Originally Posted by
777 global mile hound
At what point where Hyatt sits better on some side of the equation does it pay to overpay on award and revenue? You may be paying for your so called benefits.
Even prior to the upcoming changes I have found greater value in other programs with some fair frequency.
Where in the past the WOH benefits or recognition may have made sense to pay some kind of premium depending.
That is precisely the point: it only works as long as the premium is smaller than the value the guest attributes to the program.
If Hyatt charges more on paid stays, asks more on award stays, and at the same time weakens the program benefits, the value proposition erodes. WoH may still be better than some competing programs, but “better than some” is not the same as “good enough to justify the premium.”
And yes, in quite a few cases, the guest is effectively paying for his own so-called benefits. That is sustainable only up to a point.
That said, WoH is genuinely very strong on upgrades - stronger than the other major programs, in my view. And some Hyatt properties offer Globalists more than the standard published perks, for example free parking even on paid stays, or free parking between two stays, which can be very useful at an airport hotel.
In the end, though, it depends heavily on your travel patterns. A loyalty program is only really valuable if it has the right properties in the places you actually travel to on a regular basis.