Hyatt Gold Passport announced a new feature for 2012 allowing members to earn points when dining or paying for spa services even when not staying as a registered guest of the Hyatt hotel.
There are few participating hotels at the present time. The program has been rolling out the past few months and is supposed to continue adding properties through August 2012 according to the initial announcement by Jeff Zidell, Hyatt VP
Currently there are only 13 properties worldwide listed as participating in the spa program and 9 of these Hyatt hotels do not participate in the dining points option. 27 hotels participate in the restaurant points option. 36 hotels in all is fewer than 10% participation.
Link: Earn and Redeem points at participating Hyatt restaurants and spas.
And once again I must point out that Hyatt posted the list of participating hotels by hotel brand rather than by geographical location designated with country and state. This is a common occurrence for many hotel loyalty programs when listing hotels for promotions as participating or non-participating hotels.
Like a Hyatt Gold Passport member is supposed to know where Hyatt at Olive 8 is located? I have been to the Hyatt at Olive 8. I know it is Seattle.
Real travelers want country and city locations. Most travelers have little use for a hotel list organized by brand.
Don’t the people at Hyatt know how useless a list of participating Hyatt hotels is for the average consumer without including any geographic location?
Redeeming Hyatt Gold Passport points for dining and spa credit.
Earning 5 points per dollar (plus elite bonus points if applicable) is a useful benefit. Less useful is the option to redeem points for dining and spa. The redemption rate is a poor redemption value for Hyatt Gold Passport points starting at $10 credit for 2,000 points. The rate improves at 12,000 points for $75 credit and 32,000 points for $250 credit.
The maximum value is $1,000 in credit for 120,000 points. You are unlikely to be a Loyalty Traveler reader if you have 120,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points you are willing to spend for $1,000 in spa and dining credit.
I look at 12,000 points and the value for a category 3 hotel reward night is easily double that $75 dining/spa value for most Hyatt category 3 hotels.
32,000 points is four nights at a category 2 hotel (4 nights x 8,000 points) or two nights at a Category 4 hotel (2 nights x 15,000 points). Hyatt Regency San Francisco is a Category 4 hotel that is $250 per night most Monday to Thursday weeknights of the year.
I need points for rooms and I certainly do not earn points fast enough to spend for poor redemption values on Dining & Spa awards.
The option to earn points is a nice enhancement for dining and spa as a non-guest at Hyatt hotels.
The ability to redeem points for dining and spa is a limited benefit for people who find themselves with more points than they need for hotel reward nights.
I find many Hyatt hotels offer Restaurant.com discounts. I have certificates for the two Hyatt restaurants at Carmel Highlands Inn and the Monterey Hyatt Regency for $25 discounts. I also have them for several other hotel restaurants in the Monterey and San Francisco area. Lower prices and points sounds like a win-win for this consumer. I’ll save my points for room nights.
This Hyatt Gold Passport points benefit for spa spending is a new benefit I will refrain from sharing with my wife. The Hyatt Regency Monterey spa is in our neighborhood. If and when that spa becomes part of this Hyatt Gold Passport points for spa spend as a hotel non-guest, I do not want my wife telling me what a great deal she gets every week earning 1,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for massages and treatments.
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