Mileage Plus elites 5x United Mileage Plus miles per Hyatt Gold Passport stay through Jan 31, 2011.

Hyatt Gold Passport is offering United Mileage Plus elites 5x miles through Jan 31, 2011. The date for 2011 is not a typo. You can earn 500 base miles and 2,000 bonus miles per stay for every Hyatt paid stay over the next 13 months.  

You must register for the promotion and request United Airlines Mileage Plus miles at hotel check-in. Choosing miles means you will not earn Gold Passport points, however, you are still eligible for the Stays Count Double and free night after every two stays through January 31, 2010 with the “Next Big Thing” promotion running through the end of the month. You can always alternate your earning preference between miles and points for different hotel stays to take advantage of lucrative G bonuses and high spending hotel stays that would earn lots of points and be worth more than 2,500 miles.

2,500 Mileage Plus miles are like a $50 rebate on the cost of each Hyatt hotel stay. If you redeem your Mileage Plus frequent flier miles for good value tickets in business or first class, then you probably get around 2 cents per mile, possibly more. 25 Hyatt hotel stays in 2010 earning Mileage Plus miles can add up to a free domestic First Class ticket, international upgrade, or send you overseas in economy.

Hyatt Gold Passport registration link for 5x United Mileage Plus miles: http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=UAEL2

Virgin Atlantic Double Miles in Europe, Africa, and Middle East to February 28, 2010

Hyatt Gold Passport and Virgin Atlantic are celebrating the opening of the Hyatt Regency Oubaai hotel in George, South Africa with a double Flying Club miles bonus for hotels stays at 38 properties in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa between December 11 and February 28, 2010. Double Flying Club airline miles are equal to 1,500 miles per Hyatt stay. Promotion code VS335 should be given at time of reservation and member needs to request Flying Club miles at hotel check-in. This promotion expires next month.

A Virgin Flying Club member normally earns 750 Flying Club miles per Hyatt stay when the member chooses to earn miles instead of Hyatt Gold Passport points. Virgin Atlantic is more generous than most airline programs like American and United where members normally earn 500 miles per stay.

Passports with Purpose winner of Hyatt Gold Passport 50,000 points

Just a note to readers who may have donated to Passports with Purpose last month.  Hyatt Gold Passport generously donated 50,000 points as a raffle prize in the fundraiser to help build a rural school in Cambodia. The Passports with Purpose winner of the Hyatt Gold Passport points has been notified, she contacted me, and I will get her in touch with the people at Hyatt Gold Passport to collect her 50,000 points.

A big thank you from Ric Garrido, the Loyalty Traveler shouting out to Hyatt Gold Passport for sponsorship of Passports with Purpose, a social cause that brought travel bloggers and travel industry providers together to help bring about a positive change in the world and lives of children.

The original target of $13,000 for a school in Cambodia was doubled and over $26,000 was raised through the Passports with Purpose raffle. There will be a school, a nurse, and more.

It is my birthday today, Jan 5. I am 50. This is a great present for me today to be able to share the joy of someone winning a large points prize with Hyatt Gold Passport.

Wow! What an exciting gift of travel possibilities for the winner.

Congratulations to Jen (the winner) and Hyatt Gold Passport for sponsoring the prize.

There is heated activity on the hotel loyalty front in these holiday weeks. Hilton, Marriott, Starwood, and IHG have announced 2010 promotions. Hyatt still has the best promotion of 2009 and you can take advantage of this offer through the month of January.

Hyatt Gold Passport “The Next Big Thing” promotion is incredible with combined promotion benefits for both points and miles. Oct. 1 2009 – Jan 31, 2010.

Hyatt Gold Passport promotion registration link.

1.       Earn a free night after every two stays. Loyalty Traveler Sep. 17

2.       Earn double elite stay credit. (Diamond membership in 13 stays or Platinum in 3 stays.)

3.       Earn 2,500 airline miles after every two nights until Dec 31, 2009. Loyalty Traveler Oct. 5

4.       Earn Hyatt Gold Passport G bonus with most hotel stays. Loyalty Traveler Nov 9

Starwood Preferred Guest up to 4x points

January 5 – April 15, 2010.

Registration required between January 5 and March 31, 2010.

SPG Promotion Link

Double base points (1 or 2 night stay) = 4 points/$1

Triple base points (3 night stay) = 6 points/$1

Quadruple base points (4 nights or more) = 8 points per $1

This promotion is combinable with other promotions. Elite bonuses are additional.

Loyalty Traveler Dec 18

Hilton HHonors free night after 4 stays or 10 nights

January 7 – March 31, 2010

Posted on FlyerTalk by HamptonInsider this promising HHonors promotion for a free night valid across the Hilton system after 4 stays or 10 nights. The promotion details are not released yet, so at this point the rumor is just a seemingly reputable insider pre-release on FlyerTalk. There will likely be some restrictions on hotel reward nights redemption and perhaps some hotel exclusions, but overall this may be a sign of a new style of promotion activity from Hilton HHonors.

The points increases in 2010 categories is not so bad a change if the HHonors program makes it easier to earn free nights with promotions like the current 25,000 points after 4 stays and what looks to be a free night offer coming in January.

The leisure traveler may find HHonors a lifestyle deal with their two-pronged approach to rewarding loyalty membership. HHonors may see a return of the HHonors points traveler who can earn some lucrative bonuses on hotel stays. Combine the points budget traveler with the big fish spender putting $40,000 on the HHonors co-branded credit card for complimentary HHonors Diamond elite annual membership.  The Diamond lifestyler from both ends of the economic spectrum can find good value with HHonors. Value gives a traveler reason to put more effort into a Hilton hotel choice.

Marriott Rewards

MegaBonus 25,000 to 60,000 points depending on offer and nights stayed.

Feb 1- April 30, 2010.

Members are receiving new Marriott Rewards 2010 Megabonus offers. Marriott targets members with different offers.

Marriott Rewards PointSavers Plus 10% discount or 15% discount for Gold and Platinum elite members.

There are still three weeks to book a discounted discount hotel nights reward with the special PointSavers offer through January 15, 2010.

Update January 5, 2010: My personal MegaBonus offer is a free night (category 1-4 hotel) after two stays. Limit of one free night may be earned and free night to be redeemed by August 31, 2010. This offer is essentially a 20,000 points value if used for a Category 4 night. I have no elite status with Marriott Rewards.

IHG Priority Club Rewards

1,000 bonus points per night or 200 bonus miles up to maximum 20,000 points or 4,000 miles (20 nights).

Priority Club Rewards Registration Link

20,000 points is a rather weak offer from IHG considering this is only 50% of the points needed for one free night at a top tier InterContinental Hotel costing 40,000 points. The points-hungry tactic with IHG is to play the promotion registration game with Priority Club Rewards. A member can average 5,000 to 8,000 points per night for stays in IHG brand hotels.

Skeptical?

Read this FlyerTalk thread.

Costco is selling Hyatt Check Certificates. The price is $79.99 (no tax) for two US$50 Hyatt Check Certificates. I purchased some yesterday.

Hyatt Check Certificate fine print

The primary restriction with Hyatt Check Certificates is you can only redeem check certificates for payment in excess of the face value of the certificate.

Hyatt Check Certificates are combinable.

Example: You book the Hyatt Regency San Francisco for $120. After tax, the bill at check-out is $139.

You can only redeem two $50 certificates for a $100 payment credit using Hyatt Check Certificates. You need to pay cash or credit for the remaining $39.

So, you do not actually get 20% off this room since you paid $79.99 ($100 Check certificates) + $39 at checkout for the amount above the certificate value. You actually pay $119 for a $139 bill and save 14% on the total bill.

Maximizing the value of the Hyatt Check Certificates is a matter of getting your final room bill to a “Price is Right” level with a twist.

Your goal with Hyatt Check Certificates is to come as close to an increment of $50 without going under. Get your checkout bill to $100.20 or $151.05 and your total savings will approach 20% using Hyatt Check Certificates for your stays.

Expiration Date: None shown on my certificates.

Loyalty Traveler’s Winter in California Travel Plan with Hyatt Hotels

I am planning a hotel hop through Hyatts in California and perhaps some other states next month to maximize the current promotion offer for a free night at any Hyatt after two stays at any Hyatt brand hotel. The promotion runs through January 31, 2009.

Combined with the free night offer, Hyatt is giving “stays count double” fast-track to elite status.

There are so many combinable promotions that I should bullet them in a recap.

• Earn a free night after every two stays.

• Stays count double for elite status. Platinum elite requires 5 stays in a calendar year and Diamond elite requires 25 stays in a calendar year. This promotion reduces that to 3 stays and 13 stays.

• Save up to 20% on your Hyatt stays by purchasing Hyatt Check Certificates at Costco.

My plan is a simple one and similar to my Hyatt Diamond qualifying hotel hops in March 2008 when Gold Passport also ran a “Stays Count Double” promotion. I will use the month of January in a blitz of Hyatt Hotel stays to maximize my earning of free nights, requalify for Hyatt Diamond elite status through February 2012 with 13 hotel stays in January 2010, and save money through the purchase of Hyatt Check certificates I plan to redeem during my January Hyatt hotel stays.

January is typically the month with the lowest hotel rates and hotel occupancy of the year in many locations.

Assume my average rate is $100 per night. 14 hotel stays is $1,400. I plan to have a stay in December to qualify for 7 free nights with my 13 January stays. I will requalify for Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond through February 2012. I will probably earn around 25,000 Gold passport points with G bonus offers and elite bonuses.

Estimated Spend: $1,100 (after up to 20% savings from Costco Hyatt check certificates)

Estimated Added Value to paid hotel stays: $2,500 to $3,500

1.       7 free nights ($2,000 to $3,000 at a resort property or international urban hotel)

2.       25,000 Gold Passport points ($500)

3.       Regency Club lounge and suite upgrades during paid stays (?)

4.       Travel experience (priceless)

What is the value of hotel loyalty program elite status?

Hyatt Gold Passport made major loyalty program enhancements in 2009.

1.       No blackout dates for free nights using hotel points.

2.       Free internet for elite members.

3.       Diamond members receive complimentary Regency Club access, or in lieu of Regency Club, the member receives restaurant certificates + 2,500 Gold passport points.

4.       Diamond members receive four confirmed suite upgrades per membership year.

I currently have two free nights to use before the end of the month with two different hotel chains. These free nights were given to me solely as an elite member benefit.

Starwood Preferred Guest gave me a free night at any hotel, up to Category 5, as a gift for being SPG Platinum this year (25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year). I earned my 2009 status in 2008 with a Stays Count Double promotion and a hotel hopping trip to Canada. You can get instant SPG Gold elite if you are new to Starwood Preferred Guest?

Hyatt Gold Passport gave me a free night at any Hyatt Place or Hyatt Summerfield Suites as a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member (25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year). I earned my status for 2009 with two weeks of hotel stays in a March Madness 2008 stimulus tour during a ‘stays count double” promotion.

Loyalty traveler plans to jumpstart 2010 travel with multiple Hyatt experiences. I think it is going to be a good year of travel for this traveler. There is no better time to jump into the loyalty travel game if you can afford the admission fee.

Passports with Purpose – Win 50,000 Hyatt Gold passport points

Passports with Purpose raffle prizes include a chance to win 50,000 Hyatt Gold passport points. $10 will purchase a raffle ticket and help build a new school in Preah Vihear, Cambodia. We raised $13,000 already to build the school and now the goal is another $13,000 to provide health care, food, and clean water for the school. Small actions working together allow us to make a difference.

In-the-know Hyatt Gold Passport members know to look for G bonuses prior to booking a Hyatt brand hotel reservation. Individual hotels have special bonus points offers (some hotels offer bonus miles) which are found on the Hyatt Gold Passport Special Offers page, but not under the Hyatt Special Offers tab. This can be confusing if you don’t know where to look for the link.

The link for Hyatt Gold Passport G bonus special offer points and miles is located in the dark shaded column area at the right of the Gold Passport Special Offers page.

Hyatt Gold Passport Special Offers page (G Bonus link in right column)

About 250 hotels of 400+ Hyatt brand hotels globally offer some kind of G Bonus Points or A bonus miles offers with the current list of hotels.  Booking through the G Bonus link or calling customer service to add the G Bonus special offer to your reservation is an easy way to greatly increase the 5 points per US$1 earned from a hotel stay.

G Bonus offers come in several versions labeled G1 (1,000 points), G2 (2,000 points), G3 (1,500 points) and may be restricted to certain days of the week as shown by the color code. There are sometimes “A Bonuses” for airline miles.

Hyatt Gold Passport G-Bonus Offers

Hyatt Regency Sacramento only offers the G2 bonus for 2,000 points per stay on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights as shown by its red color and color key.

Hyatt Regency Santa Clara offers the G2 bonus for 2,000 points for a stay any night of the week. A Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite can earn 2,000 G Bonus points, 1,000 Diamond amenity points, and credit for a free night after every two stays with the current Next Big Thing promotion. That is one generous offer for a hotel that has recently had some weekend rates under $80 per night. Free hotel nights using points start at 5,000 points per night.

My Loyalty traveler advice is to use online travel agencies (OTAs) for hotel rate comparisons, but always go to the hotel chain’s own websites for booking your hotel stay.  After you have narrowed your hotel selection down based on rates displayed on sites like Expedia, Kayak, and Orbitz, then search the hotel chain’s website for even lower rates. This will often reveal a better rate. Remember to check group rates like AAA and senior discounts which are not shown on the results of an OTA search.

Also, special offer rates through the individual hotel’s website many times will provide an even lower rate than AAA for your dates.

HotelMarketing.com posted an article showing OTAs make the majority of their revenue from hotel industry fees and commissions. Expedia made 60% of its 2008 revenue from hotel bookings compared to just 15% from airline bookings.

The case study shown in the cited article reveals Expedia had a 25% mark-up for hotel fee/commission on a $550 New York 2-night hotel stay. Basically the hotel is paying Expedia quite a chunk of change, $137.50, for a $550 booking.

The deep discounts available on special offer rates through the hotel’s own website are possible because the inventory off-loaded to OTAs is at a substantial discount to the hotel’s own listed rates.

In this case study the $550 booking for a New York hotel shown on Expedia is only generating $412.50 for the hotel while generating $137.50 in revenue for Expedia. This is equivalent to a nightly rate of $206.25 for the hotel.

What does this mean for the hotel guest?

The chances are fairly high that a potential guest looking for rates on the hotel’s own website will find a lower rate somewhere between the $275 shown on Expedia and the $206.25 the hotel has contracted with Expedia to sell the room. A $240 per night rate is a $35 savings for the hotel guest and generates an additional $33.75 for the hotel.

What do you do when you go to the hotel’s own website and you see a $275 rate just like seen on Expedia?

Advice: Go to the hotel’s website and look for AAA rates and special offer rates. You should be able to drop the $275 rate by 10 to 20% with a group discount like AAA or AARP or a hotel special offer rate.

The hotel is giving up 25% of its revenue to sell a room through an OTA, whereas the cost is only a few dollars to sell through its own website. This is the reason hotels require frequent guest members to book through hotel chain branded websites to earn loyalty program benefits. And this is the reason hotel loyalty program benefits can be generous.

A free breakfast, some hotel loyalty points, and a $50 room upgrade make the frequent guest a happy guest and may still bring in more revenue to the hotel than the guest on an OTA booking.

Loyalty travelers are generally happier travelers when it comes to getting good value on hotel bookings.

Loyalty Traveler Case Study: Hotel Rates Comparison between OTAs and Hotel Branded Websites

Chicago, Illinois

Friday night, August 14, 2009

Remember three facts about Online Travel Agency Rates:

1.      OTAs do not display AAA rates which are typically the lowest rate about 50% of the time.

2.      OTAs charge a small fee of $1 to $5 per hotel booking that is disguised in the additional Tax and Fees rate charged by the OTA for the booking.

3.      OTA bookings do not qualify for frequent guest benefits in most cases. Points and benefits earned from a hotel stay booked through the hotel chain’s own website can be a $50 to $100+ value.

The Hyatt Regency Chicago could earn 2,000 Gold Passport points using a G2 booking bonus and earn 2,500 points per stay with the current Gold Passport promotion. Along with base points earned, the frequent guest would earn over 5,000 points for this one night stay at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. 5,000 points is sufficient for a free night at a Category 1 hotel. That is a lot of added-value to forego on an OTA booking.

Offer: Registration required. Earn 2,500 points per stay paid by MasterCard through September 15, 2009. Your account earning preference must be set to earn points to receive bonus.

Promotion Dates: June 15 through September 15, 2009.

Loyalty traveler analysis: This is a straightforward promotion. Earn 2,500 bonus points per stay.

My recommendation for Gold Passport members is to play the 6x Hyatt Gold Passport airline promotion to your advantage when staying at least two nights. Basically you need to determine if you will get more value out of the miles or bonus points.

A low cost two-night stay at a Hyatt Place may earn more value with 6x miles whereas a five-night $2,000 stay will likely earn more value in Gold Passport points. Change your earning preferences between miles and points to get the best value for your stay.

And remember that you must have your account set to earn points for this bonus. If you have your account set for miles for the 6x miles promotion and then you stay one night at a Hyatt and pay with your MasterCard you will not earn bonus miles (requires minimum  2-night stay) or bonus points (you will earn standard 500 airline miles for the hotel stay).

Sample Earning:

Grand Hyatt San Francisco $112 (AAA) rate for one night on Friday June 19, 2009

Pay with MasterCard.

Earn 2,500 bonus points from MasterCard promotion.

Earn 5 x 112 = 560 Gold Passport points.

General member earns 3,060 points for stay.

Platinum Member (5 hotel stays in calendar year): 15% bonus on base spending = 84 additional points

Platinum member earns 3,144 points for stay.

Diamond member (25 hotel stays in a calendar year): Earn 1,000 Gold Passport points platinum amenity and 30% bonus on base spending for another 560 x 0.3 points = 168 points.

Platinum member earns 4,228 points for stay.

Grand Hyatt San Francisco is a Gold Passport Category 3 points redemption for 12,000 points per free night. The points earned from the one night stay are between 25% to 35% of points needed for a free night at this particular hotel.

Hyatt Gold passport free nights table:

G Bonuses are a Hyatt Gold Passport Points Accelerator

Always check and try to use a G Bonus link when booking Hyatt Hotel reservations. You can accelerate your points earning by booking through the G bonus link to earn free night awards faster.

http://goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/offers/bonus.jsp?icamp=GP3008

Grand Hyatt San Francisco has a G2 offer for 2,000 bonus points per stay valid any night of the week. (Many G bonuses are only valid certain nights. Business District hotels sometimes exclude weekend nights from G bonuses when rates are cheap. And other hotels only offer the G bonus on weekends.)

The surprising result I found when trying to book this Grand Hyatt reservation using the booking link for the 2,000 points G bonus is the rate increased from $111.75 (AAA) to $149 for a Hyatt.com nonrefundable rate.

At $149 per night this room could earn over 6,000 points for a one night stay. The points earned are  sufficient for a Category 1 hotel free night (Hyatt Place Silicon Valley, Fremont) or 50% of the cost for a free night at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco at 12,000 points.

This deal works out to a Pay 2, Get 1 night free for the Grand Hyatt San Francisco.

I hope it is not the prevailing trend that Hyatt Gold Passport G Bonus rates result in higher hotel booking rates than otherwise available through rates like AAA. I had not noticed this before.