Hyatt Gold Passport to offer elite discounts, points + cash redemptions
By Chris C., November 21 2013
Improvements to the roster of Hyatt Gold Passport benefits will see a lengthier points expiry period, along with discounted room rates and a new redemption option.
From January 7 and throughout 2014, Platinum and Diamond members will have access to an exclusive ‘My Elite Rate’, offering a 20% discount on the daily rate for any standard room – though this excludes any applicable taxes and incidental charges such as room service and hotel dining.
Members wishing to book a room under the discounted elite rate must ensure that they are signed in to their Hyatt.com membership account at the time of making an online booking, or must specifically request the rate when making a reservation over the phone.
Discounts will not be applied retrospectively for members who forget to ask for (or book) the more favourable rate – though if this happens to you and your existing reservation is flexible, you could always book a new room under the discounted rate (if available) before cancelling your existing booking.
A new ‘Points + Cash’ option will also become available for telephone reservations, allowing members with fewer points to book a standard room at over 500 Hyatt hotels around the world.
The redemption rates appear below, with the $USD amounts to be converted into each hotel’s local currency when settling the bill upon departure:
Upcoming hotel category changes will see the Grand Hyatt Melbourne and Hyatt Regency Perth moving up to Category 4 from early January – joining the Hyatt Hotel Canberra (a Park Hyatt Hotel) – with the Park Hyatt Melbourne moving to Category 5, and the luxe harbour-front Park Hyatt Sydney to the new Category 7.
In addition to these category refinements, travellers redeeming their points outright will also face changes to redemption rates, with a suite at participating Category 7 properties to effectively increase from 33,000 points to 48,000 points per night.
Currently, the following award rates apply:
From January 7, these new award rates will apply. When combined with the concurrent hotel category changes, it's a double whammy for Hyatt guests!
In a positive change, less frequent travellers will also be able to remain inactive in the program for up to 24 months while still retaining their points, though these are easily protected by the occasional stay or redemption.
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
12 Jun 2013
Total posts 732
Minor correction: the Park Hyatt Sydney is moving into the new Category 7 band (along with a very small number of other Hyatts). This was the devaluation that Gold Passport members were annoyed about last week.
This week's announcement, however, seems to be a significant enhancement, with no downsides, which is something you don't get all that often! I'm a perma-Platinum thanks to my Hyatt-branded credit card (a souvenir from seven years in the US) so a string-free 20% discount is fantastic.
And points plus dollars seems to be a great deal. Something like the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, which typically goes for $250 a night, for 6000 points plus $75, is a great deal.
Now, if only there were more Hyatts in Australia...
19 Jan 2012
Total posts 427
Yep, many thanks for an informative article, but perhaps the details of the virtually concurrent devaluations (which impact Australian Hyatts) could also be summarised to provide the full picture?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2011
Total posts 732
Nice article, but agreed with PLATY (and as highlighted in the article), huge devaluations for points redemptions does not make Hyatt that attractive (granted, other chains also devaluated big time so I guess it is more or less in line with the trend).
Also, although the new cash and points redemptions can be attractive (esp in the category 2 to 6, as they represent the cheapest options in terms of "buying" points), they are capacity controlled by the hotels so it remains to be seen how much rooms will be available. On a positive note: cash and points bookings do count towards elite status.
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