Hyatt Gold Passport - Should I switch to Starwood?

I'm Diamond and like Hyatt, but it seems that there are too few vaction properties for redemtion. Also, most of my stays are in Dallas and the Hyatt properties there are only "ok". Any thoughts/suggestions?

Sully,

I will chime in here b/c I am generally a Starwood guy, and I appreciated everyone's help w/r/t my post on the Bethesda Hyatt.

While I don't know much about their Dallas properties, I can tell you that Starwood DEFINITELY takes care of their elites. (I am SPG-Gold, and that has been my experience). They have a Lurker on the Flyertalk Starwood board who acts as ombudsman for Flyertalkers...the one time I had a problem I emailed William and the problem disappeared the next day--I picture him like, "Sebastian-Cabot-as-Mr.-French".

In general, I impressed with Starwood's program, and feel it is stronger than most/all other hotel programs.

If you post your question on the Starwood board, I am sure you will get much more detailed responses from the *wood road warriors.

Regards,

O/H

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by sully242:
I'm Diamond and like Hyatt, but it seems that there are too few vaction properties for redemtion. Also, most of my stays are in Dallas and the Hyatt properties there are only "ok". Any thoughts/suggestions?</font>

I'm Diamond Hyatt, Marriott Plat, Hilton diamond, and SPG Plat

Of these four programs at my respective levels, Here is the order I prefer the programs:

1. Marriott: Best Selection of hotels (all Marriott chains included ie. FI, CY, RI, etc) IMHO a bit better than Hilton, I like their customer service the best, I enjoy their point redemption program the best, At full scale Marriotts, I'm almost always upgraded to something other than just another room albeit a little larger, usually a nice suite

2. Hilton: Best place for raking in the points and the mileage credit is nice too, very easy to obtain Diamond level 28 stays/60 nights, Gold level is almost given away, Decent upgrade rate, I enjoy the breakfast coupons, very good selection of hotels

3. Hyatt: the hotels I use are decent, I'm treated well here, probably the best of the four chains, Price is not that competitive however, upgrades are tough to get, RC is even harder

4. SPG: the best part about SPG is the Lurker, he is just fabulous, but the properties I'm not happy with. Upgrades are far and few between, if you can believe it, worse rate than the Hyatt and the u/g I get are just large rooms where they throw in a couch and a stool and call it a jr. suite (this is my biggest disappointment),

no long term properties (i.e. Res Inn) to choose from, they have a good selection of high end props (St Regis) but who can Pay those rates. I also like the free Friday/Sat promos.

So I'm not going to tell you to do one thing over another but wanted to let you see what I think of these four hotel programs

I am a Starwood Plat and Hyatt Plat.

I definitely prefer Starwood to Hyatt. I almost always get upgraded wherever I stay, to a bigger room or suite of some sort. They treat their guests very well, and there is always a Starwood hotel just about anywhere you want to go. Also, customer service is good, from everything like Starwood Lurker to posting missing credit very quickly.

I have found that the problem with Hyatt is there just aren't enough properties. I travel a lot on business and more often than not there is no Hyatt where I am staying, so it just ends up fragmenting my point-base.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Occupationalhazard:
They have a Lurker on the Flyertalk Starwood board who acts as ombudsman for Flyertalkers...the one time I had a problem I emailed William and the problem disappeared the next day--I picture him like, "Sebastian-Cabot-as-Mr.-French". </font>

Ummm, Hyatt has a "lurker" too who started posting before Starwood assigned someone to Flyertalk, so actually if anything, Starwood just copied Hyatt in that respect.

Thanks for all your input. My goal, generally, is to get enough points to earn a week in a first class property for my family vacation. I was a dedicated HHonors member (vacationed in St. Lucia and Hawaii)until I found it too difficult to redeem my points. I then joined Starwood, which I liked, but found it took too long to accumulate any points(although I did get five nights in Versailles). In the past year, I have earned a week at the Madeleine (going the last week of March). I get great treatment as a Diamond (as I did as a Starwood Platinum), thus maybe I'll stick with Hyatt for another year. I think the bonus points at the Hyatt properties may be the deciding factor for me.

I'm a Hyatt Diamond and Starwood Plat., and I prefer Starwood, no doubt.

For Starwood, there's no blackout dates for points redemption and there are quite selections of new, fairly new or renovated hotels to choose from (Four points,W ,Westin,Sheraton, St.Regis....). Although their room upgrade policy is kinda strict, their regular rooms are usually good enough....

the thing i like about hyatt is their hawaii resorts lineup and the 1-800-checkin (I can request for a suite upgrade w/o dealing with the hotel staff), and that's about it....

I've been a Hyatt Diamond for most of the past several years and recently obtained Starwood Platinum.

Although I'm still too new to the Starwood program to judge whether it's any better, my loyalty to Hyatt has dimished as a result of:

1) Widespread closings of Regency Clubs-- this was their primary competitive advantage in many markets;

2) Diminished/inconsistent status recognition; and

3) Substantial devaluation of Gold Passport points a couple of years back.

My initial impression of Starwood's program (which seems to contradict some of the long-term Starwood Platinums) is:

1) consistent recognition of tier status;

2) a higher percentage of properties with executive floors/lounges.

Another view. In contrast to TrojanHorse, my rankings are different, and are subject to change in 2002. For 2001, I ranked the programs as follows.

1. Hyatt Diamond for several years, made it for 2002. I travel mostly international, and the lack of properties has made it difficult to maintain my Diamond status. The end of the London Hyatt’s presents a major problem for me in 2002. Unless they provide a London property, I make not be able to qualify for Diamond again which will lower Hyatt to #3 on my ranking for 2002. I like the Nights After Nights specials. Just stayed at one in California with closed Regency Club – bummer. Madeleine is one of my favorites.
2. Starwood. Platinum for a couple years and for 2002. I have found this a class operation, great customer service, and frequent upgrades. I like the free Fridays and Saturdays specials.
3. Hilton. Only Gold for several years, including 2002. I moved them to #3 when I discovered Starwood, and also because I have tons of points accumulated with them. Hilton has been very good to me. Customer Service, even for just Gold, has been above and beyond expectations. They did me a big favor. Lots of ways to earn points. Great vacation in Cannes.
4. Marriott. Gold for many, many years, but not in 2002. I left Marriott after many years due to the manner they handled the conversion to calendar year and the serious point devaluation this year. Could not find anyone in Marriott who cared. I only had four Marriott stays this year. I am using their points as fast as possible and do not plan to return.


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Have passport, will travel...
LAX, LHR, CDG, et.al.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
Ummm, Hyatt has a "lurker" too who started posting before Starwood assigned someone to Flyertalk, so actually if anything, Starwood just copied Hyatt in that respect.</font>

Uhh...I guess I don't care who copied who. While I don't spend a lot of time on the Hyatt board, I do on the Starwood board, and the dewd gets results.

I have no experience with the Hyatt Lurker.

Regards,

O/H