Anyone who has booked a reservation prior to Sunday, March 8, 2020 — and paid for the reservation in full in advance, which does not qualify for a refund — for travel through June of 2020 at any of the greater than 900 hotel or resort properties within the portfolio of 17 lodging brands of Hyatt may receive 10,000 World of Hyatt points if he or she wants to cancel the reservation.
Is 10,000 World of Hyatt Points Worth Canceling a Restricted Reservation?
Included as part of an e-mail message which was sent out to customers and members of the World of Hyatt frequent guest loyalty program, Mark Hoplamazian — who is the president and chief executive officer of Hyatt Hotels Corporation — was this paragraph:
We understand the need for increased flexibility with travel planning right now. To help guests, World of Hyatt is now extending special exceptions for all Advance Purchase Rate non-refundable reservations made directly with Hyatt on or before March 8, 2020 for travel through June 2020. If interested, guests holding these fully prepaid reservations who have decided not to travel may opt to receive 10,000 World of Hyatt Bonus Points compensation in lieu of their stay to use toward future travel at any of our 900+ hotels across 17 brands globally. For full details and to make arrangements, guests can call one of our Global Contact Centers or email us at worldofhyatt@hyatt.com. Guests must contact us at least 48 hours before their stay to elect this (World of Hyatt Explorists and Globalists must contact us at least 24 hours before their stay dates to elect this). For interested non-members, colleagues will be able to quickly assist with enrolling the guest into World of Hyatt and creating a World of Hyatt account to deposit the points.
Even though a recipient opts to receive 10,000 World of Hyatt points, canceling a reservation in which no refunds are permitted will still incur penalties.
Restricted reservations which were booked elsewhere other than directly with Hyatt also qualify for the 10,000 World of Hyatt points — but customers must contact the company with which they booked the reservation in order to cancel it.
Before the question of whether 10,000 World of Hyatt points is worth canceling a restricted reservation, a review of the current and new award charts are in order.
Award Charts — Current and New
Remember that World of Hyatt award charts are changing later this month, and the complete details and information are included in this article.
The current point redemption values for each free night award category through Saturday, March 21, 2020 are as follows:
| Hotel Category | Standard Room Points Per Night | Regency/Grand Club Points Per Night | Standard Suite Points Per Night |
Premium Suite Points Per Night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5,000 | 7,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 8,000 | 12,000 | 13,000 | 16,000 |
| 3 | 12,000 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 24,000 |
| 4 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 24,000 | 30,000 |
| 5 | 20,000 | 27,000 | 32,000 | 40,000 |
| 6 | 25,000 | 33,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
| 7 | 30,000 | 39,000 | 48,000 | 60,000 |
| 8 | 40,000 | — | — | — |
The current award chart shows that you can only redeem points for Standard Room points per night at Category 8 hotel and resort properties. The new award charts introduce the point redemption amounts per night for Category 8 hotel and resort properties for Regency/Grand Club, Standard Suite, and Premium Suite awards.
| STANDARD ROOM | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Category |
Points Per Night
|
|||
|
3,500
|
5,000
|
6,500
|
30.00 percent
|
|
|
6,500
|
8,000
|
9,500
|
18.75 percent
|
|
|
9,000
|
12,000
|
15,000
|
25.00 percent
|
|
|
12,000
|
15,000
|
18,000
|
20.00 percent
|
|
|
17,000
|
20,000
|
23,000
|
15.00 percent
|
|
|
21,000
|
25,000
|
29,000
|
16.00 percent
|
|
|
25,000
|
30,000
|
35,000
|
16.67 percent
|
|
|
35,000
|
40,000
|
45,000
|
12.50 percent
|
|
| STANDARD SUITE | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Category |
Points Per Night
|
|||
|
6,500
|
8,000
|
9,500
|
18.75 percent
|
|
|
11,500
|
13,000
|
14,500
|
11.54 percent
|
|
|
17,000
|
20,000
|
23,000
|
15.00 percent
|
|
|
21,000
|
24,000
|
27,000
|
12.50 percent
|
|
|
29,000
|
32,000
|
35,000
|
9.38 percent
|
|
|
36,000
|
40,000
|
44,000
|
10.00 percent
|
|
|
43,000
|
48,000
|
53,000
|
10.42 percent
|
|
|
56,000
|
61,000
|
66,000
|
8.20 percent
|
|
| PREMIUM SUITE | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Category |
Points Per Night
|
|||
|
7,000
|
10,000
|
13,000
|
30.00 percent
|
|
|
13,000
|
16,000
|
19,000
|
18.75 percent
|
|
|
18,000
|
24,000
|
30,000
|
25.00 percent
|
|
|
24,000
|
30,000
|
36,000
|
20.00 percent
|
|
|
34,000
|
40,000
|
46,000
|
15.00 percent
|
|
|
42,000
|
50,000
|
58,000
|
16.00 percent
|
|
|
50,000
|
60,000
|
70,000
|
16.67 percent
|
|
|
70,000
|
80,000
|
90,000
|
12.50 percent
|
|
| REGENCY/GRAND CLUB | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Category |
Points Per Night
|
|||
|
5,500
|
7,000
|
8,500
|
21.43 percent
|
|
|
10,500
|
12,000
|
13,500
|
12.50 percent
|
|
|
14,000
|
17,000
|
20,000
|
17.65 percent
|
|
|
18,000
|
21,000
|
24,000
|
14.29 percent
|
|
|
24,000
|
27,000
|
30,000
|
11.11 percent
|
|
|
29,000
|
33,000
|
37,000
|
12.12 percent
|
|
|
34,000
|
39,000
|
44,000
|
12.82 percent
|
|
|
45,000
|
50,000
|
55,000
|
10.00 percent
|
|
The redemption of 10,000 World of Hyatt points will get you at least one free night in standard room at a Category 3 hotel or resort property — or two nights or almost three nights in a Category 1 hotel or resort property — during off-peak season.
You can also get one free night in a standard suite, premium suite, Regency room, or Grand Club room at a Category 1 hotel or resort property.
Points + Cash awards — as well as some partner awards and other types of awards — allow for even more options pertaining to using 10,000 World of Hyatt points.
Cancellation Fees Waived For…
As a reminder — to provide additional flexibility to guests with travel plans in countries with severe travel restrictions — Hyatt is waiving cancellation fees for stays through Tuesday, March 31, 2020 for guests:
- Who reside in Greater China, South Korea, Japan and Italy with reservations at Hyatt hotel and resort properties globally
- With reservations at Hyatt hotel and resort properties in Greater China, South Korea, Japan and Italy
Summary
This offer is in place because of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus situation which is spreading worldwide.
If you look at this offer from the point of view that receiving 10,000 World of Hyatt points is better than nothing when canceling a restricted reservation which was paid in full in advance and does not qualify for a refund, then this is a great deal — especially if the customer needs to cancel the reservation…
…but I personally would not cancel a restricted reservation and incur its penalties simply to get 10,000 World of Hyatt points.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
