Tag Archives: Hyatt Hotels

a black text on a white background

Most of my 2017 Travel Predictions Were Wrong (Who Could Have Predicted That?)

Posted on by . 2 Replies

Good morning everyone, happy almost New Years Eve.  Earlier this month, Doctor of Credit wrote how bad travel bloggers are at making predictions (I came in last at 33% correct), but he only reviewed our credit card predictions.  I made a lot of other predictions in January 2017, so let’s see how good or bad my predictions were.  I covered airlines, hotels, credit cards, and MS.  I will put my thoughts in bold at the end of each prediction.

Airlines

  • Southwest seems bent on making the Companion Pass very difficult to get unless you fly Southwest every week.  I believe credit card signup bonuses will no longer count toward the Companion Pass and Southwest might kill the whole concept of the Companion Pass entirely or switch to a certificate program similar to the Alaska Airlines companion fare or Virgin America companion ticket.  Southwest Airlines did eliminate hotel transfers counting toward the Companion Pass, but credit card spend and sign up bonuses still count toward the Companion Pass.  I am also the proud companion on my girlfriend’s Companion Pass.
  • Other airline credit cards will adopt the Alaska Airlines companion fare (you pay full price and your companion pays up to $120) or the Virgin America companion ticket (you pay full price and your companion pays full price minus $150).  No, I don’t think any other airline added a companion fare as a credit card benefit.
  • American will introduce a basic economy fare class to compete/copy Delta and United.  Yes, I got this one right!
  • Alaska Airlines will introduce a new level of elite status (maybe MVP Gold 100K?)  No, Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K is still the highest elite level.
  • More airlines will get away from the 12,500 one way domestic ticket and start to introduce 5,000, 7,500, and 10,000 mile awards.  Yes, I think Alaska Airlines announced cheaper awards on shorter flights.
  • British Airways will kill the 4,500 Avios award band globally and possibly remove one of their lower award tiers.  No, 4,500 British Airways Avios tier is still available outside the US.
  • Singapore Airlines will allow us to book Star Alliance awards online, rather than calling in.  Partially true, but not rolled out completely.
  • Hawaiian Airlines will get bought by a low cost airline, Southwest Airlines or JetBlue.  No, no one bought Hawaiian Airlines.
  • We will see 1 or 2 more mileage matching promos, this time from a big legacy airline.  No, no mileage matching promo like the JetBlue / Virgin America match last year.
  • My ~20,000 Spirit Airlines miles will expire and I won’t care.  Sort of, my Spirit Airlines miles did expire, but I still shed 1 tear.

Continue reading →

a close up of a logo

Review: Taste of India Gift Box from the World of Hyatt

Posted on by . Leave a reply

Did you catch the offer from World of Hyatt called Try The World? Hyatt wants to “connect us to the people, places and experiences at the heart of our world.” Their Try The World concept involves a “box of the month” filled with foods and ingredients from all across a specific country. I decided to give this Try The World a go, and ordered the first three boxes. The total cost was $105, so that’s $35 a box. I’ve never subscribed to a box of the month club before!

For the first month, the country Hyatt chose was France (read the gift box review here). The second country Hyatt chose was Turkey (read the gift box review here). When I opened this month’s box featuring India, I realized I still really loved the box the goodies arrived in. I love the colors, the creative artwork, and the packaging. All very stylish and classy. The box came with a large fold-out card that talked about the chef that put these items together and the card also explained each product.

Continue reading →

a blue sign with white text

Hyatt Concierges Undertrained & Upper Management Cannot Follow Through on Promises

Posted on by . 7 Replies

Last week in my rant at Hyatt, readers suggested the issue was the incompetence of my concierge. I’ll admit, I was a bit defensive. When I was first assigned a concierge, I spoke with her to get acquainted. The first task I asked her to do for me was to amend some reservations I already had. That came off without a hitch. However, the more I looked into the Departures Magazine ad and the responses my concierge was giving me, I started thinking my readers were right.

One reader asked me if I had actually given my concierge the DUSA promo code, which was the code given in Departures Magazine to bring up the Park Hyatt deal for 3rd or 4th night free. I had not spelled it out for her, though she did acknowledge knowing about the Park Hyatt special offer. So I sent her another email specifying the DUSA promo code and asking her to check again. I gave her random dates and asked her to check the Park Hyatt Saigon. Here’s what she said in replying to my request:

Hi Shelli,

The offer code DUSA does not bring up anything. It may be a different code for each property so I searched the properties you requested based on a 4 night in the time frame for a 3rd or 4th night free offer. Again, I do not see that it is available.

a large white building with lights on

Park Hyatt Saigon. Image source: https://saigon.park.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

Continue reading →

a woman with blonde hair and a green shirt

My Credit Card Retention Calls for AMEX Business Platinum, Chase IHG & Chase Hyatt

Posted on by . 8 Replies

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I apologize for not writing much lately, but I do have a few posts in the pipeline, they just take a while to get all the necessary details and dates.  Anyway, my December credit card statements just closed and a few of my credit cards had annual fees that posted.  Most of the time, I have already mentally decided if I will keep a credit card or cancel way before the annual fee posts, but even if I mentally decide to keep a credit card, I still call and see if there are any retention offers available.  It never hurts to call, the worst that can happen is that they say there are no offers, and if you never ask, you will never receive.  During this round of retention calls, I called regarding my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card, Chase IHG Rewards Credit Card, and Chase Hyatt Credit Card.  Here is how those retention offer calls went…

Retention Call 1 and 2: American Express Business Platinum Charge Card

I called American Express on Wednesday afternoon and told the rep that the $450 annual fee just posted on my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card and I wanted to close the card, but before I close the card, I wanted to see if there were any retention offers available.  She put me on hold for a few minutes, but then said that the department that was responsible for retention offers was really busy and that I should call back at a later time.

I then called back Thursday morning and told the second rep the same spiel.  He put me on hold for a few minutes to check my offers and came back with no offers.  I told him I put a lot of spend on my no annual fee American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card (true) and earned lots of Membership Reward Points on that card and put very little spend on my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card (true), so why did I need both cards?  I told him I get good value out of the $200 airline incidental credit and occasionally visit the Centurion Lounges, but that did not justify paying the $450 annual fee.  He asked me what type of offer I was looking for and I said statement credits to offset the annual fee.  He didn’t have any statement credit retention offers and said that I could redeem my Membership Reward Points for statement credits.  No… that was not what I wanted.  He said he would transfer me to that department and then I hung up in annoyance.  Ugg, I will hold on to this card until get another AMEX Plat.  I’m currently eyeing the 60,000 point signup bonus on the American Express Platinum Charge Card from Charles Schwab.

a credit card with a picture of a man

Continue reading →

a blue sign with white text

Misleading Park Hyatt 3rd Night or 4th Night Free Ad in Departures Magazine (Warning: Rant)

Posted on by . 20 Replies

When I feel a rant coming on, at first I second guess myself. Is what I’m experiencing really rant worthy? Would other people rant about this too? Once I’ve answered YES to those 2 questions, I rant :) So here we go. Oh Hyatt, I have such a love-hate relationship with you. But this week, you’re making me mad! Maybe I’ve misread you or misunderstood your intention, but I don’t think so. And now I’m asking our readers to back me up or tell me I’m wrong. We shall see.

It all started when my Departures Magazine came. I was flipping through it and noticed a Hyatt ad for their Park Hyatt hotels. You all know I love the Park Hyatt properties and this year alone I had two amazing Park Hyatt stays (Buenos Aires and Milan). So of course the ad caught my eye. What really caught my attention was that the ad was a Special Offer for a complimentary third or fourth night at participating Park Hyatt hotels. Hmm, this could be a chance to plan a trip to try some Park Hyatt’s I haven’t stayed at yet.

a collage of images of a hotel

Continue reading →