I've never been able to take advantage of the FFN promotion in the past due to the MC requirement.

I am now considering it, but would like to make sure that I can make good use of the award nights before staying at Hyatt hotels. I unfortunately have almost no GP points, and couldn't find a way to check availability of awards in my target hotels online.

Does a workaround to this problem exist (except of course calling GP) ?

Thanks,
Yann

You are probably going to have to call unless you have someone on the boards check dates for you.

I am new to Hyatt, and think this should be a very basic question:
does a corporate rate stay eligible for FFN?

Yes

Also new to Hyatt!
 

I know nothing about Hyatt as their properties in Toronto and Montreal are very high end, hence cost prohibitive for me.

I was one of the winners of 2 Open Skies tickets to Paris, courtesy of Flyer Talk. Bad news is tickets have to used before the end of November, and with Paris cooling off quite a bit in November, I thought it best to go ASAP. So I have booked flights from Oct 12-20. The hard part is I am now scrambling to make hotel arrangements on short notice. Since I am not independantly wealthy, I was trying to see what I could do with my points (SPG, Marriott, Hilton and Priority Club). Many people suggested that the Hyatt in Paris (presumably the Vendome?) is exceptional.

I currently have Platinum with SPG and I was told that Hyatt would do a status match. I am wondering if I can somehow take advantage of the FFN promo to get some nights in Paris. I have a number of questions.

1) Is there any hope of my getting free nights at the Paris Hyatt Vendome during that period? If the answer is no, I might as well stop right here!
2) Will I be able to reserve without the points/night credits in my account yet?
3) There are no cheap Hyatts in Canada, but I see some very good rates in the Dallas area where my brother lives. I saw Amerisuites is excluded from the promo. Any other hotels? (Looking at Hyatt Summerfield Suites/Addison for $63, or Hyatt Place Dallas/Park Central for $80 or Hyatt Regency North Dallas/Richardson for $89).
4) I presume 2 consecutive nights at the same hotel only count as one stay (like all other hotel programs).
5) Can I get points at various hotels for the same night? For example, I will be in Dallas from Sept 19-22. Could I make a bunch of reservations at different hotels, and run around checking in to all of them for the same night?
6) Am I insane?

Biggest problem here is I don't have much time to work with. Departure is just over a month away. I'm starting from scratch as I know nothing about the Hyatt program, and don't even have a Gold Passport number yet!

I know a lot of the answers to my questions can probably be found by searching through a lot of threads here, but hopefully some Hyatt junkies will feel my desperation on the time constraints and help me a little.

Is there anything else I haven't thought of that could help me or hinder me in my quest for some free nights? And yes, I can pay with a M/C!


TIA

1. I can't seem to get into Hyatt's site right now to check for you - but I would be totally shocked if there is more than 1 or 2 standard award nights (which is what is needed to get a FFN award reservation) available this close in (standard rates at this hotel is around $1000 a night). Note that the other "central" property Madeleine is one where you cannot redeem a FFN award at.

2. No you can't pre-reserve without points in your account.

3. All Full Service Hyatts qualify as well as Hyatt Place and Summerfield Suites on this list http://goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/...ist_Properties .

4. Correct.

5. Supposedly no - you cannot earn a stay credit at more than one property for the same night.

6. No you're not insane - I'm one of the "top 50" customers at my local Hyatt which is 2 miles from my house (never actually spent a night there).

I've tried to check your specific dates, but the Hyatt Gold Passport website is currently down, so I'm not able to. However, I think it's fair to say that it is unlikely. I've checked some much more off-season dates than yours (in the middle of January) and found very little availability even then.

No, you won't. So even if there is availability today, the chances are very slim that it would still be there should you go through the motions to earn the FFN's

These are excellent rates, given the value you would receive at the PH in Paris; it would be hard to beat them.

Correct.
No, you can't.

No. The best you could do is hop from one to another every night.
Are you kidding? This is FlyerTalk. This is what we do. You're adored! :)

The specific hotel you have in mind and the short time window is what makes this so tough to pull off. I would only go for this if I was really flexible about where in Europe I'd end up during that time, as you could probably make something work, but highly unlikely at this particularly property.

2. I have had points reservations held for me (as a lowly Platinum) without having enough points in my account YMMV

I checked each day individually and there are no award nights availabe at all from Oct 12-20 at Vendome.

The dates are available at Hyatt Regency CDG - not sure if that works for you though

Thank you Peter, AZ and Marty for the very helpful responses. And thank you for checking availability for me on the Hyatt Vendome Marty. Were all dates available at Hyatt Regency CDG? I don't know the difference between the 2 properties, just that the Vendome was highly recommended. I will try to do some research on this forum but I expect the problem with the Regency is that it's at the airport!

Bingo!

The HR CDG is a great hotel if you arrive late or have an eary flight. It is not really convenient should you wish to "do" Paris as it would require the use of a shuttle from the hotel to the RER (Fast rail) station and then a train trip.

The Vendome is a much, much. much better hotel and sells for about double (or more at times) than the CDG (eg EUR 700 at the Vendome v EUR 350 at the CDG)

All dates were available at the HR CDG. However, it is at the airport so the location may not be ideal as Bondioy mentioned.

Especially for mg since her flights are to/from ORY.

I registered for Gold Passport in July during the "1-free-night-for-the-first-2-stays" promotion.

In my welcome email it says:
Welcome to Hyatt Gold Passport® membership.
You are now registered to earn a free night after completing two eligible stays within 90 days of your enrollment.

The 90 days end sometime in October.
Now I also signed up for the FFN promotion where I earn 1 free night for 2 stays between September 1 and December 30.

Does this mean that if I have my first two stays in September/October, I will receive 2 free nights? One for the FFN promotion and one for the new member promotion?

I did mine August 30 and another stay August 31 (checking out on Sept 1 which counted for the FFN promo). I received both of the promo FFN nights. YMMV.


Halothane

Quick question for your folks....

Has anybody had any luck booking a government rate under your name and goldpassport and adding a name of a government employee but still getting credit in your gold passport? I don't want to have scattered/orphan GP points in two different accounts. The individual has the same last name as myself and is a federal employee and would be able to be present for check-in. Was just wondering as I need a few more FFN awards.


Thanks,
Halothane