Tag Archives for hyatt.
The property will be its own brand for earning Brand Explorer category 1-4 free nights, which is cool. And it’s great to have a much nicer Hyatt option in Las Vegas. Instead of complaining how ghetto Rio is at $42.50 per night, members can complain about how expensive Venetian is.
A year ago Hyatt started testing online redemption of suite upgrades. That feature is now live, and it works for both suite upgrades and club access awards, through both the Hyatt.com website and through the Hyatt mobile app as part of the booking process.
You should not actually stay at the Rio. You should check in there midweek when there’s a great rate when you’re staying in Las Vegas anyway, in order to earn elite night credit, but from all the feedback on this hotel you probably want to actually spend the night somewhere else. Even guests who feel the rooms themselves are fine tend not to enjoy strolling through the property to and from those rooms it seems.
I suspect that it will make sense for some Hyatt and American elite members to focus just on earning Hyatt status, transfer some Chase points to Hyatt and redeem for AAdvantage status for each trip you wind up making on American – and just travel on whichever airline makes sense on a given trip.
If you’d just be an occasional American traveler this may make more sense than striving for AAdvantage status – especially if you’re doing it now with spending on an AAdvantage credit card. Earn more and more valuable points (like Chase points) spending on a different card instead, and redeeming ad hoc whenever you need the status.
Hyatt’s latest earnings call reveals a firm commitment to premium brands as CEO Mark Hoplamazian dismisses low-end market competition, emphasizes loyalty growth, and sets sights on renegotiating a lucrative credit card partnership.
The American Airlines – Hyatt partnership isn’t about ‘rewarding us.’ The partnership is about looking for new customers for each brand. And these changes are designed to align marketing dollars with corporate objectives.
Probably the best new option here is for Hyatt elites with 100 nights per year to choose American AAdvantage Platinum status for a year as their choice benefit. Redeeming Hyatt points for AAdvantage status for a day, at the same price you can do this using AAdvantage miles, may be useful for some as well.
I checked into the Grand Hyatt in DC earlier this week. Or, should I say, I tried to check in. There was a long line at the desk, but no line for elite check-in. Of course, there was nobody working elite check-in, either.
Resort fees usually include collections of useless items, or small discounts or credits that the hotel benefits from when you spend more than the allotted amount. In the case of a $15 food and beverage credit, much of the time the hotel comes out ahead if you use it. Denying it to the guest is a mistake. But it’s also a scam layered on top of the resort/destination fee scam itself, because the hotel is getting compensated for it – and has to provide the same benefits to redemption guests as cash ones.
It’s a 41-room 1930s-era motor lodge with neon sign that attracts locals to its pool with day passes. And, since Austin really isn’t centered around a downtown, it’s actually quite a good location for tourists. The property maintains the ‘Keep Austin Weird’ vibe of the early-2010s (from long before the Californians arrived during the pandemic).
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 »
