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Hyatt’s new award chart is live, and you’re likely to pay more for an award stay than before — sometimes a lot more. Despite that, World of Hyatt points are still the most valuable hotel currency out there.
As of May 20, 2026, you’ll see five new tiers of demand-based pricing when redeeming Hyatt points for an award stay: Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper and Top. Those tiers replace the old three-tier system of Off-Peak, Standard and Peak pricing.
The changes mean you could end up using between 38% and 67% more points for a room.
If you tend to redeem points at lower-tier properties, such as airport hotels or brands, like Hyatt Place and Hyatt House, you may not notice a big difference. In fact, you may even get better value than before.
But if you’re like me and save your Hyatt points for midtier to upscale stays, including all-inclusive properties, the new award chart might have you questioning what to do next.
Here’s why I'm not worried — and how I’m handling the changes.
I’m not panicking
Since the award chart changes were announced in February 2026, I’ve received the same question from readers and friends: “I’ve been a Hyatt loyalist. Should I switch to a different hotel loyalty program?”
The answer is probably not.
Loyalty program devaluations are as unavoidable as death and taxes. For years, the value of a Hyatt point has been significantly higher than any other hotel loyalty currency. Prior to this devaluation, NerdWallet valued Hyatt points at 1.8 cents each. That’s 125% higher than the second-most-valuable hotel points — Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.8 cent each.
And my guess is that Hyatt will continue to have the most valuable hotel currency. I looked up one property in each category of the World of Hyatt program (Categories 1 to 8) to compare pre-change and post-change award prices, and only the new Lowest tier and sometimes the Low tier provide similar or better value for your points than the old award chart. That means Moderate, Upper and Top pricing will likely offer worse value than before.
I also compared that pricing to a comparable Marriott property in each city. Even when a Hyatt stay was priced in the Top tier of the new award chart, Hyatt points always provided better value than Marriott points.
It will take some time to assess how frequently hotels price into each of the five new tiers, but for now, I’m not panicking.
I’ll continue to earn transferable points for top-tier redemptions
Nearly all of my Hyatt award stays are at aspirational or all-inclusive properties paid for with points transferred to Hyatt from Chase Ultimate Rewards® and Bilt Rewards. Transferable points provide insulation from devaluations since you have more options for how to redeem them. Plus, the credit cards that earn those points often have better rewards rates than the World of Hyatt Credit Card, so you can stack points faster.
I’ll continue to focus my rewards strategy on earning those transferable rewards. If top-tier Hyatt properties continue to provide better value for my transfers than I’d get from other hotel programs, World of Hyatt will continue to get my transfers.
What you can do now
Devaluations are an inevitable part of the miles and points world. I advocate for focusing on what you can control:
- Earn transferable credit card rewards rather than going all-in on a single rewards program. I like earning a combination of transferable points, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Citi ThankYou Points and Bilt Rewards. That gives me maximum flexibility and access to more airline and hotel transfer partners.
- Remain strategically disloyal. Sure, elite status benefits are great. But I won't let that keep me from better offers. If another hotel brand starts offering better award stay deals than Hyatt, I'll take them.
- Be selective about Hyatt stays. I’m still going to target aspirational and all-inclusive award stays with Hyatt. But that probably means I have fewer Hyatt stays to work with, so I'll have to save my points for the stays that are truly worth it.
Top photo by Craig Joseph/NerdWallet.
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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