We’ve known about the impending World of Hyatt award pricing changes but now we finally learn about the category changes.

Updated May 19, 2026. This is the last day to get in any bookings before both the devaluation and hotel category changes hit. Rates are likely to go up tomorrow (and if they go down, you’ll be automatically refunded the difference).

World of Hyatt announces changes in advance

The Hyatt website identifies all the changes that will be arriving on May 20, 2026 (8:00 AM Central Time). They have provided us with one month to prepare for the new pricing:

• For hotels going up in price, if you book prior to May 20, you’ll lock in your price at the current rate.
• For hotels going down in price, if your stay is after May 20, Hyatt will automatically issue a partial refund at some point in the future.
• If for some reason you need to modify your stay after May 20, awards will be repriced at their current rates.

The one good thing that I’ll say about this is that Hyatt at least is open about its award pricing. It announces hotel category changes in advance and gives members a chance to book prospective travel on current rates. We might not like the end result of awards becoming more expensive, but this is the way a program builds trust. There shouldn’t ever be surprise changes without an announcement (ahem, Marriott, ahem).

These Hyatt award category changes are in addition to the previously-announced devaluation

We previously referenced Hyatt’s 2026 devaluation where the following changes are happening:

• Moving from 3 pricing tiers to 5 pricing tiers
• Pricing for regular nights increases to as much as 75,000 points per night
• Moderate pricing (meaning middle of the band to middle of the band) increases between 17% and 38%
• The highest-priced single night now moves up from 137,000 points to 160,000 points (premium suite at Miraval). This doesn’t include hotels where points have a fixed value (The Venetian or Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties).

These award category changes are in addition to this devaluation. All are occurring at the same time on May 20, 2026.

Hyatt’s changes from a macro view

We knew there was going to be some fluctuation in award categories, but this is more than we expected. In total, there are 136 hotels changing categories this year. Of those, 112 are moving up in category and 24 are moving down. Anyone hoping for a softer cycle this year is sorely mistaken.

No hotels this cycle are moving by more than one category.

It’s also important to look at hotels bookable by Hyatt’s Category 1-4 and 1-7 Free Night Awards. This year, we’re seeing the following movement:

• 14 hotels moving from Category 4 to Category 5 (no longer bookable with Category 1-4 Free Night Awards)
• 5 hotels moving from Category 5 to Category 4 (now bookable with Category 1-4 Free Night Awards)
• 5 hotels moving from Category 7 to Category 8 (no longer bookable with Category 1-7 Free Night Awards)
• No hotels are moving from Category 8 to Category 7

Some category changes were already forced upon us

None of the facts above include the 7 properties that already changed categories in February 2026. It’s not exactly clear why Hyatt did this in two waves, but I believe this was due to construction moving the hotels up in quality (and thus price).

• The Barnett, from Category 5 to 4
• Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman Resort & Spa, from Category 6 to 8 (!)
• Hyatt Place San Antonio-Northwest/Medical Center, from Category 1 to 2
• Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach, from Category 4 to 5
• Grand Hyatt Incheon, from Category 3 to 4
• Hyatt Centric Malta, from Category 2 to 3
• Hyatt Regency Kotor Bay Resort, from Category 4 to 5

Go figure that Hyatt is quick to rush out some immediate increases but not the decreases. Funny how that works, right? They aren’t in a rush to give customers a better deal with decreases. It’s sad to see that one hotel jumped two categories.

Distribution of hotels

Given I like looking at numbers, let’s take a deeper dive into the changes by looking at the distribution of all Hyatt hotels.

Last year, there was a big decrease in Category 1 hotels and this year is no different. There are a total of 39 Category 1 hotels moving up to Category 2 (with just 3 Category 2 hotels moving down to Category 1). It might sound like Category 1 still has a lot of hotels in it, but at this point, most of them are in Mainland China.

On the flip side, we’re seeing an extra five hotels moving up from Category 7 to Category 8. That might not sound like much, but it’s another 15% increase to the number of Category 8 hotels. This is on top of the 40% increase to the category last year (and doesn’t include the 1 hotel above that jumped to Category 8 off-cycle. With 39 hotels now priced as top-tier (2.4% of all hotels in traditional categories), isn’t it sad they once said this category was only supposed to hold just a few? There are now more Category 8 hotels than Category 7 hotels.

Overall, you can take a sum-product of the (old) standard points scale with the current and new distribution of hotels. It’ll suggest that on average prices are going up 1.6% with the award category change. You might balk at the numbers, but only 7% of hotels are going up in price with this shift and those 7% are driving a 1.6% increase across the entire portfolio even when factoring in the hotels getting decreases. That’s real money going back into Hyatt’s pockets.

And this extra 1.6% still doesn’t include the looming devaluation, which will devalue points anywhere between 17% and 38% on top.

Notable changes in Hyatt pricing

The devil is in the details. Included in this devaluation are quite a few hotels I’ve enjoyed in the recent past.

Personally-impactful hotels moving up to Category 5

Hyatt Regency Coral Gables. We loved our brief stay here. Away from the hustle and bustle of Downtown Miami, Coral Gables is easy even on a quick overnight hotel near the airport. The hotel is also walkable to the excellent Versailles for some delicious Cuban food. This Regency was an easy use of Category 1-4 free night certificates and now we’ll have to mourn.

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort. Though we never reviewed the property, we liked how convenient it is to both Disney and Universal Studios in Orlando and has free shuttle service to both. On top of that, the property gives enough reason of its own to spend time there with its expansive pools, golf course, and a private lake. It was a gem at Category 4 but we can’t make that same argument once it moves to Category 5.

Hyatt Regency Seattle. It’s not everyday that you can find a Hyatt Regency, a regular Hyatt, and a Grand Hyatt all right next to each other, but that’s what happened here in Seattle. And guess what? We kind of liked the Hyatt Regency the most of the three. This is the newest property and it has some good dining on property. At the time, we thought the price was icing on the cake. We’d probably still choose the Hyatt Regency, but we can see people choosing against it if needing to go to the Seattle conference center (it’s the furthest).

Other hotels moving up to Category 5: Hotel Figueroa, Hyatt Place Santa Cruz, Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale, Hyatt House Jersey City, Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, The Carolina Inn, Grand Hyatt Kuwait Residences, Jabal Omar Hyatt Regency Makkah, Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya, Hyatt Regency Lisbon, Hyatt Regency Hesperia Madrid

Thoughts on hotels moving up to Category 8

Andaz 5th Avenue. I remember coming here when it was a Category 5, then it moved to a 6 and it still felt like a decent value. Then, it moved up to a 7 and I could potentially get behind it as long as I had a Category 1-7 free night certificate to burn. But as an 8? I think all value has been robbed of this otherwise-excellent hotel. And can I just say that I miss the lemon souffle pancakes? You won’t find them here anymore since the restaurant serving them is also gone. Sad all around.

Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino. Did you know that Aruba technically counts as South America? I’ve heard decent things about this property, but it sure feels strange that a Regency is a Category 8. The room rates just didn’t seem to support it moving up to the highest category. I wanted to come here, but perhaps this is a sign not to.

Hôtel du Louvre. Paris, Paris, Paris. Just like the inflation problem going on in Japan, there’s another one going on in France. This one made sense as an alternative to the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome as a Category 7. As an 8, the value just doesn’t seem there.

Other hotels moving up to Category 8: Hotel Fluela Davos, Park Hyatt London River Thames.

Other noteworthy hotels

Andaz West Hollywood. We stayed here in February 2026 (review pending) and it honestly seemed like it was Category 6 just because it was in LA. It’s nice but I didn’t get the award pricing. Having this move down to a Category 5 makes more sense. Still, how much you get out of this hotel depends heavily on if you need to be in the area (and West Hollywood isn’t Hollywood).

Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino. We’re quite familiar with this hotel tucked away in Northern Lake Tahoe. It’s a nice place to hang out, but it’s not luxury even with recent renovations. The relationship between room rates and points made sense when this property was a Category 5, but I don’t get it as a Category 6. Sure, there is skiing a few miles away during the winter, but it’s not that convenient.

Hyatt Place Kyoto. This one seems to follow the trend of everything in Japan just going up in price. There’s a bit of over-tourism going on in the country and room rates are becoming a bit ridiculous. This property is still going to be affordable moving to a Category 3, up from Category 2. But we aren’t thrilled about the category inflation here.

Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport. When you’re stuck at an airport overnight with an early-morning flight, you want an easy option. While this isn’t the better airport option at DFW (that belongs to the Grand Hyatt), the Regency offered a cheaper alternative. With this moving to Category 4, it’ll still work for your Category 1-4 free night certificates but the value is all gone.

Things to note

Remember that you can book roughly a year out into the future, giving you a large window of opportunity to lock in current rates. Before you make prospective bookings, make sure to check the cancelation policy because even award rates might be non-cancelable.

If you are a Globalist, you could also take advantage of points advance bookings if you do not have enough points in your account. Points will eventually be deducted roughly a week before your stay at the new rate of the stay. However, if the rate has gone up from when you originally booked it, you can give the Globalist phone line a call and get manually refunded the difference.

Also, since any change to your reservation can cause it to reprice, you might want to consider booking each night of your stay separately. For example, if you were looking to have a three night stay starting on August 1, instead consider booking one night each on August 1, August 2, and August 3. If you have any doubt that you might not stay the whole time, booking each night individually allows you the flexibility to cancel one night and not have to pay the new rate on the other nights.

Final thoughts

We knew Hyatt award category changes were coming, but the magnitude of the changes is surprising. Part of the argument Hyatt made when pushing through the devaluation was that doing so would help minimize the need to make these award category changes. Instead, we got something that’s mostly consistent with recent memory as if the two changes are separate from each other.

Put simply, this is disappointing news from the program. Yes, it’s great that they still provide notice at all–something that stands them apart from their competitors. I don’t want to minimize that. But the end result is they’re still imploding their program, reducing the value of your hard-earned points anywhere between 20% and 40% overnight when combining the impacts. Had $10,000 of value in Hyatt points? Well, on May 20, that value drops to perhaps $7,000. It’s painful.

That’s why we continue to argue you need to earn and burn. Stop hoarding your points and use them because they will continue to lose value over time.

Suggested reading:

• Hyatt Guest of Honor: How It Works & What to Know
• Hyatt’s Brand Explorer: A Fun Way to Engage with Hotels
• Everything You Need to Know About Hyatt Lifetime Elite Status