The World of Hyatt loyalty program for some time has been one of the more lucrative loyalty programs in the hospitality space. Hyatt started tinkering their winning formula last year. 2018 seems to be the year of more change for World of Hyatt which started with redemption nights getting counted towards elite qualification. Now, Hyatt is bringing a few more major changes to their program starting November 1, 2018.
Redeem World of Hyatt points for premium suites
You will be able to redeem your World of Hyatt points for premium-suite redemptions going forward. The redemption will cost you twice the points which are required for a standard room redemption. Another thing to note is that Hyatt will no longer require you to stay for a minimum of 3-days for suite redemptions. You can upgrade to premium suites if you have booked paid nights as well. 9,000 Hyatt points will get you upgraded to a premium suite on a paid night.
World of Hyatt changes points & cash redemptions
That’s where the good news ends. Hyatt is will be significantly diluting the cash + points feature coming November. Previously, if you wanted to go for a cash + points redemption, you redeemed a fixed number of points along with a fixed amount of cash depending upon the hotel’s category. In the new construct, the cash component becomes variable. The new cash component would be 50% of the standard room rate. A similar formula applies for suite and premium suite bookings as well.
For example, if you booked the Hyatt Goa using the cash+points option today, you’ll be paying 6,000 points + INR 4,875 for a night irrespective of the day you stay. You can read more about the changes here.
Now let’s say you want to stay a night there during December this year and end up booking next. The redemption, in this case, will cost you 6000 points + INR 7750/night. That’s because the standard room rate is quoted at INR 15,500/night.
Bottomline
These set of updates to the World of Hyatt program is a mixed bag. While it is good that premium suites can be booked using points, it is disappointing that they are moving the cash+points redemptions the revenue way. After all, the best value is unlocked when the rack rates are sky-rocketing while the redemption rates remain constant.
What do you think about these changes in World of Hyatt?
Actually all hotel chains are doing this in some way or another to reflect how expensive the revenue rooms are. Marriott is doing it with their peak and off-peak pricing of redemptions. The concept is exactly the same — more points/cash when demand is high.