Tutorial on Getting Your Hyatt Points
Oct 8, 2009, 4:09 pm
#1
Community Director Emerita
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,736
Tutorial on Getting Your Hyatt Points
Priceline and Third Party Bookings
If you are on an award stay or third-party channel stay (like but not limited to Priceline bidding channel, consolidator one-price pre-paid vacation product, or anything were you are paying somebody other than Hyatt for a Hyatt stay), you should still get Diamond recognition, Diamond arrival points, and points for incidentals. (Stay credit, G bonus, and pick of rooms probably not).
You much improve your odds of actually getting them without hassle if you make sure and create a transaction for your stay. Meaning, never run a zero balance. One or more dining or drink charges are better, even if primarily dining elsewhere (the server wants the tip and will be sure to run it through), and throwing in a few phone calls can't hurt. Otherwise a well-intentioned not-fully-versed back office person may think there is no reason to upload the stay history at all just to save work.
Call Hyatt and add the GP number well before arrival and most likely the Diamond packet will still be waiting for you. Ask for the points and club access if its not. Eventually you may get an attitude either on the phone or at check-in, but do it anyway.
(written by jayer)
If you are on an award stay or third-party channel stay (like but not limited to Priceline bidding channel, consolidator one-price pre-paid vacation product, or anything were you are paying somebody other than Hyatt for a Hyatt stay), you should still get Diamond recognition, Diamond arrival points, and points for incidentals. (Stay credit, G bonus, and pick of rooms probably not).
You much improve your odds of actually getting them without hassle if you make sure and create a transaction for your stay. Meaning, never run a zero balance. One or more dining or drink charges are better, even if primarily dining elsewhere (the server wants the tip and will be sure to run it through), and throwing in a few phone calls can't hurt. Otherwise a well-intentioned not-fully-versed back office person may think there is no reason to upload the stay history at all just to save work.
Call Hyatt and add the GP number well before arrival and most likely the Diamond packet will still be waiting for you. Ask for the points and club access if its not. Eventually you may get an attitude either on the phone or at check-in, but do it anyway.
(written by jayer)
Last edited by SanDiego1K; Oct 19, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Oct 8, 2009, 4:09 pm
#2
Community Director Emerita
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,736
Tutorial on getting your Hyatt points
We’ve been seeing an incredible amount of angst in this forum over the past few days by newcomers, frustrated when their points don’t post concurrent with leaving a property. I thought it would be useful to have a thread devoted to how you get your points and miles. I welcome some of the experienced Hyatt members weighing in on what I have missed.
Hyatt rarely gets bonuses right the first time
Seasoned Hyatt pros expect missing bonuses. Hyatt Place properties are particularly bad, though even full service properties often get it wrong. Hyatt is one of the worst hotel chains at getting the extra points the first time, but is the best hotel chain at making it right.
Here is what you do:
1. When you book your stay, book using the proper Gx bonus. You can only book using one bonus, but there might be a couple that are available. If so, note the second one in the notes field.
2. When you check in, make sure that the agent adds all bonuses to your stay. If you are choosing miles for your stay, you will not be eligible for the Gx bonus. If you are a diamond member, you can chose a points bonus for North American properties as your welcome amenity. They will use the code 1W to enter this. It is 1000 points for full service and 500 points for Hyatt Place.
3. When you check out, check your invoice. There is a field which shows which bonuses are listed. You can ask for a correction at this point – or simply wait to call. Don’t even struggle with Hyatt Place on this.
4. Hyatt stays typically post in 2 days. Til recently, Hyatt Place stays only posted 1 or 2 days a week. Hyatt has recently sped up the posting. When your stay posts, check to see if you got the appropriate choice of miles or points. In either case, if you are diamond, you are entitled to your diamond bonus. If you chose points, you are entitled to any Gx bonuses.
5. If you wanted miles but points posted, call Hyatt. It is very easy for Customer Service to reverse a points stay and make it a miles stay. It is not as easy to do the reverse. Once the miles are sent to the airline, it cannot be reversed.
6. If you have missing bonuses, ask Customer Service to post them. Any Gx bonuses should post at the time of the stay posting. If they haven’t, it is very simple to correct with a call.
7. You have to chose points for your stay in order to get any Gx bonus. You have to chose miles for your stay to get any Ax bonus.
8. If you have chosen miles, it requires a manual posting to receive your diamond amenity. Many agents do not realize that you get your diamond amenity when you chose miles, but the Gold Passport Concierge has confirmed that we do.
Faster Free Night credits
Hyatt sweeps for FFN credit daily. It is not concurrent with your stay posting but generally within a few hours. If you don’t receive your credit, check your account summary. Look at the details for the individual stay. You should see something like this:
Qualified Night(s): 1
If it says 0, then you need to call Customer Service and determine why the stay did not qualify. Priceline stay or a stay made on an alternative booking site to Hyatt are examples of nonqualifying stays. In those cases, you would qualify for incidental expenses but not the stay credit.
You can easily see how many FFNs you have been credited. Look in your account:
If you are a diamond, you will see your suite awards listed first, then the HP award we were recently given. Below that is the accounting for FFNs.
You can then book any unredeemed awards online. There will be a blue box saying BOOK NOW when you have FFNs available. Click it, then chose your location and your date. If there is a FFN award available, you will see something like this:
The Next Big Thing Rede Twin Room
BOOK
Rate Details
The Next Big Thing Rede King Room View Room
BOOK
Rate Details
If you see a price given, the property is out of standard rooms. Thus, no FFNs are available.
Airline Bonus Miles:
You need to request airline bonus miles at the front desk for any stay where you prefer miles. You will need to provide your airline number at that time. Hyatt offers no way to permanently chose airline miles. Further, Hyatt Place employees seem to have no way to request airline miles. Some have reported being able to chose miles at Hyatt Place by using the check in kiosk. If not, request the airline miles after your HP/SS stay has posted.
Hyatt sweeps for airline bonuses daily. It is not concurrent with your stay posting but generally within a few hours. This has always occurred automatically for me.
The airlines extract the bonus miles from Hyatt only a couple times a month. It can then be several more weeks before the airline posts the miles.
Gx and Ax bonuses
Many hotels offer promotional points to encourage members to stay there. A Gx bonus is for Hyatt points. An Ax bonus is for airline miles. In order to earn Hyatt points, the stay must be credited to Hyatt. It will then be eligible for the Gx bonus. (Note that some bonuses are restricted to specific nights of the week.) You must chose airline miles in order to get an offered Ax bonus.
Points when property has a Regency Club and it is closed (Diamond members only)
From the Gold Passport Concierge, posted 12/28/09:
Diamond members will be awarded 2,500 Gold Passport points if they do not receive Club access during their stay. This includes the club being closed to all hotel guests (renovations, weekend closure,etc) or if access is not permitted due to the occupancy levels or other circumstances.
Credit Card Bonus:
Hyatt has historically had a strong relationship with Mastercard. We recently finished a promo period with MC. Each stay will indicate if it was paid with MC. IT for Hyatt Places did not discriminate between Visa and MC, and required a call.
Advice:
Chill. Hyatt Customer Serivce is great. Is it annoying that things don't post properly the first time? Sure. But Hyatt is extraordinarily generous with its promos and bonuses, as well as having some stunning properties. It is worth the effort. Make a list of anything you are missing and call periodically. There really is no need to call after each and every stay. Hyatt has always been very customer focused, and will handle these things for you. They handle it for you while you are on the phone, right then and there. There is no contacting the hotel and waiting for a week or more for points to straggle in.
Hyatt rarely gets bonuses right the first time
Seasoned Hyatt pros expect missing bonuses. Hyatt Place properties are particularly bad, though even full service properties often get it wrong. Hyatt is one of the worst hotel chains at getting the extra points the first time, but is the best hotel chain at making it right.
Here is what you do:
1. When you book your stay, book using the proper Gx bonus. You can only book using one bonus, but there might be a couple that are available. If so, note the second one in the notes field.
2. When you check in, make sure that the agent adds all bonuses to your stay. If you are choosing miles for your stay, you will not be eligible for the Gx bonus. If you are a diamond member, you can chose a points bonus for North American properties as your welcome amenity. They will use the code 1W to enter this. It is 1000 points for full service and 500 points for Hyatt Place.
3. When you check out, check your invoice. There is a field which shows which bonuses are listed. You can ask for a correction at this point – or simply wait to call. Don’t even struggle with Hyatt Place on this.
4. Hyatt stays typically post in 2 days. Til recently, Hyatt Place stays only posted 1 or 2 days a week. Hyatt has recently sped up the posting. When your stay posts, check to see if you got the appropriate choice of miles or points. In either case, if you are diamond, you are entitled to your diamond bonus. If you chose points, you are entitled to any Gx bonuses.
5. If you wanted miles but points posted, call Hyatt. It is very easy for Customer Service to reverse a points stay and make it a miles stay. It is not as easy to do the reverse. Once the miles are sent to the airline, it cannot be reversed.
6. If you have missing bonuses, ask Customer Service to post them. Any Gx bonuses should post at the time of the stay posting. If they haven’t, it is very simple to correct with a call.
7. You have to chose points for your stay in order to get any Gx bonus. You have to chose miles for your stay to get any Ax bonus.
8. If you have chosen miles, it requires a manual posting to receive your diamond amenity. Many agents do not realize that you get your diamond amenity when you chose miles, but the Gold Passport Concierge has confirmed that we do.
Faster Free Night credits
Hyatt sweeps for FFN credit daily. It is not concurrent with your stay posting but generally within a few hours. If you don’t receive your credit, check your account summary. Look at the details for the individual stay. You should see something like this:
Qualified Night(s): 1
If it says 0, then you need to call Customer Service and determine why the stay did not qualify. Priceline stay or a stay made on an alternative booking site to Hyatt are examples of nonqualifying stays. In those cases, you would qualify for incidental expenses but not the stay credit.
You can easily see how many FFNs you have been credited. Look in your account:
- Awards
- My promotional awards
If you are a diamond, you will see your suite awards listed first, then the HP award we were recently given. Below that is the accounting for FFNs.
You can then book any unredeemed awards online. There will be a blue box saying BOOK NOW when you have FFNs available. Click it, then chose your location and your date. If there is a FFN award available, you will see something like this:
The Next Big Thing Rede Twin Room
BOOK
Rate Details
The Next Big Thing Rede King Room View Room
BOOK
Rate Details
If you see a price given, the property is out of standard rooms. Thus, no FFNs are available.
Airline Bonus Miles:
You need to request airline bonus miles at the front desk for any stay where you prefer miles. You will need to provide your airline number at that time. Hyatt offers no way to permanently chose airline miles. Further, Hyatt Place employees seem to have no way to request airline miles. Some have reported being able to chose miles at Hyatt Place by using the check in kiosk. If not, request the airline miles after your HP/SS stay has posted.
Hyatt sweeps for airline bonuses daily. It is not concurrent with your stay posting but generally within a few hours. This has always occurred automatically for me.
The airlines extract the bonus miles from Hyatt only a couple times a month. It can then be several more weeks before the airline posts the miles.
Gx and Ax bonuses
Many hotels offer promotional points to encourage members to stay there. A Gx bonus is for Hyatt points. An Ax bonus is for airline miles. In order to earn Hyatt points, the stay must be credited to Hyatt. It will then be eligible for the Gx bonus. (Note that some bonuses are restricted to specific nights of the week.) You must chose airline miles in order to get an offered Ax bonus.
Points when property has a Regency Club and it is closed (Diamond members only)
From the Gold Passport Concierge, posted 12/28/09:
Diamond members will be awarded 2,500 Gold Passport points if they do not receive Club access during their stay. This includes the club being closed to all hotel guests (renovations, weekend closure,etc) or if access is not permitted due to the occupancy levels or other circumstances.
Credit Card Bonus:
Hyatt has historically had a strong relationship with Mastercard. We recently finished a promo period with MC. Each stay will indicate if it was paid with MC. IT for Hyatt Places did not discriminate between Visa and MC, and required a call.
Advice:
Chill. Hyatt Customer Serivce is great. Is it annoying that things don't post properly the first time? Sure. But Hyatt is extraordinarily generous with its promos and bonuses, as well as having some stunning properties. It is worth the effort. Make a list of anything you are missing and call periodically. There really is no need to call after each and every stay. Hyatt has always been very customer focused, and will handle these things for you. They handle it for you while you are on the phone, right then and there. There is no contacting the hotel and waiting for a week or more for points to straggle in.
Last edited by SanDiego1K; Dec 28, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Oct 8, 2009, 4:14 pm
#3
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: TPE/KHH/LAX
Programs: JL Diamond, CX MPC Silver, OW Emerald, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,144
Thanks SanDiego1K. I've been a Hyatt member for less than a month, but have not had any problem at all with them posting miles or points. 
I will add that those of you who are new Diamond member like me through a status match, call the Diamond line to get your questions addressed. The Diamond agents are much more competent than the regular GP agents when it comes to adding bonus points or miles. I will not post the phone number here, but you should be able to get it from any GP agent or from your Diamond card.
I will add that those of you who are new Diamond member like me through a status match, call the Diamond line to get your questions addressed. The Diamond agents are much more competent than the regular GP agents when it comes to adding bonus points or miles. I will not post the phone number here, but you should be able to get it from any GP agent or from your Diamond card.
Oct 8, 2009, 4:15 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 10,906
Thank you! ^
Oct 8, 2009, 5:42 pm
#6
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: SYD
Programs: QF WP (OWE), VA PLAT, EY GLD, SPG PLAT, Hyatt DIA, Hilton DIA, Hertz PC
Posts: 8,521
The MOST useful thread on flyertalk EVER! A million thanksSan Diego1K!
Oct 8, 2009, 6:20 pm
#7
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,959
^^^^^^^^^^^^ Very nice work!!!!!!!!!!
Now we just need to lead the horse to the water.
Now we just need to lead the horse to the water.
Oct 8, 2009, 7:04 pm
#8
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: YVR
Programs: Hilton*D, Marriott*LG, Hyatt*G
Posts: 6,268
Echo the sentiments -- a very useful thread!! Thank you very much for posting this!! I also echo the sentiment that Hyatt is one of the most frustrating chains when it comes to posting stays/bonuses/etc to my account -- I am now a de jure Diamond member as I have completed the stays needed; just not a de facto Diamond member as the stays have not posted yet (grrr......)
Oct 8, 2009, 7:42 pm
#9
Join Date: May 2003
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, AA Platinum
Posts: 931
I'd also add that Hyatt is extremely responsive to emails too. I email all the time to get my "G" bonuses, and they usually respond by next day.
Oct 8, 2009, 11:13 pm
#10
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BOS and ...
Programs: UA 2MM, AA 600k, DL 500k, Hyatt GP 1M, HH Gold, Rad. Gold, CP Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club
Posts: 9,950
Thank you hugely, SanDiego1K.
Just to put the "soft product" in bas relief...
I did three challenge stays with the Hilton family in September. Problems with every one of them. Called to follow (clean) up. Issues as fixable as double dip airline points not posting in HHonors, even though the stay was there. The 500/1,000/1,500 bonus point promo wasn't applied, even though the stays posted. Etc. Then I was given a case number for each one, and I would hear back "in up to 10 business days".
How would it have been with Gold Passport?
^ (aka "Best in Class")
Just to put the "soft product" in bas relief...
I did three challenge stays with the Hilton family in September. Problems with every one of them. Called to follow (clean) up. Issues as fixable as double dip airline points not posting in HHonors, even though the stay was there. The 500/1,000/1,500 bonus point promo wasn't applied, even though the stays posted. Etc. Then I was given a case number for each one, and I would hear back "in up to 10 business days".
How would it have been with Gold Passport?
^ (aka "Best in Class")
Oct 9, 2009, 12:15 am
#11
Moderator: GLBT Travelers & Hyatt Gold Passport
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: CVG
Posts: 15,300
Thank you - at least temporarily - we'll make this a sticky - perhaps to be expanded upon at some point to be the Hyatt FAQs thread/post.
Oct 9, 2009, 3:38 am
#12
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: CT, USA
Programs: Delta Silver, United 2P, SQ, SPG Plat, PC Plat AMB, Hyatt Dia, Hilton Gold, Accor Plat
Posts: 371
Thanks for this from Malaysia. Very helpful indeed.
Oct 9, 2009, 11:46 am
#13
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: UA Gold-MM, AA Gold-MM, F9-Silver, Hyatt Something, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,392
I'm not sure where to post this, but I'll put it here for now. Feel free to move it to one of the UA-specific threads.
I'm a newbie to Hyatt and to hotel points in general. The FFN + UA miles promotion caught my attention, and thus, here I am. This means that I am starting from scratch, and have read what seems like 100 threads to figure out what I need to know to get started. Here's what I did to attempt to earn all the UA 1K + Hyatt bonuses:
1. Register with Hyatt
A. Go to hyatt.com and create a GP account
B. Choose to earn Free Nights (not Bonus Points)
C. Receive immediate email confirmation, stating that you are earning FFNs
2. Register for UA 1K offer to earn 5K UA miles for each stay
A. Follow link from UA 1K website.
B. Enter UA FF number
C. Print confirmation page
3. Register for UA 2500 bonus miles
A. Find link here
B. Enter UA FF number
C. Print confirmation page
4. Make reservations with local Hyatt Place
A. Enter GP number
5. Check-in at Hyatt Place
A. Request to earn miles, not points
6. Repeat 4 and 5 next weekend
7. Check mile balances at UA and GP. Expect to wait a couple days for miles to post.
8. When FFNs post (or perhaps before?) call Hyatt to book FFN stays. Personally, I checked availability for the properties I wanted now, before starting.
9. Show up and stay in some of the best hotels!
Expected earnings: 5000 UA miles per stay, 500 UA miles per stay, 2500 UA miles per every second stay, 1 FFN per every second stay
Hence, after the second stay, I should have 13500 UA miles and 1 FFN.
Do I have this right? Anything else I need to be aware of?
I'm a newbie to Hyatt and to hotel points in general. The FFN + UA miles promotion caught my attention, and thus, here I am. This means that I am starting from scratch, and have read what seems like 100 threads to figure out what I need to know to get started. Here's what I did to attempt to earn all the UA 1K + Hyatt bonuses:
1. Register with Hyatt
A. Go to hyatt.com and create a GP account
B. Choose to earn Free Nights (not Bonus Points)
C. Receive immediate email confirmation, stating that you are earning FFNs
2. Register for UA 1K offer to earn 5K UA miles for each stay
A. Follow link from UA 1K website.
B. Enter UA FF number
C. Print confirmation page
3. Register for UA 2500 bonus miles
A. Find link here
B. Enter UA FF number
C. Print confirmation page
4. Make reservations with local Hyatt Place
A. Enter GP number
5. Check-in at Hyatt Place
A. Request to earn miles, not points
6. Repeat 4 and 5 next weekend
7. Check mile balances at UA and GP. Expect to wait a couple days for miles to post.
8. When FFNs post (or perhaps before?) call Hyatt to book FFN stays. Personally, I checked availability for the properties I wanted now, before starting.
9. Show up and stay in some of the best hotels!
Expected earnings: 5000 UA miles per stay, 500 UA miles per stay, 2500 UA miles per every second stay, 1 FFN per every second stay
Hence, after the second stay, I should have 13500 UA miles and 1 FFN.
Do I have this right? Anything else I need to be aware of?
Oct 9, 2009, 1:11 pm
#14
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: SFO
Programs: UA1k3.00mm;AAex-EXP;Hy Glob;Acc Plt;HH Dia;Onyx Plt;Mar LT Tit;IHG DiAm;RR P;RRA G;BW D;Hcom G
Posts: 2,759
Thank you SanDiego1k. 
^^^
hobo13, I think you have it correct, but you have to wait longer (weeks or even longer) for your UA miles to post to your UA account. Good luck. You have a plan.
^^^hobo13, I think you have it correct, but you have to wait longer (weeks or even longer) for your UA miles to post to your UA account. Good luck. You have a plan.
Oct 9, 2009, 9:34 pm
#15
Moderator: GLBT Travelers & Hyatt Gold Passport
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: CVG
Posts: 15,300
And since we're talking about HP properties, they'll probably be clueless about entering your UA number so it will probably post as points, you'll have to call in to convert the stay to miles (UA) and the bonuses will post automatically with the sweep time.
