nsx

Minimum stay is the most common cause I've seen for non-availability of awards. Unless you are talking about a peak property (like Ventana) or a high-demand date.

Adelphos

I'm not super familiar with all the technical rules of Hyatt redemptions, but whatever they are, award availability is extremely limited in warm weather destinations I have looked at for Christmas, MLK day, etc. It's the same for Marriott and such, but the point is that availability seems to be getting worse. Hyatt points are worth more than competitors, but that is hard to take advantage if there is no availability. The mechanism (minimum night requirements, changing definition of base rooms, reducing number of base rooms, etc) is irrelevant, the end result is less availability.

projectmaximus

I mentioned this in another thread, but I reached out to Hyatt regarding an HP that wasn't offering basic rooms for points bookings. Took them an hour to "fix the problem" (actually took half a day, but when I originally reached out at night they said they needed to wait til the hotel's office was open in the morning) and the next morning it was available. So, in some instances it can be a quick fix.

Kacee

You're surprised? Awards have always tended to be scarce at high demand locations during high demand periods.

UA-NYC

Yeah I don't get it - we're 2 weeks away from a peak holiday week and MLK weekend is only a month away, so any limitation there is wholly unsurprising...how about Spring Break? Memorial Day? Labor Day? That would be a lot more telling about "issues".

EuropeanPete

I think the issue is that you and millions of other Americans (who are much more points rich than people from other countries) are now all looking at the same relatively few destinations. So Hawaii is basically full (though I did manage to get points at the HR Kauai in January). Meanwhile every hotel in Asia is open on points and many more than usual in Europe.

Kacee

Yes, while there are definitely some problem properties (Andaz Maui being a good example), and some new additions to that list (such as PH Aviara and possibly HR Mission Bay), I've found Hyatt award availability to generally be pretty good recently. (FWIW, Marriott's not bad either, though the cost tends to be higher in relative terms and the lesser benefits, particularly upgrades, make Marriott redemptions less attractive overall for me.)

Adelphos

I was looking for last minute, week between Christmas / New Years hotels in any coastal / warm weather location (passport is being renewed, which limited certain Caribbean destinations / Europe). Wasn't seeing really anything for Hyatt and very limited options with Marriott. Ended up redeeming via Hilton. But everything seemed sold out, and cash prices seemed to average $750-$800 a night regardless of the location.

mayday23

Hyatt Regency in Maul from 17 Jan till 20 Jan. Nothing available for points, but 11 rooms showing up for cash bookings from 2 Queen Beds, partial ocean view to Ocean Front Suite (not standard suite). Are these all non base rooms?

footastic

I believe partial ocean view is not a base room.

stephem

This is Hyatt properties be extremely greedy, or at least way more greedy than the other 2 programs where I have both points and access to friends/family pricing. I have 3 free night Hyatt certs that expire on Dec 31 so I thought I would use them for a last minute pivot to a US trip (we cancelled plans to go to Jordan). I am not talking about really nice or expensive properties, every property in San Diego is blocking use of points and certs during the next 2 weeks. I called and asked for some help and nobody was able to say it was a minimum stay, it is just a " Unfortunately This property is not offering redemptions on points during this period" message. It is not that the property has no base rooms available either, this is a uniform block on use of points.

It's fine, I will take my business elsewhere, but anyone here defending Hyatt has Stockholm syndrome. No other brand is doing this or allowing franchisees to do it. And this isnt even because prices are high or inventory is limited. I'll stay on my $60 Marriott Explorer rate and laugh when we walk by the Hyatt.

bbs_ghost

Seconded.

Kacee

I just looked at San Diego for the next three nights (Thursday through Sunday) and virtually all Hyatt properties are offering base awards, including Manchester GH, HR Mission Bay, HR La Jolla, Alila Marea Encinitas (!), and even PH Aviara (!!!).

Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you're searching correctly?

59Impala

just to second Kacee . Ensure you do not have any corporate code inserted when searching.

bbs_ghost

I am not sure how you searched it, but there is no availability from my end as well.