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Earlier today, Richard Kerr – he does a great job over at TPG – broke the news that Hyatt was planning to devalue their incredible Points + Cash. According to a trusted source – the new program will take the current Points + Cash rates and alter the “cash ” portion from a fixed amount to fluctuate based on room rate – it’ll equal 50% of the standard published rate.
Seriously? Less than 2 weeks notice, in the midst of re-qualification? If this was taking effect next year sometime – so be it. The cash + points aspect of WOH is incredible and highly favors the consumer over operators. But, Hyatt has had a tough time compelling top tier members to stay, and has faced a lot pushback from loyalists in the transition from Gold Passport to WOH. And they gut mid-year? Last year they had to run a promo whereby any Hyatt credit card holder could get top tier with just 20 nights in the final quarter of 2017.
This seems like another card dealt from that deck.
Kerr also revealed that “specialty suites” would be folded into the upgrade program, allowing members to redeem 9k points per night to book them. Currently, if space is available, members can redeem 6k points per night for standard suites ( globalists also receive 4 suite upgrade certificates – good up to 7 nights ). This could be something of interest for families – booking a Governor suites able to accommodate a family of 4 at the cash rate plus 9k points could serve useful and offset the points + cash deval.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of what the new World of Hyatt Points + Cash could look like…
Here’s the current chart:
The new chart would keep the points aspect the same ( 50% of the standard cost in points ) but change the cash portion to equal 50% of the Standard Rate.
Let’s take a look at 3 random hotels over the holidays:
Hyatt Regency Bali – Category 1
I’d written about this earlier in the year, but the Hyatt Regency Bali is reopening January 1st. I booked this hotel with 2500 points + $50 a night. Under the new plan, that hotel would cost me:
2500 + $90
Grand Hyatt Washington D.C. – Category 4 hotel
I’ve stayed at this hotel before utilizing cash and points. Typically this would cost you 7500 + $100 a night. Looking at a random weekend in December… It would actually save money…$65 vs $100. Although I’d never use points to pay for a room so cheap.
But jump to June…and you’re paying $72 more per night.
Top Tier – Park Hyatt New York – Category 7
This is one of the most aspirational hotels in Hyatt’s program. Rates are nosebleed year round. Currently, you could reserve a room here for 15k + $300 a night. That seems high, but look at a random day in December. That’s an entry level room starting at $1345 a night. My goodness. Under the new program – such a room would set you back 15k + $673 a night. I’ll pass, thank you very much.
Overall:
Hyatt has been making great progress in tailoring their program with recent acquisitions and partnerships, and they introduced an incredible new credit card – so why would they gut one of the best parts of their program so close to the end of the qualification?
If the timing of this rumor is true, November 1st, I think Hyatt will find itself barking up the same tree with loyalists. Hello Marriott. Hello IHG. Hello Hilton.
I mean…you can acquire top tier status with Hilton ( hello Club level ) by having a single credit card: The Amex Aspire. 150k welcome bonus too
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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