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Hyatt major news: March 22 hotel category changes delayed to 2021; more reservation flexibility

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Hyatt has announced several new updates for members regarding new hotel reservations and a delay from March 22 to 2021 for hotel category reward night changes, peak and nonpeak rates set to go into effect this month. These are very consumer-friendly changes for members in the face of travel disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Below are the details sent today by Hyatt regarding current and future hotel reservations and delay in changes to hotel rewards.

Hyatt waiving change & cancellation fees

Existing reservations for upcoming travel between March 14 and April 30, 2020:

All existing reservations made before March 13, 2020 that are for arrivals between March 14 and April 30, 2020 can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival. This includes Advance Purchase Rate reservations.

New reservations for any future travel:

Any reservation you make between March 13, 2020, and April 30, 2020 – for any future arrival date – can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival. This includes Advance Purchase Rate reservations.

Existing Advance Purchase Rate non-refundable reservations for travel through June 2020:

As announced earlier this week, special exceptions are in place for all Advance Purchase Rate non-refundable reservations made directly with Hyatt on or before March 8, 2020 for arrivals before June 30, 2020. Guests holding these fully prepaid reservations who have decided not to travel may still opt at least 24 hours before their stay to receive 10,000 World of Hyatt Bonus Points compensation in lieu of both their stay and the offer above (if eligible). World of Hyatt points may be used toward future travel at any of our 900+ hotels across 17 brands globally.

Guests who booked via online travel agents or other third parties are advised to contact their booking provider for information on their policies and for assistance.

World of Hyatt loyalty program

Suspending Points Forfeiture:

We will be suspending the forfeiture of points through May 31, 2020. As a reminder, our general policy is that points do not expire, but they will be forfeited if a member’s account is inactive for 24 consecutive months.

Postponing Award Chart Changes:

We are postponing the introduction of Off-peak and Peak point redemption (originally planned for March 22, 2020) until 2021. This means that free-night redemptions will continue to be at standard rates for the rest of this year. Before we launch Off-peak and Peak point redemptions for stay dates in 2021 and beyond, we’ll give you and our members advance notice as we always do.

Additionally, we are postponing our annual hotel award category changes (originally planned for March 22, 2020) until 2021, with the exception of five hotels still shifting award categories on March 22, 2020. Those hotels and their new category assignments include:

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Any free night award and Points + Cash redemptions booked at these hotels on or after Sunday, March 22 at 8:00 am CDT will follow the new Award Chart. Members who have existing award bookings for a night after Sunday, March 22 that moves to a lower award category will receive an automatic one-time refund on the point difference. Points will be refunded in members’ accounts starting on Monday, March 23. Once changes go into effect on Sunday, March 22 at 8:00 am CDT, any adjustments made to existing reservations will follow the terms of the new Award Chart.

Evaluating Elite Tier Qualification & Benefit Extension:

In February, World of Hyatt extended elite tier status and award expiration dates for qualifying members residing in Asia Pacific. Please visit the World of Hyatt COVID-19 FAQs for details.

Given the quickly evolving nature of the situation, it is simply too early to suggest revised elite tier qualifications and award expiration beyond members in Asia Pacific. However, we know that adjustments will need to be made, and we are committed to communicating these updates as we can.

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Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill

3 Comments

  • HChris March 13, 2020

    Them not changing categories is actually affecting me negatively as I was planning to book some stays for late 2020 and the properties I was looking at were planned to go down one category. Oh well… I guess there are many other things to worry about right now but this.

  • Ric Garrido March 13, 2020

    @HChris – Same issue for me. I was planning to redeem my free category 1-4 night at Hyatt Regency Amsterdam. Won’t be able to do that now if it remains category 5 for rest of 2020.

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