Analyzing World of Hyatt’s New Award Charts: Price Increases, More Availability, but Value Still Exists

May 20, 2026, had been circled on many a points-and-miles enthusiast’s calendar for quite some time, ever since we learned earlier this year that World of Hyatt would be making major changes to its award chart — the first of this magnitude since 2021.

That day has come and gone, and now we’re all living under the new award chart — and there have been plenty of opinions.

Is it the end of World of Hyatt as we know it, or is that hyperbole? After taking a high-level look at a handful of properties immediately following the new award chart’s implementation, we took more time to dive deeper into a larger subset of properties representative of the chain’s global portfolio to see what’s really going on since the new chart went into effect.

Here’s what we found.

What’s Changed at World of Hyatt, and How Are We Assessing It?

On May 20, 2 major things happened with the World of Hyatt program. First, it scrapped its former 3-tiered pricing scheme in favor of one with 5 tiers: Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper, and Top.

And unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now that the previous award chart maxed out at 45,000 points for a peak night at a top-tier Category 8 property, while the new chart maxes out at 75,000 points for a top night at a Category 8 hotel. This means that the highest-priced nights at the chain’s top-tier properties cost 67% more. Ouch.

The other big change was that World of Hyatt completed its annual category realignment, which saw 136 properties move into new categories: 112 moved up and just 24 down.

After a high-level look at the impact, we dove into a representative group of hotels across all categories and from all corners of the world to better understand pricing and what you can expect from the program going forward.

To achieve this, our team selected a portfolio of 85 properties, with several from each award category and from every region of the world. Before the award chart changes were implemented, we looked at the cash rates and award rates for a standard room for every night available for booking through the end of the available calendar.

After the changes went into effect, we repeated the process and compared these same rates at the property level. With the data we collected, we’re able to track changes in the cent-per-point value (CPP) at individual properties since the changes went into effect and identify the biggest gainers — and losers — on a currency-adjusted basis.

We were also able to procure detailed pricing data for every night at each hotel we selected, and we used that to identify patterns, compare old and new rates, and identify noteworthy outliers.

Without further ado, here’s what the data tells us.

Expect To Pay More for Your Award Nights

Broadly, your award nights will cost more on average under the new chart. In our analysis of 85 properties, 72% became more expensive overnight. And compared to the old chart, about 30% of the nights surveyed now price higher than the previous pricing.

On average, award prices rose 7.8%. Obviously, certain properties had a much more dramatic rise, while others had a more subdued one (or none at all), but chances are you’ll be paying more for World of Hyatt award nights going forward.

But when you think about this in context, it’s not unexpected. While Hilton and Marriott have eliminated award charts entirely and have consistently charged hundreds of thousands of points for a single night at some properties, it’s no surprise that Hyatt changed its award chart and ostensibly raised prices by doing so.

In fact, in the majority of cases, an award night will only be cheaper for a given property if it prices in the Lowest tier in the new scheme. For example, every Category 5 property we surveyed increased in price. Not a single one became cheaper.

But digging deeper showed that it was because none of the properties surveyed are consistently using the Lowest pricing level. Across the board, our data show that, as of now, Hyatt isn’t using Lowest pricing very often … anywhere. However, it’s also not using Top pricing very often, either.

Since 2021, prices on just about everything have risen — and quite significantly at that. All of us got used to World of Hyatt’s generous award pricing, which is a primary reason the program garnered so much love from award travelers.

Of course, it stings to see nights at properties we’ve all come to love shoot up in price significantly. However, no one can honestly say this devaluation wasn’t expected. In many instances, redeeming World of Hyatt points remains a very strong value proposition.

There’s Still Great Value at the Top and Bottom of the Award Chart

While award rates have generally gone up, and it’s a hard pill to swallow, World of Hyatt members can still find tremendous value when redeeming their points.

Interestingly, this rings most true at each end of the award chart. For example, some of Hyatt’s top (and most expensive) properties worldwide remain a great value when redeeming points, even after the changes. Here are some of the top values in terms of cents per point (CPP) that we found in our analysis:

• Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme (Category 8): 3.42 CPP
• Park Hyatt St. Kitts (Category 7): 2.93 CPP
• Park Hyatt Milan (Category 8): 2.81 CPP
• Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa (Category 7): 2.57 CPP
• Alila Ventana Big Sur (Category 8): 2.55 CPP

Meanwhile, some low-end properties stick out for also delivering great value:

• Grand Hyatt Amman (Category 1): 2.85 CPP
• Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro (Category 3): 2.5 CPP

Conversely, it’s also properties at the high and low ends of the spectrum that represent some of the worst value for your points on a CPP basis:

• Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono (Category 8): 0.75 CPP
• Lodge at Spruce Peak (Category 8): 0.83 CPP
• Park Hyatt Beaver Creek (Category 8): 0.89 CPP
• Hôtel Martinez – The Unbound Collection by Hyatt (Category 8): 0.89 CPP
• Grand Hyatt Athens (Category 3): 0.91 CPP

As you can see, there are genuine examples where you can still extract great value from each World of Hyatt point. As a reminder, we value Hyatt points at 1.5 cents apiece, so getting more than double that at the Park Hyatt Paris, despite it largely costing more across the board, is objectively still a good thing.

Also interesting is that some of the worst performers on a CPP basis are also among the properties that became significantly cheaper across the board. For example, Hôtel Martinez costs, on average, almost 12,000 points less, and the Lodge at Spruce Peak costs almost 4,200 points less.

Hot Tip:

To learn more, read our complete guides on the best ways to earn and redeem World of Hyatt points for maximum value.

Seasonality Still Matters

Our data revealed another interesting finding: When you travel still matters and affects what you’ll pay for a stay. Here’s what we learned about the best and worst times to travel, price-wise, to popular regions of the world:

• Japan (specifically Tokyo): January and August are the best times to visit, while March and November are the worst.
• South America: August and September are the best times, while December is the worst.
• Europe: January through April is the best time, while May through September is the worst.
• Middle East/Persian Gulf: July through August is the best time, while October and November are the worst.
• Hawaii: September through November is the best time, while January and May through August are the worst.

This matches an underlying theme of all award travel: If you have flexibility in your travel schedule, you can much more easily find better prices and greater value for your points.

If you’re a solo traveler or a couple with fewer commitments keeping you home at specific times of the year, you can still stretch your points and stay at amazing hotels for pennies on the dollar. On the flip side, a family that can only travel during school breaks will need more effort to get outsize value from Hyatt points.

Outliers Still Exist

Just like before the changes, outliers in the World of Hyatt still exist. Certain properties stand out, whether for being a particularly great (or poor) value or for how an individual hotel treats its award inventory.

One hotel we surveyed certainly stood out in terms of value. The Category 1 Hyatt Place Dubai Jumeirah saw its cost increase by 62% and lost 1.34 cents per point in value overnight as a result.

And the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa, a property infamous for playing games with its award inventory … is still playing games with its award inventory. The hotel is infamous for listing its standard rooms as non-standard rooms in order to increase rates or make rooms unavailable for points reservations.

When you search for award availability, it often displays award pricing that doesn’t match Category 8, such as 70,000 points for a Lowest rate night, when a Lowest night at a Category 8 is actually 35,000 points.

However, when you click to make a reservation, you can often see standard rooms available at Category 8 rates.

Finally, the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, by Hyatt, another hotel that’s been infamous for playing inventory games, is actually showing fairly strong availability and a surprising number of nights available at Low and even Lowest rates.

Of course, Low rates at this property are the same as the previous peak rates, so it’s a small consolation, but at least the property hasn’t adopted Top-heavy pricing — at least for now.

As with just about anything in the points-and-miles game, your mileage may vary.

Final Thoughts

Is the World of Hyatt program dead? As things stand right now, probably not. Along with just about everyone else, we’re not happy about having to pay more — sometimes much more — for the same room than what we paid just a few days ago.

We dread a devaluation just as much as anyone else, and this one from Hyatt definitely stings — especially at aspirational properties. However, not all hope is lost. There’s still value to be found in the program, and if you have a flexible calendar, you can still get great redemptions. That’s true even at some of the chain’s best hotels.

There’s certainly more to come with the new World of Hyatt award chart, and we’re remain fearful of what happens down the line as the chain starts to lean more fully into its Top award pricing. Right now, it’s being used sparingly. We can only hope that it employs Lowest pricing more widely at the same time, though we won’t hold our breath.