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)

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.

December is the month for securing elite status. People in the know, those frequent guests and fliers making mattress runs and mileage runs this month, know that a few unnecessary hotel room nights or a few thousand miles of unnecessary airline flights are truly necessary. Some loyalty travelers are frantically booking travel solely for the purpose of attaining the magic threshold of higher elite status in 2010.

And it is magic when after 10 minutes waiting in the elite security line at the crowded airport, you barely get on your plane just before it taxies out of the gate. You reflect on the frazzled family who walked up to the elite check-in airport counter just in front of you, each parent cradling a crying toddler, with a hands-free wandering preschooler lagging behind dragging a backpack, a babystroller under Dad’s arm, two suitcases, two backpacks, and a purse.  You watched as you moved closer to the elite member check-in counter while the parents were steered away from the Star Alliance Gold members check-in line to the hopelessly long economy class general members’ line extending halfway down the terminal. They were supposed to depart on the same flight as you, but they hadn’t even arrived at the security zone as you passed through the detectors and rushed off to the gate. They are still waiting in some non-elite fliers’ line while you are comfortably seated in First Class as the plane heads toward the runway.

Elite level status has practical implications in the frequent flier world beyond upgrades and airport lounges.

I haven’t been on a plane in the past few months. I watched scenarios like I described here over a number of years when I traveled as a United Airlines Mileage Plus elite member. I flew over 100,000 miles a year for several years primarily as a means of flying comfortably and having the privilege to hang out at airport lounges during international flights.

Joe Sharkey has a piece posted this week on his blog, Joe Sharkey At Large, “Continental Airlines is the Latest Airline to Diss Lower-Level Elite-Status Customers”. His piece is about how Continental Airlines offers enhancements to the most frequent fliers in the 100,000 flight miles per year category and new super-tier called Presidential Platinum elite for the cream of the Platinum fliers.

Flying 100,000 miles is expensive for a leisure traveler. I held United 1K for a couple of years with less than $2,500 in spending on flights annually, but then there was another $1,500 or so for my wife’s flights. And then add another $4,000 to $5,000 for lodging, and then add daily expenses when traveling. 

$4,000 to $5,000 in airfare was one expense I had to cut back, about 30% of my annual travel budget, to have some money available to put into Loyalty Traveler business expenses. Loyalty Traveler was founded as a business for explaining the value of elite status with travel loyalty programs and ironically I had to give up elite status air travel to conserve resources for the business. I hope to get back to a much higher level of air travel in the next year or two.

Right now my focus is maintaining high elite status in a couple of hotel programs – Hyatt Gold Passport and Starwood Preferred Guest – for my hotel travel. I just suffer like the masses when I have to get on a plane.

Ed Perkins wrote a piece on SmarterTravel.com, “Dollars Trump Miles as a Measure of Airline Loyalty”. Ed had an issue with upgrading a United flight using miles. He could not get an advance confirmation of the upgrade.

My experience of traveling around the world as a United 1K was a blast when I could buy a $600 ticket from California to Singapore, upgrade my ticket to a business class seat with a systemwide certificate (SWU), hang out at the international lounge in SFO before the flight, and then pop into the United Red Carpet Club at Narita Airport Tokyo for a free shower and a couple of glasses from the automatic beer dispenser. My cheap economy ticket also allowed me to earn 40,000 to 50,000 redeemable miles and 18,000 to 36,000 elite qualifying miles depending on promotions.

The problem with all that lovely treatment as a United 1K is that travel with my wife Kelley wasn’t always as fun. I’m not talking about a need for Tiger Woods entertainment without the wifey. I am talking about the fact that my United Airlines Mileage Plus elite status regularly provided upgrades for me, domestic and international. However, Kelley’s low level elite status, and sometimes even as a Premier Executive, frequently did not allow her to clear the upgrade list. We often traveled separately on the same plane to Europe with me in her assigned economy class seat and her in my upgraded Business Class seat.

Mom & Dad’s Florida Vacation

My parents have learned the value of Starwood Preferred Guest elite status – especially since they do not have it. This morning I received a call from my mom vacationing in Florida. Their hotel travel tally so far is three Starwoods and a Hilton in Florida. I asked them to take pictures of the view from each bedroom window at their hotels.

Hotel websites are generally good about photos of the hotel entrance, the lobby, restaurants, and pool.

Hotel websites rarely show a prospective guest the view from the less desirable side of the hotel. I am struck by the number of times I stay at a hotel and receive the preferred view and think this was a good deal. And I consider all those people I see coming out of their room located on the other side of the hallway and I wonder, “Do you feel like you’ve been cheated with this hotel stay?”

So my mom tells me they had a nice size room at a Sheraton in Fort Lauderdale, but faced the parking lot for the multi-night stay. Then, it was the Sheraton in Key West at a resort property on the beach, but their room was not facing the beach side of the hotel. Then, her description of the room in Coral Gables was “nicely furnished, but the room was miniscule.” She said the rooms are nothing like I get when I stay at Starwood Hotels.

“Elite Status” is my Two Word Response

Earning elite status with a hotel chain is really a much easier affair than airline frequent flier programs. Playing the 100,000 mile game with airlines is a matter of either several long-haul international trips or a whole lot of domestic flying. Hotel loyalty high-level elite-status is something many travelers can earn without even leaving town. You will appreciate your effort when you take that $3,000 beach resort vacation and spend the week looking at the beach from your hotel room window and balcony.

Here is the view from my room when I stayed at the Westin Mission Hills near Palm Springs, California.

Westin Mission Hills - Room with a View

I received an upgrade on my Cash & Points stay to a golf course view preferred room. A general member of SPG on the same rate would be more likely to have received a room with this type of view across the parking lot.

Westin Mission Hills Resort – the other side of the hotel

Stays Count Double through January 31, 2010 with Hyatt Gold Passport

(The Next Big Thing registration required)

Hyatt Gold Passport is offering double stay credit for elite status through January 31, 2010. Elite status is based on paid stays completed in a calendar year. This means you can earn Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum level elite membership with just 3 stays in January or Diamond elite with 13 stays. The elite status you earn with Hyatt Gold Passport in January 2010 during stays count double will remain valid for over two years through February 2012.

Between fast-track elite status and Costco Hyatt Check Certificates at a 20% discount, the cost to earn high elite Diamond status with Hyatt can readily be accomplished for under $1,000 in many places while earning free nights for a fantastic February or March 2010 resort vacation. Check out your local Hyatt Place hotel rates. You can even go upscale Hyatt at a bargain with low January rates in many locations. The Hyatt Regency San Francisco was over $250 per night for most of summer 2009 and is less than half that rate for most weekends in January 2010. San Diego hotels are an incredible bargain right now.

Starwood Preferred Guest instant SPG Gold elite for New Members

Starwood Preferred Guest has offered a “stays count double” promotion every year for the past several years. Take advantage of the offer if it comes around next year and you can set yourself up with high-level elite-status.

Seriously, when you are spending a couple of thousand dollars for a vacation, a little bit of annual hotel planning can put you in that beach resort hotel on the beach side of the hotel rather than the resort view of the parking lot.

If you are new to Starwood Preferred Guest and you would like to receive instant SPG Gold elite membership, valid through February 2011, then just send me an email ricgarridolt@gmail.com. With my SPG Platinum member referral, you can be registered for 1,000 bonus points per night ($35 value) at Starwood Hotels through March 31, 2010 and you will receive an instant upgrade to SPG Gold Elite membership. And I get 1,000 points if you actually stay in a Starwood Hotel by March 31. A win-win-win deal for you, me, and Starwood.

Hotel Loyalty Program Links:

Hyatt Gold Passport “The Next Big Thing” Promotion

Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum elite benefits (lower-tier elite)

Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite benefits (higher-tier)

Starwood Preferred Guest Gold elite benefits

Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum elite benefits

Loyalty Traveler posts:

Passports with Purpose Win 50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points

Earn 2,500 airline miles with every two nights at Hyatt brand hotels (Oct. 5, 2009)

Hyatt Faster Free Nights + Stays Count Double promotion analysis Oct.1 – Jan 31, 2010 (Sep 19, 2009)

Hyatt Gold Passport Enhancements – And they really are enhancements (April 2, 2009)

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.

Hyatt Gold Passport is offering members 2,500 miles after every 2 nights up to a maximum 25,000 miles with a variety of airline programs for hotel stays from September 15 through December 31. Virgin Atlantic offers 3,750 miles every two nights up to 37,500 miles.

Nights do not need to be consecutive nights during one hotel stay for the bonus miles offer.

It is not as if Hyatt wasn’t offering sufficient incentive for hotel stays with a free night after every two stays and Stays Count Double for elite member qualification in the Gold Passport hotel loyalty program.

Hyatt Gold Passport has the triple crown offer of hotel loyalty programs with free nights, fast-track elite qualification and bonus miles.

Example Combined Promotion Earnings:

Gold Passport member choosing American Airlines AAdvantage miles during two one-night hotel stays.

1.       Earns 3,500 AA miles (2,500 miles after two nights and 500 miles for each stay)

2.       Earns 1 free night at any Hyatt worldwide from Oct 1-Jan 31 (“Next Big Thing” Registration required)

3.       Earns 4 stay credits toward elite status for 2009 and 2010 membership years.

Gold Passport Platinum elite status is earned after 5 stays. Diamond elite membership is earned after 25 stays in a calendar year. The elite status you qualify for by December 31, 2009 will remain in effect through February 2011. (Registration for Stays Count Double is included when you register for The Next Big Thing promotion.)

While The Next Big Thing promotion favors hotel stays over nights, the bonus miles may offer some members with multi-night hotel stays a little extra value by choosing miles over earning points. 

Gold Passport members regularly earn 500 miles per stay when choosing miles over points. With this offer a single two-night stay will earn 3,000 miles and a four-night stay will earn 5,500 miles with most of the airlines shown below.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club members normally earn 750 miles per Hyatt brand stay. The bonus miles offer awards 3,750 miles every two nights. Gold Passport members can earn 4,500 miles with a single two-night stay or earn 8,250 miles with a single four-night stay.

Southwest normally earns 0.5 credits per stay. This offer earns an additional 2.5 credits every two nights. A single four-night stay will earn 5.5 Rapid Rewards credits.

Links to Gold passport Bonus Miles Offers

Air Canada http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09AC4

Alaska Airlines: http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09AL4

American Airlines http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09AA4

Amtrak: http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=092V4

British Airways http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09BA4

Continental Airlines: http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09CA4

Delta Airlines/Northwest Airlines (Skymiles)  http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09DL4

Flying Blue         link???

Lufthansa http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09LH4

Midwest Airlines: http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09MW4

South African Airways http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09SA4

Southwest http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09WN4

Turkish Airlines http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09TK4

United Airlines http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09UA4

UA 1K members can also earn 5,000 bonus miles per stay through October 31. Link

US Airways http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09US4

Virgin Atlantic (earn up to 37,500 miles) http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=09VS4

Thanks to Flyertalker “ctownflyer” for posting additional airline links on FlyerTalk for Alaska, Amtrak, Continental, and Midwest.

Hyatt Gold Passport Choosing Miles webpage is here.

This post was edited October 17, 2009 to add eligible airline partners: Flying Blue (Air France/KLM), Northwest (combined with Delta in Skymiles), South African Airways, and Turkish Airlines.

Hyatt Place, the lowest priced brand in Hyatt Hotels, is even lower for the next five days. Hyatt has a limited time offer from Monday, October 5 through Friday, October 9 for a 30% Discount on the Hyatt Daily Rate at Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites.  Reservations are prepaid, nonrefundable and do not allow changes. The 30% discount is valid for hotels stays from October 25 through December 31.

Hyatt Place Promotion Link here.

Hyatt Summerfield Suites Promotion Link here.

Hyatt customer service told me these rates apply for Faster Free Nights credit.

San Francisco area sample rate checks reveal some great deals compared to rate checks for weekend nights I found last week.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Hyatt Place Fremont, CA               $48.30 ($63 Oct 23)

Hyatt Place Dublin/Pleasanton   $55.30 ($80 on Oct 9)

Friday, October 30, 2009

Hyatt Summerfield Suites Redwood Shores/Belmont     $76.30 ($107 on Oct 23)

Hyatt Summerfield Suites Pleasanton     $69.30  ($89 on Oct 23)

Hyatt Summerfield Suites Pleasant Hill   $69.30  ($89 on Oct 23)

Hyatt Place Fremont

Thousands of Hyatt Gold Passport members are half-way to a free night after checking out of a Hyatt Hotel today, October 1, 2009. Hyatt Gold Passport’s “The Next Big Thing” promotion is huge this year with Faster Free Nights, Stays Count Double, and bonus United miles available in combinable promotions.

In August, I was speaking with Barbara DeLollis of USA Today and discussing with her the current hotel loyalty program climate of 2009 as the best year in the past decade for hotel loyalty program promotions.

I’ve had the equivalent of $3,000+ in free hotel nights over the past six weeks with Starwood Preferred Guest staying at the St. Regis San Francisco, St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, W San Francisco, and Westin Napa Verasa. The hotel stays in May during Starwood’s Stay 2 times and earn a free weekend night only cost me $1,800 for the 16 hotel stays to earn 8 free nights.

And now Starwood is offering double elite credit for the remainder of 2009 for current SPG elite members. My SPG Platinum elite status provided added value, including full two-room suites at several hotels.

In August, I stayed in some low cost Holiday Inn hotels while traveling.  Priority Club’s Stay 2 nights and earn a free night allowed me to redeem a free hotel stay at the $300 per night InterContinental San Francisco. Too bad their promotion was limited to four free nights.

As a Hyatt Diamond elite member (25 stays or 50 nights) I recently received a free night credit for a Hyatt Place or Summerfield Suites to use by the end of 2009. As a SPG Platinum member (25 stays or 50 nights) I received a free night credit for any Starwood Hotel up to a Category 5 to use by the end of 2009. Ken Burns’ National Parks documentary has really stoked my interest in driving through Yosemite to stay at the Westin Monache in Mammoth Lakes this month before snow season begins.

I have stayed twice this past year for free at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn. That is truly my staycation destination. The Highlands Inn is just a short 8 miles south of my home in Monterey. Kelley and I think it is one of the most beautiful locations in the world. Of course we are biased locals.

My point is not to espouse on my great travel trips.

I am simply a loyalty traveler and you can be one too.

Seriously, this Hyatt Faster Free Nights offer with Stays Count Double elite credit is truly an offer not to be missed.

And now that Gold Passport has opened Faster Free Nights to members who choose miles rather than points for earning preference, this promotion is a no-brainer if you are a United 1K member (and perhaps even if you are just a 1P, 2P, or general UA member like myself).

Whether your travel plans take you to London, Paris, Tokyo, Aruba, New York, or to a Hyatt resort just over the hill, the opportunity to earn free nights while attaining elite status and building up your frequent flier miles is an unprecedented hotel loyalty opportunity.

Priority Club had an earning limit of 4 free nights during their spring/summer promotion and SPG only allowed free nights to be redeemed for Friday, Saturday or Sunday this summer. Hyatt will allow you to book your winter 2010 7-night free vacation in a resort if you earn the nights and find the availability.

Here are some Loyalty Traveler tips for Hyatt Hotels Faster Free Nights planning:

1.       Chart the rates for your regional Hyatt Hotels and plan discretionary trips to hotels when rates are low. For example, during Starwood’s Free Weekend nights promotion I was able to stay in every Starwood Hotel in San Francisco and only once did I pay over $125 for a hotel room. This coming weekend most of these hotels are in the $300 per night range.

I find creating a spreadsheet helpful in plotting my stays during low rate nights at the Hyatt Hotels in my region. If you don’t have computer spreadsheet skills, then just draw out a grid on paper and track hotel rates. You will see patterns and with a little effort and research you can save hundreds of dollars on hotel rates.

Compare rates on Hyatt.com to online travel agency (OTA) rates. I like to check Kayak.com to get a meta-search view of rates. Hyatt’s Best Rate Guarantee allows a member to make a claim over the phone without having to book a room first. If you see a rate discrepancy with a lower rate on another OTA site and Hyatt approves your claim, then Hyatt will match the lower rate and take an additional 20% off. Discrepancies are more common than you might think.

Look for Gold Passport G Bonuses when making reservations. A simple check for a G Bonus link to the hotel you are planning to stay can increase your points earning by 1,000 to 2,000 points.

Hyatt Hotels Room Rates Spreadsheet

2.       Vary your stays to make the acquisition of free nights more pleasurable. Hyatt Place Fremont is my local cheap night hotel at just $70 all-in on most weekends, but no upgrades, fewer Diamond amenity points, and no lounge.

$20 more can put me in the Hyatt Santa Clara where there is a lounge, a breakfast restaurant, and the opportunity for nice upgrades.

In 2008 I only stayed in half of the Hyatt brand hotels in the San Francisco Bay region during an elite fast-track Stays Count Double promotion. This fall I will try and make at least one stay in the hotels I missed last year and check in with more Hyatt Hotels in southern California. I hear San Diego calling me.

3.       Be persistent and be flexible when it comes time to redeem your free nights. Starwood Lurker reported St. Regis Monarch Beach was the most requested free night property during the SPG promotion. I found availability over half the weekends in summer during my regular periodic checks. Sometimes availability lasted less than an hour. Westin Napa was a difficult property to get. I got it.

Hyatt Carmel Highlands is one of the more difficult hotels to get with FFN. I stayed twice this past year using FFN credits there.

Related Boarding Area blogger posts for Hyatt’s fall 2009 promotion:

One Mile at a Time – http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2009/09/30/13500-united-miles-and-one-free-night-at-any-hyatt-for-every-second-stay-united-1ks-only/

View from the Wing – http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2009/10/01/the-best-hotel-promo-ive-ever-seen-13500-united-miles-and-a-free-night-for-every-two-cheap-one-night-hyatt-stays/

Loyalty Traveler – Analysis of Hyatt FFN and Stays Count Double (Sep 17, 2009)

Related Loyalty Traveler posts:

Loyalty Traveler – Carmel Highlands Inn review (Jan 5, 2009)

Loyalty Traveler – Hyatt Regency San Francisco Review and Stays Count Double Economic Rationale (March 22, 2008)

Faster Free Nights returns for October 1 through January 31, 2010. The recurring Hyatt Gold Passport promotion packs even more punch this time around. No specific credit card brand is required and stays will count double for elite qualification.

Faster Free Nights allows a Gold Passport member to earn a free night at any Hyatt hotel worldwide after every two eligible stays. An eligible stay is generally any paid stay booked through Hyatt website or Hyatt customer service.

Free nights can be redeemed from October 15 through March 31, 2010.

Registration is required and the Hyatt Gold Passport link will be available as of Friday, September 25. Currently there is a link-less description of the offer on Gold Passport.

http://goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/index.jsp

Road warriors who just don’t care for free nights have the option of earning 3,000 bonus points per stay starting with your 2^nd stay during the promotion period. Unlike free nights, points do not expire March 31. This option may be a better choice for someone unable to take advantage of free night redemption before March 2010.

A member must choose between free nights or bonus points for the duration of the promotion. Once your choice is made the promotion terms are set for the duration of this offer. You can’t alternate stays between earning bonus points and free nights.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Faster Free Nights is straightforward.  A Gold Passport member will earn a free night credit after every two stays. A stay can be one night, 2 nights, even 7 nights. Some members will earn a free night after two 1-night stays. Some members will have a 7 night stay and still need another stay to earn a free night.

Leisure travelers and flexible business travelers can maximize this deal. Last Christmas season, at the end of the last Faster Free Nights promotion, I stayed at the Denver Hyatt Regency one night for $70 and I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Denver the next night for $70.

A month later I redeemed my free night for a $600 per night room at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn.

This promotion normally has high leverage value. A member can have ten 1-night stays at an average cost of $100 per night and earn 5 free nights. The five free nights will have a redemption value of $400+ per night in many Hyatt locations. Spend $1,000 for ten hotel nights and take a $2,000 free hotel vacation. That is the value of Faster Free Nights to the loyalty traveler.

Stays Count Double Analysis

Hyatt has two elite status levels. Platinum elite normally requires 5 stays or 15 nights in the calendar year. This promotion allows a member to earn Platinum status with just 3 stays during October 1 – December 31.

Diamond elite is the highest Gold Passport tier with privileges like four guaranteed advance upgrades, 1,000 bonus points per stay at most hotels or the choice of an amenity like a food tray, free movie, or mini-bar credit. Qualification normally requires 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year.

The value-added component of this Faster Free Nights offer is the ability to earn free nights while fast-tracking your way to high elite status.

A member with no Hyatt hotel stays currently can register for this promotion and stay 14 times between October 1 and December 31.  The cost for 14 Hyatt hotel stays may cost as little as $1,100 to $1,500 for some members.

In addition to earning 7 free nights for any Hyatt Hotel worldwide and securing Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status before the end in 2009, the member will retain Hyatt Gold passport Diamond status through February 2011.

And for the truly ambitious the feat can be repeated or even delayed until January 2010. A member with 14 Hyatt hotel stays in January 2010 would earn 7 free nights and retain Diamond elite status through February 2012. January is traditionally the lowest hotel rates of the year in many locations.

Bottom Line: Hyatt has unveiled an unprecedented high value offer for the frequent guest who has the ability to leverage hotel stays into high value free nights while attaining high elite status in Gold Passport.

Sep 30 update: Hyatt’s Gold Passport Concierge, a company representative on FlyerTalk, announced today in Post 49 in link below that Gold Passport members selecting miles for hotel stays will qualify for Faster Free Nights and double stays elite credit .

Note on United Airlines 5,500 miles per stay bonus. Initial chatter on Gold Passport Concierge promotion FAQ on FlyerTalk indicates the Faster Free Nights and United miles bonus are mutually exclusive offers. I’ll report more about this when details become clear.  Gold passport members must earn points to earn free nights and stays count double credit. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt-gold-passport/998020-next-best-thing-ffn-2009-promotion-t-cs-faqs.html

Hyatt Regency Denver - complimentary Diamond member amenity of wine and food tray