A few bits and pieces from around the interweb that relate to Hyatt this afternoon (yes, I know not all are recent news):
My first stay at an MGM Resort finally credited to my Hyatt Gold Passport account today. It is exactly 14 days after check-out, the usual waiting period before Gold Passport asks you to contact them about missing stay credit. M life certainly likes to take it down to the wire, but it all worked out fine. Over 10,000 Gold Passport points, 1 stay, and 3 nights posted to my account thanks to my bachelor party.
I also earned over 45,000 M life tier credits, enough to qualify for M life’s Pearl tier (25K credits) even without any match from Hyatt. Sure there’s a big difference between Pearl and Platinum, but this is why status matches matter. Without one, I would book whatever’s cheapest and do it through Expedia or Orbitz. With a match, I ignore the other brands and prefer to book directly with the hotel. For the price of some line passes and better comps, MGM Resorts got more business — although there is the risk of annoying its longtime customers.
MJ on Travel shares that M life now has a partnership with Royal Caribbean, which helps out all of us with Hyatt matches. Apparently the status match is one way, from Royal Caribbean to M life, but M life elites will still receive some benefits on cruises outside of an official status match. I’ve been looking at taking my first cruise soon since my future in-laws are angling to visit Alaska.
Yet another bonus for having elite status with Hyatt, in my opinion. My Diamond status matches to M life Platinum which gets me some free Internet, a free dinner, and some drink coupons on the cruise. (Get the Hyatt Visa credit card and you can get Gold Passport Platinum, which matches to M life Gold.) Unfortunately the “free cruise” benefit at the bottom of the list for Platinum and NOIR members specifically excludes members who got their status from another match. Free trips like that only go to those who actually earn their status by losing money in the casino. I think I’d rather just use that money to pay for my own cruise…
Progress toward Lifetime Diamond status is now displayed in email updates from Gold Passport. The requirements for Lifetime Diamond status are 10 years of elite status plus 1,000,000 base points — which excludes bonuses of all sorts. In my case I’ve earned about 200,000 bonus points in the past two years but only a piddling number of base points, so clearly it’s not as easy to meet this challenge. You would need to spend $200,000 at Hyatt earning a base rate of 5 points per dollar. At least now I don’t have to call in to renew my feelings of inadequacy.
Hyatt announced an investment in Playa Hotels and Resorts, a chain of all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. This is another major expansion for Hyatt with a chain of all-inclusive resorts in Mexico. My dad’s ears perked up since he likes the one-and-done approach to travel, and he’s been angling for a vacation anyway.
It’s hard to tell how nice these resorts are and if they’ll meet Hyatt standards, but they are planning to renovate them and re-open them under the Hyatt brand over time. The first two will re-open later this year. Potentially another good move for Hyatt since I was previously considering some Starwood hotels for my next trip to Mexico.
