2024 Hyatt Changes & Booking Best Award Nights

Book your Hyatt award stays before 3/26/24 for any Hyatt properties going up in category!

HYATT CATEGORY AWARD CHART

Every year, Hyatt announces “category” changes to some of their hotels.
Hyatt hotels have a category assigned to them. With category 1 being the least expensive with points and category 8 being the most expensive with points.

Here is a chart from the Hyatt website showing how many points are required for each category for their “off-peak” rates, “standard” rates, and “peak” rates.

HYATT 2024 CATEGORY CHANGES

On March 26, 2024, 137 Hyatt properties will go up in category and 46 will go down a category.

Everyone will have a different opinion on which changes are most notable.
You can find the entire list of changes here.

The most important thing to note is that you can lock in the old prices on properties that are going up in category if you book BEFORE 3/26/24. Rates on nights booked by that date will not change. If you book 3/26 and after, you are subject to the new award night category/pricing.

One I think everyone is sad about is the Andaz Costa Rica Penninsula Papagayo going from a category 6 to 7. This is the one that I booked upon hearing the devaluation. But I wanted to make sure I booked it at the cheapest award night option…

HOW TO FIND THE CHEAPEST HYATT AWARD NIGHTS

So how do you find available Hyatt award nights that have the “off peak” pricing? It’s not easy to do on Hyatt’s website. While you can see a calendar of nightly award prices once you do a date search, you don’t actually know if those nights are available. That calendar only shows you WHAT a night WOULD cost on points but not if it’s actually available to book. So then you have to try them individually which is a pain.

The tool I like to use is maxmypoint.com. This will show you a calendar view of what is available for Hyatt award stays by month.

On the home page, you’ll search for your hotel…

Then click “Calendar”

You’ll see an entire month at a time. This is where you want to look for dates with the lowest award prices (in this case 21K points/night) and for how many nights you need in a row.

Maxmypoint is free to use! You can search up to 10 hotels per day + set up 1 alert with the free version. I personally have the gold version ($3.99/month) because that allows you to search up to 20 hotel details in a day & set up 5 alerts.

Whether you do paid or the free version, this is a great tool to get familiar with to find the cheapest Hyatt award night options.

WHY THIS ISN’T REALLY A BIG DEAL

If you are new to points/miles, it may seem frustrating to hear about these devaluations. But truthfully, they are going to happen every year. But the other truth is… it’s never been easier to earn points. With so many outstanding sign up bonuses and great earnings with shopping portals and targeted bonuses, we really are still in a wonderful award travel bubble.

And the good news… some great hotels are going DOWN a category! The Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay and Hyatt Place Kyoto are both going down a category. We absolutely LOVED our stay at both of these hotels! Especially if you are a Hyatt Globalist visiting Disney Tokyo or Disney Sea, the Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay is a fantastic option!

Thank you for supporting my small business! When you use my affiliate links to apply for a credit card, I earn a commission from the bank. But you still get the same great offer! And this helps me keep my guides and personal help free.

Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.