World of Hyatt Annual Award Chart to Update on 28 March 2023 - Buy Points with 25% Bonus until 25 March 2023 (Lock In Stays Now!)

World of Hyatt publishes an annual award chart update each year that changes the number of points required for a free night at some hotels - this also directly affects the usage of free night certificates at properties as well. The award category chart updates have been published by Hyatt now and they will take effect on 28 March 2023 but you can lock in your stays by booking before this date to take advantage of the property's current rates. If you do not have enough World of Hyatt points, you may consider buying them before 25 March 2023 to enjoy a 25% bonus on point purchases.

Click HERE for the full list of updates to the Award Category Chart!

Photo Credit: Grand Hyatt Jeju

As you would expect, most properties in this list are moving up a category which means it will soon require more points for a free night. World of Hyatt is one of the last few hotel loyalty programs that offer a fixed award chart for a Standard Room and the number of points required for an award night is fixed depending on the Hotel Category, as well as whether it falls on an Off-Peak, Standard, or Peak day. As you may already know, Category 1 properties require only 3,500 points per night on an off-peak day and this is fantastic at properties like the Grand Hyatt Bali and the Hyatt Regency Bali which are both Category 1 properties since the average room rate typically goes for approximately USD 130 each night. However, do note that these properties will be moving to Category 2 from 28 March 2023, so I highly recommend that you make those redemption bookings soon.

Photo Credit: Hyatt

World of Hyatt is also running the Bonus Journeys Global Promotion soon and members can earn 3,000 points every two nights from their second eligible stay between 20 March 2023 and 26 May 2023 - this also includes award nights on points. What this means to say is that if you were to redeem two nights at the Hyatt Regency Bali on off-peak days for 7,000 points, you will receive 3,000 bonus points under this promotion and this brings the total cost per night to just 2,000 points (which is an absolute steal).

If you are running low on points, there is currently a 25% bonus on World of Hyatt point purchases so long you do so before 25 March 2023 - this brings the average price per point down to 1.92 cents (USD). This also means that a free night at a Category 1 property will start at only USD 67.20 (assuming it requires only 3,500 poitns per night), regardless of what the actual cash rate is.

Here are some upcoming changes to the hotel category for properties in Asia & Pacific from 28 March 2023 that you might wish to pay attention to - so make sure you lock in those stays if you wish to take advantage of the current rates:

• Grand Hyatt Bali: Category 1 to Category 2 (+1)

• Hyatt Regency Bali: Category 1 to Category 2 (+1)

• Grand Hyatt Jeju: Category 4 to Category 5 (+1)

• Grand Hyatt Seoul: Category 4 to Category 5 (+1)

• Park Hyatt Saigon: Category 4 to Category 5 (+1)

• Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok: Category 2 to Category 3 (+1)

Photo Credit: Hyatt Regency Suzhou

There are quite a number of properties moving down a category from 28 March 2023 but you will not be disadvantaged if you were to book them now as you will receive a refund for the point difference if the hotel moved to a lower category:

• Hyatt Regency Suzhou: Category 2 to Category 1 (-1) Hyatt Regency Kyoto: Category 6 to Category 5 (-1)

• Hyatt Place Kyoto: Category 4 to Category 3 (-1)

• Hotel Éclat Taipei: Category 2 to Category 1 (-1)

Do note that the movement of the hotel category will also affect the use of free night certificates. For example, the Park Hyatt Saigon has long been a fantastic place to utilise the free night certificate (Category 1-4) but starting from 28 March 2023, you will no longer be able to utilise that free night certificate there anymore as it moves to Category 5.