The World of Hyatt loyalty program offers many opportunities to redeem points for stays at more than 1,500 hotels and resorts worldwide. Properties ranging from convenient airport locations to five-star Park Hyatt hotels are divided into categories that determine how many points you need for an award night.
Navigating Hyatt hotel categories can be challenging; however, Hyatt lets you search by category so you see only properties within your budget in points. Here are some tips to keep in mind when embarking on your journey into World of Hyatt redemption categories.
What are Hyatt hotel categories?
Every World of Hyatt hotel falls into a category, from 1 through 8. The higher the category, the more points needed to redeem an award night.
Generally, a hotel’s category is determined by variables like location, type of property and demand. Upscale Hyatt brands like Park Hyatt and Hyatt Regency, as well as hotels in desirable locations, are usually in categories 5 through 8.
If you’re planning a trip to Miami, for example, you could choose a Category 3 property like Hyatt Place Miami Airport-East, located across from the airport. If a glamorous boutique hotel in Miami Beach is more your style, a Category 6 property such as Andaz Miami Beach could be your choice.
Not all properties fall into categories 1 through 8. All-inclusive resorts, Miraval resorts and Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties use a different pricing system.
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Hyatt award charts: Higher-demand nights cost more
As of May 20, 2026, Hyatt has changed its award chart, significantly raising the ceiling on how much most nights will cost when booking with points.
Prior to the change, Hyatt used three pricing tiers for room rates: Off-Peak, Standard and Peak. Now, there are five pricing tiers: Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper and Top. That means award prices are more dynamic and demand-based than before. Most notably, the number of points needed for the highest-demand nights have risen dramatically.
Here's how much you should expect to spend at category 1 through 8 hotels:
- Lowest: Fewer points are needed when hotels are the least busy, offering the best value. Rates range from 3,000 to 35,000 points per night.
- Low: More points are required when hotels are busier, ranging from 4,500 to 45,000 points per night.
- Moderate: This middle-of-the-pack tier ranges from 6,000 to 55,000 points per night.
- Upper: When hotels are busier than normal, expect to pay 7,500 to 65,000 points per night.
- Top: These are the most expensive and highest-demand nights, ranging from 9,000 to 75,000 points per night.
To browse the number of points you need for rooms of every type and in every category, see the charts here.
Under the old award chart, Off-Peak rates ranged from 3,500 to 35,000 points per night, while Peak rates ranged from 6,500 to 45,000 points per night.
How much category pricing has increased since the change
While the Lowest tier of pricing seems relatively similar to the old Off-Peak rates, the biggest change has been to Hyatt properties on the highest-demand nights. Here’s how much the maximum prices have increased when comparing peak rates to the Top tier:
- Category 1: 6,500 is now 9,000 points (+38%).
- Category 2: 9,500 is now 15,000 points (+58%).
- Category 3: 15,000 is now 20,000 points (+33%).
- Category 4: 18,000 is now 25,000 points (+39%).
- Category 5: 23,000 is now 35,000 points (+52%).
- Category 6: 29,000 is now 40,000 points (+38%).
- Category 7: 35,000 is now 55,000 points (+57%).
- Category 8: 45,000 is now 75,000 points (+67%).
For more information about the changes, read our analysis.
How to find Hyatt hotels by category
With some hotel loyalty programs, it can be difficult to find properties where you’ll have enough points for an award stay. You have to keep searching for different dates or cities to find a room in your points budget. But Hyatt has a better way — if you know where to look.
From Hyatt’s homepage, click “Loyalty Program” and then select “Redeem” among the drop-down options.
Scroll down the page and click the “Explore Reward Destinations” box, which will open a map of Hyatt locations.
You also can find the map by going to the homepage, clicking “Explore” and then selecting “Hotels & Resorts.”
On the map you’ll see a “Filters” box in the top left-hand corner of the page. Click on it to sort properties by hotel brand, amenities and — most helpful for award night searches — categories, with the number of points you need for a stay in each category clearly displayed.
Search Hyatt categories
Let’s say, for example, you have 20,000 points and you’re looking to put them to use for a free hotel stay. You could get six Lowest-tier nights at a Category 1, three nights at a Category 2, or two nights at a Category 3 hotel.
To find results that fit into your points budget, select hotel Categories 1, 2 and 3 from the filter and you will see the number of results in the specific area. In our example, the results dropped from 1,184 to 536.
The map will show all the hotels that fall into your search criteria. If, for example, you’ve decided to go to Philadelphia, zoom into the Philadelphia area or type “Philadelphia” into the search bar to see your options.
For each result, you’ll see a “Points Calendar.” Click on it and you’ll see a calendar listing the nightly price in points for that property.
How to earn Hyatt points quickly
Beyond qualifying hotel stays, another way to amass a large number of points is to earn a sign-up bonus for a Hyatt credit card. There are two cards available: one personal or consumer card, and one business card.
World of Hyatt credit cards
Annual fee
World of Hyatt Credit Card
$95.
World of Hyatt Business Credit Card
$199.
Welcome offer
World of Hyatt Credit Card
Earn up to 60,000 Bonus Points. Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.
World of Hyatt Business Credit Card
60,000 Bonus Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
Reward earn rates
World of Hyatt Credit Card
• 4 points per $1 at Hyatt hotels and resorts.
• 2 points per $1 on dining, airline tickets purchased directly from the airline, gym memberships, and local transit and commuting.
• 1 point per $1 on all other eligible purchases.
World of Hyatt Business Credit Card
• 4 points per $1 at Hyatt hotels and resorts.
• 2 points per $1 in your top three spend categories each quarter.
• 2 points per $1 on fitness club and gym memberships.
• 1 point per $1 on all other eligible purchases.
Benefits
World of Hyatt Credit Card
• Earn one free night on each cardmember anniversary to redeem at any Category 1-4 World of Hyatt property.
• World of Hyatt Discoverist status.
• Earn five elite night credits when you get the card, and two additional elite night credits for every $5,000 spent.
World of Hyatt Business Credit Card
• Earn up to a $100 Hyatt statement credit on your cardmember anniversary.
• World of Hyatt Discoverist status.
• Earn a rebate of 10% of points (up to 200,000 points) redeemed after reaching $50,000 in annual spend.
• Earn five elite night credits for every $10,000 spent.
Learn more
If you seek more flexibility in redeeming miles for hotel stays, consider applying for a more general travel credit card instead. A more general travel credit card differs from a hotel card in that you can book lodging at multiple hotel chains, rather than reaping the benefits of staying loyal to a single brand.
» Learn more: The best Hyatt credit card offers
🤓 Nerdy Tip
Hyatt is a transfer partner of Chase, so if you earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points via a Chase credit card, you can bolster your Hyatt account by transferring your Chase points. The more high-end the travel credit card, the more benefits you can enjoy, including airport lounge access or automatic elite status in certain programs. That said, a brand-specific hotel card can net you benefits like late checkout or free breakfast, which can have meaningful dollar value.
(Top photo courtesy of Hyatt)
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2026:
- Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph® Card
- Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Luxury perks: American Express Platinum Card®
- Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
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