159. The Hyatt Award Chart Overhaul: Points Strategy Shifts with The Points and Miles Doc
Point Me To First Class
Devon Gimbel MD
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 103 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over the past decade, Hyatt has had one of the most beloved hotel loyalty programs in the points world—and a big reason for that has been its simple, predictable award chart that made it possible to get incredible value from Hyatt points.
That's (potentially) about to change as Hyatt recently announced a major overhaul to its award chart structure that will introduce dozens of new pricing levels and dramatically shift how award nights are priced at properties around the world. In this episode, I'm joined by Kelly, the Points and Miles Doc, to dig into what Hyatt announced, what these changes mean in practice for people who use Hyatt points, and whether this fundamentally shifts the value of Hyatt points going forward.
We talk about the mechanics of the new evolved award chart, the potential impact on different types of travelers, why Hyatt made this change now, how it compares to what could have happened, and what strategy adjustments—if any—points users should consider making in response to these changes.
If you've been following this announcement or you use Hyatt points for hotel stays, this episode walks through the details you need to understand what's shifting, what's staying the same, and how to position yourself for these changes.
Get full show notes and transcript: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/hyatt-award-chart-changes-2026
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Point Me to First Class, the only show for employed professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners who are looking to optimize their higher than average expenses to travel the world. |
| 0:10.7 | I'm your host, Devin Gimble, and I believe that your expenses are your greatest untapped asset, if you know how to leverage them. |
| 0:17.8 | Ready to dive into the world of credit card points and miles so you can travel more, travel better, and travel often. Let's get started. |
| 0:29.5 | Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. Over the past decade, Hyatt has had one of the most |
| 0:35.4 | beloved hotel loyalty programs in the entire |
| 0:38.0 | points and Miles world. And a big reason for that is something that has become increasingly |
| 0:42.6 | rare in loyalty programs in general, using a simple, predictable award chart that made it |
| 0:47.8 | possible to get incredible value from Hyatt points. Now for the redemption value calculating fans |
| 0:52.7 | in the audience, that could look like |
| 0:54.2 | getting anywhere from two up to even eight or nine cents per point in value or more using Hyatt |
| 1:00.5 | points to book hotel stays, particularly at their higher end aspirational properties. With a points |
| 1:06.5 | high of 45,000 points per night to book stays during even peak times at Hyatt's highest ranked |
| 1:11.9 | category eight properties, advocates of the World of Hyatt Loyalty Program have long touted |
| 1:16.9 | how much more affordable in points a luxury Hyatt stay could be compared to needing, say, |
| 1:22.8 | 120 to 160,000 points to stay at a top-tier Marriott property like the St. Regis Borabora, |
| 1:29.2 | or up to 230,000 points per night for a standard room at a high-end Hilton property like Hermitage Bay |
| 1:36.2 | in Antigua. But that is about to change because Hyatt recently announced a major |
| 1:41.7 | overhaul to its award chart structure that will introduce dozens of |
| 1:45.3 | new pricing levels and dramatically change how award nights are priced at many properties around |
| 1:50.8 | the world. In fact, some people in this space are calling this the single biggest devaluation |
| 1:55.7 | in award travel period. So today, we're going to dig into what Hyatt actually announced, |
| 2:00.7 | what these changes mean in practice for dig into what Hyatt actually announced, what these changes |
... |
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