Hyatt is raising the top redemption cost for Category 8 properties from 45,000 to 75,000 points per night. That’s a clean 67% increase on peak and high-demand nights. The new five-tier pricing—Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper, and Top—replaces the old off-peak/standard/peak structure and kicks in for bookings made on or after May 20, 2026.
** **At the same time, 136 hotels are shifting categories, with the majority (112) moving upward. Several former Category 7 luxury properties are heading to 8, meaning they’ll sit at the new, more expensive top of the chart. Your window to lock in current rates is closing fast—eleven days from today.
** **Current vs. New Math on the High End
** **Under the outgoing chart, a Category 7 peak night topped out at 35,000 points. The new Top tier for Category 7 reaches 55,000—a 57% jump. Category 8’s old 45,000 peak becomes 75,000. Even moderate dates will cost more than today’s standard rates in many cases.
** **Category 1-7 free night certificates remain usable at the new Category 7s but lose power at anything that jumps to 8. If you’ve been sitting on one, this is the moment to deploy it on a property that’s about to outprice it.[[1]](https://thepointsguy.com/news/hyatt-category-changes-2026/)[[2]](https://www.nerdwallet.com/travel/news/hyatt-award-chart-changes-2026)
** **The Category 7 Properties Headed to 8
** **These are the ones that sting:
** **- Andaz 5th Avenue, New York – Prime Manhattan location, now priced like a full Park Hyatt on busy nights.
- Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino – Beachfront Caribbean classic moving up from Category 7.
- Hôtel du Louvre, Paris – Historic luxury steps from the museum, now Category 8.
- Hotel Flüela Davos, Switzerland – Alpine serious business.
- Park Hyatt London River Thames – The newest and, according to some, the most questionable jump to Category 8 given current cash rates.[[1]](https://thepointsguy.com/news/hyatt-category-changes-2026/)[[3]](https://www.headforpoints.com/2026/04/25/hyatt-category-changes-2026/)
Alila Mayakoba also climbs from 6 to 7, which feels particularly cruel since it just reopened. Expect many of its nights to land in the Upper or Top tiers going forward.
** **Availability Reality Check
** **Award space at these properties has never been unlimited. The good news: bookings made before May 20 at 8 a.m. CT will price at today’s rates even for travel deep into 2027. Points + cash awards follow the same rule. Once the change hits, existing bookings at properties dropping categories will see automatic refunds, but the ones going up are locked in at the old (better) price only if booked in the next 11 days.
** **Hyatt says only a limited number of nights will hit the highest tiers in 2026. Take that with the usual grain of salt. Demand pricing is coming, just wearing a fixed-chart costume for now.[[4]](https://newsroom.hyatt.com/awardchartupdates)
** **What You Should Actually Do
** **Stop overthinking. Pull up your shortlist of these soon-to-be-former Category 7 properties and check real availability for the dates that matter to you. If the points cost looks reasonable today, book it. You can always cancel most awards risk-free if plans change.
** **The properties above are the clearest candidates. A 30,000–35,000-point night turning into 55,000–75,000 is the kind of math that makes points feel suddenly worthless. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough here.
** **This isn’t panic. It’s just recognizing that Hyatt is getting more sophisticated about extracting value from its best real estate. The sophisticated traveler moves before the price adjustment, not after.
** **Action item: Log into your World of Hyatt account today, identify any Category 7-to-8 properties you’ve been eyeing for 2026 or 2027 travel, and book those nights before May 20. The chart changes at 8 a.m. Central. Eleven days is enough time if you stop reading articles and start searching awards.
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