yuel

Finally got a call back, the csr tried to tell me that the Hyatt promo was not rite aids and could offer me $50 rite aid gift card, said he'll no, I spent $300 on the promo, then csr said she could offer $75 gift card, said he'll no again, I want my 2 nights at the Hyatt, so a manager is suppose to call me back.
What the hell, anyone else getting the consolation prize offer of a gift card?

ski

They tried to do this with the Docker promo towards the end, they ended up having to send checks to people, so don't settle for less. They contract with travel/marketing agencies and give them only so much money for these promos and when it's out or demand exceeds their expectations, the travel or marketing company or sponsor tries to get out of it. Dockers ended up having to send $150 checks, the required spend was think $125 search on flyertalk. For those that remember the Walgreens spa certificates for buying robitussin products like cough drops, with coupons you could buy 5 bags for around $5 and you were supposed to get a $100 spa certificate, but they hadn't really contracted with many providers and couldn't handle the demand, between Robitussin or Walgreens, they ended sending MC or visa gift cards, but for the total value of $100 certificates, but over think $500 people got tax forms. Rite Aid or Hyatt needs to come through or contact BBB. Did not do this promo because did not feel like dealing with marketing company when there is priceline or hotwire for the hotel rooms, and skyauction used to have the resort certs, that can be hard to use unless you have last minute plans. Remember also the coupons on the valentines chocolates, for more gift cards from the company. They tried to get out of it, but they ended up having to honor their promotion.

Crosc

Wow, was just charged $91 in taxes for my "free" flight. What a ripoff.

littlemookie

Just got my Hyatt certificates for s reservation booked at the end of December. I was originally told to wait until November to receive them but glad they arrived early. I plan on switching my reservation so hope that process is easy. The cert expiration date on mine is 8/31/2016.

I didn't do the flights promo and seems like that was a good move based on comments in this thread.

dshelbyjr

I was coming to post the same thing. My reservation was for November. Like you, I'm glad they arrived early as I was scared I would have to call back 8 months after submitting everything.

platbrownguy

Just another data point - I successfully used my two Hyatt certs at the Hyatt Regency TST in Hong Kong without a hitch, April 17 for 2 nights. I tendered the certs at check-in and owed zero dollars for the two nights, for which I otherwise would have paid ~$600 US (~$300/night).

The hotel was fabulous; large rooms for base rooms in HK, great location about a 5-min walk from Nathan Road and 2-min walk from a very convenient subway line, and -- best part -- the room included a cell phone that you could take around the city with you, with free calling to the USA and free 3G for Google Maps. So-so quality, but talk about a great amenity.

Highly recommend this property for using the certs.

largeeyes

Haha...I was just there last week. You are right, that phone is the best amenity I have ever seen in a hotel. Saved me buying a sim card and was very, very handy. We stayed using our anniversary free stay.

Ruhr

So as these reports come in, I'm getting a sense...

January Happy YouYear promotion with the Hyatt two night hotel cert redemption: great redemption if you were lucky enough to get certs early. Completely free (at time of hotel stay).

Fabuary promotion with the free flight: with possible hidden fees like paying taxes on the "free" flight at redemption: not so much?

Forgive me if I'm generalising. That's the impression I'm getting though.

alamedaguy

As someone who did both, I will say that the hotel one was much easier and probably more lucrative. I am still waiting for a call back from two weeks ago after my first (already late) call from them yielded no available dates for my city pairs. The hotel was booked during the first call and I got the certs a few days later. The rate for the nights we have reserved is $285 a night, though I would never have spent that much on a room.

It seems logical that the hotel promotion would be easier, since they are possibly just buying a number of Premier certs for a given price. With the airfare, it's not like they are just calling AA and buying 1,000 flights for $200 each. The phone agent told me they are promotional fares they need to use and that there were none available, but was never very clear about what is going on. I was tempted to ask if I just need to look for a flight for under $500, or for mileage availability, but it didn't seem prudent.

The hotel promo seems nothing like the Dockers one from a few years ago, while the airfare one seems just like it.

littlemookie

The flights deal had a lot of potential but the number of hurdles to go through and being subject to the whims of their booking agent made the deal a no go for me and others. For the Hyatt deal it was a no brainer, as long as I completed the deal quickly before the possibility of the promo company running out of certs and offering a subpar replacement (which under the terms they can do).

Good luck with the flights, hope you get those booked. The reports to date have been positive, but hassle filled.

amieee

FYI, I did the Fabuary promotion for 7 night resort stay. I'm booked for some resort in Orlando 8/21-8/28... So far it seems great. Didn't need any credit card info or anything just mailing address, email, phone number and full name... got confirmation email/letter... Also, even though the promo says max of 4 people, the resort I'm staying at is a 3 bedroom for 8 people (purposely chose the one that only had the most bedroom since it's my sister + 3 kids and my parents, myself, and possibly my boyfriend if he can take off from work. We have not bought the flight yet but plan on doing this early next week. The hotel seems decent (would've like it better if the pool was bigger but it's not like we're going to be in the hotel 24 hours). Also, it does have a kitchen/living room so that's exciting. Already have lots of stuff planned for the kids.

Note: I looked up the actual price of this and it's only like $300 total for 7 nights at these resorts but still pretty good for 3 bedroom!

zoomgirl

So, I did everything right to get my free certificates from the Rite Aid promotion, and then promptly forgot to bring them on my trip this weekend. Anyone know what will happen? Will they make me pay the rack rate? Let me fax them to them in a few days? U.S. Hyatt in New York.

DCBob

They have no way of knowing if you even have any certificates, or if you did, whether you already used them. My gut feeling tells me you will have to pay the rack rate (less if you are very lucky).

The best you can hope for is if they charged your credit card and then reversed the charge after receiving the original certs. You CANNOT fax them as they require the original certs. Otherwise, you could try to reuse the actual certs in addition to the faxed copies.

If it were me, I would try to work something out with the hotel manager, and if not possible, you will end up paying for the room.

zoomgirl

So, I ended up paying $0, and I am not quite sure what to do now.

I actually had two rooms booked at the hotel for the night, one I was paying cash for and one using the certificates --- one of the rooms was for me, the other was for a friend and her husband. I ended up calling to add my friend's name to the certificate room, because she was arriving at the hotel before me and checking in first, and the second room I had was using a government rate (because my partner works for the government.)

Anyway, my friend put her CC down when she checked in, told the front desk that I had the certificates and was arriving later. I did arrive later, but of course without the certificates!

The next day I went down to the front desk, told them I forgot the certificates and asked them what to do -- ie mail them to them, pay the regular rate, etc. They said to call Hyatt GP, and didn't really get it when I told them that wouldn't help, since these were a different kind of certificate. (They thought I was talking about Hyatt CC free nights, I think) Maybe I should have escalated to a manager, but I didn't, mainly because I was busy and figured it would come out on check out day when the bill came under the door (this was a Hyatt Place).

Check out day comes, and my friend gets the bill under her door for $2.34. Now in my account on Hyatt.com I can't even see that reservation anymore, though I do see credit for my room that I paid cash for, of course.

I've told my friend that if she finds a mysterious Hyatt charge on her credit card to tell me, and I am monitoring my credit card that I have saved on Hyatt online.

Should I expect $$$ to hit one of our cards sometime soon? I guess this means I can use the certificates somewhere else?

YoProWithAGoPro

Sounds pretty scummy. That's like dining and dashing. You agreed to pay with either certs or cash. Sending in the certs would be the right/honest thing to do.