Over the past several years we’ve seen some significant changes to hotel loyalty programs. Some hotel loyalty programs have upped their game, while others have gotten worse. In this post, I’d like to share why World of Hyatt Globalist is my favorite top tier hotel status, but first let me share my current overall hotel…
Continue reading: Why Hyatt Globalist Is My Favorite Hotel Elite Status
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The loss of SLH hotels has been a huge setback for me and my desire to pursue Globalist status. With that said, I'm encouraged by their desire to grow by acquisition. I'd love to see smaller chains like Omni and Loews (and of course higher end brands than those) under the Hyatt umbrella.
Geographic footprint and award availability antics are my "don't love" as well. While Hyatt is an excellent fit for some, these two issues were always problematic and I never gravitated towards Hyatt. This is in spite of having complimentary Globalist status for years as an AA Concierge Key. And, given the state of the other major hotel loyalty programs, I'm predominantly a free agent. Hotels at which I'm a regular afford perks in spite of no official loyalty program.
Hyatt is stronger than IHG overall but IHG’s breakfast benefit is superior to Hyatt’s - you get full free breakfast for 2 even when the property has a club lounge. Since most Diamond members have the annual lounge pass, you can eat breakfast at either the lounge or the restaurant, or have free breakfast for 4 by splitting up among the restaurant and the lounge. Or sometimes I go to both the same morning at Intercons, such as when the lounge has free champagne but the restaurant doesn’t.
Agreed on IHG Diamond breakfast benefits. I’d also argue IHG Diamond may be generally easier to obtain than Hyatt Globalist; have been Diamond via CSR spend alone, while there isn’t as much of an ‘easy-route’ to the top-tier status with Hyatt (like you gotta stay/spend a lot with them directly). Also, IHG has like 4x more properties worldwide. Eh.
Footprint is by far the biggest problem with Hyatt. Just not enough properties in enough locations in Europe and Asia. Marriott wins hands down in this regard. For example, leaving MrandMrsSmith aside for the moment, not a single hotel outside Lisbon in Portugal or outside Vienna in Austria. Or take Osaka, yes there is now finally one property, a Caption, yet when I tried in early Dec it was impossible to book on points for some reason. Denmark? Not a single property!?! Which gets me to MrandMrsSmith. The loss of SLH was a real setback for Hyatt, and the way M&MS has been executed does not make up for it. Yes there are three M&MS properties in Copenhagen but you only get 1.1c per Hyatt point if you want to use points for these hotels. This would mean 80-100k points per night at the "Darling" for example, twice what you'd pay for the Park Hyatt Paris. And you get basically no Globalist perks at any of these hotels. Moreover, when I stayed in an M&MS hotel in Southern Italy last October the hotel send me a PDF invoice via email and wanted me to pay them directly - it took multiple phone calls with the Globalist line to sort this out. A quick online search reveals I am not the only one this happened to at M&MS hotels. It's a mess. At the very least they should have an award chart like they did for SLH, to make these properties at least somewhat compelling. There also still appear to be numerous M&MS properties not participating in WOH at all. Seems like this should have been sorted by now.
There's a certain type of person who is perhaps best labelled as a "cheap screw." They are obsessed with CPP. Convenience and quality have no meaning. Almost uniformly, they love Hyatt. While they rationalize the compromises they make for the almighty CPP -- oh, it's not that big of a deal -- for me, life's too short. This isn't to say Hyatt has no great properties. They do. Just not enough or in the right places. (This doesn't mean that all people who like Hyatt are cheap screws.)
The problem with Hyatt cpp is that their hotels are so overpriced for what they are. You can slap a $400 price tag on a mediocre Hyatt, and yes your cpp or value will calculate higher.
@Ben
‘A benefit is most valuable when guaranteed, so being able to stay four to five hours beyond the typical check-out time is great. Marriott offers this as well, while Hilton and IHG don’t guarantee this.’
Isn’t it a guarantee 4 pm late checkout for Hilton Diamond Reserve members, the new top tier above DFL?
@ Stanley C -- Whoops, good point about Diamond Reserve. Updated the post to reflect that... thanks!
If the questions from the survey Hyatt sent earlier this year come true, we'll all be off to other schemes.
There are more planets in the solar system than Hyatts in Central Europe.
Hyatt's globalist program is a consolution prize for their awful footprint.
I hate to say it but I'd rather stay at a marriott with mediocre recognition in the center or close to whatever event I'm in town for than a hyatt 40 miles away
This is my first and probably last year as a Globalist. It seems to me that each hotel varies greatly as to what they are willing to do. I'm currently at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver, horrible hotel and really they basically said: Thanks for being a globalist after I paid them. Otherwise have done next to nothing. I would have been better offer making a Privé reservation. The singular perk I received was a continental breakfast in the lounge (which feels like being a the gate at an airport that has a to-go cafe next to it) . Personally I don't value lounge access and asked if I could forgo it and inside just have breakfast in the restaurant, they made a big deal of what I thought was a straight forward ask. No was the answer, but Mr Mehta the Assistant front office Manager offered 20% off if I paid seeing my displeasure he finally said with the glee of a used car salesman having made a great deal on a clunker, that he would make a special exception and we could eat in the restaurant once during our stay - so we could have the "experience". I declined and am avoiding the hotel F+B altogether. It strikes me as really cheap petty and tone deaf. In general this behavior represents how Hyatt has changed in the decade I've been loyal to them. Everything is just about money and hospitality is in short supply. For someone who travels for leisure I don't think there is much value in being loyal to a corporate hotel chain any more, the perks are less and less just as the points are devalued to make even a points night harder to attain.