Originally Posted by
BonvoyageIRL
It's not about chasing status, as I've never had to "chase" status. Organic stay / spend has always gotten me there comfortably. It's about the value of the status I'm earning. Sure, LTG is certainly "valued" more than Globalists (and Globalist-lite, if the reports are to be believed from this card). But it's about the trend, not about the immediate impact. "Boiling the frog", so to speak.
I'm sure Bonvoy Ambassadors didn't think their status would become less worthwhile at the start. Yet, it has become not worth the churn.
I'm simply expressing my intent to get ahead-of-the-curve. I'm relatively new to this - I started the loyalty journey less than a handful of years ago. And in that short time, I've gotten about halfway there to LT Globalist. If Hyatt continues to devalue the program and status and goes in the way of Bonvoy, it doesn't makes sense to spend a majority of my spend with Hyatt moving forward. I'll get ahead of the curve and start seriously exploring other brands/specific hotels.
Exactly my perspective too for what it’s worth, awarding status too easily through a credit card is more the issue than Category 9. I moved from Marriott about three and a half years ago because there were too many members with status and Ambassador wasn’t worth the effort any more (as someone not based in the US). Did over 200K Hyatt Base Points last year and already over half way to LTG, but this isn’t ‘chasing’ lifetime status, it’s just spending on hotels I would have done anyway but pushed towards Hyatt because the Glob benefits made it worthwhile. I have Marriott lifetime status that I value at very little so I don’t use it. There is already a slightly too high percentage of Globs at many high end properties for the number of suites/decent upgrades etc. for my liking due to various easy routes in the US and China, this would make it worse.
I would also point out that pushing away those willing to pay cash rates at PHs can also be bad for the points redeemers too - beyond a certain percentage of guests redeeming points, the owner no longer has to care if the cash rate is ‘real’ and presents value for money. What you eventually end up with is an owner who maximises returns by setting an extortionately high artificial cash rate and providing a low quality product targeted at those who want to feel they got ‘x’ value for their points, even if no one actually pays that rate. You might call it ‘Ritz-Carlton Syndrome’.