Originally Posted by
jn in ca
In what probably qualifies as the trollingest thread of trolls I have ever seen on FT, that comment may qualify as the trollingest.
I get it, you want to sling some mud with the rest of the mudslingers, but I take it you have never had anything to do with pitching and/or constructing brands. Adding some airline frequent flyers will not convince one single potential developer to build another Hyatt. Not one.
If there is anything that I am convinced the AA deal is
not about, it is not about Hyatt being unable to find developers.
Having an good customer base of high-spending customers might convince some more hotels to join the Hyatt brand. It's not all about building new hotels. Eg, the Parker NY. It's not a new hotel, but it's new to Hyatt.
The only new thing about this Hyatt / CK thing is that they publicized it. They should have just sent emails to CKs ("click here for instant globalist status") like they have done for M-life Noirs in the past and there would not be all this uproar.
Every loyalty program partnership is about expanding customer base, particularly to high-level spenders. WoH is not there to cater to the people who mattress run at HP for $69/night.
Personally, I think that Hyatt should add a base pt minimum for globalist, because the status is too valuable to give away for credit card activity and low-priced stays. All this tweaking of 55 vs 60 nights/year is a waste of time. Just add a 40k base pt minimum (in addition to the other requirements) and be done with it. Everyone else should be happy with some non-suite upgrades and 4 club certs/year, because it's still more than any other program will give them for that amount of spend. The airlines have already figured this out... eventually the hotel chains will, as well.