GUWonder

Does ALG have a loyalty program of its own? It seems so, as indicated in this: https://alpha.appleleisuregroup.com/.../loyalty-club/ .

But no free nights there?

khabah

ALG has a membership program called Unlimited Vacation Club. Attaching the below slide from the investor presentation deck.

khabah

coleslaw

I think the Unlimited Vacation Club (UVC) is a VERY different model to WOH though.

UVC is more akin to a timeshare than a loyalty program.

It will be interesting to see how they try to give crossover benefits. I assume the UVC model won't go away in its entirety in the short/medium term.

MSPeconomist

It seems to be a membership purchase in exchange for discounts and "VIP" treatment. Details seem to be deliberately missing from the website, which isn't part of the Apple website.

coleslaw

Alarm bells always start ringing when websites are so light on detail and the you need to call up (and get a hard sales pitch) to find out what it's all about.

notquiteaff

I am sure they will have friendly competent sales representatives on site when you arrive to check in at your all inclusive in Mallorca.

itsallgood

No, and I never will. Not my cup of tea. It's a good fit for you, and it's a probably good fit for a subset of Hyatt members. I've looked at the pricing and can find better values elsewhere IF I desired that type of experience. I'm not a fan of being gouged due to being loyal to a brand name.

Just like if Hyatt bought a cruise ship or three. There would be some Hyatt members that would rave about cruising. Also not my cup of tea (I've done more than one cruise and am not happy with the experience). And I guarantee that Hyatt would price it at a premium to comparable cruise experiences.

What I'm seeing from Hyatt management is an unfocused shotgun approach to acquisitions. I'm reminded of a Christmas special that featured the island of misfit toys ... Hyatt is quickly becoming the chain of misfit hotels.

Lately, I'm finding myself staying more at independent properties rather than chain hotels. Same/similar level of quality and service, but at a lower price point. AKA better value. This is especially true in Europe where on the last vacation I booked more than half our hotels with independents because they were much better value. Our upcoming trip to Europe this late fall has me doing the same - booking more independents that are highly rated. I'm willing to pay a premium to stay in chain hotels, but only if they're actually decent hotels that aren't mispriced compared to the competition. This hodge podge Hyatt strategy of hotel acquisition where they buy up hotels and then charge high premiums is a fail in my book.

Hoplamazian is reminding me of Arne Sorenson. Marriott used to be a chain where you knew exactly what you got. Bland to some, but always predictable. I like predictable; I don't want to pay a premium to stay in a dumpy room. Once Sorenson took over, brand standards went out the window, especially with lounge offerings. I switched over to Hyatt because they maintained quality. I am now seeing the same problem occurring with the Hyatt brand as what happened with Marriott. I'm just hoping that after the pandemic ends and lounges reopen, Hyatt's lounge offerings don't become as inedible as Marriott and Hilton lounges.

itsallgood

Hyatt already has a timeshare arm; Hyatt Residences. I'd never buy one; YMMV.

FlyerTalker324193

I am so surprised some seem to defend Hyatt on this one. Hyatt is paying $2.7 b. Hyatt has like 1050 properties and a market cap of $7.3 b. Today's price tag is equivalent to 37% of their market cap. And that's for ~100 resorts, none of which looks particularly aspirational to me.

They are buying 100 resorts in immediate beach proximity in boring tourist places like Mallorca or Punta Cana. Mostly all-inclusive resorts for the most un-adventurous traveller which does not even want to have to decide on local dining. And I guess there's more: The tour operator selling vacation packages using brands such as Southwest Vacations, United Vacations, or Cheap Carribean.

Sorry, but this is a pretty sad direction for Hyatt to take. And it seems they paid a very dear price, too.

itsallgood

So if Ferrari buys Peugeot, that's also diversification?
... one would be creating the manufacturer of misfit cars ...

coleslaw

Well, yes, that’s what diversification is.

GUWonder

It’s interesting you mentioned that. Some resorts that joined Apple Leisure Group alienated some of their long-time customers by setting up some kind of new segmentation approaches at the resorts — something where customers got treated worse than was typical before unless paying up for the “loyalty program” membership tier to get access and be treated more akin to what was the case before the ALG affiliation. Things like restrictions on which pools could be used, which food and drink was available and so on. I don’t know if this is usual kind of practice for all-inclusive resorts, but it seems some resorts which joined ALG alienated some long-time customers by doing what ALG advised them to do.

Long ago, I learned not to take headline prices for an acquisition as being the ultimate price for an acquisition for the shareholders. Add on to it the way things go with US corporate taxes, with US taxes for pass-thru entities and their beneficiaries, with estate planning, and with dirt cheap financing and I would say it’s riskier to jump to a conclusion about this being an “expensive” acquisition than to jump to a conclusion about this not being an “expensive” price under the current circumstances. I guess we will have a better idea about whether or not this is a truly expensive acquisition when or if Hyatt eventually gets around to spinning it off.

coleslaw

Ziva / Zilara already do some of that with their club rooms/buildings. Limiting access to some pools and amenities, having bars within the club that stock the higher end liquor and cocktail ingredients, etc.

It’s not as egregious as what I imagine the UVC to be, but it’s along similar(ish) lines.

Adelphos

Question - does the consistency of the Hyatt brand impact you in any way if you simply continue to stay at the particular Hyatt properties that interest you and ignore the properties (like the ones acquired) that don't?

lowfareair

Once again, it seems you have it backwards. The more this is discussed, the more it appears Hyatt isn't paying $2.7 billion for 100 resorts. A big portion of this is for the new booking channels you mention. Suddenly they control some major agencies that span OTA and provide inventory for independent agencies.

Many of the upscale/luxury AIs can top $500/night during shoulder season and $1,000/night over the holidays. Many of the people I've talked to at those are white collar managers / executives rather than middle class. Hyatt is now the number one company for all-inclusives which opens up many more business travelers willing to go with Hyatt for business if it means they can get their all-inclusive trips for free.

If anything, I think Marriott made the wrong play adding in the middle-range Royalton resorts as Autograph Collection earlier this year. 3 of these brands are, in my opinion, better than pretty much anything Royalton has.

Welcome to the wonderful world of travel clubs. Every major brand in Mexico/Caribbean seems to have one and they love to stress that they aren't timeshares. Instead, you get to pay the price of a new car for discounts and benefits over a period of years to decades.

If you think not having details on the website is sketchy, wait until you hear about how you don't have time to have your lawyer vet the contract and even if you do end up signing, you can't post publicly about what you paid.

I love upscale all-inclusives, but the only thing these "Travel clubs" are good for is laughing about how scammy they feel.