Last week we first learned about World of Hyatt, which will replace Gold Passport as Hyatt’s loyalty program as of March 1, 2017. The new program has gotten a mixed reaction from people — while Hyatt will be offering more benefits to their top tier elites, they’re also increasing the qualification criteria. So some people will come out ahead, while others some will come out behind.
A lot of people have had a lot of specific questions about all of these changes, so it’s worth pointing out that Jeff Zidell, the head of Gold Passport (and soon to be head of World of Hyatt) will be hosting a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, at 12PM CST. Next week exact instructions will be shared on how to participate.
For those of you not familiar with AMAs, it’s basically an opportunity for anyone to ask questions, and then the person hosting the AMA can respond in a forum-style format. While all questions will show, the most popular ones will appear at the top, and are typically most likely to get answers. So it’s a bit different than a traditional forum, in the sense that questions are prioritized based on popularity.
Jeff is a brave person for setting one of these up. Hopefully he realizes the kinds of questions that make it to the top. For example, The Points Guy hosted an AMA earlier in the year, and you can see the three questions that were most popular. 😉 AMAs are truly supposed to be about asking anything, so hopefully he addresses most of the questions.
Do you plan on attending the World of Hyatt Reddit AMA?
Just to add on mmy earlier comment: I had an interesting discussion with them via FB-messenger today. Firstly, I would like to stress that they responded very quickly. But secondly, and in substance, their (!) conclusion was that that there is no "room" for a 35s/40n upmarket (GH/PH) customer who is not travelling to the US.
Their honesty is certainly appreciated, as it helps my decision to move my entire business elsewhere.
Somebody be sure to ask Jeff why he thinks that he can violate Hyatt Gold Passport Terms and Conditions by terminating the program without six months notice.
http://www.tokyohyattfan.com/2016/11/06/hyatts-invalid-hyatt-gold-passport-termination-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/
Brian Kelly (The Points Guy):
"There is a lot at stake in this election- especially for the LGBT community. Trump has stated that he will consider appointing Supreme Court judges that will overturn marriage equality (which is why Ted Cruz decided to endorse him- his list of judges are so conservative Cruz approved). Even the Log Cabin Republicans have refused to endorse Trump due to the dangerous circle of anti LGBT company he keeps (they...
Brian Kelly (The Points Guy):
"There is a lot at stake in this election- especially for the LGBT community. Trump has stated that he will consider appointing Supreme Court judges that will overturn marriage equality (which is why Ted Cruz decided to endorse him- his list of judges are so conservative Cruz approved). Even the Log Cabin Republicans have refused to endorse Trump due to the dangerous circle of anti LGBT company he keeps (they endorsed Romney in 2012 FYI). And let's not forget Mike Pence who sprung to infamy for signing legislation in Indiana that legalized discrimination of LGBT people. A Trump/Pence White House would dramatically overturn so much of the progress we've made and an ultra conservative Supreme Court will wreak havoc in so many ways for decades to come. .."
italdesign says:
"Only the barely qualified Diamonds are complaining..."
Or the lifetime ones, who no longer get 4 DSU's a year.
I get why they made the changes to the program but must the logo and the new website color scheme be so ugly?
"Do you have the technical capability to ban Hilton shills from posting endless raves about Hilton in Hyatt posts on travel blogs?"
My main question would be 'why are award nights non-qualifying?' Especially so given Hyatt's tiny footprint.
I stayed at a lot of Hyatt hotels this year (prob end the year at 75-80 nights) at SFO/Silicon Valley area, but even ill probably only spend $17,000 a year.
I'd assume I'm Hyatt's target customer. But even it was difficult for me to stay at Hyatts given its small footprint and high prices. Next year I'll hit...
My main question would be 'why are award nights non-qualifying?' Especially so given Hyatt's tiny footprint.
I stayed at a lot of Hyatt hotels this year (prob end the year at 75-80 nights) at SFO/Silicon Valley area, but even ill probably only spend $17,000 a year.
I'd assume I'm Hyatt's target customer. But even it was difficult for me to stay at Hyatts given its small footprint and high prices. Next year I'll hit 45-50 nights no problem from work travel, but the extra stay/night credit from award nights would definitely help me requalify.
So basically Hyatt is telling me, despite earning 150k points this year, I have to spend $ for revenue nights or C&P nights (which isn't available most of the time?) How does that work? What's the point of earning these points and staying loyal to Hyatt then?
Only the barely qualified Diamonds are complaining - understandably. Infrequent members are barely impacted. As a non-requalifying Diamond, the 4 club upgrades I'll receive as an... Explorist? are a net positive for me.
At the risk of being redundant..........mixed reviews??????? Nothing mixed about them, Lucky. Start reading Flyertalk and Hyatt's Facebook page. I could write a book on what everyone doesn't like about the program. I am off to Starwood/Marriott.
"How much did you pay for that logo a blind child in a coma could have done on Microsoft Word in 5 minutes? Have you ever heard of kerning?"
They need to hear loudly from their current diamonds who are getting screwed by these changes. Unless you constantly travel to the same handful of US cities, getting 60 nights/year with Hyatt's tiny footprint is nearly impossible. I stay ~80 nights/year in hotels, but have to work hard just to get 25 Hyatt stays because so many international cities lack a single Hyatt property. Now Hyatt is telling me that this loyalty is no longer...
They need to hear loudly from their current diamonds who are getting screwed by these changes. Unless you constantly travel to the same handful of US cities, getting 60 nights/year with Hyatt's tiny footprint is nearly impossible. I stay ~80 nights/year in hotels, but have to work hard just to get 25 Hyatt stays because so many international cities lack a single Hyatt property. Now Hyatt is telling me that this loyalty is no longer worth suite upgrades, 4pm late check-out, or even free breakfast. Call, e-mail, and let them know on Reddit.
I think the open forum has potential, however if it is just another exercise in canned responses from Hyatt such as on social media thus far, à la: "WOH is super awesome, we are super proud of it. Let us tell you all about it....." instead of actually listening to their customer base of which has resoundingly received WOH negatively (unless by some unknown circumstance all the supporters of WOH are computer and social media...
I think the open forum has potential, however if it is just another exercise in canned responses from Hyatt such as on social media thus far, à la: "WOH is super awesome, we are super proud of it. Let us tell you all about it....." instead of actually listening to their customer base of which has resoundingly received WOH negatively (unless by some unknown circumstance all the supporters of WOH are computer and social media illiterate and they are not acccuretly represented) Hyatt will not only lose my business next year, which is already a given, but I will consider buying stock option Puts against Hyatt. That's how adamant I am that WOH is a major misstep. WOH is nothing more than Hyatt creating the illusion of added value when I'm fact it is quite the opposite, especially when placed into perspective against its competitors. Frankly I'm insulted Hyatt thinks I would fall for it.
As a disclaimed, I am a current Hyatt Diamond and re-qualified for 2017 as well.
The gutting (or politely called the "realigning") of reward programs across the board in the past year is like a virus without a cure. You don't know if the "glory" days are gone forever or if there is a recovery on the horizon if their core customer bases erode. I guess the real question is whether people will stay or walk. I've just merged my SPG and Marriott accounts so I'm walking, at least for now.
+1 on "mixed response". I would agree 90%+ negative and even more from those of us who are non-US residents. So "mixed response" cleary euphemistic.
No, I do think doing a Reddit AMA is just another proof of Hyatt management's complete lack of understanding of the situation. I think everyone understands the changes perfectly well and has full clarity about them.
But almost everyone strongly disagrees with them and is currently working on moving...
+1 on "mixed response". I would agree 90%+ negative and even more from those of us who are non-US residents. So "mixed response" cleary euphemistic.
No, I do think doing a Reddit AMA is just another proof of Hyatt management's complete lack of understanding of the situation. I think everyone understands the changes perfectly well and has full clarity about them.
But almost everyone strongly disagrees with them and is currently working on moving the business away from Hyatt. The person we least need for this, is Jeff Z ...
However, if could organize a Reddit AMA with other programs, in particular SPG/Marriott, this would be of great interest to all of us.
Mixed response got my attention too. Virtually no one seems happy and with Hyatt's tiny footprint, this was a chance for them to exploit the uncertainty with the current SPG Marriott merger. Instead, it seems they decided to wreck their own "loyalty" program and actually make it easy for those folks that were considering a move to Hyatt Gold passport.
On a different note, can we please call a moratorium on using a travel forum...
Mixed response got my attention too. Virtually no one seems happy and with Hyatt's tiny footprint, this was a chance for them to exploit the uncertainty with the current SPG Marriott merger. Instead, it seems they decided to wreck their own "loyalty" program and actually make it easy for those folks that were considering a move to Hyatt Gold passport.
On a different note, can we please call a moratorium on using a travel forum to constantly slide in snarky comments about the Presidential candidates. There are 1 million places currently taking inane comments about this never-ending campaign. I can't speak for all people, but I come here for a respite from that all that stuff.
Sorry, what? I still can't get past the logo.
Mixed response? Look at the boards from FT and social media. 90% of the response has been negative. I'd say that's an overwhelmingly negative response to the changes.
@Stuart, there are no tax loopholes, its law. If you understand business, expenses can be claimed if related to your business. Lucky's business is based on (not all of it) reviewing air, hotel, etc... for his customers who read this site. If he claims travel expenses (as he should), I don't understand your issue. Well, I do, you're jealous that you can't claim travel or any other business expenses?
@Felix, My point is not so much that Lucky, like Donald Trump (whom for all we know he is supporting as, unlike The Points Guy, he has chosen not to use his megaphone to warn of the dangers to international travel that would result in electing a bigot like Trump who would start a trade war) has taken advantage of a tax code that even Republicans concede has too many loopholes, but that when he...
@Felix, My point is not so much that Lucky, like Donald Trump (whom for all we know he is supporting as, unlike The Points Guy, he has chosen not to use his megaphone to warn of the dangers to international travel that would result in electing a bigot like Trump who would start a trade war) has taken advantage of a tax code that even Republicans concede has too many loopholes, but that when he started living "full time" in hotels he implied he could do so economically because of his prowess in using points/miles and never mentioned his tax advantages as a blogger, which would not be available to even his most avid readers.
@Stuart Falk Why though? It could be interesting but the blog and his business isn't a publicly traded company nor is he running for office. Not sure why he would have to mention if he was taking advantage of tax loopholes. Furthermore, living in hotels doesnt mean you'd pay less taxes. I'd guess that his "home" address is in Florida with his parents and that he file's personal taxes as a Florida resident.
Besides,...
@Stuart Falk Why though? It could be interesting but the blog and his business isn't a publicly traded company nor is he running for office. Not sure why he would have to mention if he was taking advantage of tax loopholes. Furthermore, living in hotels doesnt mean you'd pay less taxes. I'd guess that his "home" address is in Florida with his parents and that he file's personal taxes as a Florida resident.
Besides, if you really wanted to ask, why wait for an AMA? It's not like they force you to answer questions so what difference does it make if Lucky holds an AMA or if you post a question on the "Ask Lucky" page? Would an AMA really compel him or anyone else to answer personal questions?
Lastly, comparing to Trump? Really? Ew.
I think Lucky should hold an AMA session on Reddit so he can be asked about the business tax deductions he may take for all the paid travel he reviews, making (like Donald Trump), his business success highly dependent on taking advantage of tax loophole and privilege (something he never mentioned when moving into "hotels all the time" ..or, in fact, more likely now "some of the time."
It's my impression that Reddit users are, collectively, less insufferable fucks than those old timers on FlyerTalk.