notquiteaff

Yup. And unlike MarkOK, my company is using the travel system “as intended” and does not allow us to book on other sites. A booking made outside the travel system will simply not be reimbursed. And it has never been a problem for points, status credit or benefits. Until now. (I personally don’t travel much on business and don’t expect any business travel during this period)

MarkOK

Yeah, and your company is probably a sucker for overpaying vendors in other areas too I bet.

Anyways, you are still getting 'points' and 'status credit'. You just aren't getting the bonus on a promo targeted for travel booked though the cheapest means to Hyatt possible. I don't see anything more or less 'distasteful' about this than the promos that get targeted directly to corporate travelers (which I am excluded from, whether I travel for work or pleasure. I don't have a 'corporate' discount code, a 'corporate' email needed for the promos, or anything like that). You win some, you lose some.

Hot Pocket

Your 'takes' are amazingly insufferable.

You are admittedlty new to FT and the points game.

You don't even have Hyatt top tier yet you profess that it's too easy to achieve.

You have no concept of Concur and similar corporate travel portals, or that their use is mandatory for a high percentage of business travelers.

You seem to be of the opinion that your travel experiences are the norm or the reference, and that others are outliers. Take a breath. Read more.

Hot Pocket

ronbo83

That is totally fair. I think our point though is to ask why would they exclude a major booking channel from a promo? It would seem to make it easier for travelers that can choose, to select another chain that is also running a promo and offering it to corporate travelers which they all have until now. I agree with win some, lose some for guests but if I were running a hotel loyalty program, I would want to try and steer as much current and potentially new revenue my way. That is of course the point of a hotel promo right? Then Hyatt would be win/win and not encouraging corporate travelers to switch to another hotel chain during their promotion. I see two reasons to run a promo, gain net new bookings and to combat another hotel’s promo to avoid lost bookings. This is different than the lower levels to gain globalist and the $20 credit at Whole Foods which are targeted for different reasons but a promotion for staying at a hotel should always drive business to your chain regardless of channel, especially a major one like Concur.

MarkOK

My apologies. Perhaps I see things a little differently being 'new' to the points game. FT has an outsized group of road-warrior veterans (with profiles 15 years or older) that spend most of their time complaining that things aren't as good as they used to be -- what I find insufferable at times is the bellyaching and entitlement (and I say insufferable tongue in cheek, if I truly found it all insufferable I would stop wasting any time on FT other than to skim for the scoop).

And no, my take is not that Hyatt top tier is easy, my take is that getting top tier should NOT be easy, at least it shouldn't be easy if the benefits are lucrative. The funny thing about this game, is that most people here seem to accept mid-tier status with airline programs for what it is, but the attitude about hotels is that either it's top or nothing. I will 'earn' globalist lite in about three weeks and finish the year at 40sh nights. I think that is great, I only really see the positive in that. It will make my 70 or so nights worth of stays more cost-effective and more comfortable. If there wasn't the CC promo, I would end the year at Explorists, and so what, -- I would try to make good use of those club certificates and still enjoy traveling to new locations. Similarly, I will get 15,000 extra bonus points from this promo. That is like a gift of $300+ off a future booking that I can't feel negative about. If I was excluded because they decided to target it differently, then I can have sour grapes about it but ultimately it isn't like Hyatt owes me a promo just because they did a promo last year.

As for Concur, I know that certain businesses require Concur for business travel. I can't do anything about that. But Hyatt doesn't 'owe' corporate bookings the same promos that they offer others, just like Hyatt doesn't owe 'me' the same promos they offer their targetted corporate customers. We can and should question their decisions, but my take is that we need to check our own entitlement more often. A good chunk of Hyatt customers day in and day out aren't getting free breakfasts, room upgrades, -or even any points (Because they aren't even members)-. It is a privilege to be recognized as a frequent traveler with special treatment. If you are used to having the benefits for two decades, you can feel cheated if that changes, but as a 'newer' person to this who have for years only really gotten what I've paid for (and over time, I've paid for a lot of breakfasts, suites, etc), I find it a little nauseating to see the entitlement. (again, tongue in cheek, I really do find it oddly enjoyable to see us complain why both juice and coffee isn't given at our free breakfast when we are obviously entitled to our juice!!). The truth of the matter is that Hyatt in 2017 isn't competing with Hyatt in 2016. Complaining that the promos today aren't as good as the promos yesterday, or that getting status is harder today than it was yesterday, or that the promo isn't as good as we want it to be just because we want more, really is just bellyaching. Conversely, what we CAN do is complain that a promo that Hyatt is running now isn't as good as the promo that Marriot is running, or that WoH benefits today aren't as good as Marriot's benefits today -- those are the comparisons that we actually can use to shift our business around, yet those are the discussions that are less common. As much as we want to stomp our feet and think Hyatt is tanking because we don't think we are getting what we think we are owed in the forms of promos or easier status, the truth is we don't matter all that much to the bottom line and Hyatt is still doing just fine.

CloudCoder

Well, this _is_ a hotel forum. It's frequented by hotel enthusiasts. So, yes, regulars in the Hyatt forum do tend to value Hyatt's top tier. In contrast, I have zero Hilton nights and I will never stay at a Hilton. (Hilton knows why, lol). I put zero value on Hilton's top tier. And I never visit their forum. I do visit airline forums and yes, I do put value on top-tier with the airlines I frequent.[/QUOTE]Hyatt's own terms and conditions clearly state that you get both juice and coffee. It seems a little chicken-livered of a big corporation to publish the benefits, entice people to earn the top tier, and then change the benefits after the fact.[/QUOTE]You're right, I'd always welcome (well, early in the year, while there's still time to do something about it) discussion about how Hyatt's program compares to other brands. Many road warriors, myself included, have been in _all_ the programs at various times. Over the years, Hyatt gained my loyalty because of "Pay More, Get More". Yes, there are lots of cheaper hotels. And while you do _pay_ a little more with Hyatt, you _get_ a _lot_ more. If I had to sum up the new WoH in one word, that one word would be "Harder". It's more difficult to achieve top tier. I actually welcome that change, as it could thin the ranks for next year. Lower demand for perks means more availability for meee.

Back to the topic of this thread, the current Double Points promo is fairly lame (compared to past Hyatt promos). I have no idea how it compares to other chains, mainly because it's to late in the year to switch. My travel for the year is already set in stone. I'm much more interested in early 2018 promos.

ronbo83

Given how this year went I don’t really have any expectations that 2018 promos will be any better. If they felt the numbers were not right, they would have run a full promo or better from for the fall but they didn’t. It feels like a new norm for WoH.

Kacee

Don't think there is a "norm" currently. They were rudderless for much of the year after Jeff Zidell left. Then they bring in the new head of loyalty (ex-SPG), and wham, there's a promo with no advance notice which appears to be a last second effort to drive additional stays before year end.

What will happen next year under the new WoH managment is anyone's guess.

johnsmith

Just annoyed on this promo. Hotel I’m staying at over the holidays has pulled all inventory out of the hyatt system— only way to book (for $1000/night) is direct thru the hotel. Tried to ask globalist team for a manual update/exception on this and was told no ability.

So...zero ability to book as asked; zero initiative from hyatt to make it work...hard to stay loyal.
Loyalty runs two ways...

Hot Pocket

I feel like I was a bit heavy-handed last night in my response to MarkOK and want to apologize.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and all of yours.

bsdstone

Just completed a spendy stay at the GH Kauai. Was booked a while back...points just posted, but not the double points. Anyone know how long it takes for the double points to post?

Colin

posts with stay or sol

joe_miami

Should post at the same time. Are you sure you registered? The deadline was Nov. 30.

footastic

Sounds like you didn't register - just completed a few stays book pre-promo and got double points.

IF you did register reach out to Hyatt on Twitter or via PL.