Platinum Extras Awards Update (eliminated 31Dec12)
Dec 11, 2012, 9:12 pm
#46
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Osaka
Programs: Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold, UA
Posts: 3,157
There will be no platinum extra, or bonus, or any other "award" after every 3rd stay after 1 Jan 2013.
In 2012 10 stays for a plat would have earned 3 platinum extra certs (or points claimable online). In 2013 10 stays gets zero.
Assuming you would claim the points online rather than have a paper cert mailed, 10 stays in 2012 would have earned a bonus of 3,500 pts, 10 stays in 2013 will earn zero bonus pts.
Definitely a devaluation.
Dec 12, 2012, 7:02 am
#47
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 215
I'm curious. Is 25% participation really all that bad? Aren't survey participations very low?
It seems to me that platinum members would tend to be closer to five stays instead of twenty-five because you'll get people who are loyal to Hyatt but simply don't travel all that much, or don't travel much to areas with Hyatts. They probably stay at Hyatt every other month, or up to once a month. This means certificates which arrive in the mail will be sitting on the desk for a few weeks. I know some of my certificates have gone unused because I forget about them or I remember it as I'm driving away down the street and it's not worth enough to turn around and get it off the desk.
Something online like Panera bread would have been nicer. When I check in and they say my GP is on file, the front desk could ask "you have a free welcome gift, dinner points,..." would you like to use it?
Count me as one who liked the attention but rarely redeemed the certificates. (Except for the recent online ones -- those are redeemed for points the instant I see them).
I'm worried that the new and innovative alternative will never materialize. If they had something in mind, it would have been better to switch to that rather than dropping the program and giving no schedule for the replacement. If I don't hear something soon, I'll be liquidating my "bank" of points that I've accumulated over almost twenty years. Until now, my preference for Hyatt has held me back as HH Silver. I'll probably become Gold in 2013 and enjoy a nice vacation at Hyatt's expense. So I'll come out ahead. But I wish Hyatt had more interest in customer retention.
It seems to me that platinum members would tend to be closer to five stays instead of twenty-five because you'll get people who are loyal to Hyatt but simply don't travel all that much, or don't travel much to areas with Hyatts. They probably stay at Hyatt every other month, or up to once a month. This means certificates which arrive in the mail will be sitting on the desk for a few weeks. I know some of my certificates have gone unused because I forget about them or I remember it as I'm driving away down the street and it's not worth enough to turn around and get it off the desk.
Something online like Panera bread would have been nicer. When I check in and they say my GP is on file, the front desk could ask "you have a free welcome gift, dinner points,..." would you like to use it?
Count me as one who liked the attention but rarely redeemed the certificates. (Except for the recent online ones -- those are redeemed for points the instant I see them).
I'm worried that the new and innovative alternative will never materialize. If they had something in mind, it would have been better to switch to that rather than dropping the program and giving no schedule for the replacement. If I don't hear something soon, I'll be liquidating my "bank" of points that I've accumulated over almost twenty years. Until now, my preference for Hyatt has held me back as HH Silver. I'll probably become Gold in 2013 and enjoy a nice vacation at Hyatt's expense. So I'll come out ahead. But I wish Hyatt had more interest in customer retention.
Dec 12, 2012, 10:14 pm
#48
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: check swarm
Programs: DL DM & 2MM, SPG/Bonvoid LT Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, $tarbucks Titanium
Posts: 14,400
I will drop to Hyatt Platinum for next year as I shifted my stays back to Starwood. This gutting of the Platinum level makes me wonder if I will even try to retain Hyatt Platinum. I will, however, enjoy SPG Platinum instead. Too bad, GP WAS such a great program. Hyatt's loss = Starwood's Gain
Dec 12, 2012, 11:02 pm
#49
Moderator: Alaska Mileage Plan
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 12,302
All the hotel programs are "streamlining" benefits. In the grand scheme of things, elimination of Platinum Extras is not that big of deal to me.
I prefer that Hyatt focus on maintaining the perks with the most value and widest appeal.
I prefer that Hyatt focus on maintaining the perks with the most value and widest appeal.
Sorry to hear this news...
Dec 13, 2012, 8:54 pm
#51
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: FLL/MIA
Programs: PC Platinum, Hyatt GP Diamond, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 248
Does it mean that Platinums have no way of accessing the Regency Club other than paying for it?
RM
P.S. I have an expired Plat Extras certificate which I should keep as a keepsake.
RM
P.S. I have an expired Plat Extras certificate which I should keep as a keepsake.
Dec 13, 2012, 10:27 pm
#52
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,368
If it hasn't been expired too long, can you possibly extend it and use it soon? An upgrade is a terrible thing to waste.
Dec 14, 2012, 6:41 am
#53
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
http://www.hyatt.com/gp/en/awards/hyatt_upgrade.jsp
Dec 15, 2012, 12:00 am
#54
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 75
Upgrade with points is still listed as possible, but I wouldn't be surprised if that gets gutted too under the same ridiculous rationale used to try to justify this Platinum benefit elimination. Then again it already involves usually paying a premium room rate (rather than the cheapest publicly available rate) in order to try for the upgrade.
This is where Hyatt is completely out of touch with business travelers. Most of us are required to stay on corporate rates, yet you can't upgrade on corporate rates using points with Hyatt. The Platinum Extras Awards gave mid-tier members a couple of upgrades, but once they're gone this means good-bye to the Regency Club for many mid-tier corporate travelers.
Hopefully Hyatt will wake up and fix this. For 2013, I was planning to focus on SPG and throw any extra stays to Hyatt. Now I'm thinking I should just do all my stays with SPG.
Dec 15, 2012, 2:54 am
#55
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: BKK
Posts: 6,741
If Hyatt has any sense they will leave suite upgrades and club room upgrades alone, as this benefit is a great incentive to stay with Hyatt and in many cases allows them to remain competitive with other properties. As they require payment of the daily rate I suspect these awards are a reasonably good deal for the hotels.
Dec 26, 2012, 7:58 pm
#56
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Usually in SAN or Central Europe.
Programs: AA:EXP/1MM. Accor/Radisson:Silver; HH:Gold; ICH:Plt Amb.
Posts: 22,307
Is the low participation rate in the Platinum Extras program because people might not be aware of it? I mean, at the very minimum, someone can just claim the extra GP points. Not much effort. And ending the program on 12/31 instead of 2/28 seems somewhat odd. However, there isn't much incentive now for a Platinum member to clock in more than 5 stays per year. The extra points from this program helped cushion the loss of the G bonus codes. Maybe Hyatt can be like SPG and Hilton and have an amenity choice at checkin for Platinum members. That would give me the incentive to stay more at Hyatt and less at the competition.
Dec 27, 2012, 2:10 am
#57
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Quebec and Ontario, Canada
Programs: AC*E50, SPG/Marriott Plat
Posts: 1,917
For what I am concerned, I already switched my stays with SGP for 2013. Just kept one reservation with Hyatt (Olive8 as I want to try this hotel), canceled others, and this "enhancement" really pushed me to do it...
Last edited by Yul_voyager; Dec 27, 2012 at 3:56 am
Dec 27, 2012, 3:10 am
#58
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2008
Programs: Everything is refundable
Posts: 3,727
Is the low participation rate in the Platinum Extras program because people might not be aware of it? I mean, at the very minimum, someone can just claim the extra GP points. Not much effort. And ending the program on 12/31 instead of 2/28 seems somewhat odd. However, there isn't much incentive now for a Platinum member to clock in more than 5 stays per year. The extra points from this program helped cushion the loss of the G bonus codes. Maybe Hyatt can be like SPG and Hilton and have an amenity choice at checkin for Platinum members. That would give me the incentive to stay more at Hyatt and less at the competition.
Hyatt has not only lost the edge, the competition has widened the gap even further in the last months.
People are leaving in masses and the competition did not really do a lot, which is probably the first time we see a such a move in the industry without a really massive campaign, although we can call the Carlsson summer points offer a really nice promotion.
The main reason why people were willing to pay a premium to stay at a Hyatt in the past used to be a superior loyalty scheme and on international soil better hotels, but as pointed out by so many users in various threads before, it is not the case anymore.
SPG´s BTT, the recent Hilton sale, the Carlsson points offers, why would anyone stay at a Hyatt at a 100% premium and basically no other advantage?
Sure, the Grand Berlin is nicer than the Hilton Berlin, but Euro 164 against 69 including double points is tough to justify, if your IQ is higher than 69
Dec 27, 2012, 6:52 am
#59
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 215
What was the target redemption rate, what was its history over time? Gift card redemption percentages are in the high 80s which is the flip side of Mr. Zidell's number, but gift cards are worh substantially more than the Hyatt certificates. I found this piece of trivia (http://www.law.yale.edu/news/5401.htm):
When Tivo offered 100,000 new subscribers a $100 rebate in 2005, nearly half of them failed to mail in the rebate. Bam, that's an extra $5 million in profits. The rates of redemption are often below 70 percent.
Dec 30, 2012, 2:47 pm
#60
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: COS/DEN
Programs: UA 1P (w/ no expectations whatsoever); Marriott Gold; Hilton Silver; Hertz Pres
Posts: 693
Just got my, presumably, last one in the mail with a 3/31/13 expiration. Disappointing to see this cut without anything in sight to replace it.
Wouldn't a 25% redemption rate be a good thing for a company? Maintain an extra benefit that can be advertised to elite members, and only have to cash out 1 in 4 of them?? Perhaps I'm just naive.
You'd think with all of the cuts across all programs, anything a company would do to *maintain current* benefits would put them ahead of the competition.
Wouldn't a 25% redemption rate be a good thing for a company? Maintain an extra benefit that can be advertised to elite members, and only have to cash out 1 in 4 of them?? Perhaps I'm just naive.
You'd think with all of the cuts across all programs, anything a company would do to *maintain current* benefits would put them ahead of the competition.
