Football Fan

Agreed, especially with the part about cutting cost without seeing the impact it has on revenue.

I think they will have to run some "nights count double" promotions towards the end of next year. But they will lose a lot of business of people who will not even try and therefore will not be close by that time. It's like setting a stretch goal for your employees that is so far out of reach that people don't even bother to try - you achieve the opposite of what you intended to achieve.

deadinabsentia

I must be the only one not fussed.

As someone who actually stays.. and spends..

The less Globalist/Diamonds I need to compete with, the better.. The additional benefits after 60 nights are welcome.. Incentive to stay more.

I am a life time SPG Platinum.. I'm loving Hyatt.

It may be unpopular, but the service and benefits are real.. versus SPG living on reputation.

59Impala

Retro/Vintage is very popular nowawadys :-)

Martellus

If one requalifies for Diamond in Jan/Feb 2017 by getting 25 stays before World of Hyatt starts in March, will Globalist status be granted until 2/2018 or will one have to continue on and hit 55/60 nights?

hailstorm

Granted until 2/2019 in that case.

sm0421

I'm the same.

I mean Hyatt must have conducted actual customer surveys and focus groups and modelling before they made this decision. It's not that they just want to devalue the program.

zombietooth

I actually prefer the Tokyo Hilton to the PHT or HRT in Shinjuku. The Exec Lounge, while crowded, has consistently better food and service than the HRT. Everybody at the Exec Lounge remembers our names and greets us the minute they see us. They have an actual bartender, which my wife loves because he remembers her preferences and sends something her way the minute we walk in the lounge.

In addition, I like the gym better than the PHT's because of the newer equipment, and the Japanese hot bath can be made hotter and dip pool is colder.

dmunz

Just out of curiosity, where is the cost break between spend and mattress runs to get Globalist vs just paying for the suite and breakfast? I've gotten to a point in my life where I no longer count on the upgrade if I really want it. (I have a track record of being upgraded for one-night business stays where I just walk through the suite to the bed and NOT getting them when I am traveling with the family and really want them.)

I've pretty much decided that the Chase Hyat card is useless now too.

Going forward (post 2017) I suspect my spend will go to the HH card ($40K = diamond for now) and just buy the room I want where I can stay at the right Hyat property.

EDIT: I guess I should add that I'm looking at the breakpoint OVER work spend. In other words where is the line between adding personal spend to make status vs spenidng the cash directly for the desired room. It is obviously a no-brainer if you can make the status based on business and use the bennifits for family.

FWIW
DLM

shorthauldad

To celebrate a round birthday, we stayed at the HR London the Churchill in August, points and cash and upgraded with DSU.

According to hyatt.com the cash rate for that suite was >£900 (>$1100)/night.

swag

I spent a year and a half as a Hyatt Diamond, and stayed mostly at Hyatt Houses. All it did for me was that they honored my request for a high floor, but they still do that now that I've dropped to Platinum. Yes, the amenity points were nice, but with my longer stays, usually 4 nights, they didn't add up too quickly.

But here's the thing.

It's the same at the competition. As a Marriott Platinum staying at a Residence Inn, usually nothing extra. As an IHG top-tier Platinum, I had a Staybridge upgrade me to a 2-bedroom when I was on a solo business trip; I don't thing I even set foot in the 2nd bedroom.

I stay at the lower end hotels because I'm price conscious, and because I do like having a fridge and microwave and dishes in the room. I do enjoy lounge access but was surprised how many full-service Hyatt hotels don't have lounges.

So maybe it's heresy here on FT, but I realized late last year that hotel status just didn't matter much to me. I decided that beyond price & location, it made more sense to choose a brand based on whatever promos were running, to maximize points for free stays, instead of chasing status.

I let my comped & challenged Diamond fall away. I had Marriott Platinum from stays in 2015 that was shockingly extended into 2016, but I assume that'll go in 2017. My Hilton Diamond was a status match. My credit-card granted IHG Platinum is no longer top tier. So I'm dropping from top tier almost everywhere down to mid-tier or no status. There may be moments when it's missed, but no regrets.

Would 500 welcome points change that, at Hyatt or any of the chains? Maybe if I were in sales and doing lots of single night stays, but as a consultant doing mostly week-long trips, meh.

But for those who do value and chase status every year, there is one thing that Diamonds get for their HH/HP stays: elite night credit towards re-qualifying. And I'd wager that'll be far more important to most Globs than the lost 500 points.

meraki1990

I guess you haven't been to the new LC in Tokyo, I've heard great things about the place and am headed there in a few weeks time. So yeah, now SPG also has a good option in Tokyo as well.

RTW1

Than please share.... how much do you spend?

If I was in the US and could make my own plans in which city to stay I also would not be bothered much. But in real life staying the additional 10+ nights if you travel mostly outside of the US (or to places where Hyatt is not present) it has now become very difficult to maintain meaningful status. And that's a substantial percentage of us here (and I bet that goes for Diamonds in general). So yes, for few it can be a good thing, although I fail to see many benefits to what you are already getting now. You even lose some points that might get offset a bit by the extra's at 70+ nights.

For me it will mean they will most likely lose 30+ nights in Europe and Asia at substantial nightly rates.

zombietooth

A NEW TERM: Somnambulist Explorist.

Someone who visits interesting places in their sleep.

sfozrhfco

That is hardly a basis on which to make a decision. Hyatt has only 3 full service properties in the whole of the UK. There are literally 1,000s of other hotel options with many different chains and independent operators which offer far more suites. Sure there is always a single example when one suite in one particular city happens to be available but this greatly restricts your options with no guarantee that anything will be available.

SS255

I don't spend enough nights in hotels to qualify for top tier anywhere, so this is my strategy, too. I buy or use points to upgrade to suites/club level rooms when I feel it's worth it. As a result, my only emotion related to these changes is that I know they will have a severe impact on many of my close Diamond friends who cannot make the 60 nights due to Hyatt's small footprint.

The only silver lining that I can see here is that for those of us who buy status selectively for each stay, we may see more "sales" on Regency Club and suite upgrades, as there will be fewer elites who will get these rooms as part of their status benefits. Maybe that's what Hyatt intends, but I still think it's very short-sighted of them to chase people like me, instead of the people who have truly gone out of their way to make Diamond for several years running.

Hyatt has seemed to lose sight of the fact that everyone who got caught up in the net of weeding out the few unprofitable Diamonds will take most if not all of their spend elsewhere. The better business strategy would have been to increase the requirements to 30 stays or 60 nights or maybe $15K spend. $20K is way too high.