This past week I made two Hyatt Gold Passport room night reservations using 15,000 points per night for a category 4 hotel. There was no availability when trying to redeem my free night certificates earned from Hyatt Gold Passport Endless Possibilities promotion and Hyatt Visa credit card annual free night certificate.
When I tried to change the award reservation from points to the free night certificate over the phone, the Hyatt Gold Passport customer service representative stated standard room award availability comes from different inventory pools for free night certificates, vs. Hyatt Gold Passport points vs. ‘My Elite Rate’ 20% off.
Here are some screen shots to show how standard room availability changes depending on how you are trying to book the room.
Hyatt Gold Passport “My Elite Rate” offers 20% off the daily rate of any standard room.
Exclusive 20% discount
Look for the new My Elite Rate — exclusively for Platinum and Diamond members — and enjoy 20% off the daily rate on any standard room in 2014 (subject to availability).
Once you’re logged in to your Hyatt Gold Passport account on hyatt.com, look for the My Elite Rate or simply request it when you book a reservation through a Hyatt Worldwide Reservation Center. Please note that the My Elite Rate will not appear when other Special Rates (i.e. AAA, Government, etc) are requested and displayed. The My Elite Rate must be booked at the time of reservation.
The Hyatt Gold Passport “My Elite Rate” introduced in January 2014 offers 20% off the daily rate on any standard room.
Endless Possibilities promotion January 15 – April 30, 2014
Beginning January 15, 2014, members will have more reward options with the Endless Possibilities promotion. Members can earn a free night or thousands of bonus points after every five nights you stay with us by April 30.
Choose Free Nights
Earn a free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel worldwide after every five nights. Enjoy four free nights after you stay a maximum of 20 nights. Redeem free nights with no blackout dates through July 31, 2014.
Obviously no blackout dates is not the same as award nights will be available anytime there is standard room availability.
Andaz Savannah Case Study
Andaz Savannah shows ‘My Elite Rate’ availability.
When I checked the box “Show Hyatt Gold Passport Points”, a different screen appeared showing no points award availability and an offer for a much higher $299 Diamond guarantee room rate.
Hyatt Regency Savannah case study Free night certificate vs. points award
Since the Andaz Savannah was not available for points, I turned my attention to Hyatt Regency Savannah.
There was points award availability for Hyatt Regency Savannah and “My Elite Rate” availability for a King Room.
Hyatt Regency Savannah – King Room for 15,000 points or $167.20 per night.
Yet, when I tried to book the hotel using my free night certificate, the Diamond guarantee availability message came up again offering two double beds at this hotel room for $299 per night.
There was standard room award availability using points and standard room availability for “My Elite Rate”, but no availability when trying to redeem my category 1-4 free night certificate earned from the Endless Possibilities promotion or my Hyatt Visa category 1-4 free night certificate.
Hyatt Gold Passport customer service stated that Hyatt Gold Passport free night certificate inventory comes from a different pool of standard room awards than points awards.
Obviously, free night certificates have a more restricted “standard room” inventory pool than either points awards or ‘My Elite Rate’ bookings.
Endless Possibilities free night certificates expire July 31, 2014. On top of the quick expiration date is the more restricted availability of rooms for redemption using these free night certificates compared to points awards.
Bottom Line: In future Hyatt Gold passport Promotions, take into consideration that free night certificates are harder to redeem than points for award nights.
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