“Beginning today, we are rewarding Hyatt Gold Passport members with a discount for reservations at Hyatt hotels in the U.S., Canada and Australia made through Hyatt.com or our mobile app”, Ellen Lee — who is the senior vice president of global digital at Hyatt Hotels Corporation — posted earlier today as the official company representative of InsideFlyer known as Hyatt Gold Passport Concierge. “Why? Because experience matters, and we can provide you with the best one when you book directly with us. We have more chances to get to know you — with more information that’s straight from the source — and more opportunities to personalize your experience, whether that’s you picking the best room type or us knowing you want an extra blanket.”

Book Directly With Hyatt and Save Up to 10 Percent Off of Your Room Reservations

This new discount — with which you could save up to ten percent off of your room rate but is subject to availability — is only one of the benefits of booking directly with Hyatt.

• Best Value If you find a qualifying lower rate published on another Internet web site within 24 hours of booking, Hyatt will match it with its best rate guarantee and discount it by 20 percent for the entire stay. “There was some confusion about this recently,” posted Lee, “so be sure you’ve seen the latest details on Hyatt.com.”
• Loyalty Program Benefits As a members of the Hyatt Gold Passport frequent guest loyalty program, you can earn loyalty points and credit toward elite tier status if you book your reservations directly with Hyatt, which brings additional benefits — such as free premium Wi-Fi access and complimentary suite upgrades if you have earned Diamond level elite status.
• On-the-Go Access and Support The official Internet web site of Hyatt and the official mobile application software program allows you to manage reservations on-the-go more easily — including changes in your reservations without surprise fees; and support 24 hours per day via telephone or social media channels.

Enhanced Experience Via Your Mobile Device

An enhanced mobile software application program that will further your ability to drive your own experiences — including instant communication with employees of Hyatt on services such as Messenger or text messaging — is expected to be released in “test mode” within the next few weeks. It will be shared with you for your feedback to fine-tune it before its official launch.

Special Discount is Not All Good News

As with other lodging companies with frequent guest loyalty programs offering a nominal discount and a few benefits — such as Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest — members of the Hyatt Gold Passport frequent guest loyalty program will enjoy similar benefits.

That is good news to anyone who is a Hyatt Gold Passport member; but if you had earned elite level status prior to last year, you might have most likely enjoyed discounts of up to 20 percent with the special My Elite room rates, which had been discontinued as of January of 2015 — considered bad news to the chagrin of members of InsideFlyer.

Also, the My Elite room rates were good at participating hotel and resort properties globally — unlike this discount, which is limited to participating hotel and resort properties in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Whether or not this new discounted rate will be expanded to participating hotel and resort properties in other parts of the world has not been officially announced; but despite certain exceptions, keep in mind that the aforementioned discounted rates from other lodging companies are generally valid worldwide. Consider this limitation when you need to book a room reservation at a hotel or resort property outside of the United States, Canada and Australia.

Summary

Offering discounted rates to members may very well be a way for Hyatt Hotels Corporation to gain as much control over the buying experience of its customers in order to be able to sell additional options — such as upgrades, for example — during the process of booking a reservation. Simultaneously, Hyatt Hotels Corporation does not have to pay a commission to Internet travel agencies such as Orbitz and Expedia when a customer books a reservation directly through an authorized official channel of Hyatt. Hyatt Hotels Corporation has every right to do so as a business while presenting what could potentially be a win-win situation for the company and its customers…

…but as with the aforementioned similar initiatives from competing lodging companies, do not automatically assume that you will get the lowest price if you use this discount room rate. There may be times where the exclusive rate for Hyatt Gold Passport members is indeed the lowest room rate; but you will only know by continuing to check around to find the best room rate whose terms and conditions are right for you — whether it is a corporate rate, a special rate through an association or other affiliated entity; or as the result of a sale.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.