I posted this morning that changes would be coming to Hyatt Gold Passport — some benefits changes and also some properties going up in points for redemption and others going down.
Now we have a few more details. Hyatt Gold Passport has announced:
- Guaranteed 4pm late checkout for Diamond members (but still subject to availability at resort and casino properties). This brings them up to Starwood, though we’ll see how they do in practice because Hyatt has long had difficulty meeting expectations with late checkout. No doubt this new policy will come along with training of hotel properties. In my earlier posted I noted being turned down for 2pm at the Andaz 5th Avenue back in May as a Diamond, I really appreciate Gold Passport putting 4pm in writing. This will mean a great deal for Hyatt’s top elites. (Meanwhile, 2pm late checkout – which was never guaranteed for non-elite members – is no longer a benefit of base membership in the program.)
- Nightly room refresh for Diamonds. Love the 4pm checkout but this one I don’t quite get, Diamonds get “light housekeeping and bedroom turndown service” which is something many full service hotels inconsistently deliver on for everyone already. Again, I imagine some retraining comes along with the new benefit, so more consistent service delivery for Diamonds will improve the travel experience.
- New amenity choices at lower end properties. In lieu of 500 points, Diamonds can choose a $5 credit in the Guest Market at Summerfield Suites or complimentary beverage at Hyatt Place. I’ll still take the points.
And as previously reported, 25 hotels will go up in points to redeem and 18 hotels will go down. The change won’t take place on August 4, though, the list will be published then so we’ll have about four weeks notice before the change goes into effect on September 1. That I can live with.
The 4pm late checkout for Diamonds is huge, it’s an area that Hyatt really needed to work on and I’m glad to see that they have. The hotel recategorization is likely to be a fairly standard affair, we’ll have to wait until August 4 to find out precisely. The rest is a bit of non-news, I’d think.
I still expect more to coming over the next few weeks, like the announcement of new Gold Passport promotions. Stay tuned!
Hyatt is more open than the other hotel programs regarding hotel category adjustments as long as Hyatt is posting the changes before they actually take effect.
Looks like they will follow the member friendly policy they applied for June 2010 hotel category changes.
The properties have already been released check vielfliegertreff.de
http://www.vielfliegertreff.de/hotel-bonusprogramme/11814-der-gold-passport-guide-faq-9.html#post489236
Sehr gute Information, Ben!
Many changes are category 1 to 2, or 2 to 3, or Category 5 to 4, etc. The changes are not all that major. In fact, the Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Dubai both drop down a category. There are three hotels going up in category from 5 to 6: Andaz Wall St., Hyatt Hakone, and Hotel Victor.
The room refresh thing is really lame. Kinda goes along with where they list a hairdryer as a room amenity. *rolls eyes*
Overall, the list isn’t too bad…except for the Andaz Wall St.
Come on Starwood, Wake up !
As I’ve said elsewhere, the 4pm late checkout is an illusory benefit for me because it is not available for me at the one place I need it most – resorts. Late checkout is useless to many business travelers like myself who checkout early morning as we will be rushing to the airport after our last meeting to catch flights home. So the only time I can see this as useful is for city tourist taking late flights, or perhaps people taking redeyes (which I avoid like the plague).
IMO a more useful benefit would be guaranteed 2pm at resorts, and/or guaranteed early arrival (which IC Royal Ambassadors get) which is very useful when you come off a TATL or TPAC flight.
Regular GP members were just informed that 2 PM checkouts will no longer be granted.