Originally Posted by
missydarlin
Do we know that there is actually any rampant enough abuse to need to manage it? Or is this more of a "I didn't get the nights I wanted, so there must be someone scamming the system" kind of thing? Do we really think there are people booking 40 nights at top properties?
I dislike the idea of requiring points to hold. I don't think think a Million Mile balance gives you a better track record than someone who's earned those points then spent them...so why should a point hoarder benefit if they aren't necessarily a better customer? In fact, I think Hyatt would probably prefer that you spend them.
Well none of us have empirical evidence that it is a rampant problem but anecdotally there have been a couple of instances that indicates there is a problem. Last year, someone (not a forum regular) reported that they held week long reservations using FFN for 3 months at GH Kauai hoping that they can use it for one week only. This year, there was a recent thread on the HR Maui where there are absolutely no award rooms available until 9/1 (the day after BWB redemption expires) - while this does not prove that it is due to people abusing BWB/FFN award bookings and not the property playing games with inventory, it does indicate there is a problem.
Also, I've been pretty surprised at the random reports of availability on a particular night at some properties (which I never thought would be a problem for redemptions).
Now that award inventory (either points or FFNs) is the same as "base" revenue room, if they are booked out the property could actually lose revenue stays that are booked to competitors only to find the "speculative" bookings cancelled just before the cancellation deadline. If this happens a lot Hyatt will receive backlash from the properties - which could in the long run lead to no more FFN promotions. As the economy improves, this problem will only get worse.
My suggestion for allowing "advance" booking with points is only within parameters that Hyatt is able to handle in the past and limits speculative bookings. If they want to allow speculative bookings - limit it to say 5 nights (unearned) per account or something like that provided that they can establish the tech requirements to do so and train the CSRs appropriately.