There was a live chat between Randy Petersen and Jeff Zidell, head of Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty program on MilePoint last night. This is the first MilePoint chat I have logged into and I was unaware the format is a computer version of a radio style chat, except no voices and limited audience participation .

First, let me sincerely give thanks to Jeff Zidell and Randy Petersen and the folks at the House of Miles for giving Hyatt Gold Passport members an opportunity to get some first-hand insight into Hyatt Gold Passport.

I don’t want to shoot the messengers – just the messaging system.

I should probably keep my critical comments to a minimum, but I am acting bipolar this week and I seem incapable of shutting my blog mouth. This past week I have ragged on Carlson Hotels, the J.W. Marriott L.A. and city of Los Angeles and now I’ll take on Hyatt and MilePoint.

Engagement with the Audience

While the MilePoint chat format was a window into a conversation, there was little opportunity for engagement as an audience member tuning in for the hour. I felt like I was being waterboarded with words dripping slowly onto the computer screen one sentence at a time. A question would be raised and then dead space for a couple of minutes until the next statement appeared.

I assume Randy Petersen was able to see what comments people were submitting to the chat during the hour. I don’t know if Jeff Zidell was getting a feed of comments.

As an audience member I was surprised to find the entire conversation filtered. I made comments and submitted questions during the hour, but nothing I wrote came up in the chat. This also happened to BoardingArea blogger MommyPoints who submitted a question during the chat.  Consider yourself fortunate if you were not sitting in front of your computer for the entire 60+ minutes of the live broadcast as you can read the entire chat transcript in ten minutes.

Jeff Zidell was good humored and opened up with a joke about MilePointers having the opportunity to “Occupy Hyatt Gold Passport” for an hour. The thing about the Occupy movement is the audience has a voice and opportunity to give immediate feedback to the speakers. There was little opportunity for audience participation here.

Here is my 3 minute summary of the topics covered:

1. Hyatt restaurants have rolled out a new hamburger bun – softer and richer.

2. Hyatt has about 125 hotels in development around the globe.

3. Cash & Points and Discount Award Nights are on Hyatt’s radar.

4. Faster Free Nights, the periodic promotion Hyatt Gold Passport ran every year until 2011 for a free hotel night after every two stays, does not seem to be on Hyatt’s radar now.

5. Jeff Zidell has been with Hyatt Gold Passport for 3.5 years. One year after he arrived Gold Passport made major changes in April 2009 to elite membership: complimentary Internet for our elite tiers, full breakfast for Diamond members, 72/48-hour guaranteed availability for Platinum/Diamond and four confirmed Diamond Suite Upgrades. This year additional Diamond member enhancements include 4pm late checkout and enhanced welcome amenities at Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites.

6. Earn points and redeem points for Food & Beverage and Spa services when not staying at the Hyatt property are being beta tested now. Expect more availability in 2012.

7. Hyatt Reservations system improvements are coming in 2012.

8. Hyatt Gold Passport Lifetime Diamond membership requirements are ten years as a Hyatt Gold Passport (no need to be Diamond) and 1,000,000 base points earned (equivalent to $200,000 hotel spend).

9. Jeff Zidell stated Hyatt wants to create “true loyalty, not operate a profit center.” He commented the credit card has increased loyalty. “In addition, we want to maintain a very compelling and competitive award chart, which comes under pressure if you flood the market with a lot of additional points.”

- My Loyalty Traveler reply is Hyatt had the leading edge competitive award chart prior to the creation of Category 6 hotel rewards and the hotel shift upwards in the system. The program is still competitive compared to most others in terms of the distribution of hotels with most hotels in the lower half of the reward categories. At the upper end the program is losing ground in terms of the cost for a Category 5 or 6 hotel reward based on the rate points are earned for hotel spend.

I take Jeff’s response to indicate a Hyatt Gold Passport shopping portal is not in the works.

10. Property level specific bonuses, so-called “G Bonuses” since the promo code started with the letter G, do not appear to be too big on Hyatt’s radar either.

Loyalty Traveler comment – I think I broke the story of G bonuses going by the wayside from a chat I had with Jeff Zidell in March 2011. At that time he stated they might be coming back in July. I guess not!

11. Why are Hyatt properties shortchanging the number of points posted from stays?

Jeff said this was unacceptable.

This is another issue I raised on Loyalty Traveler in December 2010 and my post even prompted a few back and forth emails with Jeff and Hyatt. This July-August 2011 thread on FlyerTalk suggests the issue is widespread and apparently has still not been resolved.

12. Are there additional benefits for Gold Passport members who spend 75 or 100+ nights per year? Are there benefits for reaching 2 million, 3 million and more points?

Loyalty Traveler comment – At this point, 40 minutes into the chat I had to get snarky and submit my question “Are we whale hunting with Jeff Zidell?” referring to the term whales used by casinos for the really big money spenders. Hyatt already has an uber-elite level called Courtesy Card. Here is a Loyalty Traveler post on Courtesy Card.

13. When asked if Hyatt is considering award stays for elite qualification, Jeff responded, “We are looking into this, but we don’t think that it would impact very many members.”

Then Jeff followed up with a question, “Would you stay more frequently with us if this option were part of the program? Again, feel free to Tweet us using the hashtag #HyattGP.”

I jumped on Twitter and found BoardingArea blogger Mommy_Points posted a tweet at the same time in response to this question.

I realized we could actually have a real time audience conversation on Twitter around the MilePoint chat as it was happening. But I think Mommy_Points and I were the only two using that media outlet for that purpose at the time.

14. Complimentary Internet – wired or wireless is up to the hotel. I wrote an article about that last year.

15. Stays Count Double Promotions – Promotions for double elite credit, like FFN, were another annual promotion offer from Hyatt Gold Passport until this year. Looks like we won’t be seeing these come back in the near future.

Jeff’s response: “This is something that we are always looking at, but we have found that these types of promotions undermine the integrity of our tiers. We hear from many of our members that tier integrity is really important.”

My response: Looks like all the Hyatt Gold Passport fast-tracking to elite status went from 60mph to 0. You can still possibly pull in a Gold Passport Diamond Stay Challenge if you are acceptable.

16. Diamond Breakfast – Will Hyatt Gold Passport standardize the complimentary breakfast benefit for Diamond members? Yes!

Hyatt Gold Passport Takeaways

My takeaways from the conversation is Hyatt is pulling back on the high value promotions that attracted many of us to the program over the past decade. The company went public, partnered with a bank for a co-branded credit card, gave top elite status for 18 months to anyone who asked prior to the credit card launch and since then has added a new top tier hotel category, shifted a large portion of hotels upward in category, and made Diamond elite a more beneficial status level, but removed the avenues to reach this level without 25 paid stays or 50 paid hotel nights a year.

Hyatt Gold Passport is still among the most generous hotel loyalty programs in my opinion, but reaching and maintaining top-tier Diamond elite is going to require more hotel spend and the free nights earned are likely to be less than in years past for many of us Gold Passport members.

Brad’s story from the Chicago Sun Times caught my attention yesterday.

Brad took advantage of the Hyatt Gold Passport ”The Next Big Thing” offer in late 2009 to earn 20 free nights at Hyatt and 270,000 United Airlines miles for under $2,000 by booking cheap weekend Hyatt Place nights. He and his wife flew Air New Zealand in Business Class to Auckland and Sydney and stayed for free in suites at the Hyatt Auckland and the Park Hyatt Sydney.

The combinable Hyatt promotions for one free night after every two stays, double elite credit per stay, 2,500 United miles for every two nights (did not need to be consecutive nights) and 5,000 miles per stay for United Mileage Plus 1K members and 500 miles per stay regular earnings (UA miles math: 5,000 + 1,250 + 500 miles = 6,750 miles per one-night stay) was probably the best hotel loyalty program promotion of the past decade.

Here are links to his story in the Chicago Sun Times and a more detailed version of the deal on his Brad’s Deals blog.

Loyalty Traveler related links:

Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights, Stays Count Double and United Miles (October 1, 2009)

Hyatt Gold Passport Earn 2,500 miles every 2 Nights (October 5, 2009)

Park Hyatt Sydney Australia (my 2003 visit)

Stay 5 nights at any Hyatt brand hotel worldwide between September 15 and December 15, 2010 and earn 10,000 bonus points. This is a good and straightforward deal. You can earn up to 180,000 bonus points from this offer if you spend every night in a Hyatt Hotel during the promotion period.

No double/triple points threshold of 10 nights like Starwood Preferred Guest. No ridiculous 30 Saturdays or 75 nights like some IHG Priority Club members received. No targeted Hilton HHonors Diamond member bonus that could be either a free night anywhere or just 25,000 bonus points after ten nights this fall. No exclusive credit card tie-in like the Marriott Rewards MegaBonus offers requiring Visa payment.

Hyatt Gold Passport Great10K registration is required.

ELIGIBILITY/HOW TO REGISTER: To participate in this Promotion, you must be a Hyatt Gold Passport member and register for this promotion. Current member registration begins August 24, 2010 by calling 1-800-228-3360 or you’re nearest Hyatt Worldwide Reservation Centre.

Current member online registration is available beginning September 15, 2010 by visiting goldpassport.com/welcome10K. New member enrollments between September 15, 2010 and December 15, 2010 will be automatically registered for the promotion.

Hyatt Gold Passport follows the Promotion Nights Trend

The Hyatt Great 10K promotion rewards nights rather than stays, following the pattern for most of the hotel loyalty program promotions running this fall.

The advantage of a promotion based on nights is you have the ability to fulfill the promotion requirements with extended stays. Technically an extended stay is defined as four or more nights according to some document I saw last week. Promotions counting nights like the Hyatt Great 10K allow you to go to Hawaii for five or seven nights and still earn 10,000 bonus points tacked on to your regular stay points and other bonuses.

Many Gold Passport members were hoping for another few months of Hyatt’s Stay two times and earn a free night promotion. Hyatt Gold Passport marketing probably felt the time was right for a cease and desist of the free night offer after having run the free night offer for more than 11 months of the past 24 months. I suspect Hyatt Gold Passport needs to save some promotion firepower in reserve for a good roll-out promotion with the new Hyatt Visa credit card coming this fall.

A free night after two stays offer encourages hotel hopping as a strategy to maximize the free nights bonus. Free nights is a good game for those of us with highly flexible hotel arrangements, yet leaves some of the more profitable customers with multi-night stays feeling a little cheated when the $3,000 week-long Hawaii vacation does not earn a single Hyatt free night while someone hopping around Hyatt Place hotels picks up three free nights to use anywhere in the world, even Hawaii, for under $500.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis of Hyatt Great 10K Promotion

10,000 points after five nights is an additional 2,000 bonus points per night on top of base points, ‘G’ bonuses and elite bonus points if applicable. The Great 10K can still earn quite a few bonus points even for the one-night stand kind of traveler.

Sample Hyatt Stay itinerary:

Sep 17 Grand Hyatt San Francisco $175.20 (G Bonus = 2,000 points)

Sep 18: Hyatt Regency Santa Clara $84.15 (G Bonus = 1,000 points)

Sep 21: Hyatt Vineyard Creek Santa Rosa $151.20 (G Bonus 1,500 points)

Oct 8-10: Hyatt Regency Chicago $592.20  (G Bonus 2,000 points)

$1,002.75 base rate for 5 Hyatt hotel nights 

(Remember this is just an example. I could have just as easily pieced together five nights for under $400 staying at Hyatt Place hotels.)

$1,002 x 5 points/$1 = 5,010 base points + 6,500 G bonus points + 10,000 Great 10K bonus points

21,510 Gold Passport points earned for five nights.

If you are elite, then you also receive 750 bonus points as a Platinum elite (15% base points) or 1,500 bonus points as a Diamond elite member (30% base points).

You should be an elite member of Hyatt Gold Passport unless you are new to the Hyatt Gold Passport program or you squandered your opportunity for maintaining complimentary elite status since Hyatt Gold passport gave free elite membership to anyone who asked from mid-2009 to May 2010. Five stays at Hyatt and you will receive Platinum elite and its benefit of complimentary internet.

Hyatt Gold Passport Hotel Reward Categories

Hyatt has the majority of its 400+ hotel properties in the lower half of the Gold Passport free night award hotel categories in Category 1 = 5,000 points; category 2 = 8,000 points; and category 3 = 12,000 points. The upper tier properties are category 4 = 15,000 points; category 5 = 18,000 points and category 6 = 22,000 points.

In the example itinerary above the elite Gold Passport member earns enough points in 5 nights for a free night at any Hyatt in the world.

Earning Miles with Hyatt’s Great 10K promotion

Hyatt Hotels extends its generosity by allowing Gold Passport members who want miles to double dip with the Great 10K points bonus. There are some high value miles promotions concurrently running with the Great 10K offer.

Gold Passport Concierge posted Great 10K promotion FAQ on FlyerTalk. It says members who are earning miles rather than points will still be eligible to earn the Great 10K bonus of 10,000 points after five nights. 

Great 10K offer is combinable with current airline miles bonus offers

Hyatt currently has high value bonus mile offers for at least ten airlines. There is the American Airlines 60,000 miles bonus for 3,000 miles each stay through October 15, 2010. There is also the 1,000 miles per night promotion running through September 30 with a choice of nine airlines. 

Choosing miles means you are not eligible for Gold Passport base points or G bonus points offers. Some G bonus offers are actually for double miles so be sure to check. Basically you get the registered promotion miles bonuses and the 10,000 Gold Passport points bonus after five nights.

In the California and Chicago itinerary shown above, the Gold Passport earning AA miles would receive these bonuses:

$1,002 spent on 4 Hyatt stays (AA promotion stays must be by October 15, 2010)

• 12,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles
• 10,000 Gold Passport points

or

$1,002 spent on 5 Hyatt nights with the 1,000 miles per night promotion (assume 5 nights for this promotion completed by Sep 30).

• 5,000 United Mileage Plus miles (or 5,000 miles in any other participating airline for 1,000 miles/night promotion through Sep 30)
• 10,000 Gold Passport points in Great 10K bonus

Hyatt Gold Passport’s Great 10K may not be as easy for some members to earn free nights as the Big Welcome Back promotion of spring 2010, but this is one of the best hotel loyalty promotions currently available for fall 2010. And if you actually need extended stays at Hyatt Hotels, then this is your opportunity to rack up more points than you could with the Big Welcome Back offer last spring for 5,000 points after every two stays.

Loyalty Traveler Post-Analysis:  

While many Gold Passport members were hoping for free nights and feel disappointment, there were eleven months in the past 24 months with the promotion for a free Hyatt hotel night after two stays. Hyatt was basically the only hotel loyalty program with a recurrent high value, low stay requirement free night offer open for general Gold Passport members these past two years.

The worst hotel recession since the Great Depression spawned free night offers across the spectrum of hotel loyalty programs for the past 16 months. These high value free night offers were an aberration in hotel loyalty program marketing in my ten plus years of following hotel loyalty programs. Hyatt Hotels is the standard-bearer in free night promotions and I suspect we will see another free night offer before too long.

Past Promotions for Hyatt Gold Passport Free Nights

Spring 2010 Big Welcome Back

Loyalty Traveler post, March 20, 2010

• Earn: March 26 – June 30 2010
• Redeem: April 1-Aug 31, 2010

Fall 2009 Hyatt Gold Passport Faster Free Nights Promotion and combined promotion offers

Loyalty Traveler promotion post , (Oct 1, 2009)

• Earn Oct 1, 2009 – Jan 31, 2010
• Redeem: March 31, but extended to April 30 general members, May 31 Platinum, June 30 for Diamond

Fall 2008 Faster Free Nights

Loyalty Traveler post, Aug 22, 2008

• Earn: Sep 1, 2008 – Dec 30, 2008;
• Redeem: Sep 15, 2008 – Feb 28, 2009

Free nights expiring August 31 from the Hyatt Big Welcome Back promotion may be converted to 5,000 Gold Passport points according to this August 10 FlyerTalk post from Gold Passport Concierge.

Call Hyatt Gold Passport customer service to convert free nights you are unable to use by August 31, 2010 into 5,000 points.

I actually used all my free nights from the promotion twice as fast this time around by booking two rooms to share the Hyatt experience with friends and family on my free hotel stays this summer.

My free room nights each had a 22,000 points equivalent value for the Gold Passport category 6 hotels where we stayed in California and Colorado. Free breakfast all around was a huge Diamond member benefit for our groups of four and six people.

This customer service offer does not work in reverse for Gold Passport members who chose to earn 5,000 points for every two stays as their Big Welcome Back earning choice. Converting 5,000 points into a free Hyatt night anywhere would be just a little too generous!

A free night lost to expiration may be a dream stay opportunity in Paris, Tokyo or Sydney gone, but converting that earned free night into 5,000 points will at least set you up for a Hyatt Place free night in your future.

I give a thumb up to Hyatt Gold Passport for this conversion opportunity gesture.

Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, Avon, Colorado

I am generally a last minute booker of hotel travel. Time and time again I read travel expert’s advice that the best rates or award availability are available to the hotel guests who book early. There is some truth in that, but I don’t accept the belief that you need to be the early bird to get the hotel of your choice on an award or the lowest room rates. I am overwhelmingly a last minute reservations kind of guy.

My cases in point are Hyatt Free Night awards and Starwood Hotel rates for San Francisco for the July 4 weekend.

Help! I have earned free nights but I can’t get a reservation!

I was reading FlyerTalk Tuesday morning and a Gold Passport member was complaining about the lack of award availability for free nights. I developed some concern as I had two free nights expiring June 30.

Could I find a room at short notice?

My free nights were leftover award nights from the January 31, 2010 end-date for the original Gold Passport Big Welcome promotion. These nights were extended from the original March 31 expiration date to June 30 at the request of this Diamond member. And now there are thousands more guests with free night credits from the current Big Welcome Back promotion.

I called up the Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond line.

     “Do you have any rooms available at the Carmel Highlands Inn?”

     “Yes, Mr. Garrido. You can use your free night award for any night except Saturday or Monday.”

     “What about Lake Tahoe? Is there any availability at that hotel?”

     “Lake Tahoe is wide open. You can book an award night for any night through June 30 at the Lake Tahoe resort.”

I redeemed my two nights without any problem.

The Starwood Last Minute Hotel Rates Case Test 

Two weeks ago I made a survey of 21 San Francisco Bay Area Starwood hotel rates for the July 4 weekend. This earlier survey compared 2010 rates to 2009 and revealed 16 of 21 hotels with higher rates for the 2010 holiday weekend. In my June 8 post I stated the higher rates, in several cases 25% to 50% higher than 2009 rates, were possibly the “ecstatically optimistic” hopes of hoteliers that tourists were coming back big time in 2010.

From my June 8 post – “For this same time period in 2010 as when I checked rates about four weeks before Fourth of July holiday in 2009, hotels in San Francisco city appear to be pushing the rate envelope. I’ll try and remember to check back in next week and see if the Starwood Hotels envelope is a little too stuffed for San Francisco tourism economy this summer. That will be indicated by a room rate price drop next week.” 

Here are the room rates for Starwood’s seven San Francisco city hotels today on June 24 for the July 4 weekend. This rate check is 16 days after my June 8 rate check and eight days before the start of the July 4 weekend.

5 of 7 Starwood hotels are a lower rate today than earlier this month. Only the St. Regis and Westin Market Street Hotels have increased rates. 3 of the 7 hotels also have lower AAA rates today than on June 8. Two other hotels (Palace and Westin St. Francis) have the same AAA rate today as on June 8.

San Francisco may not be typical for all major cities, but last minute rate drops is a pattern I frequently see with San Francisco hotel rates.

These rate surveys I periodically conduct are the primary reason I avoid nonrefundable, no changes rate offers. In my experience, the last minute booking often offers better rates or free night award availability.

And if you are sitting on free weekend nights earned from the current Starwood promotion… well, all seven of the San Francisco Starwood Hotels are available for free night awards Friday July 2 through Sunday night July 4.

A quick check of New York City shows every hotel except Westin Times Square is available for free night awards over July 4 weekend.

I am finally getting around to writing about The Big Welcome Back from Hyatt Gold Passport when I see Gary Leff is giving away free Hyatt nights at View from the Wing blog. The only thing better than a free night after two hotel stays is two free nights with no hotel stays requirement. Simply leave a comment, by noon eastern time, Sunday, April 25 on Gary’s Hyatt Free Nights post and cross your fingers for good luck.

One thing to point out about Hyatt’s free internet for Platinum and Diamond elites is the hotel may only offer one access mode for free, wired or wireless access, and you have to pay to use the other one. I found this to be the case at a couple of hotels where I wanted wireless, but only wired was free. Fortunately at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco my room location was sufficiently close to access the Regency Club wireless internet from my room.

Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) launched free internet access for top elite Platinummembers as an in-hotel benefit. Simply accept internet charges when logging on at the hotel and they will be removed from the bill for Platinum elites. This benefit is available worldwide at all SPG hotels offering internet. Public space and meeting room internet is not covered in this benefit and terms vary by hotel for these spaces.

Reaching SPG platinum elite membership requires 50 nights or 25 stays in a calendar year. SPG typically offers an 8 to 12 week window each year with a stays count double promotion making Platinum status available in as few as 13 stays which can be as few as 13 hotel nights.

The Big Welcome Back from Hyatt Gold Passport

“We want to welcome you back before you readjust to your time zone.”

I picked up the 6”x11” card from Hyatt Gold Passport at my mailbox yesterday.

Choose to earn a free night or 5,000 Hyatt Gold passport bonus points after every two stays through June 30, 2010.

Now just decide where you want to go. Start earning. Then, enjoy your reward. Because the only thing better than welcoming you, is welcoming you back.

• Register today at goldpassport.com for the reward you want – free nights or bonus points
• Stay at any Hyatt worldwide through June 30, 2010
• Provide your Hyatt Gold Passport account number

Earn as many rewards as you can and then redeem them at any Hyatt worldwide. Enjoy your free night awards with no blackout dates between April 1 and August 31, 2010. Or, enjoy your bonus points anytime toward free nights, upgrades, or miles, with no expiration.

Why is Hyatt working so hard to attract members with giveaways?

I am not actually referring to Gary Leff’s free nights promotion; rather, why is Hyatt giving instant elite membership for the asking and top-elite diamond for just 15 nights? Why is Hyatt Gold Passport offering a free night at a Hyatt brand hotel anywhere to a member with two stays at any Hyatt hotel anywhere? These are high value giveaways.

Recently, several articles have passed by me and together they kind of paint a picture of the high stakes game for hotel revenue management combined with brand name recognition and high value customers.

Max Starkov is chief e-business strategist at Hospitality e-Business Strategies, a business which focuses on hotel direct online channel strategies. Direct online channels are the hotel brand websites. For Hyatt hotels this means the company booking site at Hyatt.com, the loyalty program booking site at goldpassport.com, and individual hotel booking sites like highlandsinn.hyatt.com.

Max Starkov’s recent article, “Not All Internet Bookings are Created Equal,” analyzed the proportion of hotel chain bookings made via direct online channels vs. indirect channels like online travel agencies – Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline. Overall for the hotel industry the proportion of room bookings made via the internet is estimated to be around 45% of all hotel bookings in 2010.

That means fewer than 50% of hotel rooms booked are via the internet. The top 30 hotel brands actually have a higher proportion of bookings made via the internet with 54.2%. In 2009 about 71% of internet bookings are direct channels and 29% indirect channels. In 2007 about 76% of internet bookings were direct channel bookings. Basically, the hotels are losing ground to the online travel agencies for room bookings.

Why do direct bookings matter, and, what does this have to do with Hyatt’s promotion giveaways?

GDS systems used by travel agents book about 23.6% of hotel rooms in 2009 compared to 31.3% in  for the top 30 hotel brands. The number of hotel rooms booked by GDS dropped by 25% in four years. Over the same time period the number of phone bookings also dropped from 31.3% in 2006 to 22.2% for 2009.

Basically there is a smaller share of room bookings happening via GDS systems and the phone. Internet bookings are growing and the hotel brands are losing share in the booking channels used by customers for buying hotel rooms.

The truly remarkable part to me is the large number of guests staying at the top 30 hotel brands who are not receiving any hotel chain loyalty benefits due to booking via Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz, etc. Even more amazing perhaps is the fact these guests probably did not pay any less than the rates available on the hotel’s own websites when not booking on an opaque site like Priceline or Hotewire where the hotel is not known in advance.

There certainly are some lower rates to be found through online travel agencies like Orbitz and Expedia. I book about 20% of my hotel stays through successful Best Rate Guarantee claims on the hotel’s website when I find a lower room rate at an online travel agency. I receive the low rate plus additional rate discounts or bonuses and I still receive all my hotel loyalty program benefits.

Starkov’s article goes on to show indirect bookings of hotel stays cost the hotel about 8 times more money. As the travel recession is now in the middle of its second year, hoteliers have pushed more inventory over to online travel agencies and the OTAs have gained share in the reservations market.

In my opinion I think Hyatt is pulling in a higher proportion of customers by giving elite status and free nights. You only earn these benefits through direct bookings. I do not have any data, but I assume Hyatt has seen a proportional shift to direct bookings after a solid year of high value promotions and complimentary elite status. Hyatt has loads of capital to invest. Hyatt has a credit card partner in the works to launch the hotel chain’s first cobranded credit card. Hyatt is maintaining high prices at its full service hotels.

I just hope after the Hyatt credit card comes around, the elite ranks have grown, direct bookings have grown, and the chain expands, perhaps with a new brand acquisition or two, that the program still offers free nights. I have a hunch though.

Faster Free Nights is what many of us who have been around Hyatt Gold Passport for much of the past decade refer to the free night after every two stays periodic promotion. In past years this promotion was commonly tied to using a MasterCard when paying for the hotel stays. I wonder is Hyatt really promoting the two stays for a free night concept heavily over the past year to tie in their new credit card with future free night promotion offers?

I would not be at all surprised to see 2011 require the Hyatt card be used for the free night after two stays promotion. Wait and see.

Back to the Big Welcome Back.

Seriously, this is a great promotion from Hyatt Gold Passport. Two stays anywhere and earn one free night anywhere and all summer to use it. Huge leverage potential makes booking unnecessary hotel stays totally worthwhile.

In the San Francisco Bay Area there are several Hyatt Place and Summerfield Suites hotels with weekend rates $80 or less. Eight miles down the road from me is the Hyatt Highlands Inn with summer room rates typically $400+ per night. You do the math. I have.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my hotel stays at the Hyatt Highlands Inn.

Hyatt’s Big Welcome Back registration page is now available to enroll for your choice of a free night at any Hyatt after any two Hyatt stays worldwide. Or you can select 5,000 Gold Passport points after every two stays if you are too busy to use free nights.

Stay at any Hyatt worldwide through June 30, 2010 for this offer. Free nights must be used by August 31, 2010.

Update: Monday, March 22, 2010 – No longer a rumor. I received an email from Hyatt PR confirming the “Big Welcome Back” details and they are the same as posted here. So I deleted the word rumor from the original title post.

Original Post content below

I don’t like to report promotions before they are posted, but since TMTravelWorld, Lucky at One Mile at a Time, and Flyertalkers are spreading the word, I’ll mention the rumor.

The rumor at this point in time based on FlyerTalk posts is the Hyatt Gold Passport “Big Welcome Back” promotion will be one free night earned after every two stays or 5,000 bonus points for every two stays between March 26 and June 30. The redemption date for free nights is April 1- August 31.

To repeat: this is not official from Hyatt until the offer is posted sometime this next week, but FlyerTalk is generally where the news breaks first.

Some people actually prefer points over free nights, but since a free night can be used at a category 5 hotel normally costing 18,000 points per night, the free night is much higher value for most of us.

I am particularly looking forward to accumulating some nights since my wife has nine weeks of summer vacation to really take advantage of some nice extended hotel stays.

Some additional items to point out:

1. Costco is selling two $50 gift certificates for Hyatt stays for $80. This can cut your cost down by 20%. I saw a huge rack of Hyatt certificates when I was in my local Costco this week.
2. In several comparative studies I have made over the past month for five different cities, Hyatt has been the highest average price of all the major hotel chains for their properties. Compare prices, shop around, and use Costco certificates to bring the price down.
3. Check special offers. Hyatt Hotels sometimes have incredible discounts on senior rates if you are eligible.

A full analysis will come on this promotion once the official terms are posted on Hyatt’s website. As far as hotel loyalty promotions go, a free night after every two stays is as good as they get.

Hyatt Gold Passport is allowing members who earned Faster Free Nights during the Next Big Thing promotion from October 1, 2009 to January 31, 2010 the opportunity to redeem free nights past the original promotion date of March 31, 2010.

You must call Hyatt Customer Service prior to February 28 to request an extension of your earned free night awards at 1-800-304-9288.

New Redemption Deadlines:

• April 30, 2010 Hyatt Gold Passport General members
• May 31, 2010 Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum members
• June 30, 2010 Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members

Remember – you must call to request the free night redemption extension before February 28 at 1-800-304-9288.

Source: Gold Passport Concierge FlyerTalk post

Redemption opportunity: I just called to check on free nights for Hyatt Highlands Inn in Carmel. Rooms were available for free night redemption for 5 nights next week from Monday, February 15 through Friday, February 19. Loyalty Traveler’s Hyatt Highlands Inn photo album on Picasa.

Paid Stay Opportunity: Hyatt San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf

Special offer rate $99 + 1,500 bonus points + $25 Food & Beverage credit for stays Feb 1-28, 2010.

$119 per night for stays March 1 to April 30.

Book by March 17, 2010.

Request Special Offer Code SOLOGP.

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.