OsakaWino

For what it's worth, I have repeatedly said that I think the 4 7-night Club upgrades for Explore status represent some real value, but maybe more for longer-stay leisure travellers than those travelling on business.

This of course assumes that they work properly, i.e., can be applied well in advance and actually upgrade to a Club room and not merely give Club access.

With Club access as Diamond, I'm sure than many have experienced getting a crappy room rather than a much nicer Club room when a hotel was near capacity. Being able to lock in a Club room for vacation will be a valuable benefit to me.

It might also be more difficult for properties to game the Club upgrade as some have gamed the DSUs, although we might see an increase in "Club Deluxe" cat rooms.

thucanhho

Looks like they already started to calculating base point. I just checked my acct. At 44 stays and 62 nights, I only have 35,930 base point YTD. I am clearly not spending enough at Hyatt.

Julie17

I don't feel entitled but I do feel disappointed that Hyatt has drastically changed the terms of the arrangement they offered to me and everyone else who was willing to be loyal to Hyatt. Does it make me entitled to "expect the exceptional", which is what Jeff Zidell promised in this very post? This was a give and take relationship. I gave my business and loyalty to Hyatt in exchange for extra perks. If they take away the perks, it's logical that I will take away my business and loyalty. Although you may be right that I would come back for a status match

Yes, I know that 30 nights can get you 4 club upgrades, which could be of some value, but my family has personally enjoyed the non-club breakfasts much more than the club offerings. The club breakfasts were just ok, and we rarely were able to partake of clubs' evening offerings, given the limited hours and the fact that we likely are out and about in the early evenings while on vacation. In fact, it was usually just a source of disappointment when we would rush back to the hotel to find out they had already taken the desserts away! Not to mention, the majority of properties don't have clubs, and those that do are often closed seasonally. So the club upgrades just aren't much of an incentive to me.

But for those of you who think it is unreasonable for many of us to have a strong negative emotional response to the program, remember that Hyatt itself is touting an emotional experience and even encouraging us to feel "entitled". The WOH video even says "the world of Hyatt revolves around you"! According to Jeff Zidell, Hyatt is all about empathy toward each one of us, so obviously they care deeply about my emotions:

ws8n

Totally agree on voting with our wallet...

It would be interesting to get a poll and see how many from FT is leaving Hyatt, and their annual spend.

From the looks of it, Hyatt doesn't appreciate the 25 "free-loaders". They very much prefer the 55 nites Globalists. Assuming they stay at HP or HH, these 55 niters will spend about $8k, still a far cry from the $20k requirement. Want to be a elitist, let's do away from nites and qualify by spend only. C'mon, I dare you!

Then let's do a concerted boycott of Hyatt. Tell your friends and family, and have them spread the word.

Hyatt cheated my love for her. Staying with Hyatt when I could stay at SPG/Hilton for alot less, or more convenient.
Out of vengeance, I will be divorcing you

mvitale

Whoah. I'm at 7 stays/27 nights, and 25,700 base points YTD.

And here's the kicker to everyone who's been ragging on the brand: All my Hyatt nights this year were at a Hyatt House during the fall promotion.

-mvitale

notquiteaff

7/29/24k... many at an expensive HH.

woresu

How about those Park Hyatt without Club? Will there be any breakfast?

ZBigFam

29/55/67
Could easily have been 65 but because of this insanity shifted my last 10 nights to SParriott.
Hyatt's new loyalty program smacks of a Bain exercise. Having worked with them before this smells familiar. Make the data support your preconceived notions and implement without asking anyone with any knowledge of the business or its customers.

Radiant Flyer

In the past few years I have felt Hyatt no longer cared and had lost empathy toward their guest. That was until I started to stay at International Hyatt's. My recent stays at the Grand Hyatt Rio, Sao Paulo, Santiago and Park Hyatt Buenos Aires were above and beyond 5 stars, they really care on how you are enjoying your stay.

The connection between staff and guest is unlike I have experienced here in the US. From the pool deck to up in the Grand Club staff smile, are pleasant, friendly and make sure you feel welcomed.

I had mentioned this to a friend of mine who is a manager for an International Marriott Property. He had told me this is a new trend. Many hotels are focusing more on the "guest experience", they want to make sure you are enjoying your entire stay, not just care when you check in and check out.

Perhaps this is Hyatt's goal, to bring this type of wonderful service north to the US.... if they do I could care less about the points.

Currently, from my experience this is unique to South America properties.

iflyjetz

Deleted.

notquiteaff

No, I don't think you can't get breakfast in non-club properties for the club awards. From the T&C.

"Breakfast will not be provided to a Member at participating hotels or resorts without Club lounge-access rooms available."

OsakaWino

I've seen nothing to suggest that. As of right now it is just 4 Club upgrades good for up to 7 nights each. No club means you cannot use the upgrade.

With one year as Glob, I'm going to prioritize Park Hyatt Tokyo, where for us the big draw is the DSU suite and in-room breakfast, but for the following year as Explo I'll prioritize places like GH Taipei, where we enjoy the club.

With all the negative feedback we might see some tweaking in the program. Although it is probably highly unlikely, they might tweak the Explo benefit to 4 Club OR breakfast plan upgrades.

woresu

I thought some blogs mentioned every Diamond member migrating will be awarded a Cat 7 cert at the very beginning. However, I just dug this out from the terms and conditions. Not sure if it's discussed before.

Category 1-7 Free Night Award is not provided as a benefit of Globalist status and a Category 1-7 Free Night Award will not be provided to Members who receive Globalist status through any means other than satisfaction of the Tier-Qualifying Night or Base Point accrual requirements (e.g., Members who receive Globalist status as part of the migration from the legacy Hyatt Gold Passport program to this Program).

GUWonder

What proportion of Hyatt hotels even have a club/lounge for the 4 club upgrade benefit (a benefit that is a return of sorts to what Platinums could have before Hyatt eliminated Platinum Extras certificates)?

It seems like less than a quarter of Hyatt hotels in the Americas have a club lounge. A higher proportion of Hyatt hotels have suites of some sort than have club lounges.

woresu

Hyatt global footprint as at Sep 30, 2016 per earning release, total = 679

47 Grand Hyatt (with Grand Club) = 7%
171 Hyatt Regency (with Regency Club)= 25%(?) [EDITS: Not all HR has club....that make it even worse]

No Club Lounge?
39 Park, 13 Andaz = 8%
23 Hyatt(?), 9 Centric(?), 5 Unbound(?) = 5%

Not Applicable
260 Place, 72 House, 4 Ziva, 2 Ziva, 34 Residence Club = 55%