Hyatt Loyalty Program: Dramatic Changes

The Hyatt Gold Passport program as we know it is about to change drastically to the new “World of Hyatt.” The chain will soon change the name of its loyalty program and completely overhaul its elite statuses and benefits.

The new World of Hyatt logo.

Full details about the program are still being confirmed at this point, so stay tuned and we'll post for updated information.

Before breaking down the differences of the future program, let’s take a look at the current Hyatt Gold Passport program:

	Member	Platinum	Diamond
Base Points per Dollar Spent	5	5	5
Point Bonus	0	15%	30%
Internet Access	Paid	Free Premium	Free Premium
Preferred Room Upon Arrival	No	Higher Floors or Preferred Views	Best Room Available
Complimentary Club Access	No	No	Yes
Complimentary Breakfast (If No Club)	No	No	Yes
Stays Required	0	5	25
Minimum Nights to Qualify	0	15	50
Welcome Gift	No	No	Amenity or 500-1,000 Points
Diamond Suite Upgrade	0	0	4

Currently, the Hyatt Gold Passport program has just three levels — and there’s a pretty stark difference between the bottom two levels and the top level. In fact, we value Platinum status at $200 and Diamond status at $3,085. Diamond status is earned after 25 stays or 50 nights, and can be viewed as one of the most rewarding statuses in the hotel loyalty sphere.

With the new changes, however, everything we’ve known about the program will soon be different. Here’s an outline of the new World of Hyatt program, which will feature four tiers of membership:

	Member	Discoverist	Explorist	Globalist
Base Points per Dollar Spent	5	5	5	5
Point Bonus	0	10%	20%	30%
Free Night at a Category 1-4 Award	After Staying at 5 Different Brands	After Staying at 5 Different Brands	After Staying at 5 Different BrandsAfter Completing 30 Eligible Nights (Must Be Consumed Within 120 Days)	After Staying at 5 Different BrandsAfter Completing 60 Eligible Nights (Up to Category 7, but Must Be Consumed Within 120 Days)
No Resort Fee	On Award Nights	On Award Nights	On Award Nights	On Award Nights & Eligible Paid Rates
Guaranteed Room Availability	No	No	72-Hour Guarantee	48-Hour Guarantee
Preferred Room Upon Arrival	No	Higher Floor, Larger Room	Best Room (No Club Rooms, No Suites)	Best Room Including Standard Suites
Free Daily Bottle of Water	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Late Checkout Request	No	2:00pm	2:00pm	4:00pm
Complimentary Club Access	No	No	(4) Awards	Yes
Complimentary Parking on Award Nights	No	No	No	Yes
Access to My Hyatt Concierge	No	No	No	Yes
Priority Access to Available Rooms (Early Check-In)	No	No	No	Yes
Stay Credits Allowed	No	No	No	No
Minimum Nights to Qualify	0	10	30	60
Optional Base Point Qualification	0	25,000	50,000	100,000

As you can see, there are some pretty big changes. Instead of qualifying by solely nights or stays, you will now be able to qualify by nights or points, which are earned by dollars spent (5 points per dollar plus a bonus for elites). For all four new tiers of membership, the stay qualification is going away and will be replaced by points. To qualify for the top tier (Globalist), you’ll have to stay a minimum of 60 nights or earn 100,000 points. Additionally current Diamond members will need to requalify with 60 nights or 100,000 points — a reduced earning of 55,000 points to requalify will apply in 2018.

The valuable Diamond Suite Upgrades will be improving with quantity. Globalist level members will get complimentary upgrades to suites based on availability, as well as four confirmed suite upgrades — they will be the usual seven-night upgrades and can be used on any stay. Globalists will earn a new upgrade added after every 10 nights that a Globalist stays beyond the required 60 nights (maximum of four). Being able to earn a maximum of 10 suite upgrades could be very valuable for Globalist members who are presumably traveling a lot. Another upgrade to the program would be that following 30 nights (or 50,000 points), World of Hyatt members will be given a Free Night certificate for Category 1-4 properties, and you’ll get a Category 1-7 Free Night certificate if you earn 60 nights (or 100,000 base points) in a calendar year. It’s not yet known how these two perks will be dealt with for existing Diamond members who are requalifying.

The Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur.

Since there’s a lot of info to digest, here’s a list highlighting some of the biggest changes, including both the ones addressed above and some additional updates:

• You’ll no longer be able to qualify for status based on stays; you can qualify through nights or through points
• Top-tier Globalist elites will now get complimentary, unlimited suite upgrades on stays in addition to four confirmed suite upgrades
• Hyatt’s rewarding members for trying different brands within its portfolio by giving them a free night at a Category 1-4 property after trying five different brands
• Explorist and Globalist members will also get a free night at a Category 1-4 property after completing 30/60 eligible nights, respectively (must be used within 120 days of being earned).

The Grand Hyatt Bali.

What Does This Mean for Current Members With Status?

As of March 1, 2017, Hyatt Gold Passport members who have status will translate into the following:

• If you requalified for Diamond status for 2017, you’ll get Globalist status
• If you were Diamond but didn’t requalify for 2017, you’ll get Explorist status
• If you requalified for Platinum status for 2017, you’ll get Discoverist status
• If you qualified for any Hyatt Gold Passport status in 2016 and would have requalified, your status will be upgraded (if you met the nights but not points requirement, you’ll still get the status)

All About Hyatt’s New Top Tier Status, Globalist

If you’ve been a Hyatt Diamond member and requalified, you’ll be getting the World of Hyatt’s highest level of status: Globalist. So, what does it mean for you? Well, generally speaking, there are some great perks:

• You won’t pay resort fees, regardless of the type of stay
• You’ll get unlimited suite upgrades on all stays (subject to availability)
• You’ll get free parking on Free Night stays (not cash or Points + Cash stays)
• You’ll still get two complimentary United Club passes annually
• World of Hyatt will still honor Guest of Honor benefits
• You’ll get a Free Night at a Category 1-7 property (a Free Night at a Category 1-4 property when you qualify got Explorist status)
• You’ll still get lounge access at properties where it’s available. When it’s not, you’ll get free breakfast but you won’t get the 2,500 bonus points if a lounge is closed
• You’ll get four confirmed suite upgrades, eligible on all stays
• You’ll get additional benefits when you reach 70, 80, 90 and 100 nights — 10,000 bonus points or an additional confirmed suite upgrade at each tier. You can earn 8 additional upgrades in a calendar year (up to 12 in 2017)
• You’ll have early check-in access to your room (when available)
• Once you qualify for Globalist, you only need 55 nights to requalify in 2018
• You’ll get a late checkout request time of as late as 4:00pm.

One noticeable difference between Diamond benefits and what’s offered with Globalist is the lack of welcome amenity. Whereas Diamond members used to get a welcome amenity upon arrival — either bonus points or a food and beverage — Globalists will no longer have that option. This is an unfortunate change with the new program.

In addition, Globalist members will also get access to the My Hyatt Concierge. The concierge is a dedicated agent who provides personalized and proactive customer service. They’ll help to coordinate the details of stays — scheduling spa and dining reservations, providing notice about promotions and hotel openings and more. This is a nice addition to the top tier status with Hyatt. Stay tuned for posts that further breakdown the new tiers of status with World of Hyatt.

What About the Hyatt Credit Card?

We’re not sure on the specifics of the card as far as the future of its sign-up bonus and earning structure (or if it’ll change at all), but we do know what it’ll mean for elite status with the World of Hyatt. As a Hyatt Credit Card holder, you’ll automatically get Discoverist status and benefits. If you become a cardholder prior to March 1, 2017, you’ll also get an additional 5% bonus points on eligible spend when earning base points at Hyatt or M life properties through February 28, 2018. If, at some point during that period you earn Explorist or Globalist status with World of Hyatt, the bonus will bump up to 20% and 30%, respectively.

In addition, Hyatt Credit Card holders who spend $50,000 each calendar year will get Explorist status through the following calendar year. Although it’d be nicer if this spend would get you Globalist status, it’s a great option to be able to achieve status through spend on a credit card.

How Will M life Reciprocal Status Work?

One of the nice benefits about having status with Hyatt is the recoprocal elite status you’ll get with M life Rewards, especially if you frequent Vegas often. Previously, Hyatt Platinum meant M life Gold, and Hyatt Diamond meant M life Platinum. Here’s how the reciprocal benefits will work with the new World of Hyatt program:

World of Hyatt Status	Reciprocal M life Rewards Status
Membership	Sapphire
Discoverist	Pearl
Explorist	Gold
Globalist	Gold

And here’s how the reciprocal benefits will work the other way:

M life Rewards Status	Reciprocal World of Hyatt Status
Sapphire	Membership
Pearl	Discoverist
Gold	Explorist
Platinum	Explorist
NOIR	Explorist

As you can see, you can no longer earn Gold status with M life Rewards for being a Hyatt Credit Card holder. Instead, you’ll M life Pearl status for being a cardholder, with the chance to earn Gold status if you spend more than $50,000 on the card.

Bottom Line

These changes by Hyatt bridge the gap between what we’re seeing in the airline loyalty industry by switching to a revenue-based system and the hotel loyalty industry. By doing away with the ability to earn status based on stays and instituting a new points qualification option, Hyatt’s new program is switching the balance in favor of those who spend more with the hotel brand. Diamond members who qualify based on stays will definitely lose out with this new program, but members who can spend their way to top-tier Globalist status will enjoy some generous perks.

Travelore Consumer Alert: Hyatt Hotel Visitors Hit By Payments System Hack

Image copyrightHyatt

Image captionHyatt hotels operate in 52 countries

Hotel group Hyatt is warning visitors of a security breach in its customer payment system.

The company said it had found malware on the payment processing computers for the hotels it managed.

Hyatt's global president of operations Chuck Floyd said that the problem had been fixed, but advised past customers to check bank statements for any unusual activity.

"As soon as we discovered the activity, we launched an investigation," he said.

The Chicago-based Hyatt group has 627 properties in its portfolio, although it said only the 318 it managed directly were affected by the malware, with franchised hotels unaffected.

The company did not say whether the malware had led to any customer information being accessed, but did say it had hired independent cybersecurity experts to help investigate.

Hyatt has set up a webpage to communicate updates to its customers.

"We have taken steps to strengthen the security of our systems, and customers can feel confident using payment cards at Hyatt hotels worldwide," said Mr Floyd.

Hyatt is not the first hotel group to admit it has had to tackle such a cybersecurity breach.

The Hilton, Mandarin Oriental, Starwood and Trump Collection hotel groups have also faced security problems with customer payment information in 2015.

From www.bbc.com

The Definitive Ranking Of Hotel Chain Rewards Programs

It doesn’t take a lot of work to be loyal to Marriott, Hilton or IHG. If you stumble into a town – any town – you’re reasonably likely to wind up at one of their hotels. On the other hand, it takes work to be loyal to programs that are smaller like Starwood Preferred Guest and Hyatt Gold Passport. That’s why smaller programs have to try harder. They need to give you a reason to be loyal.

US News offers a ranking of the best hotel rewards programs. It isn’t very good. (In fairness, the attempt is better than their airline frequent flyer program rankings.)

JD Power also tries to rank hotel loyalty programs. (Here’s my strong critique of JD Power’s survey, to which JD Power offers a spirited defense in the comments.)

The key thing to understand is that different programs do different things well – to understand the value proposition of each, and pick the one whose strengths match what you value most.

• Hyatt Gold Passport has the best elite benefits, and the best value redemptions if you like to spend your points for suites, but has a small footprint. There are only about 500 hotels in the chain.
• Starwood Preferred Guest offers strong elite recognition and has some of the nicest hotels. The program isn’t nearly as rewarding as others for the spend you do at their properties.
• Hilton HHonors is everywhere. They have fantastic value awards for low-end hotels, with the best hotels much more expensive. Their mid-tier Gold elite level is the best combination of easy to get and rewarding (although their Diamond level is not comparatively strong, and can be had for just $40,000 in spending each year on their credit card).
• Club Carlson has the cheapest reward nights. The problem is that the chain is relatively small, and most of the hotels aren’t very nice. Their elite benefits aren’t competitive. Club Carlson is strongest in Europe.
• Marriott Rewards has hotels everywhere. They’re consistent. The program doesn’t promise very much, but what it does, it delivers.
• IHG Rewards Club is similarly ubiquitous, and offers average value but frequently runs strong promotions. It’s difficult to deliver on top elite recognition since the chain is skewed towards mid-tier brands like Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

Best Elite Recognition

The status recognition benefits that elite members value most are usually upgrades and club lounge access or breakfast. Here are the rankings of how each program does with those.

Suite at the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur

Upgrades

1. Only Hyatt lets Diamond members confirm a suite at booking from any Hyatt rate (4 times per year, up to 7 nights each time).
2. Only Starwood promises to give Platinum members an available standard suite at check-in, if available. Starwood also lets their Platinums who stay 50 nights express priority for suite upgrades up to 10 nights a year, since members care about upgrades most when traveling on vacation with family and least on one night business stays when they’re alone.
3. While Marriott and Hilton allow hotels to upgrade elites to suites, no hotel is required to do so.
4. Club Carlson similarly only says that top-tier Concierge members “may be eligible for an upgrade to the next room category or to a standard suite, if available” which is pretty weak sauce.
5. IHG Rewards Club offers upgrades which are 100% ‘determined by the hotel’ and hotels areexplicitly not required to upgrade members to suites or even ‘specialty rooms.’

“Extreme Wow Suite” at the W San Diego

If you’re not an elite, you can still use your points to get into suites.

Club Lounge or Breakfast

Hotels generally give top elites access to club lounges where breakfast and evening snacks are served.

1. Hyatt wins as the only chain which guarantees a full (not continental) restaurant breakfast for Diamond members when no club lounge is available and for up to four guests registered to the room.
2. Hilton gives breakfast to mid-tier members at all of their properties where breakfast is sold.
3. Starwood lets Platinum members have continental breakfast when there’s no club lounge available.
4. Marriott doesn’t offer breakfast at Courtyard properties or at resorts.
5. Club Carlson gives continental breakfast for one person only to Concierge members.
6. IHG doesn’t offer breakfast at all.

Hotels can be more generous than the loyalty program promises. No hotel breakfast I’ve experienced was more over-the-top than the St. Regis Bali. But overall Hyatt does breakfast best.

Caviar for breakfast at the St. Regis Bali

Here are nice charts showing each chain’s elite benefits in one place.

Late Checkout

Late checkout is one of the most useful benefits of elite status. Both Starwood and Hyatt offer their top elites 4 p.m. late check-out (at non-resort properties, and excluding designated convention properties and dates). Starwood even guarantees it for their mid-tier Gold members and Hyatt offers 2 p.m. checkout for their mid-tier members. Those two programs do late checkout best.

By contrast, Marriott’s late checkout benefit is subject to availability, by request on the day of departure. That’s especially weak considering it takes 75 nights to earn Platinum with Marriott, compared to 25 nights or 50 stays at each of Starwood and Hyatt.. and both Starwood and Hyatt offer guaranteed late checkout even to mid-tier elites.

Overall Elite Ranking

1. Hyatt Gold Passport
2. Starwood Preferred Guest
3. Hilton HHonors
4. Marriott Rewards
5. Club Carlson
6. IHG Rewards Club

Best Value for Earning Free Nights

At its most basic level, here’s what hotel programs offer as their cheapest room redemption and how much you need to spend with the chain to have enough points for it.

(For Hilton I’m assuming that you choose to earn “points and points” rather than “points and miles”.)

Of course, most of us don’t want the ‘category 1’ hotels that are also cheapest to pay for with cash (and of which there also aren’t very many). Once you get into mid-priced hotels, the kind you’ll find plenty of in major cities, you’ll find that Club Carlson gives you the most bang for your buck (plenty of Radissons in Europe are quite nice) and that Hilton, Marriott, IHG and Hyatt all offer pretty similar value.

Starwood is an outlier in that it takes the most spending at their hotels to earn enough points for free nights. Starwood points are also the most valuable, though, and offer the best transfers to airline miles by far.

Find the Chain Which Best Matches Your Needs

What matters most is which chain has the hotels that match your redemption patterns — hotels in the right places (does Hyatt or Starwood have a big enough footprint for you) and at the right quality level (do you want to stay at most Radissons, and do Marriotts offer the local character you may be looking for).

You need to determine whether or not the rest of the features of a hotel chain work for you.

• Are you going to be an elite member?
• Does the chain’s benefits make sense for you — Will you get suite upgrades? What about breakfast? Will the chain even honor elite benefits on reward stays (IHG doesn’t require their hotels to for most benefits)?

I like Hyatt and Starwood best. I’m a Hyatt Diamond member and a Starwood Platinum. But their footprints mean that there are plenty of small towns where they just don’t have properties. By contrast, Marriott loyalists most often tell me what they like about the chain is “no matter where I go I can earn my points” and “I get a consistent experience every time.”

By garyleff , www.roadwarriorvoices.com