Hyatt Hotels increased the cost of award redemptions and while most of the miles and points community is outraged, I’m really not bothered but for practical reasons.
Award Changes
The headlines in the miles and points community this week might as well have been “Sky Is Falling, Hyatt Nukes Award Chart.” Actually, with some reflection, that might have been a great title. I’ll save that for later. Depending on the writer and angle, award chart increases were stated to be 25-67% and while that range is a staggering difference on what should have been objective, this industry allows for opaqueness that others do not.
Matthew offered excellent analysis on the matter (per usual) and discussed those changes in detail, I will add some color below on where we mutually agree regarding dynamic or semi-dynamic award charts.
The biggest differences come at the upper and top end of the charts at the most aspirational properties. The bottom half (Category 4 and below) also saw potential increases (and potential decreases) but nominally this is far less of an issue.
The brand has also added the ability to transfer points easier to other members within the program. Along with that, World of Hyatt credit cardholders will have early access to award nights. The World of Hyatt loyalty program changes hit Category 8 properties the hardest. The published award chart moves to create five segments within an award tier with which to redeem points for a free night. Hyatt has stated that this was instituted to manage peak demand. While not much ink has been spilled on, Hyatt award changes also lowered the cost for its lowest demand periods in categories 1-6 with 7, and 8 staying the same.
A lingering fear is the upcoming category shifts with properties moving up more than down which usually happens well into spring.
Personal Bias
I am unapologetically a fan of Hyatt. It has been my primary program (with a few exceptions) for more than a decade and is the only hotel program outside of Starwood Preferred Guest (RIP) that I would have gone out of my way to secure status.
But wait, there’s more.
I am also a business owner with a Chase Ink Preferred that earns 3x on travel spend and some digital categories up to the first $150,000/year. As a travel agency owner, I have a lot of qualified spend in this category so Ultimate Rewards points which can be earned at 3x or better and converted to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio are plentiful.
Neither of those two pieces may be true for all readers, so I can understand that these changes may be more detrimental to them than they are to me.
Still Comparatively Low
Despite these significant increases, World of Hyatt points are still a better value analytically. I personally value miles and points based on transactions where I would have spent cash. A good example was the Andaz Miami Beach (I will share this post separately) for which friends of ours locked in a seasonally high rate of 29,000 points. We booked a room that cost $1000+ for the night. That’s a personal value of 3.4¢/point though I continue to impair that for the lower end properties and have kept my valuation at 2¢/point.
How could I keep my valuation at the same as it has been for years despite this increase? That’s more obvious than you might think: hotels charge more than they ever have. Here’s a piece from the Washington Post that ran this week on the matter.
Regardless of my personal experience, I am using the objective valuations from others to form my opinion.
| Hotel Loyalty Points vs. Cash – Cross-Brand Comparison (Feb 2026) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyatt (new 5-tier chart, May 2026) · Marriott · Hilton · IHG | |||||
| PROGRAM OVERVIEW | |||||
| Program | ¢ per Point | Pricing Model | Max Pts/Night | Earn Rate | Point Source |
| World of Hyatt | 1.8¢ | Published 5-tier chart | 75,000 | 5 pts/$1 | NerdWallet Feb 2026 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 0.7¢ | Fully dynamic (no chart) | 300,000+ | 10 pts/$1 | TPG Feb 2026 |
| Hilton Honors | 0.5¢ | Fully dynamic (250K cap) | 250,000 | 10 pts/$1 | TPG Feb 2026 |
| IHG One Rewards | 0.6¢ | Fully dynamic (no chart) | 500,000 | 10 pts/$1 | NerdWallet Feb 2026 |
| ULTRA-LUXURY RESORT | |||||
| Brand | Property | Cash/Night | Points Range | Max Points | Notes |
| Hyatt | Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa | $800–$1,800 | 25K–55K | 55,000 | Cat 7 · 5-tier chart |
| Marriott | St. Regis Maldives Vommuli | $1,200–$3,000 | 100K–198K | 198,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| Hilton | Waldorf Astoria Maldives | $1,500–$3,500 | 120K–150K | 150,000 | Dynamic · 250K cap |
| IHG | InterContinental Maldives | $700–$2,000 | 120K–250K | 250,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| CITY LUXURY FLAGSHIP | |||||
| Brand | Property | Cash/Night | Points Range | Max Points | Notes |
| Hyatt | Park Hyatt New York | $700–$1,200 | 35K–75K | 75,000 | Cat 8 · 5-tier chart |
| Marriott | Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad | $600–$1,100 | 100K–142K | 142,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| Hilton | Waldorf Astoria New York | $600–$1,200 | 120K–150K | 150,000 | Dynamic · 250K cap |
| IHG | InterContinental NY Barclay | $350–$700 | 60K–100K | 100,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| LUXURY BEACH RESORT | |||||
| Brand | Property | Cash/Night | Points Range | Max Points | Notes |
| Hyatt | Andaz Costa Rica Papagayo | $500–$1,000 | 35K–75K | 75,000 | Cat 8 · 5-tier chart |
| Marriott | Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, Maui | $600–$1,400 | 80K–120K | 120,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| Hilton | Conrad Bora Bora Nui | $800–$2,000 | 130K–180K | 180,000 | Dynamic · 250K cap |
| IHG | InterContinental Bora Bora | $700–$1,800 | 70K–120K | 120,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| ALL-INCLUSIVE PREMIUM | |||||
| Brand | Property | Cash/Night | Points Range | Max Points | Notes |
| Hyatt | Impression Isla Mujeres | $600–$1,200 | 40K–85K | 85,000 | Cat F AI · 5-tier chart |
| Marriott | Ritz-Carlton, Cancún | $500–$900 | 60K–100K | 100,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| Hilton | Hilton Cancún AI Resort | $400–$750 | 70K–95K | 95,000 | Dynamic · 250K cap |
| IHG | (Limited AI portfolio) | — | — | — | — |
| CITY UPPER UPSCALE | |||||
| Brand | Property | Cash/Night | Points Range | Max Points | Notes |
| Hyatt | Grand Hyatt / Hyatt Regency | $200–$450 | 12K–35K | 35,000 | Cat 4–5 · 5-tier chart |
| Marriott | JW Marriott / Westin | $200–$500 | 35K–62K | 62,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| Hilton | Conrad / Hilton flagship | $180–$400 | 50K–80K | 80,000 | Dynamic · 250K cap |
| IHG | Kimpton / Crowne Plaza | $150–$350 | 30K–55K | 55,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| MID-TIER / SELECT SERVICE | |||||
| Brand | Property | Cash/Night | Points Range | Max Points | Notes |
| Hyatt | Hyatt Place / Hyatt House | $100–$250 | 3K–20K | 20,000 | Cat 1–3 · 5-tier chart |
| Marriott | Courtyard / Fairfield Inn | $100–$250 | 15K–35K | 35,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| Hilton | Hampton / Hilton Garden Inn | $90–$220 | 30K–60K | 60,000 | Dynamic · 250K cap |
| IHG | Holiday Inn / HIX | $80–$200 | 15K–40K | 40,000 | Dynamic · uncapped |
| Cash rates: representative ranges from Feb 2026 searches (KAYAK, Booking.com, brand sites). Points: current/new charts (Hyatt), observed dynamic ranges (others). | |||||
As you can see, others continue to value points higher than the changes. Before the changes, if The Points Guy (same owner as CreditCards.com) had World of Hyatt points pegged at 1.7¢/point and NerdWallet at 1.8¢/point and neither have materially changed. That’s because the cost of those hotels also increased for cash stays. Limited utility at the very top of the market for the most aspirational properties is also a contributing factor.
Examining both the earn and burn rates for Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, and Marriott – the values remained relatively similar to last year and Hyatt is still the leader far and away.
(Semi-) Dynamic Award Charts Open Up More Availability
A rose by any other name, still smells like a dynamic award chart. Where this keeps Hyatt head and shoulders above Bonvoy and Honors is that there are, in fact, defined category caps on the points per category even if it’s raised significantly. We have seen what happens to loyalty programs without a cap in place, they become Delta with comically high award charts and clients that continue to burn good transferrable currency at astronomical prices.
A prime example is one we encountered this last week on Miami Beach. We chose a Residence Inn that was close to where we had a dinner meeting and the price was a staggering $500+ per night or 95,000 Bonvoy points. Chase often offers a 50-60% bonus when transferring to Bonvoy (it’s 50% at the time of writing) so let’s compare those two products solely in points. Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards would cost 63,333 WITH a 50% bonus to achieve a well-located but “select service” property in the Sunny Isles. Or by contrast, the new chart pegs the Andaz Miami Beach at less than 42,000 at its very highest possible redemption for a Category 6 property with a celebrity restaurant. Even if it moved up to a Category 7 and was at the highest redemption level, it would still cost less than a Residence Inn down the beach on a 50% transfer bonus.
But there weren’t any redemptions available at the Andaz. Why? Because the hotel wasn’t compensated enough to make the rooms available. At higher redemptions levels and more revenue shared from the brand (though not equal to retail) hotels are more likely to open award space even if they are at higher levels. That’s better for those who want to utilize their points. This is the argument that dynamic award proponents make and in their defense, it works. American Airlines moved to semi-dynamic awards a few years ago but continues to offer saver space at reasonable levels like 57,500 in business class to Europe. But holders of American Airlines miles may prefer to spend a bit more (75,000 for example) if it opens up awards that would otherwise not be available at the lower level.
The slippery slope with dynamic award charts is that the lowest level is very real, and the upper level is without limit which is what we see at Delta Air Lines. Semi-dynamic, as Hyatt is deploying, keeps some restrictions and predictable levels while opening up more space. Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors have no such limitations.
Superior Product
Like Hilton with Hampton Inn, Tru, and Marriott with Fairfield Inn, and Sheraton Four Points, Hyatt is no stranger to select service properties and by ratio, the lowest end of the market will always dominate the bulk of the brand. But if we only include the hardest hit categories at the highest end of luxury products (St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton for Marriott, Waldorf-Astoria for Hilton, Park Hyatt for Hyatt, and both Regent and Six Senses for IHG) Hyatt has the highest ratio of luxury properties at 3.2% of the brand. Marriott (with 170 across those two brands) come in at 1.7%, IHG with both brands is just 0.5%, and Hilton has the lowest ratio at 0.4%. The middle of the market is also a larger share than the other chains.
Benefits at Hyatt properties are more likely to be enforced than other brands, and more generous than the others with 4 pm late check-out without a revenue requirement for Globalists and daily breakfast for two adults and two children, for example.
All of that is without including Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties, high end boutiques marketed through Hyatt’s newly acquired brand where guests can earn, and enjoy benefits but not yet spend points.
Conclusion
While I never want to pay more than I need to for a product (who does?) the honest reality is that Hyatt had a long enough lead to give some and still remain in the pole position. My hope is that this means there will be increased earning opportunities to counteract as we have seen with others in the space. While a joke, test, or “college experiment” the Reddit post that sent World of Hyatt loyalists reeling included a credit card that I would absolutely sign up for as a business owner. For those earning more than they need, some of these changes will genuinely be positive with more space opening up for redemptions. But even the most cynical would have to admit that this is both a fair adjustment and still keeps Hyatt as the number one hotel loyalty program, though the lead may have narrowed.
What do you think?
Hyatt was pretty clear on the blogger call last week that it was not increasing the compensation to hotels. We suspect that it has quietly cut the loyalty fee charged to properties (as have most of the other big brands) which means there is less money in the pot.
As a business owner as well I’m hoping it makes some of these properties less crowded now the ink train is over and Bilt points are harder to come by. Nothing irritated me more than people without legit businesses getting multiple ink bonuses while I’m spending a ton on my chase cards to earn those points. Funny enough I just got an invite code to another Ink card after they just approved me a few months ago. Ink train is not dead if you have legit spend and a relationship.
Boo. Hiss. Take it back!
I would have liked to see Hyatt incorporate Mr & Mrs Smith into this award chart as well. The fixed CPP of those hotels makes them an unattractive (dare I say almost useless) part of the program. That could have helped assuage some of the pain of this devaluation.
I think Kyle overlooked the fact that the other three non-Hyatt programs award more points for activity than Hyatt. Hilton, Marriott, and iHG all award more points for paid stays. They all award more points for co-branded credit card activity. Marriott, Hiton, and IHG all have regular transfer bonuses from their transferable points partners while Hyatt never does. Hilton even transfers 1;2 from Amex.
If you look at the ratio of activity to earn the points to what it costs with points to get the awards, in the examples above sometimes favor Hyatt, often times favors one of the other brands, and is often a push. In the past, it would clearly favor Hyatt. I don’t think it’s crazy to still want to be loyal to Hyatt (I still like their product more), but I don’t think there is a economic case for it strictly on earning and burning points.
@Jeff Wu – I did take that into account, but I should have clearly spelled that out. Here was how I reached that conclusion based on the following math:
Top elite with Hilton (for example) earns 20 points per dollar or for a $100 stay, 2000 points worth $10. Top elites with Hyatt earns 6.5 points per dollar; on the same $100 spend, they earn 650 points or $13 or $11.05 at the worst valuation used.
If we transfer 1:1 Chase points, 1000 = $20. If you transfer AMEX at a 1:2 ratio (transfer 1,000 but receive 2,000) the 2,000 points at $0.005/point = $10.
If we assume a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder earns 3x on dining and spends $100, they have 300 UR points or 300 Hyatt points in this case worth $6. Using an American Express Gold that earns 4x points on dining for the same $100 = 400 AMEX MR points or 800 after a 1:2 transfer or $4.
My point was that Hyatt’s lead is so secure that even after this incredible increase, it remains at an advantage over Hilton, IHG, or Marriott – all of which have similarly valued points but may earn at a higher rate.
I hope to see how your perspective changes when card interchange is cut to European levels and almost only points you can get are from hotel stays. I am sure you will not be so relaxed about point rates.
A higher ratio of luxury properties is not better than having a larger amount of properties with better footprint. This is something I see as a characteristic, not a benefit itself.
I think it’s bad form to put a link to a story that is behind a paywall. E.g. The Washington Post.
I hope they paid you well –