The big news yesterday for yesterday was that Hyatt let the world know about some big changes coming to World of Hyatt in March 2020, namely the introduction of Peak and Off Peak pricing.
In this article
Hyatt Introduces Tiered Award Pricing – Standard, Peak, and Off-Peak
The move certainly seems to be a nod of Marriott’s introduction of somewhat similar Peak/Standard/Off-Peak pricing and, like Marriott, a way to edge towards charging more for days that are more in demand and less for days less in demand – without moving to a truly dynamic system like Hilton has done (albeit with a cap on pricing by category) and like IHG has indicated they are working on.
I don’t truly mind this *too much* given that it’s so preferable to a truly dynamic award system. Meaning that if you can find standard space during a peak time (holiday, event, etc) you can still get the room at a reasonable award price relative to cash, even if it’s more in March than it is in February. I’m obviously not saying I love it but I don’t find myself overly worked up about it either.
It’s important to note a key difference between how Marriott’s peak pricing works and how Hyatt will work
With Marriott, each hotel has peak, standard, and off-peak dates that get set at the property level and change from time to time. March 15th can be off peak at a hotel today and by February it can be peak. There are also some games played, in my opinion, such as a hotel that makes every Friday and Saturday night peak (looking at you, Renaissance Amsterdam).
With Hyatt, it won’t be by property but by geographic area. And once a day is designated as peak or standard or off-peak, it won’t change. So, sure, the Caribbean is likely to have more peak in the winter and Europe is going to be more off-peak in the winter, by example, but at least it will be somewhat predictable by the looks of it.
Hyatt spells out some details on their website:
(Below bullet points are verbatim from Hyatt’s website.)
- If the redemption amount for a night on an existing award reservation is lowered to Off-peak in March, we’ll automatically refund the point difference,and if it goes to Peak, you won’t be charged any more points.
- Points + Cash will also offer Off-peak and Peak point redemption. The cash required will still be 50% of the rate.
- Free nights in suites will also be offered at Off-peak and Peak redemption.
- You’ll have plenty of time to plan ahead. Redemption rates for free nights will be announced as soon as nights are available for reservations (usually 13 months in advance), and won’t change once posted. A new online calendar will help you plan (coming soon).
- Hotel award categories aren’t changing – there are still 8.
The New Hyatt Standard Room Award Chart
| HOTEL CATEGORY | OFF-PEAK | STANDARD | PEAK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
POINTS PER NIGHT
|
||||
|
3,500
|
5,000
|
6,500
|
||
|
6,500
|
8,000
|
9,500
|
||
|
9,000
|
12,000
|
15,000
|
||
|
12,000
|
15,000
|
18,000
|
||
|
17,000
|
20,000
|
23,000
|
||
|
21,000
|
25,000
|
29,000
|
||
|
25,000
|
30,000
|
35,000
|
||
|
35,000
|
40,000
|
45,000
|
||
You can see the rest of the new pricing including suites and points + cash here.
One upside
The annual Category 1-4 nights that you get with the The World of Hyatt Credit Card will be valid all times, including at peak times.
Overall, I’m of course not thrilled about the changes but at least we have plenty of notice and hey, it could have been worse.
On to Other News
Let’s start with Delta’s latest Flash Sale…
Delta Skymiles Flash Sale
This Flash Sale offers round trips to Europe in economy from 22,000 miles round trip.
To see the city pairs and eligible dates, you can see the sale here.
Alaska Airlines Amex Offer
Doctor of Credit calls out a $40 off $200 Amex Offer on now. I didn’t have it on any of my Amex credit cards, but maybe you do.
Plastiq has sent out a targeted offer
(For those that don’t know, Plastiq is a service that lets you pay bills that can’t be paid with a credit card…. with a credit card. But they do take a standard 2.5% fee.)
It’s something, but it’s not fantastic compared to their normal offers. We often see something more akin to a half-price net fee where you pay a certain amount and get an equal amount of fee free dollars to use later. Basically, a 50% fee discount after you spend the credit.
This deal is only 10% back. You also must have been targeted by Plastiq to use the deal. Check your emails…
Edible Coffee Cups
These coffee cups onboard Air New Zealand look delicious. HT: View from the Wing
We’re always looking for ways to reduce waste on board, so we’re trialing an edible biscotti coffee cup from twiice ? Who’s eating their cup once they’ve finished what’s inside? ☕️ #AirNZSusty pic.twitter.com/SFgL16dDLC
— Air New Zealand✈️ (@FlyAirNZ) December 3, 2019
What do you think?
Tell me here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
