The point regarding a 33% upgrade rate for a Globalist (Hyatt's highest mainline status) stands regardless of Marriott status. In my point of view, this is not good enough for my one-night stay patterns which should be easy to upgrade, especially as some of the properties had standard suites available for sale on the day of arrival.

Yes, my experience last year in China was that more Hyatt properties were willing to upgrade me to actual suites - including PH Shenzhen, PH Guangzhou, PH Suzhou, and GH Beijing. Of course, I had no luck at PH Shanghai nor PH Beijing, but I'm really not expecting 100 percent success. Perhaps, I have just gotten unlucky with the specific properties, but I'm hoping this isn't indicative of a more broad trend regarding the issue of status brokers.

As long as loyalty programs with meaningful carrots exist, there will be robust black markets.

Ones of anecdotes do not equal data. Esp. If they were different tiers of properties, weekdays vs weekends, cities/locations, special events, etc.

So, you think it�s okay for Hyatt properties to not upgrade Globalists to standard suites when standard suites are available for sale online via Hyatt official channels?

You seem obsessed with trying to discredit me to further some narrative, but as you know, I don�t have the ability to run a full academic-level study. These forums are for sharing personal experiences, and I thought my personal experience was interesting, especially in relation to previous discussions on this board about Mainland Chinese Hyatts and the withholding of standard suites to other channels, like Ctrip, at some properties.

This is a different issue, but in Asia, it's common for hotel owners to run their own customer scoring systems and/or dedicated loyalty programs. Some also have preferred sales channels outside of the brand ecosystems.

GMAB, get off your high horse. Did you ask at any front desk at any of the Hyatt properties why there were suites for sale but you weren�t in them? Feel free to share property names.

It�s just amusing giving percentages off of a handful of stay anecdotes. Marriott AMB is the absolute worst ROI on high loyalty spend, so enjoy the upgrades you do get there.

EDIT fair to assume you are including the GH Changsha as an upgrade fail, despite no Standard Suites available as you note? Would be a �nice to get� upgrade, but outside of the Hyatt T&Cs.

"on the day of arrival" or when you checked in? there are many globs (plats tits ambs etc) so the limited pool of suites may be taken by other elites prior to arrival or indeed upsold.. if you saw a standard suite at checkin did you ask front desk about lack of upgrade?

available suite at checkin and refusal to upgrade would probably warrant some sort of escalation (unlike marirott, elites here still some traction with corporate ime although things are deteriorating)

Poster also stayed at a HC where there were no suites for sale�also an HP which doesn�t have suites. In addition to my example above about asking for a premium suite. Let�s see if those are 3 of the 4 �failures�.

I�m all for sharing data points, but will also call out blatant misrepresentations of the situations.

I don�t pull out my phone at the check-in desk to check suite availability right then and there as I see no reason to offend or escalate, especially in an area where I am a significant minority in terms of language and culture.

Note, I never said that all of the properties that did not upgrade me had standard suites available online via Hyatt channels - I said �some.�

HC Xi�an - there weren�t standard suites available for sale on Hyatt.com

GH Changsha - the room they were going to place me
in had a maintenance problem they discovered after having me wait 40 minutes for it - instead of upgrading me to a River View Grand Suite (premium) for the inconvenience, they downgraded me further from the corner room I was placed in

PH Changsha - I checked close to arrival and saw Park Suites available online - my room type had already been changed to Deluxe - why not a Park Suite as it was also available when upgrades were processed? I did not ask at check-in - I should have.

Andaz Xiamen - I checked about an hour before arrival and saw Andaz Suites available (this is the lowest suite type at this hotel but does not have a standard ranking in the description) - I did ask at check-in and was told something along the lines of there weren�t any available - perhaps, she meant none cleaned - we were having some language difficulties, and no, I didn�t escalate

I am not including HP Changsha Airport in the calculation as suite upgrades are not a benefit at Hyatt Place properties. So, for all of those claiming I�m misrepresenting the situation, I actually feel like I�m being quite thoughtful and reasonable in this analysis.

I simply wish that suite upgrades were easier with Hyatt - perhaps with further tier differentiation - that would allow for an experience akin to the one I get with Marriott due to the tier diversity.

So one of your failed upgrades was due to no standard suites available for sale (or any suites of any kind), and on another, no standard suites (but your expectations were they should upgrade you to a premium suite, outside of T&Cs). Check.

The other two, standard suites were available at some point day of, but your issue is they didn�t pre-block you into them. And at least one of them (PH) could have been booked full by the time you arrived, or who knows what.

Story has definitely been clarified now vs original 33% claimed upgrade rate.

I would say, the majority of us would concur that Hyatt Glob >>> Marriott Amb, given the far better (objectively) benefits package. And at a much easier $ spend too. But hey, this isn�t universal, and everyone has free will to choose a program that best rewards them.

What benefits does Hyatt Globalist offer in China that are so much better than Marriott? Both offer late checkout, breakfast / lounge access, and upgrades. There are no resort or destination fees in China that I have seen, and parking benefits aren�t beneficial for foreigners who can�t drive in China on tourist visits. I would be curious to see which benefit I�m missing out on as part of the �objective� package that you claim as it sure doesn�t seem like suite upgrades are one of them.

Well sure, if you pick the part of the world that 1) has a good universal breakfast benefit for all hotel chains (unlike MAR in US), 2) no properties that have resort fees, 3) no parking needed, that of course equalizes the two programs.

How about 4) confirm a 7 night suite up to one year in advance with a SUA. Core benefit of Hyatt that Marriott will never match. Or 5) if traveling with friends or family and have multiple rooms, using GOH or lounge access awards. Nice benefits Marriott also doesn�t offer.

Seems like Marriott should be your go-to choice program for all 1 night China stays then. 100% upgrade rate hard to beat.

Anyone can drive in China, and there are actually fewer hoops to jump through for those on lightweight visas or TWOV (if you have an RP, they want you to take a written test).

Agreed that SUAs are a good benefit, but they have less utility in China if certain properties refuse to list standard suites online via Hyatt.com - like the aforementioned PH Huangzhou and PH Shanghai. They are also not an unlimited benefit and of course have less utility for shorter stays, as is my preference for different reasons. Regardless, outside of China, I�m looking forward to an upcoming 7-night stay that I did use a SUA for. It is nice to have that guaranteed at the time of booking.
It does appear that my information was incorrect and that short-term tourists can apply for a China Provisional Driving License regardless of visa length. Supposedly, you need to provide a Chinese translation of your driving license, so it�s definitely more work than a country that accepts an IDP or simply a foreign license - but I agree that my previous statement was incorrect and that it is possible - just not necessarily easy enough to be super common.

How do you calculate that ROI? It doesn't make sense to say that someone "spent 23k on that status" and then treat it as if that was a direct payment for Ambassador benefits.

I, and presumably almost all Bonvoy Ambassadors, first and foremost spend 23k(+) on hotel rooms. If you are saying that I can, with 23k spend within the parameters of where I need/want to go and when, get better value elsewhere, I am all ears. If you are saying that comparable benefits can be had elsewhere with lower spend, then that is simply irrelevant for anyone who spends that amount no matter what.


Yes, it is interesting and appreciated. And I am saying that as someone who, on many trips, doesn't even care that much about upgrades in a functional sense - but I feel that they are often indicative of a hotel's, or even a programme's, general attitude towards high status guests. That consideration also invalidates any "But did you even ask for an upgrade" sentiment, because if I have to argue my way into upgrades, it simply isn't a valuable benefit for me because I already know that the property wants to do the abolute minimum or less (prime similar example: guaranteed late checkout versus late checkout based on availability doesn't sound very different, but is a world of a difference IME).

I am currently on a "bad run" regarding upgrades over several (Bonvoy) stays in Dubai - a city where I did not expect this during its low season. Does this spoil my trip? No. Is it in any way conclusive regarding the relative value of different loyalty programmes? No. And yet, I will probably summarize it (similar to what EE did here) after the trip because I think that some others might find it interesting, and that's what the forum is for.