Hobby=Business

The 'I got no water as pdb' affair seems to be worth some clicks.... :D

What's going on with all the AI generated dramatic artwork?

It seems VFTW is turning into someone shaking a stick on the virtual lawn.

An interesting overview of Hyatt and Others........
 

A lot of expected comments most of the way and some real inconvenient truths
I could expand but I do my praise and criticism all year long so I'll let someone else chime in first if inclined
Wishing all my fellow World Of Hyatt members here in the community all over the world a wonderful Holiday Season
Cheers

https://viewfromthewing.com/a-guest-...ting-it-wrong/

Ugh. I'm loathe to read it since it is that vomitous garbage dealer vftw... but perhaps I'll glance. ;)

I think View from A Wing is pretty good and I can say like Flyertalk I’ve learned a
lot over my decades here from each other as well from a variety of blogs.
If I don’t like a post I delete move on from whatever I’m reading but no matter who posts we can’t always like
what we read as we all have our own perspectives
in this case he didn’t write the piece someone else did

He didn't write the piece - the piece jives w my own experiences.

I also dont like the owner's views on a lot of things - he spreads a lot of Sinophobia and acts as if he knows China but doesn't. I really dislike it when bloggers spread hate about China

Comments on article
1. 287 nights is click-bait/misleading. Author says 287 – 68 Bonus nights (co-branded cards, etc) = 217 actual butt-in-bed nights (so what's 217?..at end 2023, i’ll be 285 real nights at just IHG & Hilton and if add other chains/independents approx 300

2. author's math does not compute 287 – 68 = 219

3. my experiences in 2023, 2022, into the 2010's is 99.5% OUTSIDE of USA

4. IHG
a. pre-Covid. IT systems points crediting i. slow ii. often wrong missing Welcome, Food & Bev, Bonus, Promo's wrong programming. iii. Rewards Dept responded quickly, and accurate usually on first iteration of communication
b. post covid re-open (say late 2021 onward).......
i. Back-end: points crediting 5-7 calendar days slowest of major programs; Rewards Dept is slow, several times wrong, and multiple iterations to solve errors .........
ii. Front-end; Pgm improved though F&B Milestones still not operable 14 months after announced. Since 2021 autumn, emailing many time to Rewards/Guest Relations and then Corporate about GRS booking problems, missing features, etc ... lots of time wasted as IHG has implemented almost nothing. Mr & Mrs Smith integration terrible, errors and Rewards Dept responses demonstrate lack of knowledge of boutique-ness of Smith properties. Emailing to Corporate (after Rewards Dept does nothing), ZERO response from Global Chief CUSTOMER Officer ...aren't all the items sent to IHG from a customer, customer-related?
I've had Corporate Executive Officer and Board reporting roles, quite hands-on to implement improvements even procedural/administrative which was not my job, but to solve / simplify / etc. I see none of that at IHG

Oh, asked IHG which properties have Exec Lounge several ways: check-box Exec Lounge on booking system (don;t have), send a weblink or PDF list - don't have, run a query - don't have/can't do, Diamond Rep gives wrong info 5 of 6 properties

c. Milestones stop at 100 nights ... IHG doesn't care about annual loyalty ... take for granted / psychology that habit has formed to stay at IHG ??
d. Lifetime benefit ..none ... multi-year loyalty means nothing to IHG, so why bother continuing with IHG?

e. the Properties (outside USA) : are not the problem, the problem is Rewards Dept & Corporate. Human Resources at properties work with what they have, cheerful, etc. Bora Bora awesome. Sydney Club Lounge - met great people.


5. Hilton
a. the best IT on front-end booking (and My Way choices per brand) and fastest points crediting (and accurate)
b. Milestones continue for 360 yes beyond 100 and 150 nights ... (well, with Hilton's good programmers/programming, why not offer some choices , say beyond 100 nights or at 120, 150, 180, etc nights get 30k points vs 10k?
c. Points devalued too much and Rates change/more volatile than other hotel chains. Basic 3.5* eg. Garden Inns seems that $100 pre-tax is approx 30k points whereas fewer points at IHG and Hyatt

6. Radisson ... points value is ridiculously devalued and so chintzy Welcome Gift in Norway/Sweden for top level members ...sometimes no benefit, or a 35gram Maribou milk chocolate bar ...totally cheap for such a well-to-do country of Norway. In Poland,, reasonable. Georgia Republic the best welcome gift (and at Blu ... Collection, which is one-level above Blu was less than half the amount and quality same or lower)


......2024
1. IHG have few million points to use, will not spend any money again until they offer Lifetime benefit
2. When there is a good/interesting property, use those Luxury Travel Advisor/Agents where it makes economic sense,
3 Perhaps give business to (or perhaps they;re not worth it)
a. Hyatt... footprint, price-point range, type of property range (i'm not a frequent resorts person) are concerns ...ofc outside USA
b. Bonvoy .... i was Starwood (Meridien, Westin, W) wasn't really a fan of Marriott's older brands, and it's such a large program i've read upgrades not always available mostly in USA (but maybe same thing outside USA?) but will give a try to a few Luxury Collections, at least one Edition, and will have to look at St.Regis/Ritz

He could’ve easily re-qualified for Globalist with just 20 nights in 2023 via the Bilt Promo. So if he was “scrambling” to renew status with Hyatt he’s an idiot.

I feel like Hyatt in the last 3 years has greatly expanded their footprint (at least in the Americas) with plenty more “in the pipeline” according to Hyatt’s Press Releases.

Along with that for people like this blogger who stay 100-150+ nights a year Hyatt has recognized that this group exists and has now added extra Milestones and perks exclusively to them such as the Miraval Buy One Get One night, and the Ultimate Free Night Award, along with the extra Milestones perks that did not previously exist.

Having stayed and had top Elite Status with Hilton, Marriott and IHG I’d easily say Hyatt is the best in terms of the hard product in many locations and hard benefits which are enforced by policy.

His complaint about Hyatt Place being crappy is valid, but I’d definitely compare it to a Hilton Garden Inn. I’ve even gotten lucky at a few Hyatt Place properties and been granted a suite upgrade as a Globalist which was quite large.

My personal learnings are:
- Hotels in the US are usually more than 2x more expensive and offer less than 50% of the service quality compared to Asia.
- If you are loyal to a program long time enough, every loyalty program will fail. Don’t worry about it, change your preferred loyalty program.
- Even the worst loyalty program can make sense, if it matches to your personal travel behavior. And even the best loyalty program makes no sense, if it doesn’t match to you.

An odd article, for sure - one person (who couldn't even capitalize proper nouns correctly) with a lot of opinions. It is interesting to hear that they found IHG properties without soap, and I'm quite honored to have visited the best Marriott, according to our esteemed opinion setter, a Renaissance in Paris - hah!

I don't doubt that Hyatt Place stays in the US aren't fun on average, but I have found that basing opinions off of management companies does not always track. One of my favorite US Hyatts this year - the Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago - is an Aimbridge (oooh, scary) property.

This doesn't make me want to try IHG properties, though, I have heard positives, including from our OP, 777 global mile hound. I have enough to balance with Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton.

As someone US based I find the points redemptions in Asia to be very strange.

For example I’ve looked at dozens of prospective stays at Park Hyatt Seoul for 2023- 2024 at various times of the year and the cash rates when I have changed the currency to USD is $250-$300. Which makes no sense for a Category 6, at least in the US. Their prices seem to be always very similar to Andaz Gangnam which is a Category 5. I could definitely be missing something but that’s just my observation based on checking rates throughout the year this year and for next year.

In those cases, you just pay cash if the points rates are too high. The point that was being made is that hotels in Asia offer stronger quality and experience for less cash (often far less). I have had far better service at "mid-tier" hotels in Asia than the highest tier hotels in the US (ex. Park Hyatt New York).

This article in question focuses on US stays for the most part - but there is a consideration for maintaining status so that you can fully enjoy Elite benefits outside of the US, such as in Asia (or somewhat Europe).

I am moving this off to the blogging board where discussion properly belongs.


Markie - Co-Mod, Hyatt