We recently reported about Hyatt improving their World of Hyatt program from 2024 forward, ironing out some kinks that irked members for years, such as being able to earn more milestone awards beyond 100 nights. It does appear, however,...
We recently reported about Hyatt improving their World of Hyatt program from 2024 forward, ironing out some kinks that irked members for years, such as being able to earn more milestone awards beyond 100 nights.
It does appear, however, that Hyatt failed to improve some of the most obvious problems with the WOH program, and that is the mediocre points earning ratio relative to revenue spent at the properties.
The ability to earn points, which then in turn can be used for free nights (or, in some cases, airline miles), is the most important feature of a loyalty program in addition to elite benefits.
Hyatt has traditionally missed out on providing an adequate and (in my opinion) fair earning ratio. This was still somewhat okay for as long as the former Hyatt Gold Passport [now World of Hyatt] provided generous promotions and reasonably low redemption values.
But now, we haven’t seen great points-earning/accelerating promotions for quite a while, and since Hyatt introduced peak awards, some hotels became pretty much unobtainable through points, even for Globalist members.
You can access Hyatt’s website here to look at all the earning and spending abilities as a WOH member.
Here is how you earn:
And some bonus benefits for tier members:
The bonus is really negligible compared to the competition (Hilton, Marriott, IHG) absolutely mediocre.
Hyatt Globalist earns a lousy 30% bonus on the already very low base earning of 5 points per USD (pre tax).
In comparison, the bonus for the top tier members of other chains:
Hilton Diamond 100% (even Gold earns 80%) IHG Diamond 100% Marriott Titanium 75%You can’t compare each program prima facie without getting into the exact cost for redemptions but after playing this game for 20 years now, Hyatt has unfortunately dropped the ball on rewards for earned points based on property spent and instead morphed into a rewards system for Chase credit cards.
As it stands right now, credit card holders of the Chase Hyatt Visa (and Sapphire Preferred/Reserve) are gaining more from pumping credit card spend than someone who is a long-term member and spends money at Hyatt Hotels.
Here are the upcoming changes that John wrote about last month and which are about to kick in soon:
There are some good improvements in the mix, but they haven’t gone far enough, in my opinion. A somewhat decent hotel will cost you anywhere from 15-20k these days depending on seasonality of the award. A good one between 20-30k+.
If you consider that you earn five base points per USD spent, not considering taxes and service charges, Then these are crazy thresholds.
Unfortunately, the only way to make the World of Hyatt program work is by being able to spend money on a Chase branded credit card that allows earning with Hyatt (only available in the U.S.) or by asking hotels to provide compensation for problems you encounter in points. Just earning the plain way simply isn’t going to get you anywhere anymore.
Conclusion
Hyatt is extremely stringy when it comes to awarding members with a fair points ratio relative to the money spent at hotels, all while showering credit card holders with tons of points and elite nights. This has thrown a wrench into the machine of the programs and the increase in award prices over the years as well as the introduction of seasonality surcharges compounded the problem even more.
They have to do something about this, especially the low bonuses extended to Globalist members. The 30% points bonus is a complete joke, as the industry standard is 75-100% for the top tier level. The only saving grace is that Hyatt Hotels treats Globalist members very well when it comes to the property level. But not everybody is a Globalist, and 60 nights at hotels per year is no easy feat, especially with a small footprint and traditionally higher rates such as Hyatt.
