Reminder: Hyatt Award Redemption Category Changes January 22, 2015

The Heels First folks have reminded us that the latest round of Hyatt Award Redemption category changes goes into affect this Thursday, January 22, 2015. Which hotels are affected by the changes?

Hotel Category redemption levels are as follows –

Category 1 = 5,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points
Category 2 = 8,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points
Category 3 = 12,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points
Category 4 = 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points
Category 5 = 20,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points
Category 6 = 25,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points
Category 7 = 30,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points

Starting at 12:01 CST on January 22, 2015 some Hyatt properties will shift up or down a redemption level. It’s an annual update that is made by Hyatt to adjust their properties according to the current market. I find the changes to be much more acceptable than, say, Hilton which seems to constantly modify their list which doesn’t give people enough time to plan for a particular redemption.

Here’s the list of changes for January 22, 2015 –

The ones to pay attention to are those that are moving up a category. If you are thinking of redeeming Hyatt Gold Passport points for a stay, I wouldn’t hesitate for properties that are due to move up. If you make a reservation and then have to cancel there is no penalty, but if you don’t redeem before the 22nd then you’ll be stuck using more of your Gold Passport points (if the property is going up a level).

I stayed at the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa (you can find the review here), which is currently a category 6 property. It is moving up to a category 7 which I agree with, but comes January 22 it’ll require an extra 5,000 Gold Passport points per night.

Here’s a link to Hyatt’s FAQ regarding the changes.