Hyatt’s “Surprise and Delight” Reward for Staying at 50 Different Hotels

by Gary Leff

Hyatt emailed me yesterday to let me know that a stay I completed two and a half weeks ago was at my 50th Hyatt hotel.

They produced a map of the places I’ve stayed, and also had a list.

Several things struck me about their reaching out with this information, and 10,000 bonus points (which I value at ~ $140):

  • I’m amazed I haven’t stayed at more than 50 Hyatt properties. I tend to use them for business mostly, staying at the same properties time and again. (In fact, I was certain that I had stayed at more than 50, but I’ve gone through their list and it appears they’re correct. Imagine that?)

  • Award stays do count. There are properties on the list that I’ve used points only at, but they’re part of my 50.

  • Hyatt is still offering a ‘surprise and delight’ at 50 properties, I hadn’t heard about it in awhile.

  • They’re giving me 10,000 points — not a free night’s stay.

Of course now I’m going to be expecting something from Gold Passport when I hit 100 properties!

About Gary Leff

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 »

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Comments

  2. A few weeks ago, they sent me an email for 75 unique properties. I also liked the map. My offer was for one free night at any property. I thought that was more than generous.

    You can also bet that I now know that I have stayed at 79 unique properties and will be counting up to 100!

  3. Allow me to be a wet blanket for a second…

    1) You complain about not getting love from Hyatt a few days ago on your widely-read blog and suddenly you get a bundle of joy in your inbox? Hmmmmm…

    2) Unless something changed, Hyatt is still playing very coy on whether this 50-stay recognition is policy, or discretionary, or…(?) which I suppose maintains the “element of surprise” but also frustrates those who have gone over the hump and have heard nothing (myself included)…

  6. I also don’t want to sound like a wet blanket, but the last time I stayed at a Hyatt I had the “open up the door to find somebody sleeping” thing happen upon checking in and the guy didn’t even blink as he had added 7,500 points to my account. I’ve easily had 20,000 points added for what I would describe as very minor glitches.

    I wonder what it would really cost them to kick down 4 or 5 days in Hawaii ?? The one wrinkle of course is how many hotels are owned and operated by Hyatt. I do know that when I was a teen I stayed at several westins for free courtesy of a great friend who worked the desk at westin LA

    Whatever. Congrats!

  7. Good for you, and I mean that sincerely.

    I’ve received nothing for staying at over 100 Hyatt properties. I’d love for Hyatt to drop a surprise in my mailbox.

  8. I just got the 25 properties email along with 5k points yesterday or the day before. They offered an additional 500 points for completing the game listing my stays in order, but I couldn’t get the game to work. Could you?

  10. I recently hit 25. Got 5k. Played the game and got 500 extra. Definitely interested in hitting 50 unique properties but a bit bummed to hear it is just 10k and not a free night!

  11. These must be batched — I got mine 25 property award and game two days ago. 5000 pts + 500 for getting the game right.

    I was definitely surprised and delighted. It’s not a huge amount of points, but I appreciate the gesture and it was a fun thing to get in my inbox.

  12. As a Lifetime Diamond member I am a bit unhappy about the reply from Hyatt:

    Dear xxxx,

    Thank you for contacting Hyatt regarding 50 unique hotels visited; I appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

    After further research I was advised the award received for visiting 50 unique hotels is a “surprise and delight” award. Surprise and delight awards are random awards. We do have thresholds of 50 hotels visited, but not everyone that visits this many Hyatts actually receives the award. We are recognizing more and more but there is no way to tell when you may receive a surprise and delight.

    Please let me know if you require any additional assistance with your Hyatt Gold Passport account!

    Best regards,

    xxxxxxx
    Hyatt Guest Service Specialist

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