Hyatt Award Chart Changes May 20: What Hawaii Locals Need to Book
Aloha ʻohana. If you have World of Hyatt points sitting in your account and a trip in mind, drop what you're doing and read this. The biggest change to Hyatt's award chart in years lands tomorrow morning, and for those of us flying out of HNL, the deadline hits at an inconvenient hour: 3 a.m. HST on Wednesday, May 20. That's tonight, basically.
Hyatt is moving from a three-tier award chart (Off-Peak, Standard, Peak) to a five-tier chart with new "Lowest" and "Top" bookends. On top of that, 112 hotels are moving up a category and 24 are moving down. I dug through the full Hyatt list with kamaʻāina travel patterns in mind, and there's a mix of good news and some real punches to the gut.
What's actually changing tomorrow
Hyatt is keeping the same eight hotel categories (and six all-inclusive categories), but the pricing within each one is getting more granular. Instead of three possible point prices per category, every property will now have five potential redemption levels: Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper, and Top.
Hyatt says this isn't dynamic pricing. There's still a fixed chart, and redemption levels are set by "anticipated demand." But practically speaking, peak dates at the properties we actually want to visit (think school breaks, Golden Week, summer in Japan) are very likely to land in that new "Top" tier.
The category shifts hit at the same time: 9 a.m. EDT on May 20, which is 3 a.m. HST. If you book before then, you pay the current chart, even for stays well into 2027.
Good news: our Hawaii Hyatts aren't shifting
Here's the silver lining nobody on the mainland blogs is mentioning. I went through Hyatt's full list of 136 properties changing categories, and not a single Hawaii Hyatt is on it. That means:
- Andaz Maui at Wailea stays Category 8
- Grand Hyatt Kauaʻi Resort & Spa stays Category 8
- Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa stays Category 6
- Hyatt Regency Waikīkī Beach Resort stays Category 5
- Hyatt Centric Waikīkī Beach stays Category 5
- Hyatt Place Waikīkī Beach stays Category 4
The category is the same, but the pricing structure underneath it is what's changing. So a peak summer night at Andaz Maui or Grand Hyatt Kauaʻi that used to cost 45,000 points at the old "Peak" rate could now hit the new "Top" rate of 75,000 points. That's the catch.
Where this hurts kamaʻāina travelers
Now to the painful part. A bunch of properties kamaʻāina actually book regularly are jumping up a category, and Japan is taking the worst of it:
- Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay: Category 3 → 4. A go-to for Disney Tokyo trips.
- Hyatt Place Kyoto: Category 2 → 3. One of the best point-for-value spots in Japan, now meaningfully more expensive.
- Caption by Hyatt Namba Osaka: Category 2 → 3.
- Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya: Category 5 → 6.
- Hyatt Regency Seattle: Category 4 → 5. SEA is a major Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska hub for kamaʻāina, so this stings.
- Hyatt Regency Lake Washington (Southport, near SEA): Category 3 → 4.
- Hyatt House Anchorage: Category 3 → 4. Relevant for our Alaska adventure folks.
- Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe: Category 5 → 6.
A few brighter spots worth booking
Some properties are actually dropping a category. If any of these are on your radar, the new lower prices kick in automatically, and Hyatt will refund the point difference on existing bookings starting May 21:
- The Standard, Singapore: Category 5 → 4
- Andaz West Hollywood: Category 6 → 5
- Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica: Category 6 → 5
- Hyatt Place Santa Barbara: Category 6 → 5
- Andaz Macau: Category 5 → 4
- Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay (China): Category 7 → 6
- Hyatt Centric Playa del Carmen: Category 4 → 3
The new "Top" tier is the real story
The category shifts get the attention, but the bigger long-term issue is that new fifth pricing tier. Here's what the new "Top" rates look like for the categories most relevant to Hawaii outbound travel:
For context: Cat 4 covers Hyatt Place Waikīkī, Cat 5 covers both Hyatt Regency Waikīkī and Hyatt Centric Waikīkī, Cat 6 covers Hyatt Regency Maui, and Cat 8 covers both Andaz Maui at Wailea and Grand Hyatt Kauaʻi. The spread between Lowest and Top within each category is significant, and the new "Top" rate is meaningfully higher than the old "Peak" rate at every level.
What to lock in before 3 a.m. Wednesday
If you have any of these on your radar, get the reservation in tonight:
- Any peak-season stay at a Hawaii Hyatt (summer, winter break, spring break in 2026 or 2027). Same category, but old peak pricing locks in.
- Any Japan trip, especially Kyoto, Tokyo Bay, and Osaka stays.
- Seattle layovers or trips at Hyatt Regency Seattle or Lake Washington.
- Any Category 1-4 or Category 1-7 free night certificates burning a hole in your account, used at properties moving up a category.
Bookings are fully refundable if your plans change (just check the specific rate's cancellation policy). And you can transfer Bilt Rewards points to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio in real time if you need to top off your balance tonight.
Cancellation refunds the points you originally paid. So if you book tonight at a category that's going up, then cancel later, you still get the lower amount back. There's basically no downside to speculative booking before the deadline.
Scottie's Take
This is one of those moments where being a kamaʻāina who pays attention to loyalty programs actually pays off. Most casual Hyatt members won't realize anything changed until they go to book a peak-season Maui stay later this year and see a number 30,000 points higher than they expected. That's not a great surprise.
The bottom line: World of Hyatt is still one of the best hotel programs for Hawaii travel value, but the days of capping a peak Andaz Maui or Grand Hyatt Kauaʻi night at 45,000 points are ending in a few hours. If you have a 2026 or early 2027 Hawaii Hyatt stay even loosely planned, book it tonight. You can always cancel.
What stays are you locking in before the deadline? Drop a comment below or shoot me a message. Always happy to talk redemption strategy.
A hui hou
