Hyatt House • Jay Pritzker founded Hyatt in 1957 when he purchased the first Hyatt House hotel adjacent to the Los Angeles airport from business partners Hyatt von Dehn and Jack Dyer Crouch. Within four years, Pritzker acquired an additional five hotels.
Now, more than 50 years later, Hyatt has hundreds of properties and several different brands: Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House and Hyatt Residence Club.Compared to other major hotel chains, Hyatt is relatively small at over 500 properties worldwide. Hyatt Gold Passport has achieved a loyal following and currently has more than 14 million members.
Earning Ability
Hyatt Gold Passport members earn five points per dollar spent on eligible room rates and incidental charges, including food, beverage and spa services. You can earn points on eligible charges even if your room rate does not qualify to earn points (such as an award stay or when you purchase your stay through a third-party website). Guests not staying at the hotel can earn points when spending the day at a Hyatt spa or dining at a Hyatt hotel restaurant at participating locations. If you choose to earn miles instead of points, you’ll earn 500 miles per stay with most of Hyatt’s airline partners.
Members earn one point per eligible dollar spent, up to 50,000 bonus points, through the Hyatt Gold Pass- port Planner Rewards program when hosting a group (must book at least 10 rooms per night) or event at participating Hyatt hotels.
Members can also earn points with car rentals and through credit card spending with the Hyatt Credit Card. Like most major hotel loyalty programs, Hyatt Gold Passport has frequent special offers and promotions.
Award Choices
Hyatt has six hotel categories for free night awards. A Category 1 night in a standard room is 5,000 points (7,000 points for Regency/ Grand Club room). A standard room at a Category 2 hotel is 8,000 points (10,000 points for Regency/Grand Club room), a standard room at a Category 3 hotel is 12,000 points (15,000 points for Regency/Grand Club room), a standard room at a Category 4 hotel is 15,000 points (18,000 points for Regency/Grand Club room), a standard room at a Category 5 hotel is 18,000 points (22,000 points for Regency/Grand Club room) and a standard room at a Category 6 hotel is 22,000 points (27,000 points for Regency/Grand Club room).
Suites range from 8,000 to 33,000 points per night depending on cate- gory (a minimum three-night award stay is required at most brands, and suite awards are not available at Hyatt Place). In monetary terms, a Category 1 hotel is available for members after $1,000 in spending at Hyatt hotels.
Members can redeem points for eligible charges at participating Hyatt restaurants and spas starting at 2,000 points for a $10 credit. Eligible charges include food and beverage, spa and salon services and retail items. If you redeem points for a portion of eligible dining and spa purchases, the remaining charge will not earn points. Hotel guests can also redeem points for incidentals such as pay-per-view movies, parking, laundry and dry cleaning.
Hyatt also offers room upgrade awards when you pay for your stay at qualifying rates, a minimum of the Hyatt Daily Rate deluxe room at resorts and a minimum of the Hyatt Daily Rate at non-resort properties. Members can upgrade to a Regency/Grand Club room for up to four nights for 3,000 points per stay or spend 6,000 points for a suite upgrade for up to four nights. Stays at Hyatt Residence Club locations are also available for points. Hyatt Residence Club (studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums) awards range from 12,000 to 30,000 points per night, depending on the number of bedrooms.
Points can be converted to miles with partner airlines at a rate of 2.5 points to one mile (minimum 5,000 points per conversion in 1,250-point increments), and if you convert 50,000 points or more, you’ll get a bonus 5,000 miles, so 50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points converts to 25,000 miles. Avis car rental awards are available for 6,000 points for a one-day rental.
Partnerships
Hyatt Gold Passport partners with 28 frequent flyer programs around the world as well as rail partner Amtrak. Most members who elect to earn miles will earn 500 miles per stay, but the amounts can vary. Some variations include Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards where members earn 600 points per stay and Virgin Atlantic Airways Flying Club where members earn 750 miles per stay. Members can earn 300 Gold Passport points per qualifying Avis car rental.
The Hyatt Credit Card offers members three points for every $1 spent at Hyatt; two points for dining, airline tickets purchased directly from the airline and car rental purchases; and one point for every $1 spent elsewhere with no limit to the amount of points you can earn through credit card spending. Cardmembers will receive two free nights at any Hyatt worldwide after spending $1,000 on the card in the first three months after account opening as well as a free night in a Category 1-4 property each year on their cardmember anniversary. Cardmembers receive complimentary Platinum membership that offers a 15 percent point bonus on each stay among other benefits and the ability to earn Diamond status more quickly by receiving two stay credits and five night credits toward Diamond status when spending $20,000 in each calendar year, plus an additional three stay credits and five night credits toward Diamond status when spending $40,000 in a calendar year. The card has a $75 annual fee and waives foreign trans- action fees.
Hyatt Gold Passport launched a partnership with M life, the rewards program of MGM Resorts International, in June of this year, and Hyatt Gold Passport members who stay at any of the participating 12 MGM Resorts locations in Las Vegas, including Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay, can earn Hyatt Gold Passport points and credit toward elite status. Members will also be able to redeem points for stays at MGM Resorts.
Hyatt is an Ultimate Rewards transfer partner and members can transfer Ultimate Rewards points into Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.Hyatt does not have any other partnerships and members cannot earn points with additional retail, financial or other partners.
Elite-Level Program
Hyatt Gold Passport’s elite program won top honors at the Freddie Awards in both the Americas and Asia regions. Hyatt Gold Pass- port has two elite levels: Platinum and Diamond. Platinum level is attained after five stays or 15 nights at Hyatt each calendar year. Benefits include a 15 percent point bonus, complimentary in-room Internet access, guaranteed 72-hour room availability and preferred rooms (larger rooms or those on higher floors) based on availability at check-in. Other benefits that come with Platinum membership include confirmed bed type at check-in, expedited check-in with a dedicated area for elite members and an exclusive Platinum reservation line.
Diamond level is attained after 25 stays or 50 nights each calendar year and, as well as Platinum benefits, Diamond members receive a 30 percent point bonus, guaranteed 48-hour room availability and the best room available excluding suites. Diamond members also receive exclusive access to the Regency Club or Grand Club lounge, which includes complimentary break- fast and evening hors d’oeuvres. In hotels without a club lounge, Diamond members will still receive daily complimentary full breakfast. They additionally receive a choice of a welcome point bonus or food and beverage amenity during each stay and up to a 4:00pm late checkout upon request. Diamond members also receive four suite upgrades per year at the time of reservation for up to seven paid nights per stay.
Hyatt has an unpublished life- time Diamond status, requiring 10 consecutive years as a Gold Passport member plus one million base points.
Rules & Conditions
Members must be at least 18 years of age. There are no blackout dates for award nights. Members can combine their points at no charge with one other designated Hyatt Gold Passport member to redeem an award only once every 30 days. Both members must sign the Hyatt Gold Passport Point Combination Request Form and submit the form to Hyatt Gold Passport customer service.
Members can also purchase points at $24 for every 1,000 points, up to 40,000 points per transaction and per calendar year. Awards can be transferred to anyone.
Charges for stays prior to member’s enrollment in Hyatt Gold Passport will not be eligible for retroactive credit, but missed credit can be claimed within one year of checkout. Points can only be earned on eligible published room rates. Members will not earn points on stays booked at third party sites (including priceline.com, hotels.com, Expedia and Travelocity), employee rates and other discounted rates.
Eligible incidental charges vary on a hotel-by-hotel basis, but generally include food, beverage and other charges such as laundry and dry cleaning. Members may receive points for up to three rooms.
Points do not expire but according the the membership terms, “if an account is left inactive for more than 12 calendar months, the account may be deleted and all points in the account forfeited.”
Service Support
Members can contact customer support by phone, email, Hyatt Concierge on Twitter or the Hyatt Facebook page. Members are generally pleased with Hyatt’s customer support, and we rarely hear complaints. As one member put it, “Hyatt does such a great job of exceeding my expectations.” When we called Hyatt late in the afternoon on a Friday, we were connected to a knowledgeable customer service representative in under a minute.
Online Services
Missing points can be requested online and members can convert and redeem points for awards online. Hyatt Gold Passport has a complete list of hotels by award category online, so it’s fairly easy for members to see which Hyatt properties are in each hotel category. Once logged on, a summary provides members with account details, including point balance, membership level and account activity.
[+] Plus Features
Hyatt Gold Passport has an award- winning elite program and Diamond elite members receive complimentary upgrades at check-in (excluding suites), four complimentary suite upgrades per year, confirmable at time of booking and complimentary breakfast. Upgrades on paid stays are reasonably priced starting at 3,000 points per stay. Hyatt has some exceptional, aspirational properties to inspire point redemption.
[-] Minus Features
There is no cash and points redemption option and Hyatt discontinued its Passport Escapes program last year, which allowed members to redeem points for a hotel stay plus daily breakfast and three dinners on a five-night stay and five dinners on a seven-night stay. Hyatt has fewer properties than Marriott, IHG, Hilton and Starwood. Other than staying at hotels, using the Hyatt credit card and renting cars with Avis, Hyatt Gold Passport does not have any other partners for earning points. Award stays don’t count for elite status and Diamond members cannot use their confirmed upgrades on award stays.
Report Card from Readers
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Rating: A-
The real strengths of this program: Redemption—very generous for their top end programs, it takes less spending to earn a free night at a top end luxury hotel than with the other major programs. They are also the most generous by FAR with confirmed suite upgrades for points, as well as for redeeming for free nights in suites.Top tier elite benefits—they are alone in offering CONFIRMED AT BOOKING suite upgrades, and they have the most generous breakfast benefit (the only program writing FULL rather than continental break- fast into their terms and conditions for when no club lounge is available).The biggest drawback to the Hyatt Gold Passport program is its reach —thye’re half the size of Starwood and materially smaller than Marriott, IHG Rewards and Hilton. But they’re also more generous with earn/burn and elite benefits. So tradeoffs.Would love some more partnerships on the earning side. Would love cash and points redemptions, the ability to use Diamond confirmed suite upgrades on award nights, would be nice if award nights counted towards status (but that would bloat the elite ranks, they’d probably need a tier above 25 stays/50 nights). I also wish that Diamond complimentary upgrades were to the best available room at check-in including rather than excluding suites.Overall, I give the program an A-. They’re the strongest hotel loyalty program at this point IMHO, the major reason to pick another program is that their hotels (either quality, price point or location) don’t work. But the elements of the program itself are top notch.
gleff [Milepoint]
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[box]InsideFlyer Rated
Overall Score: 7.93
Earning Ability: 7.0
Award Choices: 7.5
Partnerships: 7.5
Elite Level: 9.0
Rules & Conditions: 8.0
Service Support: 8.5
Online Services: 8.0 [/box]
Program Information:
Hyatt Gold Passport Customer Service Center
PO Box 27089
Omaha, NE 68127-0089
(800) 288-8889
