Originally Posted by
tearex
Do you still have the original reservation email? In the "Reservation Details" section, there is typically a grey box that states "CANCELLATION POLICY:" and the policy below. Hyatt reservation emails generally follow the same template, so it should be there. If you weren't aware, the cancellation policy is also seen when booking, by clicking on "Rate Rules".
That being said, the cancellation policy for a points booking is typically the same policy used for a standard rate room. Doing dummy bookings at the HR (PH not available), it appears that this is a special cancellation policy in effect for New Years. This is what I see:
Code:
Cancellation Policy
FULL PREPAYMENT/NO REFUND/NO CHANGES
So, the $1800 charge appears to be in line with the cancelled reservation.
If I were you, I would get ahead of this - look for the original reservation and the cancellation policy you agreed to and verify that they match up. Assuming it does, it does mean you agreed to the cancellation charge and it isn't really fraudulent. I believe there are some DPs (don't recall if it was WoH, or some other hotel program), where you could negotiate with corporate and/or the property to lose the points in lieu of the cash charge. You could 'ignore' this, but that potentially puts your other reservations/WoH account in jeopardy.
Yes, my original reservation did state "FULL PREPAYMENT/NO REFUND/NO CHANGES". Since that is all that it said, and there were no other cancellation policies on the hotel website, and Hyatt's own T&C defer to individual hotel policies that exceed WoH conditions, I assumed my worst case was losing the points. From my viewpoint, there was never any disclosure whatsoever about a cash rate charge instead of points (both in policy and in amount). Thus I feel comfortable with my fraudulent marker for the charge.
In researching so far, I have seen DPs for other hotel programs (SPG/Marriot) to negotiate points vs cash, but I haven't seen a single DP of resolution for this issue with WoH (only others complaining about it). That's why i'm hesitant to contact them further. My next reservation isn't for another 7 weeks, by which time Chase's fraud resolution should be complete. Is there any benefit at all to me contacting them now? My WoH point balance is exactly the points used on the canceled reservation, so I don't feel like I have anything to gain.