Hyatt Is Latest to Adjust Prices for Free Nights

Just a week after Hilton announced decidedly benign changes to its award pricing, Hyatt is doing the same.

Today Hyatt posted on its website a list of hotels that will change award categories beginning on August 1. On that day, 56 properties will shift to a lower category, requiring fewer points for a free night, and 50 will shift to a higher category, requiring more points for a free night.

With more price cuts than price increases, the net effect, at least numerically, is a plus for members of Gold Passport. Of course, the analysis will be complicated by travelers’ own preferences when changes at specific hotels are considered. Is the one-category price decrease at the Hyatt Place Fredericksburg precisely offset by the one-category price increase at Hyatt Place in North Charleston? Maybe, maybe not. In any case, the changes are likely a wash for most program members, and certainly not a significant devaluation.

As always with award-price changes, program members should peruse the list of affected properties, and book hotels that will decrease in price after the change after August 1, and do the opposite for hotels that will increase in price.

Reader Reality Check

Are the upcoming price changes a game-changer for you?

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After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.