Tag Archives for hyatt.
Three years ago Hyatt announced that the all-suite Brazilian-themed Rio hotel would be renovated and become multiple brands as part of the chain – with Hyatt Regency to be the first and largest (1,500 of the Rio’s 2,500 rooms) – set to open in 2023.
They didn’t quite make that goal. However, as of today Rio Hotel & Casino is participating in World of Hyatt.
While we’re seeing 3-to-1 category increases (seems bad!) it’s interesting that these are very different from similar clusters of increases in the past.
Previously we’ve seen a lot of high end hotels become more expensive as redemptions. This time we’re seeing lower category hotels go up the most. The bulk of the action with these changes are in the bottom half of the chart’s distribution. The biggest grouping of changes is category 3 hotels becoming 4’s, while we also see 1’s become 2’s and 2’s become 3’s.
It’s a two month promotion that can earn up to 1,000 (or 1,333) bonus points per night. I value Hyatt points at 1.4 cents apiece. Not amazing, not terrible. The offer hasn’t been released yet and can’t yet be registered for.
Every stay at a Hyatt property between February 1 and March 30, 2024, earns an additional 1,000 Etihad Guest points, on top of regular Hyatt and airline miles earnings, for members who register and link their accounts.
Hyatt’s Eliza Jane hotel in New Orleans has just started adding a 1.85% surcharge when you pay your bill by credit card. That’s basically an undisclosed 1.85% surcharge on all hotel guests. World of Hyatt members are billed an extra fee for paying with their Hyatt Visa from Chase, even.
By making all Hyatt awards transferable, there’s now a market in more types of certificates – free night awards; club access awards; suite upgrade awards; as well as the Guest of Honor certificates that members will earn through stays going forward.
Marriott Bonvoy (inclusive of former Starwood members) is the largest program while Hilton Honors has been growing quickly and catching up. Accor’s loyalty program – which is newer than the others – is small for the chain’s size. And while World of Hyatt is the smallest among these 7 hotel groups, it hits substantially above its weight, something that’s true both for program membership and for its co-brand credit card deal.
It was already the best status program among the major hotel chains. It’s getting even better for 2024. I’m excited to see they’ll be onboarding Mr. and Mrs. Smith Hotels which offers amazing luxury and boutique properties. I love the places this will unlock for me to spend my points. So I’m excited about the direction Hyatt is headed.
Hyatt is making major changes to its Guest of Honor benefit, making them transferable certificates earned as Milestone Rewards and valid both on points and paid stays – replacing the unlimited points-only benefit that exists today. However in addition to starting out top tier members with 5 transferable certificates next year, it turns out the unlimited benefit is also available through February 2025.
World of Hyatt is making changes to elite benefits for 2024, and they are mostly good. All awards like upgrades and free nights become transferable, and more benefit choices are being added as members stay every 10 nights. It’ll be possible to confirm a suite and try out top tier benefits after fewer nights, while their Guest Of Honor benefit will be more flexible – but no longer unlimited.
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 »
