Hotel lying about availability so you can't use points
 

Has anyone run into this situation? A hotel in Europe shows as completely sold out for Spring 2015 because there is an event being held nearby. When you email the hotel they'll quote you a rate EUR656 for a standard room, non refundable with a three night min stay. Hyatt Gold Passport points are supposed to have no blackout dates for the basic room, right?

They are permitted to opt out during periods of high demand, such as the event being held nearby.

How does that fit in with "no blackout dates"?

Check the T&C of the guarantee. I believe there is a limit as to how often they can do it each year.

the Hyatt next to the new SF 49ers stadium is blocking out all dates around games... so they can clearly do it quite often.

The other thing they can and often do, is not make any standard rooms available, which is essentially having blackout dates.

If a hotel does this too often, a call to customer service may get it resolved.

Is the hotel available for a double points redemption?

Or Hyatt doesn't know about it and no one has said anything. I'm following up with Hyatt and will let you know what happens...

No. They won't let you use points at all. They are selling the Standard room at EUR626 per night + taxes with a min stay of three nights. Payment is due upfront with no refund if you cancel. Standard rooms are available if you email the hotel but when you call hyatt or look online they are "sold out".

I would call customer service and complain if, in fact, they have standard rooms for sale that are not displayed on the website.

But honestly, I suspect all the hotel will do is not offer standard rooms.

As well, if they have a 3 night minimum, that applies to rewards as well.

What hotel are we talking about? Some of them are guiltier than others.

I have an email from the hotel reservations manager stating that there are standard rooms available so I'm not sure how they can now say that they won't offer standard rooms. This is for the Hyatt in Nice when the Grand Prix of Monaco is going on. My original inquiry was for four nights so it's not an issue of min stay.

It is not likely you will get it as an award. But I would call customer service in case they can do something, particularly since they're showing sold out online.

I suspect this is the case with all hotels in Nice at that time. Very high prices and no award availability.

I get why the hotel doesn't want to provide their inventory for points at the time. But if they are going to be part of the program Hyatt should force them to follow the terms and conditions of the program which say if there are standard rooms available (which there are) then there are no blackout dates... Or they should take their Hyatt flag away if they don't want to be part of the brand...

I've reached out to Hyatt and will let you know what happens.

Did you call? They will take care of you a whole lot better on the phone than via email.

This is something that's very common, and frankly, expected. I wouldn't even try to get any hotel on points during a period of high demand. We see it happen most often on NYE.

If they were to remove hotels from the brand that have periods of high demand there wouldn't be any hotels left in the program.

Did you plan this trip during the Grand Prix before checking to see if you could get a room somewhere?

Yes, I called and then I forwarded an email from the hotel manager. I guess we'll agree to disagree about how the programs should work when they say they are not subject to blackout dates. Thanks for your thoughts.

Well, good luck. I certainly don't understand your comment. I have no problem with hotels having blackout dates during periods of high demand. The award availability is far better with Hyatt than most other major chains. I guess you didn't check or know first. Or, you transferred some of your UR points before checking for availability and now your upset.

I'm sorry and truly do hope it works out for you or all the MS was in vain :) Better yet, plan to use them somewhere else that's nicer!

A bit of advise - I never make plans before I have my room secured, or most of the nights secured, if I'm using points.