000 |
| 6 | 21,000 | 25,000 | 29,000 |
| 7 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 35,000 |
| 8 | 35,000 | 40,000 | 45,000 |
Unlike Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt uses fixed peak and off-peak dates, decided at the start of each year.
What’s changing?
A total of 183 hotels are changing categories worldwide:
- 137 hotels are moving to a higher category
- 46 hotels are moving to a lower category
Here’s a breakdown of changes by region:
| Region | Up | Down |
| United States | 65 | 21 |
| Africa & Middle East | 7 | 1 |
| Asia & Pacific | 24 | 20 |
| Canada, Caribbean & Latin America | 17 | 1 |
| Europe | 24 | 3 |
As with last year, the brunt of the devaluations will be felt in the West, with North America and Europe seeing a significant number of increases relative to decreases. But for those of us in Asia, the changes (at least in quantitative terms) are more subtle, with 24 hotels increasing and 20 hotels decreasing.
Some noteworthy hotels moving down a category include:
- Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay down from Category 4 to Category 3
- Grand Hyatt Taipei down from Category 4 to Category 3
- Hyatt Centric Melbourne down from Category 4 to Category 3
- Hyatt Regency Naha down from Category 4 to Category 3
- Hyatt Place Kyoto down from Category 3 to Category 2
- Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu down from Category 2 to Category 1
- Hyatt Regency Cape Town from Category 2 to Category 1
Some noteworthy hotels moving up a category include:
- Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport up from Category 1 to Category 2
- Hyatt House Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport up from Category 1 to Category 2
- Hyatt Place Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport up from Category 1 to Category 2
- Hyatt Regency Bangkok up from Category 2 to Category 3
- Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh up from Category 2 to Category 3
- Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa up from Category 3 to Category 4
- Andaz Bali up from Category 4 to Category 5
- Alia Ubud up from Category 4 to Category 5
- Andaz Singapore up from Category 5 to Category 6
What should you do now?
If a hotel you’re interested in is moving up a category, be sure to lock it your reservation by 26 March 2024. Since points reservations are generally flexible, you can always cancel it later if you change your plans. Remember, you can book stays up to 13 months in advance.
If a hotel you’re interested in is moving down a category, hopefully your stay dates fall after 26 March 2024, because you’ll get an automatic refund.
Conclusion
World of Hyatt will be implementing its annual category changes from 26 March 2024, and this year sees nearly three hotels moving up for every hotel moving down.
If you travel mostly within Asia, however, there’s some positive changes to take note of, with several properties in Japan becoming cheaper, as well as a handful in Taiwan and Malaysia. Those travelling to the USA and Europe will have less to cheer, especially the latter with eight hotels going up for every hotel going down.
This basically amounts to a soft devaluation, but it is largely in line with the increase in cash prices we’ve seen at many popular hotels. I suppose we can at least be thankful that World of Hyatt still has award charts, which bring some measure of transparency to the programme.
What do you make of World of Hyatt’s 2024 category changes?
Thanks for the comprehensive article.
Believe there is a typo with the sentence “Alia Ubud up from Category 4 to Category 5” as Alila Ubud is moving from Category 2 to 3.