:td:

Will report back about my stay this weekend.

GHA Discovery incorporates Omni Select Guest and a variety of other hotel loyalty programs.

http://www.gha.com/Brands.aspx

Omni Select Guest criteria probably changed to align with the GHA Discovery program across different hotel brands.

There is another thread started earlier this week which outlined the new partnership with GHA.

I'm still waiting to see a communication (beyond their web site) from Select Guest regarding changes to their qualification criteria.

As per the other thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...iance-gha.html), we now have someone from Omni (Caryn Kboudi, Omni and GHA PR team lead) on the forum. I have sent her a PM requesting further clarification about the Select Guest qualification criteria and the additional benefits gained from GHA membership.

I would be curious to know the effective date of the Select Guest program changes. I stayed 8 nights at Omni hotels in November (testing the waters after they denied a status match), and was expecting a bump to Platinum, but it never happened (even though the website still listed the old criteria until very recently).

I think transparency has long been a serious weakness in the Omni program. Some examples:

• I can't find a clear statement of the program's T&C on the website. The downloadable program materials seem to be more or less identical to the online brochure.
• Omni seems to treat different booking rates very differently for purposes of SG benefits. Although I've gotten stay/night credit in the past for gov't rate bookings, I have never ever received frequent flyer miles.
• Honestly, I begin to wonder if promotional rate bookings will even qualify for night credits. My 2-night stay from last weekend using the Cyber Monday $99 rate is not reflected at all in my account. (Has anyone gotten credit for a Cyber Monday rate stay?)

Also, I have to say that I'm unimpressed that Omni's alleged rep on FT has posted exactly once so far -- and that message advised a commenter that he had a PM about a general-interest, non-account-specific inquiry. This is not how a mature, well-run program operates.

I heard this week from one of the loyalty ambassadors that there will not be a formal communication sent out regarding the changes in qualification criteria. The ambassador was going to email the program lead with some questions regarding the changes and is supposed to let me know what she learns. I'm more than happy to share what I can.

I've not had this problem when booking under our corporate rate (not government). However, while I haven't had problems with airline miles posting, our corporate rate does not seem to qualify for nights toward a free night as an alternative (this seemed to change sometime during the last half of last year).
Is this someone who is openly posting on behalf of the program similar to the two Starwood Lurkers, or someone who works for the program and is merely posting on their own behalf on FT while providing insight to the new program?

This is exactly what I mean: there's simply no way to know what the rules are, or when they have changed or will change. I get that Omni (or any other program) can set whatever rules they want, including reducing or denying certain benefits for reduced-rate bookings. What I don't get is Omni's dogged refusal to post the rules so members can make rational (or at least informed) decisions about using the program and/or booking with Omni. Starwood, for example, has a detailed set of program rules on its public website.

UPDATE: Omni does have its T&C posted (http://www.omnihotels.com/SelectGues...onditions.aspx), although as far as I can tell there are no links to it anywhere on the Omni website (including their site map, http://www.omnihotels.com/SiteMap.aspx). I found the T&C only via careful Googling.

Not entirely clear. She identifies herself as "Omni and GHA PR team lead"; see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...l#post15683660. It seems to me a bit odd to self-identify as "PR team lead" if one isn't speaking in an official capacity, but I suppose anything is possible.

OMNI Hotels Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) and Status Match
 

So far, I am less than impressed with Omni Hotels as it pertains to their Select Guest program and their BRG.

First, the Omni BRG program offers a seemingly impressive rate match plus a further 25% discount off a competing public rate. They do require though that you have a reservation confirmed from the other website. So, if the competing rate is non-refundable or subject to penalties, you effectively can't take advantage of the program. Since many if not most of the deeply discounted rates are subject to penalties, what seems like a generous BRG program isn't generous at all. The second representative advised me that they won't accept screen shots or check on a (non-confirmed) rate on another website because rates change all the time. I mentioned that none of the major brands/chains such as Starwood, Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt require that you have a confirmed booking from the third-party site and do indeed research the rate on the third-party website.

I was also advised twice that Omni no longer offers status matches from other programs or a membership kit with room upgrade certificates or discount certificates (as mentioned in other posts). I have tried to reach Caryn since last week via private email but have yet to receive any response. If anyone has had a more pro-customer interaction in the recent past as it pertains to the BRG, status matching or new member certificates, please let me know. My current opinion is that Omni does little to pursue new business from the frequent guests of their competitors.

I can't comment on the BRG as I've never had to put them to the test on it; likewise with status match (I'm also SPG PLT & HH DIA) as when I started with Omni there were only two tiers and when they went to the current program I immediately qualified for Black tier. Re the upgrade & discount certs, you might check the dates on those posts...I haven't seen them in either of the past two years. But I've yet to have a stay with them (2-3x/month) where I'm not upgraded, be it a full suite (or better) or a junior suite, which in some cases is a very large room with a nicely sized sitting area and extra 1/2 bath.

I have yet to receive credit (or AA miles) for a Cyber Monday stay last month. However, interestingly, the 2 nights did show up in my GHA account, and I now have a Local Experience award available for redemption.

By way of update, I received the following message about two weeks after I wrote to SG:

It's rather bizarre to me, as the customer service I've received in their hotels has been fantastic, but every interaction I've had with SG has been disappointing or worse.

This is an appalling lie. I didn't get an email either. (And the spamtrap excuse doesn't cut it: the address I have on file with them forwards to multiple accounts, including a Yahoo account where I always check the spam folder.)

If they really had sent such an email, one has to believe that someone on FT would have received it and posted about it. Instead, crickets.

Likewise I receive emails from Omni to two different accounts -- there was no formal communication from them regarding the changes to qualification criteria for 2011.

Agreed that the customer service levels at the properties I frequent has been fantastic...too bad the program itself seems to be lacking on that front.

I sat down with my Ambassador yesterday for quite a while and talked through a lot of the issues I've been seeing with my SG account this year (most of this was follow-up from a conversation we had Tuesday on the same subject and what she'd since learned from corporate). For those of us who are having problems seeing accurate information on our online accounts the past few weeks: There have been bugs related to some of their system upgrades that are causing some of the systems to not communicate correctly with each other. There are some fixes being uploaded tomorrow, and more coming in the next week or two. One of the bugs has been the unexpected flip-flopping of accounts between earning airline miles and earning credits toward free nights.

My ambassador was able to have my missing stays manually loaded to my profile/account. I logged in to show her they still aren't showing nights credited toward status tier renewal and she was going to check further into that, but she also showed me on the SG system where she sees them as being credited.

So, per our conversation...if you have concerns, reach out to your Ambassador (or the one you work with most frequently), they're definitely there to help out. I'm fortunate that mine is fantastic and really goes above & beyond in her efforts to help with just about anything related to Omni & Select Guest.