There are lots of great benefits to World of Hyatt Globalist status. In this post I wanted to talk about one of the “softer” benefits of Hyatt status, which is the “My Hyatt Concierge” perk. How do you earn it, and how valuable is it?
In this post:
How do you access My Hyatt Concierge?
With World of Hyatt, you receive some perks simply for qualifying for a certain status level, while you receive other perks as part of the Milestone Rewards program. The My Hyatt Concierge benefit falls in the latter category:
- You receive a My Hyatt Concierge when you earn 60 elite nights or 100,000 base points (equivalent to $20,000 of qualifying spending) in a calendar year, and you also get the benefit indefinitely if you’re a lifetime Globalist member; even elite nights earned with Hyatt’s credit cards count toward this
- Once you qualify, a My Hyatt Concierge representative will reach out within four weeks with their contact info; typically it happens much faster than that, but in some cases it could take that long
- Note that all Globalist members (regardless of how they qualify) receive access to a dedicated phone number with shorter hold times and (hopefully) better service, but that’s different than this perk
How valuable is My Hyatt Concierge?
While I’ve had top tier status with Hyatt for well over a decade, the My Hyatt Concierge program was only introduced in 2017, with the launch of the World of Hyatt program (this wasn’t a feature of the old Hyatt Gold Passport program). So, how useful is this service? A couple of things to note:
- Like anything in customer service, your experience may differ based on who you’re assigned as your My Hyatt Concierge
- I’m not someone who is looking to have a My Hyatt Concierge make all kinds of special hotel requests for me, I’m not expecting them to get a presidential suite upgrade and waived pet giraffe fee for me, etc.; I know what I’m entitled to under the World of Hyatt program, and I’m just looking for them to help with taking advantage of those benefits
With that in mind, what has my experience been, and how have I found the My Hyatt Concierge service to be useful?
- The My Hyatt Concierge appointed to me is a lovely and helpful person; she’s competent, highly responsive, and always resolves what I ask for help with without me having to follow-up
- Looking at my email history with her, I’ve contacted her a total of 16 times since early 2018; I’ve primarily contacted her when points and/or elite nights didn’t post correctly, I contacted her a couple of times when I had issues with a refund, and I’ve contacted her a few times to help apply suite upgrade awards
- In the past two years, I’ve been in touch with her a total of two times, simply because there’s very little that I’ve needed
I’ve found the service to be useful every time I’ve used it, and I’ve also been positively impressed by the friendliness and competence of the My Hyatt Concierge assigned to me. I only have to ask her to do something once, and she “gets it.”
That being said, in general I’ve found that I probably contact @HyattConcierge on Twitter about as much as I reach out to my dedicated contact. Why?
- Twitter customer service is available 24/7, while understandably your Hyatt Concierge has to sleep (it seems that My Hyatt Concierge team members monitor inboxes when someone is out of the office, but not 24/7)
- For things that are time sensitive, like applying a suite upgrade award at a hotel with limited availability, there’s value in being able to do things right away
- In those time sensitive situations I typically go the Twitter route, thanks to how quick the responses usually are
How does this compare to Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador service?
Marriott Bonvoy’s top tier Ambassador status requires 100 elite nights plus $23,000 in spending per year. Arguably the greatest benefit of Ambassador status is that you have a dedicated point of contact at Marriott. In theory, it’s a similar concept to what Hyatt offers.
Now, admittedly Marriott Ambassador status is a bit more exclusive than Hyatt Globalist status, purely in terms of qualification requirements. I mean, Marriott hotels should go above and beyond more for Ambassador members than Hyatt properties do for Globalist members. That’s not to say that they do, but they should…
While I no longer have the status, I had Ambassador status up until a few years ago, and had a great experience at the time:
- I had an absolutely incredible Ambassador who constantly proactively looked after my reservations, left personalized notes for me in my room, and would often proactively contact hotels about upgrades
- That being said, there was always a huge variance in terms of the quality of Marriott Ambassadors, with some being awesome, and others providing very little value
However, I also realize I was lucky with the person that I was assigned, and I know some people had Ambassadors who provided virtually no proactive service.
So I’d say that Marriott’s Ambassador service should be a bit more personalized than the My Hyatt Concierge service, but that’s not to say that it consistently is.
Bottom line
The My Hyatt Concierge feature is available exclusively to World of Hyatt Globalist members who earn 60 elite nights or 100,000 base points in a calendar year, plus lifetime Globalist members. With this, you get a dedicated point of contact at Hyatt who can help you with just about anything related to your reservations.
I’ve had an overall good experience with this service, and I’ve found the service to be friendly and competent. That being said, I’m not sure it’s worth going out of your way to stay more just to get this benefit. That’s simply because @HyattConcierge on Twitter is also awesome, and can often help with inquiries really quickly, and that service is open to everyone.
If you’ve had access to and used the My Hyatt Concierge service, what was your experience like?
No one ever reached out to me after I qualified for globalist. It wasn't until a year and a half later that I realized this was supposed to be a benefit and reached out to the globalist line about it.
Since finaly being assigned a concierge, they have been of no help to me. I've emailed them about applying guest of honor or suite upgrades twice... But after two business days of not hearing...
No one ever reached out to me after I qualified for globalist. It wasn't until a year and a half later that I realized this was supposed to be a benefit and reached out to the globalist line about it.
Since finaly being assigned a concierge, they have been of no help to me. I've emailed them about applying guest of honor or suite upgrades twice... But after two business days of not hearing back, I've resorted to calling the globalist line and taking care of the matters.
So I'm not really sure what the point of the concierge is.
I had a Concierge back in the Gold Passport days. I don't think it was specifically called "My Hyatt Concierge" but was a personal concierge program.
That original Concierge was great but has long since retired. I couldn't tell you the name of whomever I'm assigned now. In those days, they had a rep on FlyerTalk (if I remember right, @GoldPassportConcierge) and that was easier than a personal email. Even then, the main thing I...
I had a Concierge back in the Gold Passport days. I don't think it was specifically called "My Hyatt Concierge" but was a personal concierge program.
That original Concierge was great but has long since retired. I couldn't tell you the name of whomever I'm assigned now. In those days, they had a rep on FlyerTalk (if I remember right, @GoldPassportConcierge) and that was easier than a personal email. Even then, the main thing I used them for was to use a suite upgrade.
I used to get emails about new promotions that needed registration, but these were always from a different person. They've since started an opt-in for auto registration so I don't even get those emails anymore. The ones I do get are from some generic Hyatt address.
So I think it's nice to have even if I don't use it often. But not being able to look in the app/web for contact info of my current agent makes it worthless when I do need it.
Mine have always been responsive, but are more or less just a better customer service person. I've never had a stay proactively personalized, note left, etc. etc... Super friendly and nice, but they've also changed who mine is 3 times in 2 years...
Great in theory. Meh in execution. I would be so excited for anything like them proactively requesting suite upgrades for me, or even some chips and salsa in the room when I...
Mine have always been responsive, but are more or less just a better customer service person. I've never had a stay proactively personalized, note left, etc. etc... Super friendly and nice, but they've also changed who mine is 3 times in 2 years...
Great in theory. Meh in execution. I would be so excited for anything like them proactively requesting suite upgrades for me, or even some chips and salsa in the room when I arrive because they asked the hotel for the $3 gesture! I'm easy to please! But not really any thought or energy seems to come from them unless you're giving them a specific requests and even then they stick strictly to the same services and rules that customer service does.
Ok she did just score me an exception to an expiring cert (kinda a long story, not just because) which was really nice and likely would have been very hard without her. Kudos to her!
I'm pretty pleased with my concierge. She is great on most non-standard needs like suite upgrades unless it's an emergency last second booking, claiming missing points, general special requests, and pretty much anything that the app can't handle. Among the things my concierge has done is getting a hotel in Bali to accept a suite upgrade on an 8 night stay even though they're only supposed to be good for up to 7 nights and...
I'm pretty pleased with my concierge. She is great on most non-standard needs like suite upgrades unless it's an emergency last second booking, claiming missing points, general special requests, and pretty much anything that the app can't handle. Among the things my concierge has done is getting a hotel in Bali to accept a suite upgrade on an 8 night stay even though they're only supposed to be good for up to 7 nights and reaching out to a hotel to stack a suite upgrade with a modest cash payment for a truly spectacular suite with a private pool. She's also gotten me points for unused or expired awards at times.
I don’t even know the name of my Hyatt concierge anymore. I found little value in a personal one because you don’t get personalized service. I don’t remember the last time she reached out to me. I just call the globalist line if I need anything.
My concierge is not good. The errors, the lax attitude. I’m scared to entrust my plans to her on just the basics. I tried to change but they did not grant the request for reasons unknown and several requests for a manager went unanswered. Back to the hotline for me!
The secret to happiness in life is to have reasonable expectations:
1. Reservation with points when you haven't got the points in your account yet is the best use of the concierge.
2. Obtaining feedback on certain properties is another useful point.
3. Applying suite upgrades "sometimes" is useful. The trait that makes me not wanting to reach for Globalist in the future is when you go to apply a Suite Upgrade...
The secret to happiness in life is to have reasonable expectations:
1. Reservation with points when you haven't got the points in your account yet is the best use of the concierge.
2. Obtaining feedback on certain properties is another useful point.
3. Applying suite upgrades "sometimes" is useful. The trait that makes me not wanting to reach for Globalist in the future is when you go to apply a Suite Upgrade they will say "that category of suite is not available" even though they are selling for revenue 5 other suite types online. This smoke and mirrors ploy has made me question the value of loyalty to Hyatt in the future when I can get all the other benefits with a premium booking service.
Or just call the Globalist 800 number and get the answer right then.
Indeed, reasonable expectation ARE the secret to happiness, and one should definitely have reasonable expectations of all travel loyalty programs.
I appreciate the help applying suite upgrades - or at least letting me know which hotels have availability. I've been happy with my contact.
My Dutch concierge never contacted properties I had bookings at to ensure my preferences were met. Every property voiced the lack of proactive action from the Hyatt concierge. Not once they mediated or solved a problem. The concierge response was they don't have any power,take it with the hotel manager.
I hit Globalist in early December. I haven’t heard a peep from Hyatt as to being assigned a MHC nor have I been provided with a dedicated Globalist phone number.
The couple times I've tried to utilize my concierge I have had better luck going directly to the hotel with my request. As one example, I had a day layover in Hawaii on an early morning return from Asia. I asked the concierge if they could inquire about the possibility of a day rate at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki so I could have a place to store luggage, shower and still enjoy the day in...
The couple times I've tried to utilize my concierge I have had better luck going directly to the hotel with my request. As one example, I had a day layover in Hawaii on an early morning return from Asia. I asked the concierge if they could inquire about the possibility of a day rate at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki so I could have a place to store luggage, shower and still enjoy the day in Waikiki before my late night flight back to the mainland. Of course I wasn't necessarily expecting much as this isn't something that is publicly offered, but it seemed that the concierge didn't even try as I got a rather prompt (concierge otherwise usually takes at least a couple days) reply back by email that the day rate wasn't something offered. So I decided to try emailing the VIP relations person at the Hyatt Waikiki directly (I had their info from a welcome email I'd received a couple months prior on a previous visit) and within a few hours had an offer for a day rate checking in at 10am and checking out at 8pm for about 60% of the going nightly rate.
I use MHC for things that are somehow complicated, and doesn't require immediate response. My MHC downgraded over the years, but they're still courtesy and do basic things right.
I just use the chat option. Works well the vast majority of the time. Though I did have one tell me last month to call the Globalist line when I asked to apply a SUA.
I've had a generally good experience. Sometimes it's been trouble getting nights to post or trying to wrangle a tricky hotel night, but I did use them last week to pick out a hotel (there were about four options that were sort-of similar in Midtown) and set up a Suite Upgraded couple of nights in NYC.
The big plus has been getting expired FNAs credited smoothly to my account (I can rarely justify using the...
I've had a generally good experience. Sometimes it's been trouble getting nights to post or trying to wrangle a tricky hotel night, but I did use them last week to pick out a hotel (there were about four options that were sort-of similar in Midtown) and set up a Suite Upgraded couple of nights in NYC.
The big plus has been getting expired FNAs credited smoothly to my account (I can rarely justify using the Cat 1-7 award...I think I've wound up in a Cat 5+ hotel maybe twice in the last 18 months, and one time was an airline delay).
My concierge is not consistently responsive…sometimes almost instantly sometimes I have to chase her down
But I can always call the concierge line and get someone else. Their expertise and helpfulness is all over the map
But I love the service and use it often. Mostly for doing things like making reservations with points that I haven’t earned yet.
They also can call the property for you and sort things out. That has been helpful for me in the past.
Absolutely useless. Reached out a few times and either got no response or stupid responses when looking for hotels. I was able to do a much bette rjob myself than using them.
I have Marriott Ambassador. Pre-COVID, it was hit or miss regarding the personal Ambassador you were assigned. My Ambassador was absolutely worthless. During COVID, they were discontinued. Now, they've restarted. As with AJR, I can pretty much handle things. So, the only thing I ask my new Ambassador for is to facilitate a few upgrades. (Tangentially, how much might one use the Amex Platinum concierge, Visa Infinite concierge, etc.? Rarely.)
Mostly useless. I emailed her a few requests and she responded a week or two ,after, by that time I had it already done with the Twitter team. The Twitter team is usually very good and very reliable. They know what they are doing.
The one time the Concierge was helpful was when I had a missing stay and couldn't get it resolved otherwise,
My concierge is okay (...at best?). Typically, she responds to my messages in 48-72 hrs. By that time, I have figured it out or simply called the Hyatt program myself.
As you said "I know what I’m entitled to under the World of Hyatt program, and I’m just looking for them to help with taking advantage of those benefits." This is the approach I have and have had for the past 10 yrs that I've...
My concierge is okay (...at best?). Typically, she responds to my messages in 48-72 hrs. By that time, I have figured it out or simply called the Hyatt program myself.
As you said "I know what I’m entitled to under the World of Hyatt program, and I’m just looking for them to help with taking advantage of those benefits." This is the approach I have and have had for the past 10 yrs that I've been globalist.
Here's the crazy part...I've even gone around her and contacted another concierge (or two) and my concierge is always the one that responds back to me. Ay yi yi. In the early years, I even contemplated not reaching globalist one year so I could get "kicked out" of the program and subsequently reach it the following year so I could get a new concierge but I decided against it. lol