Hyatt's points-crediting algorithm is broken and highly annoying
 

IME, Hyatt stays often do not credit automagically. Or the stay does credit, but incorrectly. Let me rant first. But there will be a question at the end.

The status quo is bad and Hyatt's points-crediting system is utterly inferior to the ones of Hilton and IHG. With Hilton, stays credit like clockwork the day after checkout. With IHG, stays credit like clockwork two days after checkout (showing as pending the day after checkout). Marriott is a bit more erratic--sometimes stays show up quickly, sometimes it takes longer, sometimes a retro-credit is required.

But Hyatt? There are several brands where, a priori, your best guess has to be that the stay won't credit correctly and, at the very least, a missing-stay request will be required. To make things worse, some stays (such as at JdV) credit but incorrectly with a tier-qualifying night count that is too low.

The solution isn't always easy. You fill out the missing-stay form in the app or on the web site and hope for the best. Sometimes it works, sometimes they get only part of the job done (i.e., they get base points to show up but the tier-night count is still off or a bonus-point credit such as "500 reasons to stay somewhere new" hasn't been applied).

In cases in which the missing-stay request won't fix it, I resort to calling WoH. (I'm not a glob so no concierge.) This is an inconvenient process, mainly because of how time-consuming it is. Often, it takes 10+ minutes to explain the issue(s) to the agent. Furthermore, often the agent will call the hotel to confirm you weren't a no-show, so you have to hold. (And keep in mind, most of my stays are in Europe so sometimes, the agent won't reach anyone at the front desk who speaks good English, particularly if it's outside Euro business hours.)

Overall, I'm pretty unsatisfied with Hyatt's IT. To protect myself in case of disputes (which are highly likely when staying, say, at AMR collection or JdV properties, I also wait at check-out until I've received the electronic or printed invoice (in case it's need as proof). There's also the waiting game (72 hours until you can file a missing-stay request plus 24-72 hours reaction time--in the meantime, I might have had a bunch of other stays and flights which also need to be mentally tracked).

I do not get the impression the WoH call center is creating a bug report/open an issue with IT when things go wrong.

Do you see any communications channel which is better at resolving missing-stay credits? And, I suppose, as a customer, you can't file a bug report or a feature request which lays out the various problems and requests a fix?

I can't remember the last time a stay hasn't credited properly for me.

Sometimes there is confusion about what is and isn't eligible spend. This usually revolves around whether they give you points for alcohol.

With all due respect, your experience does not match mine, and I suspect that of most members, otherwise we'd have a long thread about these issues. In my ~10 years as a member, knock on wood, I've never had a stay not post at all, the incorrect number of tier nights posted, or a promo/bonus not or incorrectly honored. The only issue I've had, on ~5-10% of my stays, is an incorrect eligible spend leading to incorrect base points awarded. I'm not dismissing your experience; I'm merely pointing out that you are very likely in the minority, and I'm sorry that you've had a string of frustrating experiences.

As for how to better handle these issues, I think you're doing the best you can. You could try Twitter DM, which allows you to clearly spell out your issues and communicate asynchronously, i.e., the agent on the other end can do their own research without holding you on the line, but it could take time to put all the details in writing. This could also be done via email if there's a generic customer service/affairs email address.

I've had stays fail to post a couple of times. From what I remember, the issue was that if the eligible spend is higher than the total billed, it will not post. This can happen if the hotel charges you for something that they are not supposed to, and then instead of removing it, they enter a negative charge to offset it. The system will flag it and not post it. It will need manual intervention; someone will need to clean up the folio.

I've never seen anything post with the wrong number of nights. Usually when people complain about this it's because they don't understand that on an nth night free rate (3rd night free, 4th night free, whatever) the free night is not an EQN.

I’ve never had an issue. Nights and points post quickly in 1-2 days after check out. So I’m pretty happy with the status quo.

I’ve almost never noticed an issue - compare this to Bonvoy where at last count 30% of my stats were posting incorrectly.

I had three SLH stays in a row that failed to post. But to their credit when I sent in a request they were visible within a few days, including points for a bonus journeys promo. I would guess that for SLHs especially there's a lot of manual steps to the process, but still. They also don't send any sort of confirmation that the request has been processed, so you have to keep checking back

Marriott is terrible for posting stays and/or the correct amount of points, and should never be mentioned in comparison with any other hotel chain, except to say "at least it's not as bad as Marriott".

IHG does seem to have fixed problems that had it down there with Marriott. (consecutive stays on points, then cash for example). Hilton is probably the best of the bunch.

Hyatt, to be fair to the OP:

1. the vast majority of stays post correctly and quickly
2. new hotels are much more likely to have issues than long-time Hyatts
3. when the stays don't post, Hyatt CS does seem to struggle more than other chains. From what I understand from my own marathons to retro-credit some all-inclusive stays, this is because relatively few back office people at Hyatt are able to override the system and issue points / stay credits when the hotel can't or won't issue the credits properly.

Never had an issue, now Bonvoy……

There are some hiccups at Hyatt, but in comparison to the mess at Marriott since they took over SPG, Hyatt points-posting is a Malcolm Baldrige award-winning outfit.

Yup

I'll be hitting lifetime Glob in the next couple weeks with 120-140 nts/yr every yr. SLH almost never posts timely or at all. Europe as you mention is especially problematic. Like you I'll first file for missing nights on the Hyatt site, then when that does'nt work (usual), I'll call in and that almost always get me instant satisfaction with all appropriate bonuses applied.

Hyatt branded properties are usually never a problem, the SLH's and other brands can be and are a problem.

So you are absolutely correct, this is and has been for years, a problem. Gotta make the call for best and fastest results.

70+ nights this year and other than one issue at Ventana over one of their paid experiences not being included as eligible spend, have had no issues. Not sure what's going on with your stays.

I've never had a stay post later than 48 hours... Until today. I'm now at 72 hours. I'll wait a bit and hopefully it'll post on its own otherwise I'll have to follow up, something I've never had to do in 6 yrs as globalist

I also haven't gotten the survey which I also almost always get

I don’t believe I have had an issue with Hyatt this year, but my Marriott posting has also seemed to work much better the 2nd half of this year. Historically, I think I’ve only had an issue with Hyatt for a points stay at PHNY not posting and giving ENCs.

For me, the buy 2 or 3 and get a night free never posts correctly. Not a biggie since a quick email to MHC will rectify it. Other than that, except for a few MGM nights, I've never noticed any errors on posting nights or points.