Hyatt is still the best program for me.

Still love hyatt, not leaving

It may be residual good will that Hyatt has built up among its members, as you note above, but I think the more dead-on part of your post is the following:

It just doesn't make sense to hold a large amount of points/miles in any program-they are all depreciating assets that you have no control over. I'm guessing that it's some sort of hoarder mentality that promotes this kind of accumulation.

To the original poster, what did you think would happen to your million plus Hyatt points by holding onto them for almost a decade? FF points or miles always are in a devaluation position and won't be worth more tomorrow then they are today.

I know holding onto points is stupid, but I know for me at least there is a definite rush factor to having your points account go over certain thresholds. I remember how excited I was the first time I crossed 250K in a program and then how hard it was to drop back below 100K.

But yes in the end, they will always be slowly devalued over time, so now if I can get more than 3 cents per point in a redemption, I use them regardless of if I need to or not.

Marriott rewards devaluated a few yrs ago... same thing.

There is some advantage to have a stash of points to pre-book FFNs or use the "old" award chart in the event of a devaluation like now. But having an excessive amount is not really a good idea (although some road warriors just want to stay home after traveling for work every week). Personally, I try to keep a stash of about 200,000 for these purposes.

WPJ --

Not only did Marriott devalue a couple of years ago, it appears that they are in the process of "enhancing" their elite status.

In fact, the OP of this thread is now worrying that they are going to emulate Hilton even more!

So much for switching hotel chain allegiances!

It's a paradox, but the best time to get an assured "deal" (discount) is when a program announces a devaluation. In 2008, I booked several UA international tickets in "C" for 2009, before the price went up from 80,000 to 105,000 on 1/1/09. In light of the oncoming train, I thought that that was the best I could do. Still no regrets.

I am impressed with how Hyatt is easing this one in. It's far from a "gotcha". We have until June to do a big burn with reservations that are as far as a year out at the new "old" rate, if we so choose, and until September to move those award stays all over the board. That means, if I'm not mistaken, that we can re-book what we have on the books for as late as August 2011. Unlike airline tickets, we can cancel the reservation without penalty (except those points becoming worth less).

I won't be thanking Hyatt for this one. If a devaluation was necessary, and I could still debate either side of that... But anyway, if one was coming, I can't think of too many gentler ways to implement it. For that, thank you Hyatt.

My point? To the extent this raises our angst, time to get to work.

Actually comes from spending a lot of money at Hyatt�s, mostly in Asia.

I do use my points and in fact have claimed nearly 1 million points on awards.

It's just that I make more points than I can use, and this has been the case for many years.

This could be great news for me--at least in terms of burning what I have accumulated--before the devaluation.

Where does it say we can book and change by September this year without having to pay a higher amount of points for a reservation that will ultimately result in a stay as late as September 2011?

From Karen (GP Concierge)'s post:

"In addition, existing award reservations for stays subsequent to June 4th will receive a refund for the point difference if the hotel moved to a lower category. We will also allow award reservations made by June 4th to be modified by September 2nd under the terms of the original award chart."

Now, travelexpert, it's not so bad after all, is it?

Agree.

But it is still disappointing that the focus of the devaluation is the highest end properties, which is where I want to focus my vacation stays after giving a hotel chain hundreds of nights of revenue business. And as I mentioned before--this devaluation is occurring when the luxury hotel sector has been hammered worse than any other sector--and anticipated to be the slowest to recover.

As I steer business from Hilton and consider whether I should include Hyatt to my ongoing relationship with Marriott--my biggest concern is another devaluation as soon as Hyatt realizes the consequences of dolling out boatloads of points with credit cards. Like in two years when from now when hotel rates have returned to prior highs, they'll say this devaluation in June 2010 was just a "minor readjustment".

As you gather--I am starting to view loyalty point executives in a similar way I see politicians. Big on promises and ready to grab my tax dollars. And full of excuses when it comes to actually delivering on promises.

Hyatt has best program running IMO. I've recently converted many stays to Hyatt; am very pleased with the product, service and benefits.

I agree with the general sentiment here. I'm sorry to see this, but am very aware of how generous the program is. The economics were just not there for Hyatt.

Look at the just-announced Marriott promotion They are offering a few options, but the one analagous to FFN allows 1 free night after every 3 nights (rather than 2 stays) for redemption in the lower level hotels (cat 1 to 4) with a max of 2 free nights. Night and day from Hyatt's.

The other huge difference for me is that, with few exceptions, Hyatt welcomes me to hotels as if they appreciate my business. At Marriott (where I am at the top tier - not insignificant at 75 nights/year) I feel like the guy checking in next to me. No breakfast, no internet, no suites.

At the Park Hyatt Paris, where my family and I spent a week at Christmas on NBT free nights, they treated us just as if we had spent the $1800 per night for the suite they gave us. You don't get that at Marriotts.