Hyatt has finally done the thing everyone hoped they wouldn’t: it’s keeping a published award chart, but stretching it enough that many top-end stays will cost significantly more points starting May 2026.
The good news is that World of Hyatt isn’t going fully dynamic. The bad news is that on the most expensive nights, some awards will cost much more than they do today – and this matters if you’ve been hoarding Hyatt points for dream redemptions.
Let’s walk through what’s changing, how painful it really is, and what you should be booking before the new chart kicks in.
What’s Actually Changing with World of Hyatt?
Right now, World of Hyatt prices awards using three tiers: Off-peak, Standard, and Peak. Starting in May 2026, that simple trio is being retired in favour of five new pricing bands: Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper, and Top.
The eight hotel categories are sticking around, so you’ll still see Category 1 through Category 8. What’s changing is the range of prices inside each category.
The cheapest nights may be slightly cheaper than before, but the most expensive nights get a lot more expensive, and the middle “Moderate” tier will usually cost more than today’s Standard pricing.
Hyatt is framing this as a way to preserve transparency and “clarity” while avoiding a fully dynamic, free-for-all pricing model.
The company is also promising to apply the two highest tiers, Upper and Top, “thoughtfully” at first, with broader use in the years ahead. But to me, that sounds like it won’t be absolute carnage on day one, but they’ve given themselves plenty of room to grow into higher pricing over time.
How Much More Will Awards Cost?
You can still find a few small wins at the bottom of the chart, but the overall direction is obvious: more points, especially when and where people actually want to travel.
Take Category 1 as the entry-level example. Under the current chart, you pay 3,500–6,500 points per night. Under the new system, the range becomes 3,000–9,000 points. So on the very cheapest nights you save 500 points, but on the most expensive nights you’re paying about 38% more than today’s peak price.
The classic workhorse Category 4, which is also where many free night certificates are capped, is an even clearer illustration. Today, a night costs 12,000–18,000 points. With the new chart, that top end will rise to 25,000 points, which is roughly a 39% increase on the most expensive nights.
At the aspirational end, Category 8 – home to many Park Hyatt and other flagship luxury properties – sees the biggest jump.
The current 35,000–45,000-point range will be replaced by a range that tops out at 75,000 points per night. That’s where the headline figure of up to 67% higher pricing comes from, and it’s not a typo.
If you look at the “middle” of the chart, the new Moderate tier (roughly the successor to Standard pricing) is also more expensive. Across all eight categories, Moderate-level rates will be roughly 25% higher on average than today’s Standard pricing. For example, Category 4 Standard goes from 15,000 to 20,000 points, and Category 8 moves from 40,000 to 55,000 points at that mid-level.
So yes, you might shave a few points off a sleepy midweek Category 1 airport stay. But the bread-and-butter and bucket-list redemptions are almost all heading in the opposite direction.
All-Inclusive & Miraval: Where It Hurts the Most
Hyatt’s all-inclusive portfolio and Miraval resorts were already premium redemptions, and they’re being hit especially hard.
Hyatt maintains separate award charts for its all-inclusive resorts and Miraval properties, and both charts are also being expanded to five pricing levels.
On the all-inclusive side, top-tier Category F properties will now be able to price at 85,000 points per night (double occupancy) in the new Top tier, up from a previous maximum of 58,000 points on a Peak date. That’s close to a 47% increase at the ceiling.
At Miraval, even the “middle” of the chart is getting more expensive. A Moderate rate for a standard room with double occupancy will start at 70,000 points, up from 65,000 previously, and Top-tier nights across room types are expected to cost 23,000–25,000 more points per night than the old Peak pricing.
If your long-term plan was to burn a giant pile of points on a Miraval retreat or a high-end all-inclusive during peak season, this is pretty much the textbook definition of a devaluation.
Hyatt’s Position: “Still a Chart, Still Transparent”
Hyatt is leaning heavily on one key message: it’s still running a program with a published award chart and fixed point ranges, rather than fully dynamic award pricing. The company explicitly calls this a “true industry differentiator” and insists it remains committed to transparency, predictability, and long-term member trust.
The official justification is that:
The new five-band structure keeps clear caps for each category. It allows hotels to align pricing with seasonal demand without constantly bumping properties to higher categories. And it should reduce the need for broader category changes over time.
That’s the corporate framing. The more realistic interpretation is that Hyatt now has much more room to push popular dates and properties up the range while still being able to say, with a straight face, that it operates a fixed award chart.
And because there’s no formal cap on how many nights can fall into each of the five tiers, nothing stops a hotel from leaning heavily on the Upper and Top bands once the dust settles.
Seven Category Shifts Are Happening Right Now
Most of Hyatt’s annual category changes will be announced in April, ahead of the May 2026 pricing update. However, Hyatt also confirmed that seven properties are shifting categories effective immediately, including:
Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach moving up a category, Grand Hyatt Incheon moving up, and Hyatt Centric Malta and Hyatt Regency Kotor Bay Resort also moving up. One property moves down (The Barnett, part of JdV by Hyatt), while a new property (Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman Resort & Spa, opening in 2026) jumps two categories.
What Happens to Free Night Certificates?
Hyatt has confirmed that Category 1–4 and Category 1–7 Free Night Awards are not being impacted by the new pricing tiers, as long as a standard room is available and the property is within the certificate’s category cap.
However, the usual catch still applies: if a property moves up in category, your certificate won’t stretch there anymore, even if the certificate rules themselves did not change.
So while certificates aren’t getting nerfed outright by the five-tier pricing, category creep still matters. If your favourite “sweet spot” property has been flirting with the upper edge of a category, April’s category changes will be worth watching closely.
New Member Enhancements Coming Later in 2026
To soften the blow, Hyatt is also rolling out two genuinely helpful updates.
Digital points sharing
Right now, sharing World of Hyatt points is surprisingly clunky. You have to fill out a points-combining form, get both members to sign it, and send it in for manual processing – not exactly a one-click, modern experience.
Hyatt says members will soon be able to share points digitally, making it much easier to pool points with a partner, top up a friend for a booking, or help family cover a shortfall for a special trip.
It’s a simple-sounding change, but a meaningful one. Removing the paperwork and signatures takes a lot of friction out of “two-account” planning, especially for couples and families. And for points collectors, less friction usually means more redemptions – and fewer points sitting idle in orphaned balances.
Early award access for elites and cardmembers
Hyatt also says that Explorists, Globalists, Lifetime Globalists, and World of Hyatt credit cardmembers will get early access to award night availability, letting them view and book award nights before everyone else.
This could be genuinely valuable if it translates to real additional availability at popular properties, during peak dates, or around major events.
It could also turn into a velvet-rope situation where regular members are left picking from whatever remains. Hyatt hasn’t shared the details yet, so the value here will depend entirely on how the feature is implemented, and how far in advance “early” really is.
Hyatt has said more information will be shared later, so for now, consider this “promising, but not yet proven.”
What Should You Do Now?
If you’ve built up a stash of World of Hyatt points (or have flexible points ready to transfer), this is not the time to be passive.
Start by looking at your Hyatt wish list. Any big aspirational trips involving Category 7–8 properties, premium all-inclusives, or Miraval stays are prime candidates to book under the current chart. The difference between 45,000 and 75,000 points per night, or between 58,000 and 85,000 at a top all-inclusive, can easily add six figures of extra points to a single trip.
Next, be more deliberate with transfers into Hyatt. Instead of reflexively moving large chunks of flexible points, consider transferring only what you plan to use in the near term. Once the new pricing fully settles in, some of those points may have been more valuable kept in a flexible ecosystem, especially if you also play seriously with other hotel or airline programs.
Finally, keep an eye on how Hyatt actually uses the Upper and Top tiers over the first year. Hyatt is promising “limited” use of the highest tiers at launch, with broader adoption later. If real-world pricing patterns show a lot of nights leaning towards the upper end of each category, that’s your cue to reassess how much energy you want to invest into World of Hyatt going forward.
My Take: Where This Is All Heading
If I’m being honest, I don’t think this is the last time we’ll see moves like this – and not just from Hyatt. It increasingly feels like most major hotel programs are marching toward some blend of dynamic pricing or revenue-based models, a bit like what we already see with GHA Discovery.
If you’ve been reading my posts lately, you’ll know I’ve become much more open to trying smaller chains and lesser-known loyalty programs.
Of course, this update isn’t great news if you’ve been carefully building a Hyatt balance for years. But at the same time, it gives other brands a chance to step up – and gives us a reason to look beyond the usual big four.
There are plenty of under-the-radar programs where elite status still feels like “real” loyalty treatment, not just a label on your profile.
As the big programs squeeze more out of their members, that gap between the mass-market experience and the genuinely rewarding niche programs might actually get wider – and that’s where I’m increasingly interested in playing.
Conclusion
World of Hyatt is doing a classic loyalty-program manoeuvre: proudly keeping its award chart while quietly stretching it so many of the most attractive redemptions cost significantly more.
From May 2026, we’ll see five pricing bands instead of three, a much wider spread between the cheapest and most expensive nights in each category, and some eye-watering increases at the top end, especially for Category 8, all-inclusives, and Miraval resorts. At the same time, Hyatt is rolling out early award access, digital points sharing, and a slightly lower floor for the cheapest Category 1 nights.
For Canadian travellers who use Hyatt strategically, the playbook is straightforward: lock in key redemptions under the current chart, be cautious about transferring more points into Hyatt, and then decide whether the program still deserves a starring role in your long-term strategy once the new pricing kicks in.
This story originally appeared on princeoftravel
