The good news is this preview of category changes for the highest reward levels in Category 6, 7, and 8, shows more hotels dropping a level than increasing.

Here is the preview of changes posted by Marriott Concierge on FlyerTalk this morning.

Approximately 350 hotels will decrease by one category and approximately 300 hotels will increase by one category. Ninety-five percent of the hotels changing categories are in categories 1-5. The positive news is that many of our most popular locations will be available for fewer points.

Below is a list of all hotels changes in categories 6-8:

Current Cat 6-8 Hotels Moving Down a Category Level

Current Cat 8 moving to Cat 7
Le Merigot, A JW Marriott® Beach Hotel & Spa, Santa Monica
Renaissance® London Chancery Court Hotel
South Beach Marriott®
Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe Hotel

Current Cat 7 moving to Cat 6
Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina
Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club
Courtyard® New York Manhattan/Midtown East
Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa*

Current Cat 6 moving to Cat 5
JW Marriott Hotel Buckhead Atlanta
JW Marriott Hotel Beijing
Dalmahoy, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa
JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa
Marriott’s Grand Chateau® 1&2
Kaua’i Marriott Resort
Marriott’s Kaua’i Beach Club
Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club
Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center
The Buttes, A Marriott Resort
Rome Marriott Park Hotel
JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort & Spa
Hanbury Manor, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa
The Rosseau, A JW Marriott Resort & Spa
Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino*
Renaissance Curacao Resort & Casino*
Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa*
* Indicates hotels that have recently lowered categories and are available to be booked at the present time.

Current Cat 5-8 Hotels Moving Up a Category Level

Current Cat 7 moving to Cat 8
No Hotels

Current Cat 6 moving to Cat 7
Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort
Wentworth by the Sea, A Marriott Hotel & Spa
Marriott’s Frenchman’s Cove

Current Cat 5 moving to Cat 6
Courtyard Key West Waterfront
Hamburg Marriott Hotel
Residence Inn® Virginia Beach Oceanfront
Berlin Marriott Hotel
Courtyard Cape Cod Hyannis
Courtyard Carolina Beach
Moscow Marriott Royal Aurora Hotel
Courtyard Virginia Beach Oceanfront/South
Courtyard Virginia Beach Oceanfront/North 37th Street
SpringHill Suites® Virginia Beach Oceanfront
Courtyard Ocean City

Marriott hotel brands are offering a Visa Gift Card for Friday and Saturday night stays at 2,300 participating Marriott brand hotels in the US and Canada when you pay with any Visa credit card. Offer is valid for weekend stays from February 11 to April 18, 2010. Hotel stays must be booked by April 4, 2010.

Earn $25 per night (only Friday and Saturday nights qualify for credit) for stays at Marriott, J.W. Marriott and Renaissance Hotels. A maximum $50 Visa gift card may be earned regardless of length of stay.

Earn $15 per night for Friday and Saturday night stays at all other Marriott brands: Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, and TownePlace Suites. $30 maximum Visa gift card value per stay.

Fine print says guest must reserve NAP promotion code to receive offer. My check of San Francisco hotels showed this rate as the lowest rate in the default search without entering any promotion codes. The gift card rate showed up without breakfast (Feb 26, $99), or for $20 more breakfast included at the Courtyard San Francisco (Feb 26, $119). This is essentially $5 to receive breakfast for two in the hotel restaurant after the gift card rebate.  Sounds like a great deal.

You will receive a coupon code at the hotel and within 30 days you must register online for the Visa gift card.

Marriott Visa Gift Card Promotion link.

I just saw this post on FlyerTalk from Marriott Concierge stating hotel category shifts are happening on March 8, 2010. Approximately 350 hotels will drop a category and about 300 will increase a category. The good news is the hotel changes  for Category 6 to 8 previewed in this post show more high end hotels are dropping than are increasing.  

J.W. Marriott San Francisco

Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit is happening in New York City Feb 22-24. So far I have seen nothing new coming out of the conference reports, but I guess it is news to lots of people.

There is a lot of chatter about rivals going after disgruntled Hilton HHonors members. Here is a good read from Deena Beasley mentioning  HHonors executive lounge closures.  And this quote regarding the recent hotel category shift across the chain from Hilton’s senior VP of global customer marketing Jeff Diskin, “We had an increase in free night redemptions. We did see a need to recalibrate.”

The comments by Henry Harteveldt, a highly regarded travel industry analyst at Forrester Research, and Bjorn Hanson, hospitality academic at NYU, indicate there may be a trend toward executive lounge closures in hotels. Some hotel management view guest lounges with free breakfast, appetizers, and personnel as an unprofitable expense. 

Interestingly there are two arguments being played out in these loyalty program stories.

1. Loyalty program members are important revenue sources to the hotel chains.
2. Frequent guests are less profitable to the chain due to savvy travelers gaining benefits and free nights, while often paying some of the lowest rates offered by the hotel rooms. 

I plead guilty. I call it smart shopping. Value is important to me since every purchasing decision means something else I desire doesn’t get bought.

Perhaps hotel lounges will remain a part of international travel, just not so prevalent in the USA.

Could the airline model of paid lounges for USA and complimentary access for elites when traveling internationally spread to hotel loyalty programs?

Despite all the gloomy outlooks there is another bright spot for Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum elites who will receive free internet access at any Starwood Hotel beginning March 1, 2010.

I think that rule change just saved me $50 next week. I might be able to afford the hotel restaurant this trip.

Providing of course the hotel has not shut down the restaurant during my stay.

Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit stories:

Repeatedly mentioned in these stories is the fact that hotel growth is primarily international and the US is the worst performing hotel market globally. Unfortunately for the hotel chains their properties are predominantly located in the USA with most major chains having 75% or more hotels in the US.

“Travel Companies Grapple with New Normal” text story.

 Travel industry outlook for 2010 video.

(video length = 5:46 min)

Discusses hotels, airlines, and Las Vegas hotels and convention business.

Finishes with forecast of well-financed public hotel companies buying out private hotel companies.

Expedia and Priceline executives discuss “Online travel bookings shift overseas” in this piece by Kyle Peterson. 

Starwood discusses growth in China in this story and an interesting item is 40% of Starwood bookings are happening in emerging markets. China could become Starwood’s largest market after the USA in a few years.

February 24, 2010 – Barbara DeLollis, Hotel Check-in blog at USA Today wrote the piece on hotel lounge closures Feb 22 that got me following this topic and yesterday she followed up with another post showing anecdotal evidence and comments confirming changes are happening.

Receive instant Platinum elite for 180 days with only a 5 night requirement to maintain Platinum elite membership through February 2012. Diamond elite through February 2012 can be earned with 15 nights within 180 days of enrollment.

Register online or call Hyatt Gold Passport Customer Service 1-800-228-3360 to register.

Platinum elite normally requires 5 hotel stays or 15 nights in a calendar year. While a guest can become Platinum elite in regular circumstances by staying at Hyatt brand hotels 5 times for one night stays, the advantage of this promotion is the instant upgrade to Platinum gives the ability to earn 15% bonus points, receive complimentary internet, and perhaps score a complimentary upgrade.

Hyatt Highlands Inn view of Pacific Ocean at dusk

The 5 nights requirement allows a guest to maintain Platinum elite with just a single 5-night hotel stay. One vacation or business week at a Hyatt Hotel can keep you elite for the next two years.

Point Lobos Suite at Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel, California

Diamond elite is even a better deal because it is based on nights rather than stays. Hyatt’s recently ended Stays Count Double promotion (October 1, 2009 – Jan 31, 2010) required 13 hotel stays to reach the 25 qualification stays for Diamond. Even at the minimum this required 13 hotel nights with one-night stays .

This current elite fast-track allows a member to earn and maintain Diamond elite status in 15 nights within 180 days of promotion enrollment. A person signing up in the first week of March 2010 has 180 days, meaning you have until about the end of August 2010 to stay 15 nights. Regular qualification requires 50 nights in a calendar year so this offer is a reduced qualification fast-track to Diamond elite.

Point Lobos Suite at Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel Highlands

Even for the leisure traveler that is easily done in two vacation weeks and some weekend getaways. Qualify for Diamond in the next six months and your status will be valid through February 2012. The benefits of Diamond include a hotel welcome amenity (movie or drink credit, bonus points, wine…), Regency Club access, 30% bonus points, room upgrades, and complimentary breakfast.

Similar 2009 elite promotions from Hyatt Gold Passport upgraded many members instantly to Diamond who asked directly for Diamond elite. For this reason a phone call to Hyatt Gold Passport Customer Service 1-800-228-3360 may be the better way to sign up for this offer.

The photos in this post are from my upgraded room stay last week in the Point Lobos Suite at the Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel Highlands, California. I am a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member.

Earn a $100 Amazon gift card after every two Westin Hotel stays arriving Sunday – Thursday from February 22 through May 13, 2010.

This offer applies only to Westin Hotels in the USA and Canada.

Member may earn maximum 3 gift cards.

Register by April 30, 2010.

Loyalty traveler analysis 

Here is an example of how this can be quite the deal.

Thursday, February 25

Westin San Francisco Market Street  

$109 prepaid, nonrefundable rate, Traditional King room

$127.20 after tax.

Sunday, February 28

Westin Verasa Napa

$135.15 AAA rate, Traditional King room

$171.37 after tax and resort fee

Westin Verasa Napa lobby

$298.57 for two hotel nights and get a $100 Amazon Gift Card rebate.

This is in addition to the SPG double points promotion.

Net cost = $99.29 per night for one night in San Francisco and one night in Napa.

And if you are not a member of Starwood Preferred Guest, then you can still get in on the referral offer for instant SPG Gold Elite and 1,000 bonus Starpoints per night for stays through March 31, 2010. I can make referrals through February 28.

Best Western Rewards is offering an elite status match for current elite members in any other hotel loyalty program. You must be a resident of the US, Canada, or Caribbean Islands to be eligible for this offer. Existing and new members of Best Western Rewards are eligible.

Best Western Rewards will upgrade member’s current or new elite tier/status level to a comparable level in any other hotel loyalty program.

You must call Best Western’s Customer Care Department at 1-800-444-7646 or email BWRelite@bestwestern.com. You will need to FAX proof of your competitor hotel loyalty program current elite status to 623-780-6988.

Terms of this promotion state the Best Western Customer Care Department will determine comparable Best Western Rewards elite status based on the number of nights required for elite status in the competitor hotel loyalty program.

Best Western Elite Status Match link.

Best Western Rewards elite levels –

Gold Elite (awarded after 10 qualified nights in one (1) calendar year)

Platinum Elite (awarded after 15 qualified nights in one (1) calendar year)

Diamond Elite (awarded after 30 qualified nights in one (1) calendar year).

And just in case you were wondering… “Only Elite tier/status level will be matched, competitor point levels will not be matched.” 

Shucks!

Best Western Elite Level Benefits 

Gold Elite

• 10% Point Bonus (base points are earned at 10 points/US$1)
• Purchase points for award redemption at $10 per 1,000 points

Platinum Elite

• 15% Point Bonus
• Complimentary room upgrades; early check-in and late check-out
• Exclusive elite offers

Diamond Elite

• 30% Point Bonus and privileges listed above.

There are over 4,000 Best Western hotels globally making this one of the top 5 hotel chains by number of hotels and number of countries with Best Western Hotels.

Free Night Rewards are categorized in eight levels from 8,000 points to 36,000 points with each hotel reward level in 4,000 point increments.

Best Western offers 250 air miles for most of its 17 airline partners. 500 miles per stay with Miles & More or 0.5 Southwest credits. United Mileage Plus is the only major US airline not partnering with the Best Western Rewards program.

Be sure to check out the triple points promotion if Best Western hotel stays are in your near future.

Best Western Monterey Inn, Monterey, CA

MegaMiles? MegaBonus? Perhaps Marriott Rewards should number them numerically, maybe some Roman numerals like the SuperBowl — Marriott MegaMiles XIV or something. Honestly, I already thought I had written about this promotion.

Marriott Triple Miles promotion link:

Earn Triple Miles with Marriott rewards MegaMiles for every stay you make beginning with the second stay from February 1 through April 30, 2010.

Marriott hotel stays normally earn 2 miles per US$1 at these full service hotel brands:

• Marriott Hotels
• J.W. Marriott
• Renaissance
• Marriott Vacation Club

Stays only earn 1 mile per US$1 at the other Marriott brands, including:

• Courtyard
• Fairfield inn
• Springhill Suites
• TownePlace Suites
• Residence Inn

So while the advertising may catch your eye with “For example, if you would normally earn 500 miles for a stay, you’ll earn 1,500 total miles for that same stay with MegaMiles!”, you need to spend $250 at a Marriott full service hotel or $500 at a Fairfield Inn to normally earn 500 miles.

The wording of the advertising is a bit misleading. The less Marriott Rewards savvy could browse away with the wrong perception of this offer.

Many hotel loyalty programs like Hyatt Gold Passport, Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club, and Wyndham Rewards offer 500 miles for some hotel stays. An $80 hotel stay with Hyatt can earn 500 miles.

Marriott Rewards members earn miles solely on US dollars spent.

Starwood Preferred Guest works by dollar spend too. Priority Club earns miles from spending for all US based airlines with some brand differences, but most international airlines earn a fixed 500 miles per stay. Wyndham uses spending rates for all brands except Wyndham Hotels. Hilton HHonors stays earn 500 miles, unless you stay at a Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites and then you only get 100 miles per stay. But of course, Hilton HHonors is about choice and you can always select Points & Variable Miles to get 1 mile per US$1.

Marriott Rewards structure for earning miles favors the member with frequent multi-night stays, whereas the hotel loyalty programs listed above may earn miles at a higher rate through frequent one-night stays. A $2,000 five-night stay with Hyatt still earns only 500 miles. Points would certainly be a better alternative.

Extrapolating hotel stays to analyze value of miles compared to points

Say you spend $100 for a Marriott Courtyard hotel night. You normally will earn 100 miles for $100 in hotel spend at a Courtyard hotel.

You earn 300 miles with MegaMiles.

$100 for a Renaissance Hotel night can earn 600 miles.

Extrapolate the total spending to $1,500 for the MegaMiles promotion. You only earn 4,500 miles versus 15,000 points for Courtyard stays.

15,000 Marriott Rewards points provides plenty of free reward night options with Marriott hotels in Category 1 to 3 points rewards. That is a list of about 2,000 hotels in the Marriott chain available for 15,000 points or less in these low categories.

$1,500 in miles could be as few as 4,500 miles or as many as 9,000 miles. In real travel it will likely be somewhere in between due to a mix of hotel stays in different Marriott brands. The miles might be 1/2 of the miles needed for an upgrade, or 1/3 of the miles needed for an economy ticket in the US/Canada. 4,500 miles are not much good on their own, so you need to be close to award mileage thresholds for this to have more tangible value than a free hotel night.

This Marriott MegaMiles promotion is an okay offer, but the way miles promotions have been flooding the hotel loyalty program market, I could easily be writing about these offers almost every day.  Fortunately there are other BoardingArea bloggers covering some of the great hotel loyalty program miles bonuses this winter of MM10.

TMTravelWorld blog

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/tmtravelworld/category/tripwyndham-rewards-and-other-reward-programs/

Marriott Rewards members can choose miles as an earning preference by logging into your online profile and selecting miles.

Marriott Rewards earning preference

Priority Club is advertising to members a promotion with this alluring catchphrase:

“Pack more points into your stay with Priority Club Bonus Points Packages”

Priority Club has some hefty bonus point opportunities right now at select hotels. Several hotels are offering 10,000 points per stay at rates just $33 to $57 more than the otherwise lowest rate available (AAA or nonrefundable rates) for 10,000 bonus points. This offer is an excellent 5-key hotel loyalty promotion value.

Some of these promotions are difficult to find. You may need to navigate through both Room Rate links and Hotel Packages links to locate these elusive 10,000 points offers. Checking FlyerTalk threads for 10,000 points bonus packages is a good idea since several hotels are posting their offers directly on FlyerTalk’s InterContinental Hotels Group/Priority Club forum such as this Holiday Inn Chicago O’Hare/Rosemont thread started yesterday.

Here is the Priority Club official promotion link with links to individual states and a list of the hotels in that state offering a bonus points package. Most of the promotion offers are for 1,000 points; 2,000 points; 3,000 points; or 5,000 points bonuses per hotel stay. There are no 10,000 bonus points offers shown on this Priority Club promotion page. Most states have some participating hotels for 5,000 points or less.

Washington, D.C. and 13 states are not listed for this deal including Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or Wyoming. Although Wisconsin is not listed on the promotion page, two of the 10,000 points per stay offers shown below are at Wisconsin hotels. So you may want to check hotels in your location for Bonus Points offers and be sure to also check Hotel Package rates.

Check both "View Room Rates" and "View Package Rates" to find 10,000 points offers

All hotel rates quoted in this article are for the check-in date of Tuesday, March 2, 2010.

For example:

Crowne Plaza Billings, Montana has a 5,000 bonus points offer. http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/pc/1/en/hotel/BILCP?rateCode=IKPC5

• 5,000 Bonus Points Package Rate = $154.00
• Best Available $128.00
• AAA rate = $118.15

5,000 bonus points are $36.00 over the minimum AAA rate. This rate buys 5,000 points for about $40 after tax. These bonus points count towards Priority Club elite membership (Gold = 20,000 points; Platinum = 60,000 points earned in a calendar year.) and the paid night may be eligible for additional bonus points promotions.

10,000 Bonus Points Offers

There are some hotels offering 10,000 bonus points per stay, and a stay can be as short as one hotel night.

Here are rate comparisons for some of the hotels I found with 10,000 bonus points package rates.

Hotel Indigo, Schaumburg North, IL

• Prepaid Advance purchase = $82.99
• Best Flexible Rate = $109.99
• 1,000 points = $119.99
• 5,000 points = $129.99
• 10,000 points = $139.99

This hotel is not listed in the Priority Club Bonus Points Package promotion webpage, however, this hotel is offering bonus points packages for 1,000 points; 5,000 points; and even 10,000 points. For an additional cost over the lowest available prepaid, nonrefundable rate, about $60 after tax, the Priority Club member can buy 10,000 bonus points. The member will also receive 570 additional base points for the $57 extra cost of the room rate and extra elite bonus points if applicable by paying the higher package rate. And all these points count for elite status qualification.

Holiday Inn Chicago/Oakbrook, Oakbrook Terrace, IL ($15 over Best Flexible Rate)

• Advance Purchase rate = $91.00
• Best Flexible Rate = $109.00
• 5,000 Bonus Points = $112.00
• 10,000 Bonus Points = $124.00

Holiday Inn Madison West, Wisconsin ($25 over Best Flexible Rate-Listed under Hotel Packages rates)

• Advance Purchase rate = $103.99
• Best Flexible Rate = $114.95
• 3,000 Bonus Points = $134.95
• 10,000 Bonus Points = $139.95

Holiday Inn Express Milwaukee Airport ($30 over Best Flexible Rate)

• Advance Purchase rate = $99.99
• Best Flexible Rate = $119.99
• 3,000 Bonus Points = $124.99
• 10,000 Bonus Points = $149.99

Holiday Inn Frisco, TX

1,000 bonus points rate at $129 is featured when searching Best Available Rates, but there is a 10,000 bonus points rate for $159.00 if you click the “View Hotel Packages” link.

Paying $45 to buy 10,000 points with a hotel stay is a great value compared to buying 10,000 points for $125. You can earn Priority Club Gold elite status after earning 20,000 points with just two hotel stays.

Aside: I actually put myself through a geography quiz to see if I could figure out the missing states for this Priority Club promotion without referring to a two-letter state list for comparison to the promotion webpage list. It took me about 4 or 5 minutes.

My geography is fairly good since I have traveled across most areas of the USA. I need to learn Africa better. That continent always knocks me down in geography games. Click on this link and quiz yourself on the 13 missing two-letter state codes.

Earn 5,000 Gold passport bonus points for Andaz Hotel reservations booked between January 20 and March 30, 2010 for stays from January 20 through June 30, 2010.

Special Offer Code ANDAZ5. Terms and Conditions link.

Hyatt’s new luxury boutique brand doubled in size to 4 properties over the past month. Andaz Liverpool Street London was the first property. Andaz West Hollywood opened in 2009. Andaz Wall Street opened a few weeks ago. The just opened Andaz San Diego is a rebranded hotel, formerly Hotel Ivy.

You must choose points for your stay, so this offer is not combinable with all the bonus airline miles promotions currently being offered to Gold Passport members.

The terms and conditions offer states a $50 hotel credit is included with the 5,000 bonus points. This is not mentioned in the rate details when checking ANDAZ5 for individual hotels. The Terms and Conditions link above does not mention Andaz San Diego, however, this special offer rate is also available at this hotel.

Andaz Rates for Monday, February 22, 2010

Andaz San Diego $189 for February 22, 2010. A one night stay earns nearly 6,000 points for a base member. One free night using points starts at 5,000 points for a Category 1 hotel or 8,000 points for a Category 2 hotel. This offer is great for Gold Passport members who want to try out the Andaz brand while earning a substantial future rebate in points.

Andaz West Hollywood $196 limited time offer rate of for reservations made in February.

Andaz Wall Street, New York $236 prepaid limited time offer, must be booked by Feb 21 for stays by Feb 28. Regular rates are $295.

Andaz Liverpool Street, London $125GBP or about US $200.

Rate searches using ANDAZ5 special offer code do not show online when limited time offer rates are displayed. Be sure to call and have the ANDAZ5 rate code added to your reservations if booking limited time offer rates.

I booked my Hyatt hotel stay next month with Booking.com. Hyatt Hotels rejected my Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) claim today. Hyatt Place Orlando Airport showed a prepaid Hyatt.com room rate $161 for the date of my stay ($152 for AAA rate). A quick trip to Kayak.com revealed a rate of $79 through Booking.com that allows cancellation up to one day before arrival.

I call up 1-888-96-HYATT and request a BRG claim. After several minutes the agent returns to tell me the Booking.com rate is not eligible because it does not show a breakdown of room rate and taxes for each day of the hotel stay.

Booking.com simply states $79 for the room rate.

My Booking.com confirmation policy states there will be a 12.5% tax not included in the $79 rate:

Here are the other relevant booking terms from Booking.com

“Booking.com will not charge you any reservation fees for making this booking, nor charge your credit card. You will simply pay for your stay at the hotel.
Cancellation is free of charge provided you adhere to the notification period stated in the hotel cancellation policy (see “Hotel Policies”).”

Hyatt .com had a $161 prepaid, nonrefundable rate for the same room type and date.

Hyatt Daily Rate is $169 and may be cancelled up to day of arrival.

Technically, I guess the cancellation policies are not actually addressed in Best Rate Guarantee Terms and Conditions so it may not be a factor that the $169 Hyatt Daily Rate has a more liberal cancellation policy (day of arrival) compared to the Booking.com rate (day before arrival) and the prepaid nonrefundable rate cannot be cancelled at all.

I think my claim falls through Hyatt loopholes. The spirit of a Best Rate Guarantee is that a Hyatt guest should not have to be concerned that a lower rate is easily bookable elsewhere. In this case I found a rate for 50% less than Hyatt showed for the same room on the same date.

A simple trip to Kayak.com showed me where to find a $79 rate for the Hyatt Place Orlando Airport with the same room type on the same date and an almost comparable cancellation policy to the $169 Hyatt Daily Rate found on Hyatt.com.

I am a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member, but I’ll forfeit one night loyalty credit and Hyatt Gold Passport points for a one night room rate after tax of $88.88 rather  than paying more than double the rate that Hyatt is charging as their comparable rate for the same room.

Hyatt Place Orlando Airport is $190.12 on Hyatt.com

$190.12 at Hyatt.com vs. $88.88 at Booking.com?

I booked the $79 rate on Booking.com, received an immediate email confirmation, and the hotel verified my reservation was in order when I called Hyatt Place Orlando Airport.

What is the purpose of a Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) policy when a rate discrepancy as vast as this doesn’t qualify for a BRG claim?

Here are the full set of Hyatt BRG terms and conditions. I have addressed each part for my particular claim. I do not see anything in these terms that would disqualify the Booking.com $79 rate from qualifying for a Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee.

Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee Terms & Conditions

“Hyatt guarantees to provide the lowest on-line bookable rate for room reservations at Hyatt Hotels available to the general public on the Internet, subject to the following terms and conditions:

If you find a publicly available and immediately bookable room-only rate on the Internet for a Hyatt Hotel (“Competing Rate”) that is lower than the room rate available for the same reservation on http://www.hyatt.com (i.e., same hotel, same type of room, same number of guests, same dates of stay and same length of stay), then prior to or within 24 hours of booking the reservation on http://www.hyatt.com, please call Hyatt Hotels & Resorts at 1-888-96 HYATT (1-888-964-9288) or 402-593-5445.”

Loyalty Traveler: This portion of the T&Cs seem to have been met with Booking.com.

Once Hyatt confirms the availability of the Competing Rate on the Internet, subject to room availability at the applicable Hyatt Hotel, Hyatt agrees to match the Competing Rate for the same reservation, plus discount an additional twenty percent (20%) off the room rate for the duration of the stay being so reserved.

Loyalty Traveler: This seems to be the clause used to reject my claim. The agent told me the total rate including tax was never displayed on Booking.com. True enough. I made my reservation on Booking.com immediately after my BRG claim was denied by Hyatt.

My confirmation shows 12.5% tax as pictured in this post. Taxes are the same rate charged for a Hyatt.com booking at this hotel.

This Guarantee does not apply to:

• Opaque or auction sites where the hotel brand and/or the specific hotel is not known until booking is finalized. Examples of these types of sites include but are not limited to, Priceline and Hotwire.

Loyalty Traveler: Booking.com clearly showed Hyatt Place Airport for $79.

• Web sites that “package” travel, entertainment, hotel and/or food components such as airfare and hotel stay, hotel stay and car rental, hotel stay and restaurant voucher, etc. Examples of package websites include but are not limited to Site 59 and Delta Vacations.

Loyalty Traveler: Booking.com only provided room.

• Packaged rates that include taxes, service charges, meals, coupons, parking, services, or other amenities.

Loyalty Traveler: Booking.com clearly stated taxes were not included in room rate.

• Qualified discount rates including, but not limited to, Government, AAA or Senior Citizen Discounts.

Loyalty Traveler: this term is not applicable to this BRG claim.

• Unpublished, negotiated rates with corporations, travel agencies, groups, associations or other rates that are specifically agreed upon by Hyatt and a specified and limited group, and are not publicly available.

Loyalty Traveler: Booking.com required no membership, rates are published for the public, and I did not require any kind of group membership. Just needed a credit card. Obviously there was a negotiated rate between Hyatt and Booking.com because the 5 rooms available dropped to 4 rooms available after I made my reservation, however, these are publicly available room rates on Booking.com.

• Hyatt Vacation Club properties or any residential or extended stay apartment properties (i.e. The Galleria Residences in Dubai).

Loyalty Traveler: not applicable to this situation.

This Guarantee applies only to the room rate for the duration of the reservation and does not apply to taxes, gratuities, guest incidental charges, food and beverage charges, resort fees, and any other fees or charges that you may incur during your stay.

If you have already booked a prepaid stay on Hyatt.com, and find a Competing Rate that meets the Guarantee terms and conditions set forth here, then Hyatt will refund the full amount originally charged to your credit card for the rate booked on Hyatt.com and charge the full stay based on the new rate to your credit card.

The number of Gold Passport points awarded to you if you are a Gold Passport member will be based on the room rate actually paid by you upon checkout.

This Guarantee is subject to change or revocation at anytime.”

Loyalty Traveler: I still do not believe there is a valid justification for denying this Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee claim.

Fortunately, this is a Hyatt Place reservation so it is not like I am missing out on an upgrade with my $79 rate through Booking.com.

FlyerTalk member BlondeBomber has posted his spreadsheet of Hilton HHonors properties with 2010 category updates for all 3,500+ hotels. The spreadsheet can be viewed online and is available for download. The spreadsheet also shows HHonors hotel reward category levels from the past several years.  This has been an annual record maintained by BlondeBomber. There are several other good resources available through his links including Starwood and Marriott hotel award categories, and Star Alliance information.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13365657-post116.html

And if you didn’t already know, Loyalty Traveler and satori are one and the same person – me.