Hyatt Gold Passport has uploaded its registration page for the 20,000 bonus points after 8 nights Winter 2009 promotion.
The promotion is quite simple and displayed in Hyatt’s Bonus Points Earning Table:
Adam Kirby’s Mu&Mi blog post “Like Unicorns to Leprechauns” on January 7 for Hotelsmag.com, pointed to the fact that differences between hotel program points systems and redemption systems make it too confusing for the consumer to really know the comparative value of the current hotel promotions.
I actually use my website, www.frequentguest.net, to check facts on earning points, redeeming points, and elite status qualification and benefits for the different major hotel loyalty programs when I want to quickly check and not navigate between all the hotel program websites. Comparative analysis of hotel loyalty programs is a central feature of Loyalty Traveler blog posts.
The difficulty in comparing promotion value arises from all the variables involved in fulfilling a promotion. A case example using just two different stay patterns and different elite membership levels will show the great variability in points earned with the current Hyatt promotion for two different Gold Passport members in far-ranging economic brackets of hotel spending.
Hyatt Points Accumulation Stay-Off: Ms Leisure Value vs. Mr Rich Guest
Ms. Leisure Value is a Hyatt Gold Passport top-elite Diamond member. Some Gold Passport snobs refer to her as Diamond-lite. She earned her Diamond status in winter 2008 with Hyatt’s Double stays promotion after only 13 nights and $1,700 in hotel spending.
Mr. Rich Guest had 25 Hyatt hotel nights in 2008 at an average per night rate of $325. Mr. Rich Guest is Hyatt Platinum elite. Rich frequents resorts.
Mr. Rich Guest booked the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort Deluxe Oceanfront room for $4,468 for 8 nights in February 2009. Normally he would only stay 7 nights, but an additional 8,000 Gold Passport points was enough incentive to add an extra vacation night and get the full 8 nights and 20,000 points Gold Passport promotion bonus during his annual Hawaii vacation hotel stay.
Mr. Rich Guest earns hotel stay base points ($4,468 x 5 points per $1=22,340), elite member points (15% of base points = 3,351), and the 20,000 bonus points for his 8-night stay in Maui.
Cost after taxes is more than $5,000+ for 45,691 points earned.
Mr. Rich Guest has earned sufficient points for 3 free nights at a 15,000 point per night Category 4 hotel or 2 free nights at 18,000 points per night for a Category 5 hotel.
The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort is a Gold Passport Redemption category 5 hotel requiring 18,000 points per night.
Ms. Value has a trip to Australia planned for July 2008. The Park Hyatt Sydney is also a top-tier Category 5 redemption property with a cost of 18,000 points per free night. Currently the lowest priced room at the Park Hyatt Sydney for her stay is $500USD per night.
Park Hyatt Sydney, Australia centrally located with Harbour Bridge in background
Ms. Value wants to use Hyatt’s promotion to maximize the number of points she earns with the least cost. Her strategy for getting maximum points is to have numerous one-night stays.
Ms. Value always checks Hyatt Gold Passport bonus offers, called “G” offers for hotel stay booking bonuses. http://goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/offers/bonus.jsp
Ms. Value sees the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara has a G3 1,500 bonus points offer valid through February 28, 2009. A quick check of Santa Clara hotel rates shows the weekend rate tonight is less than $85 per night.
Ms. Value books 8 single night stays at various hotels offering G bonuses of 1,000 to 2,000 points per stay during the promotion period. Her hotel nightly rate averages $100, or $800 for all 8 hotel stays and she averages 1,500 points per stay with Gold Passport booking bonuses.
As a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member, Ms. Value is offered 1,000 bonus points as an amenity for each Hyatt Hotel stay.
For 8 nights completed as 8 separate hotel stays, Ms. Value earns
· 4,000 hotel spending base points ($800 x 5 points/$1);
· 1,200 Diamond elite bonus points (30% of base points);
· 20,000 promotional bonus points,
· 12,000 G bonus booking points, and
· 8,000 Diamond amenity points.
Ms. Leisure Value earns 45,200 Gold Passport points on $800 in hotel spending and her 8 hotel stays have her on track to complete 25 stays in 2009 and maintain Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite status.
Ms. Leisure Value has sufficient points for two free nights using points at the Park Hyatt Sydney next July, a $1,000USD value, and is well on her way to a free third night. Ms. Leisure Value will also likely receive a room upgrade to a better category view at the Park Hyatt as a benefit of her Diamond elite status. There are some lovely room views of the Sydney Opera House.
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Mr. Rich Guest earned 45,691 Gold Passport points on $4,468 in hotel spending and his 8-night stay earned sufficient points for two free nights at any Hyatt Hotel. Mr. Rich Guest is unlikely to reach Diamond elite in 2009, and so will continue to pay full-fare for the kind of hotel room he wants.
Mr. Rich Guest still feels good about earning sufficient points for two free nights at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort he can use with next year’s stay. He rationalizes that he got a 25% rebate on his Hawaiian vacation.
The bottom line: Informed consumer shopping when planning your hotel stay strategy will greatly increase your points earned without greatly increasing your hotel spending.
P.S. If there are no Hyatt Hotels around you with $85 per night rates, then take a road trip and travel. There are plenty of Hyatt’s with rates below $100 per night, especially during the next three months.
