Hyatt Devaluation

Hyatt recently announced changes to their Gold Passport program that will become effective on January 6, 2014.  The changes have been discussed in numerous travel blogs since the announcement.

Changes include the introduction of a new hotel category (7) that fortunately only includes 6 properties at the current time.  Unfortunately, those 6 properties are among the most "aspirational" properties in Hyatt's portfolio and includes:

-  Park Hyatt Beaver Creek
-  Park Hyatt Milan
-  Park Hyatt Paris Vendome
-  Park Hyatt Sydney
-  Park Hyatt Tokyo
-  Park Hyatt Zurich

The new category 7 will require 30,000 Gold Passport Points per night for redemption, an increase of nearly 27% over the previously required 22,000 points per night.

Here is a comparison of Hyatt's current award chart, and the new chart that goes into effect on January 6, 2104.

While Categories 1-4 remain the same for standard rooms, there is only a modest increase in Categories 5-6.

The bigger changes are noted if wanting to redeem Gold Passport points for Regency Club/Grand Club access or for a suite.

As you can see, there was only a modest increase in points needed if wanting to redeem points for Regency Club/Grand Club access, and a 50% increase if wanting to redeem points for a suite which I felt was reasonable.

The new changes require substantially more points than previous.  While I never took advantage of redeeming points for Regency Club/Grand Club access, or for a suite this will definitely put a hamper on those wishing to use their Gold Passport points.

Although the changes in Categories 1-6 are reasonable, the introduction of Category 7 with a substantial increase in points needed for redemption will definitely make planning a trip to one of these properties more of a priority before the changes take place.

If planning a trip to one of these destinations, it would be wise to book your rooms before the changes take place.