Category Archives for Hotels.
Last month Marriott introduced its first big promotion since launching their new program.
However not everyone was able to register for it. Marriott even said this was intentional. Now they’re saying it wasn’t, and they want to help folks get registered that weren’t able to earlier.
About 1500 Marriott employees at Boston properties have walked off the job including groups “from housekeepers to bartenders to bellmen” across 7 properties. All remain open.
A year ago Hyatt took a stake in Oasis and then in March launched points earn and burn, elite stay credit, and very limited benefits when members stayed at any of the Oasis homesharing options (which were in 20 cities).
However Oasis has been sold and is no longer associated with Hyatt.
Hyatt introduced a pretty revolutionary partnership with MGM 5 years ago with reciprocal points earning, redemption, and status matching. Hyatt didn’t have a significant presence in the Las Vegas market, while this became an opportunity for MGM to reach affluent customers whose choices in Vegas might otherwise be brand-independent. This was a tighter relationship with more value than we had seen from other chains, something almost akin to the kind of codesharing airlines do with each other. Since then the status match has been made less generous for Hyatt members, but there’s still valuable recognition. And the Hyatt-MGM M life deal isn’t ‘either-or’ you receive MGM recongition while still earning Hyatt points also. Through the end of the year there’s a promotion to earn double Hyatt points (an extra 5 points per dollar) at MGM…
George Clooney was loyal to Hilton in Up in the Air and really underscored the benefits of the Honors program.
Hilton has now enlisted Clooney’s co-star Anna Kendrick to do the convincing going forward. Will she convince you to book direct?
According to Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian, “If a group is primarily focused on disparaging a group by virtue of their identity…that’s really where we need to draw the line. We’re going to apply our values to making these decisions along the way.”
There have been issues with inventory with certain hotels not bookable on points, others withholding most of their inventory from award redemption. Some General Managers at legacy Starwood properties have been upset by Marriott’s award availability policies and pricing — and have pushed back.
However the ability for hotels to play games with inventory is on the way out. And there will be at least a 3 week period before award prices go up next year when availability should be at its best.
I stayed 100 nights with Starwood in 2016 and was assigned an Ambassador for 2017. My Ambassador was excellent.
However members certainly have had varied experiences. Different Ambassadors provide different levels of service. Each person has different skills. The program itself provides guidelines but some go above and beyond. And workload matters. Now that the program is scaling to support top elites at Marriott too, Marriott’s metrics are being put into place.
Last week Marriott launched its first big promotion since launching their new program on August 18.
Nowhere does this offer say that it is targeted. In order to be eligible you just have to be a loyalty program member. Except not all members are allowed to register.
Hyatt used to be super generous with elite status matches. If you had a pulse they’d give you 90 days of Diamond status including confirmed suite upgrades, and an expedited path to keep that status.
No doubt they brought over a lot of great members with the offer, but they also picked up plenty of people who just wanted to have that one special trip (honeymoon, anniversary) but transferring in Chase points, booking a cash and points redemption, and applying a suite upgrade to it. Probably at the Andaz Maui or Park Hyatt Vendome in Paris.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
