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Does Hyatt’s MyRate member discount beat AAA rates? Yes, sometimes.

There have been a myriad of blog posts and travel industry articles since early 2016 as each hotel loyalty program unveiled its book direct member discount room rates. I have stayed out of writing much on that topic.

Like most Californians, who rely on a personal auto for daily transportation because most of the state does not offer effective 21st century public transportation, I have spent most of my adult life as a AAA road club member. I have not found any discounts at Hyatt brand hotels in the USA with the new MyRate member only discount rate that exceeds, or in most cases, even matches AAA discount rates.

Hyatt Gold Passport My Elite Rate 2014

Hyatt Gold Passport launched its My Elite Rate in early 2014 with a 20% discount on room rate for some hotels available to HGP Platinum and Diamond members. Anyone with a Hyatt Visa card is automatically Platinum elite. This deal beat AAA rates in many cases.

Hyatt Gold Passport discontinued My Elite Rate at the end of 2014.

I was sorry to see it go. Hyatt’s My Elite Rate was an authentic hotel rate discount.

Loyalty Traveler – Tutorial Hyatt My Elite Rate 20% off 

Loyalty Traveler – Hyatt drops My Elite Rate and 5,000 points Bed Type Guarantee (Dec 11, 2014)

Hyatt Hotels MYRATE Member Discount rates return January 2016

The latest craze in member discount rates introduced for loyalty members in Hilton HHonors, IHG Rewards Club and Marriott Rewards this year seems to have been sparked by Hyatt Gold Passport with their roll out of new Hyatt Gold Passport benefits in January 2016. A new Hyatt Gold Passport member rate, available to all loyalty program members and not limited to elites, introduced MYRATE special offer code for Hyatt Gold Passport for hotel bookings in 2016.

Hyatt’s MyRate discount is generally 5 to 10% off Hyatt Daily Rate or BAR.

BAR = hotel industry term for standard room rate with most lenient flexible cancellation policies. This is in contrast to Prepaid or Advance Purchase rates which are generally nonrefundable from the moment of booking.

Two examples of Hyatt MYRATE member discount

Grand Hyatt San Francisco June 3-6, 2016

  • Standard Rate = $269
  • Member Discount MyRate = $256 (5% discount off BAR).

Hyatt Grand SF MyRate 2016

  • AAA rate = $243 (10% discount off BAR)

Hyatt Grand AAA rate June3-6

Multiply the AAA 10% discount room rate over 3 nights and the extra 5% off the MyRate Hyatt Gold Passport elite member rate adds up.

3-night total rate for June3-6, 2016 Grand Hyatt San Francisco stay after tax.

  1.  $847.32 AAA rate
  2. $894.23 MyRate Hyatt Gold Passport elite member rate
  3. $941.14 Hyatt Standard Rate (BAR)

Hotels where there are Hyatt MyRate Discounts

AAA discount rates do not apply at many international hotels. This is where you will likely find a better deal using Hyatt’s MyRate special offer code.

Park Hyatt Melbourne, Australia June 3-6

  • Standard Rate = $285 AUD
  • Member Discount MyRate = $257 AUD (10% discount)
  • AAA rate = not offered

Hyatt Park Melbourne MyRate June3-6

Hyatt’s Member Discount is an incentive to book direct with the hotel chain’s websites rather than an online travel agency. For most readers this is probably not even an issue.

The irony for me is the Member Discount campaigns being run by all the major hotel chains to promote Direct Booking coincides with legal rulings in Europe allowing online travel agencies (OTA) when marketing discount rates to their own opt-in members to undercut the hotel chain’s own website rates. I receive far more OTA member discount offers by email in 2016 than ever before.

Booking Direct with the Hotel Chain is Most Sensible, except…

For years I have been a strong advocate for booking direct with hotel chain websites, claiming that any lower rates found through an online travel agency will generally allow you to file a best rate guarantee claim for an even bigger room rate discount.

Now, in 2016, I find myself booking more room nights through OTA channels than in previous years as hotel chain’s have made it more difficult to get a legitimate best rate guarantee claim approved.

As a so-called expert in hotel loyalty programs and bookings, I can say with authority that often times the deals you see through online travel agency sites are truly the lowest rates you will find. But unless you find windfall savings with an OTA rate, like I have found a couple of times this year, then booking through the hotel’s website for points and benefits is generally the best deal.

Next up is Hilton’s ‘Stop Clicking Around’ member discount rate campaign.

4 Comments

  • Sam Barnes May 4, 2016

    “hotel chain’s have made it more difficult to get a legitimate best rate guarantee claim approved”

    Could you elaborate on this point? I am puzzled because although I have started looking for, and filing, BRG claims only in the last year, I have had a 100% success rate across seven or eight claims spread out between SPG and Hyatt. If it has been difficult, it is only because the discrepancies between rates on the hotel website and on OTAs aren’t all that frequent. What sorts of difficulties have you experienced?

    Coincidentally, I’m writing this from a hotel which I booked with a BRG: SPG approved the claim in under 20 min, fastest ever.

  • Ric Garrido May 4, 2016

    @Sam – I used to book 20 or more best rate guarantee claims per year. About half my stays were BRG claims. I have used the method for a decade to get hotel rate discounts.

    Claims are still pretty easy to get processed in the USA when you find a legitimate rate discrepancy. Much harder at international hotels.

    The common occurrence I come across is a high rate in the foreign currency, for example, assume a hotel in Denmark with rates in DKK is the equivalent of $200 USD. Then, I check Expedia.com in USA and the rate in dollars might be $150 USD per night, $50 per night less based on the currency exchange rate. But if I go to Expedia.dk the rate is posted in the higher DKK rate, same as the hotel chain.

    Since most hotel chains require the currency to be the same for a best rate guarantee, these kinds of rate discrepancy claims will not be approved, despite the fact that there is a $50 per night room rate difference, not due to minor currency adjustments.

    Of course, some chains do not require same currency.

    I have spent far more nights in international hotels the past two years and notice this more frequently.

    In the USA the response time has slowed to a crawl, sometimes requiring days, if any response is provided at all after submitting a best rate guarantee claim. I did not experience this nearly as frequently three years ago. I have had multiple approved Best Rate Guarantee claims in all the major U.S. hotel chains over the years. I think the process is worse today than in past years.

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