Hyatt Redemptions will now be subject to peak/off peak rates

[GSP]

I see that Hyatt are now introducing Peak, Off Peak redemption rates for their places to stay starting March this year. More detail here: Hyatt.com

Below it the table (remarkably copied well). The "standard" is how it is now which is now complimented by Off-Peak and Peak rates. The only thing I haven't seen on their website is when the seasons are for a given hotel. I also see if you have a redemption in the future and it falls into off peak, Hyatt will refund the differences. At 3500 points for Tier 1 (and there are a few about), makes it pretty economical...but then I would like to see what "Off peak" actually means.

Will do a bit of searching.

HOTEL CATEGORY	OFF-PEAK	STANDARD	PEAK
	POINTS PER NIGHT
1	3,500	5,000	6,500
2	6,500	8,000	9,500
3	9,000	12,000	15,000
4	12,000	15,000	18,000
5	17,000	20,000	23,000
6	21,000	25,000	29,000
7	25,000	30,000	35,000
8	35,000	40,000	45,000

 

[GSP]

Doesn't look like the Peak/Off Peak dates will be announced soon, but found this bit of info from thepointsguy website.

Unanswered questions
Hyatt has given us a good three months of warning before these changes take effect. As of now, there are no firm answers that will determine just how big of a devaluation this represents:

• Who gets to decide when a hotel is peak versus off-peak? While Hyatt wants to keep the World of Hyatt program valuable for its customers, individual properties have less of an incentive to be generous with the amount of off-peak availability they release. Whether it’s up to the individual hotels or Hyatt corporate to make that decision will have huge implications for award travelers.
• How will Hyatt balance peak and off-peak nights? When Marriott switched to peak pricing, it promised that across the entire portfolio, there would always be the same number of peak and off-peak nights available. Now obviously you shouldn’t expect to find off-peak space at the St. Regis Maldives in the middle of February, but knowing there was some kind of balancing mechanism in place was reassuring. When airlines switch to dynamic award pricing it’s almost universally seen as a devaluation, as they simply make less and less saver level award space available. Hyatt hasn’t indicated that they have any balancing mechanism in place, and until they do I’d be pretty concerned about how this is going to play out.
• What will happen to free night certificates? Hyatt currently ties its free night certificates, like those earned from The World Of Hyatt Credit Card, to hotel categories rather than point values (i.e. “valid at a Category 1-4 hotel”). Hopefully this means that they’ll still be valid at Category 4 hotels that are under peak pricing, but if not then Hyatt hasn’t just devalued its loyalty program but also its credit cards.
• Will this lead to more award space? A common phrase we hear from corporate executives is that dynamic pricing will better match supply and demand, leading to more award availability for those customers willing to pay extra for it. While I’m not defending Marriott’s peak pricing by any means, it’s worth noting that all but two dates in February now have award availability at the St. Regis Maldives. If Hyatt plans on using this switch to open up more award space they should let us know as soon as possible to soften the blow.

 

[serfty]

...

• Who gets to decide when a hotel is peak versus off-peak? While Hyatt wants to keep the World of Hyatt program valuable for its customers, individual properties have less of an incentive to be generous with the amount of off-peak availability they release. Whether it’s up to the individual hotels or Hyatt corporate to make that decision will have huge implications for award travelers.
• How will Hyatt balance peak and off-peak nights? When Marriott switched to peak pricing, it promised that across the entire portfolio, there would always be the same number of peak and off-peak nights available. Now obviously you shouldn’t expect to find off-peak space at the St. Regis Maldives in the middle of February, but knowing there was some kind of balancing mechanism in place was reassuring. When airlines switch to dynamic award pricing it’s almost universally seen as a devaluation, as they simply make less and less saver level award space available. Hyatt hasn’t indicated that they have any balancing mechanism in place, and until they do I’d be pretty concerned about how this is going to play out.
• What will happen to free night certificates? Hyatt currently ties its free night certificates, like those earned from The World Of Hyatt Credit Card, to hotel categories rather than point values (i.e. “valid at a Category 1-4 hotel”). Hopefully this means that they’ll still be valid at Category 4 hotels that are under peak pricing, but if not then Hyatt hasn’t just devalued its loyalty program but also its credit cards.
• Will this lead to more award space? A common phrase we hear from corporate executives is that dynamic pricing will better match supply and demand, leading to more award availability for those customers willing to pay extra for it. While I’m not defending Marriott’s peak pricing by any means, it’s worth noting that all but two dates in February now have award availability at the St. Regis Maldives. If Hyatt plans on using this switch to open up more award space they should let us know as soon as possible to soften the blow.

Suggestions are around that these changes will coincide with category changes.

According to Gary Leff: "It’s Hyatt that determines which dates are peak, not individual hotels making the decision."

Information available is that a majority of days must be at the standard rate.

Free night certificates will be useable at "Peak" rates.

If a 'standard room is available', an award must be available, so likely no more or less award space.