edgewood49

Well Marriott has had 75 nights for ages and no issue there. Of course their footprint is much larger. SPG was similar to Hyatt before the merger and their footprint like Hyatt smaller. So there is a sense of portion there, or at least one can make that argument.

Having said all that it's Hyatt's sandbox we just choose to play in it or move on to another one. If it wasn't for my travel slowing down as I begin to sell my company I would stay, but it's just not worth the "stress" of getting those nights.

RTW1

As has been said plenty of times... if your travel in the US to places where Hyatt is present it wont be much of a difference. For the rest of us it is...

cmglobal

You're touching on my concerns here. I have a hard time imaging hotels truly honoring the best room upgrade at check in and don't see top tier treatment improving regardless of fewer numbers. Time will tell, but I'm skeptical.

hailstorm

The World of Hyatt is an improvement for exactly two groups of people:

1. The Semi-Mega Road Warrior. The person who was going to be hitting 60-70+ nights a year at Hyatt hotels anyway, but for whatever reason wasn't getting a Courtesy Card. These people will get marginally better benefits, with the biggest benefit of all coming from decreased competition from March 2018 onwards.

2. The Lapsed Diamond. The person who wasn't going to retain Diamond Status next year anyway and was going to fall back to Platinum, or even Gold, now gets a bigger point multiplier and four Explorist club room upgrades that they wouldn't otherwise be getting. Furthermore, I would guess that the bulk of these people are made up of people that status matched to Diamond last year, so they're really getting to milk this benefit cow for every last drop. And who knows, maybe Hyatt will end up doing another status match again next year to drum up business!

From that, we know who's business Hyatt really values: the extremely loyal and the extremely fickle.

GUWonder

Marriott Platinum status costs some I know as little as $375-540 (USD), without having to book even 11 actual room night stays in Marriott hotels. Marriott Gold is really easy to get and it comes with breakfast and/or lounge access.

WOH pushed me to embrace Marriott.

canyonleo

Yes, you're missing it.

First, there are many very loyal Diamonds that travel a lot, like 2-3 cities in a week. It's very easy for one of these to be not-cheap (HR and GH with some HP/HH thrown in) and have a stay:night ratio much closer to 1:1 than what you are understanding. So, it's not just about MR-Diamonds.

Second, there are those that just won't make 55-60 nights, but year are also not-cheap or MR Diamonds... and in the new WoH they would become the new Plat level, which in WoH is basically worthless.

Last, a follow up post quoting you claimed in the new WoH that benefits are roughly the same for those that are mega-travelers and easily hit 60+ nights. That is false. The various one free night awards have short expiration. Suite or best room upgrades are now optional for properties (read the new ToC, although it remains to be seen how far properties take it). But the biggest issue (IMO) is the loss of W1. Consider even a mega-traveler doing 70 nights might have 30-35 stays, that 30-35k points not earned each year, that's like 1.5 free night(s) at a Cat 7 (with no short expiration) - that is a big loss. Other new benefits like free parking and waiver of resort fees is close to worthless for most, the former because so many inner-city properties outsource parking and the fees can't be placed on the room charges (so fees can't be waived by the benefit), the latter because many/some would only do a resort visit using points and points stays already have resort fee waiver under HGP (so WoH isn't a new benefit, in that common scenario).

To summarize (and generalize, understanding the definition of "generalize"), the "lower level" Diamonds that would be put into the new Plat category have no incentive (under the loyalty program) to stay with Hyatt, and the "high level" Diamonds have a higher bar to obtain basically the same benefits less the loss of W1 which isn't offset by any new 120 day valid single night award(s).

Twinmommy19

Actually - Achieving 75 Marriott nights compared to even 25 Hyatt nights for a US resident is an apples to oranges comparison.

For starters - Marriott CC holders get a night stay for every $3,000 they spend. Even under HP, the max Hyatt CC nights was 5 and you had to spend $40,000 for that...) With a Marriott CC you would get 13 nights credit for the same CC spend.

Next - Marriott timeshare stays count as night stays. Understand that an Interval exchange fee costs only $179 and even bonus weeks / getaways are often under $300. Each one of these stays qualifies you for 7 Marriott nights without forfeiting a single MR point! Hyatt offers no cheap way like this to earn night stays - nothing remotely comparable. Put in perspective, a category 1 C+P one night stay costs $50 plus tax and 2,500. 7 nights would run you $350 plus tax along with 17,500 Hyatt points.

Next, with Marriott, you can get credit for multiple night stays if you reserve multiple rooms - even for the timeshares. That's a huge difference. If you book two units at a MVC twice a year through Interval for family trips, that's 28 night right there and you only had to check in twice for them.

Marriott gives you stay credit on pure points reservations, right? Hyatt doesn't even give you a stay credit if you pay OOP to upgrade a points reservation.

Lastly - I understand (though I've never tried it) you can earn 10 MR nights just for reserving a 2 person meeting for a couple dollars?

The point here is that it's MUCH easier to qualify for Marriott status regardless of the number of night requirement technically being higher.

edgewood49

wow things people will do for a free lunch

notquiteaff

Even better - you get 15 nights every year just for having the card:

"15 credits toward your next Elite membership level after account approval and every year after account anniversary*"

https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/mar...67K4&SPID=FHHJ

sm0421

Had a coupe of average-bad stays at HP in northern Jersey... where there is no HR/GH. HP cost $80 more than the Sheraton Mawah which is significantly better than every way possible. Requalifed for diamond on company-paid stays (average ~300/night) but can't see myself staying in HP for more than a few nights a year, may just have to switch to SPG for good.

canyonleo

Free lunch? Actually with HGP (and WoH), it's free breakfast. And, at Andaz Maui, where breakfast is over $50 per person (after tax and tip), for my family of three on last month's 10 night stay, that's over $1,500 (and that's just breakfast, that ignores the fact that one earns points so that I didn't pay a dime for my room).

So, yes, wow, the things people will do to save $1,500 (or $6,000 on top of that for the room).

Kacee

Well not technically relevant, since the reference was to Marriott Plat, and Marriott wouldn't give you (or your family) free breakfast at a resort

A good example as well why it's likely pressure from certain properties that has pushed Hyatt to tighten the rules. You can bet they have a pretty good idea what the Diamond freebies mean in terms of lost revenue opportunities and that number can be really substantial.

Miesque

When World of Hyatt was rolled out a little more than a month ago, it left a bad taste in my mouth coupled with what I consider to be a year where we have seen Hyatt basically as a rudderless ship with lots of different issues. As a result I switched several stays to Hilton (where I have been Diamond for much longer and Gold for many years prior) and now that there is less than a month to the end of the year, I am faced with the decision of whether to bother with a few extra stays to requalify as Diamond (well for the three months before the name changes to something silly). My inclination after all of this is no, as much as I like the occasional 4 PM check-out. While I appreciate the soft product edge that Hyatt has at its Full Service properties (but lacks at its Hyatt House & Hyatt Place), overall I much prefer the Hilton hard product and footprint. Also the

skj

But I suspect canyonleo's example doesn't represent lost revenue. I'm just guessing here, but I don't think there's any way he would spend the $1500 for breakfasts over the 10 days. I'd guess one day for $150 would be enough, if that. That $150 is probably closer to the property's cost to provide breakfasts for the 10 days.

Kacee

That doesn't matter. It's about the property's perception of revenue lost, not whether a particular guest would or would not pay for breakfast.