If you spent any time on BoardingArea blogs yesterday you learned Hyatt hates us. If you don’t understand this you did not read close enough. They hate anyone who does not live 2/12ths of the year at their hotels and spends a ton of cash. Even those who have HUGE Chase Hyatt card spend are hated next year and are now told to please go put that spend on a bank card that likes you (think AMEX or others with spend bonus offers). I get the message Hyatt.
I have to tell you as someone who SPG matched Hyatt Diamond I have been WAY underwhelmed by Hyatt the few times this year I have stayed at their hotels. Sure they were “nice” but nothing like the build up that Hyatt Diamonds told me to expect. Hyatt, with their minuscule worldwide hotel footprint, has told me they don’t want me who stays about 1 month a year at Hyatt hotels. OK, I am fine with that. I can be a free agent and you know that is working out just fine for me this year. I can go from considering a month a year with Hyatt branded hotels to avoiding Hyatt 100%. Buh-bye!
A funny result of this hotel merger match craziness is that I am now a Untied “Premier Silver”. Waaaahooo? Well there are some quirky perks of this lowest of United status when it comes to finding last minute awards and space as well as a free bag and more but then again I have not flown a United flight for YEARS and don’t plan to start anytime soon. United, after all, has managed to take what was one of the best frequent flyer programs and make it Delta SkyMiles bad, but then take all that they copied from Delta (they always do) and make it even worse than Delta. They really are not very bright over at United.
Take a look at what came in the mail the other day – yes US mail. I, sorta, got an elite kit in the mail. But the only possibly really meaningful item, that would be a membership card, is not there but I am told it is digital go get it online. Did you really have to send me all this worthless paper to tell me to go get my digital card? Would not an email have worked just fine? The tiny plastic #BragTag for silver you sent me I am not ever going to use nor is it useful in any way. It is no wonder Untied is in such trouble when you see stupidity like this.
Lastly for today and for the weekend you may have missed the news we all expected was on the way that one of the hands down best card deals, that is 5x from Ink Plus cards, is going away UNLESS you get the card NOW (e-Mail me if you need card help btw). I crush this card when there are OfficeMax / OfficeDepot promotions with VDGCs as well as running anything I can to the card that pays me 5x. Then I send those points over to my CSR card to net earn 7.5% back (tax free). Folks, other than a few REIT stocks I hold getting that kind of return on your money is hard to find each year. Yes, INK cards are under the 5/24 rule so keep that in mind before you apply (again, feel free to e-Mail me if you need help).
So there you are. I am only 1 more stay from a nice chunk of IHG points and with the new Points Break list coming out next week I should be able to knock out the final qualification needed. After that I am back to SPG / Marriott until my top status with them ends early next year. After that, I am up for grabs with whatever hotel gives me the most bonus points – well other than Hyatt that is cuz they don’t want me! – René
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
After checking all the Hyatt news I have to agree. World OF Hyatt?!?!? What the heck were they thinking? I had one more stay last week to qualify for my status this year. Had I know the changes that were coming I wouldn’t have bothered. I am so gone. Buh-bye Hyatt. I advise everyone else to do the same. Management have the heads up the you know where and I hope the pound wise penny foolish exercise bites them in the butt. Seriously Hyatt? Check you later. Nasty branding and stupid tiers. The management team needs to be fired over this. Going from world class with their small footprint to irrelevant for me.The ONLY positive out of this crap show is the amount of notice unlike Delta. See ya Hyatt! Clowns.
@Jay – LOL tell us how you really feel. Don’t hold back. 😉
Sorry Rene! in this atmosphere of loyalty program changes I have had enough. While companies have the right to make changes to improve their bottom line, I have the right to take my business elsewhere. Hyatt has shot to the top of the list today but there are other programs that are just as guilty. Rant over. 🙂
Delta does more to destroy the points and miles game than any other airline in history. Hyatt on the other hand wants to make it so every Tom, Dick, and Harry doesn’t have their top tier status, and they are terrible, hateful people for it? I’m a SPG Platinum and my wife is a Hyatt Diamond and I have to say the Hyatt’s still blow us away with service and upgrades far more than SPG does.
@Aaron – Well, I see what you think about Delta vs AS as your comment last year on 14NOV15 on the blog was:
.
“This is why I love flying on Alaska Airlines and have given up on Delta. I can still do a cheap mileage run and actually get full miles (+ Gold MVP 125% bonus miles) in addition to EQM’s. And the miles are FAR more valuable than Skypesos.”
Was contemplating pushing/going far out of my way for Diamond status next year. Nope.
25 nights is one thing, but 60 is insane, especially since there aren’t Hyatts all over every town in the country ala Marriott/IHG.
Diamond(from status match) has been great and will continue to be so until 2/28/17. After that, back to Explorist or whatever it’s gonna be called. #dumbnames.
Sad thing is that we are likely not Hyatt’s best customers but we start our vacation locale list with Hyatt properties. Some paid, some with points. We won’t likely do that automatically anymore. I have a feeling we will not be alone. I guess Hyatt ran the proverbial numbers and, like the airlines, don’t want us. Oh well.
That’s right … UA is just not DL, because unlike DL, UA actually knows how to fly to HKG properly.
Rene, re Ink card and Chase 5/24. I thought that biz cards like Ink were not included in 5/24?
@Rick – Sorry but other than a few co-branded Chase cards all are 5/24 impacted.
I’m not a fan of these program changes but I have to tell you the type of upgrades that I received (including a Terrace suite at the Park Hyatt New York when staying on points and this week the presidential suite at the grand Hyatt in San Francisco) are much better. As a lifetime Starwood (and now Marriott) platinum I think I’ll still try to play Hyatt’s game. It may be crooked but it’s the only game in town. Do you think that the timing of this right after the Chicago seminars was intentional?
Rene-
I understand your Hyatt criticism and agree with many of your points about Hyatt’s revamamp. This drastically affects what will now be the mid tier customer bordering on upper tier (think Gold Medellion/Plat on Delta).
However, despite the dumb names and poor branding, isn’t this kind of like when Delta created a new upper tier called Diamond? Do you see some positives for the top tier Hyatt customer who will stay there 55 nights per year?
One positive I see (if I’m reading this right) is that I will now be Globalist in 2017 (the new top tier) after only 25 stays in 2016 (since Hyatt Diamonds will become Globalist). So at worst I’ll get to try the new system as a top elite next year (and then report back to you).