Hyatt Award Changes: What it means for your Hyatt Chase Credit Card.

So I think everyone by now is well aware of the Hyatt Award Chart “changes” announced yesterday. And hopefully evaluated the award chart changes with respect to using the Hyatt annual free night certificate  and of course, your vacation plans. These changes go into effect on March 18, 2019. Here are some of the specifics Hyatt has clearly provided on their page regarding bookings made before or after:

  • When you book before March 18, your reservations will follow the current free night award chart found here.
  • Reservations made on or after March 18 will follow the new free night award chart and incorporate the updates noted below
  • Existing reservations for nights on or after March 18 will receive a refund for the point difference if the hotel moved to a lower category

Rather than rant on about my own personal reactions to the chart, I thought I would put this in perspective with respect to the Hyatt Credit Card Annual Free Night.  That’s the first thing I look at to understand what Hyatt has done with its award chart.

If you don’t already know about it the Hyatt Credit Card offers an annual free night certificate at card anniversary every year. The catch is the annual fee is $95 and there being a restriction on the night to Category 1-4 hotels. 

a silver credit card with a chip and a blue and white logo

So of the 259 hotels changing categories, 18 of the changes result in hotels being no longer available for the Hyatt credit card annual free night certificates and 12 result in hotels being newly available for annual free night certificate redemption.  


Hotels No Longer Available for Credit Card Free Nights:

My takeaways:

  • San Francisco will no longer have a single full service property available for the Hyatt Credit Card free night
  • Hong Kong will no longer have any properties within city limits available for the annual free night. 
  • Seattle will no longer have any full service properties within city limits for the annual free night
  • Amsterdam will not have a Hyatt Property in the city centre for annual free night certificate 
  • The on terminal hotel at DFW will no longer be available for the annual free night. 
  • Other casualties: Park Hyatt Hamburg, Andaz Costa Rica Papagayo. and Hyatt Regency Cologne
Hotel NameCurrent CategoryFuture CategoryPoints Required NowPoints Required After March 18
Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco4515,00020,000
Hyatt Place Dewey Beach4515,00020,000
Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami4515,00020,000
Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa4515,00020,000
Hyatt Regency Boston4515,00020,000
Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown4515,00020,000
Grand Hyatt DFW4515,00020,000
Hyatt House Virginia Beach / Oceanfront4515,00020,000
Grand Hyatt Seattle4515,00020,000
Hyatt at Olive 84515,00020,000
Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo4515,00020,000
Hyatt Regency Cologne4515,00020,000
Park Hyatt Hamburg4515,00020,000
Hyatt Regency Amsterdam4515,00020,000
Hyatt Regency Sochi4515,00020,000
Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui4515,00020,000
Park Hyatt Busan4515,00020,000
Hyatt Regency Guam4515,00020,000

Hotels Now Available for Credit Card Free Nights:

My takeaways: 

  • Chicago now has some options for the annual free certificates. I stayed at the Hyatt Centric The Loop and it was definitely a nice property. 
  • New York City now has some options via Jersey City. The PATH train merely takes 10-15 minutes to get to Manhattan and those hotels offer the best views of the City. How can you see the skyline from within Manhattan anyway?
  • San Diego  now has two full service properties at your certificate’s disposal
  • Other wins: Hyatt Centric Waikiki, Park Hyatt Zanzibar, Park Hyatt Istanbul 
HotelCURRENT CategoryNEW CategoryCURRENT  Points Per NightNEW Points Per Night
Andaz San Diego5420,00015,000
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego5420,00015,000
Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach5420,00015,000
Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile5420,00015,000
Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago5420,00015,000
Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina5420,00015,000
Hyatt House Jersey City5420,00015,000
Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson5420,00015,000
Park Hyatt Istanbul – Macka Palas5420,00015,000
Hyatt Regency Kiev5420,00015,000
Park Hyatt Zanzibar5420,00015,000
Park Hyatt Hangzhou5420,00015,000

Bottom Line:

They really hit Hong Kong, San Francisco, Seattle, and the premium properties in Western Europe hard. Overall the changes are negative if you weigh in the numbers (18-12 in favor of devaluation), but there are some diamonds in the rough. 

I for one am very pleased with the fact that both Hyatt Jersey City properties are now available for annual free night redemption.  If you don’t know already Exchange Place has the best views of New York City. You can easily see both upper and lower Manhattan:  

a city skyline with lights reflecting on water
As seen from Hyatt Regency Jersey City

Oh the changes in Chicago are also a win though the hotel market there is quite competitive for redeeming free nights. 


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