[Mar 31, 2013] United Flight 123 - DEN-NRT (Denver, CO, 80249)

Overlapping dates? Has the DO been extended past March 31?

Nothing concrete, but jetsetr posted this earlier on

and ParanoiaTx and others have noted that Simon/eightblack is aware and looking into seeing if they can do something for us late arrivers.

Oh, I see. I am aware of the rumors, but was wondering if I missed an announcement.

It is unfortunate scheduling and would be so cool if Simon would move the Do back so that it lines up with the inaugural. Sure seems like 7 months notice would be enough to do that. Might push me over the edge to actually book the inaugural in coach

Totally agree. The HR is definitely a nice hotel with good rooms, pretty easy access to a lot of public transport, and a good lounge. If the PH weren't such a unique hotel, we'd all be saying the HR is a top hotel to stay at. But it's also a good excuse to do a MR. Just be sure to do the HR before the PH

Sorry for answering on the previous page without seeing these posts. Glad to see that Simon will attempt to accommodate the inaugural. Let's welcome him over to Milepoint, too.

Are you planning on staying at the Park Hyatt?

Yay!

Have tried a few times. Says it would just take too much of his time to coordinate between the 2. If enough of us bug him, though....

It's a fair point. I've been mainly ignoring FT, which probably means I'm missing out on some MRs or mistakes

And some of us have brutally abused the concept of vacation time and would like it to stay mostly over the weekend.

Out of curiosity, why does everyone love Hyatt so much. I like Hyatt, but I just hardly ever stay there. There not all the places I travel to, so I generally stick with Hilton (diamond there).

That said, I am getting Hyatt Plat for free from MilePoint so I may have to try to give Hyatt another try.

If anyone else is going to be at the Hilton Tokyo, that's where I'll be. The other hilton option is Conrad, but that didn't seem to be in the area I wanted to be and it was another 10k points a night. Just booked two nights. Need to still book one more night though.

Yes

A lot of people have gotten Hyatt Diamond from SMD3 or OWMD

Hyatt tends to have some very high end properties, on par with what you'd get from Four Seasons and the best Ritz Carltons, but the Hyatt's are more easily obtained on points

I think those are the two main reasons

The Hilton Tokyo is somewhat comparable to the HR Tokyo (and they are located quite close to each other - the HR is often considerably cheaper than the Hilton). The PH is on an entirely different plane.

Ah, I see the comp'd status helped there. Again, the only reason I'm staying at the HIlton is because I want to use points. The bad thing is I used over 300k points on Hilton the last 12 months, so I'm starting to run on empty (hence, why I only booked 2 nights so far, even though I'm staying three nights in Tokyo )

Speaking only for myself, I generally find HY properties (especially PH and Grands) of higher quality, decor, and style than Hiltons. Conrads are nice, but PH's are generally better - again, IMHO and experiences.

And the benefits at HY Diamond (free breakfasts - not just continental) and four confirmed annual suite upgrades are of better value and more consistent offerings than at HI.

Finally, I personally rate HI Honors points a much worse value than HY Gold Passport points. Even at a *base* earning rate of 10 HH pts/dollar compared to 5 GP/dollar, the GP points deliver more value because of lower redemption levels for higher end properties. For example, at base earning rates, to earn 22K GP points would similarly earn 44K HH points. But 22K GP points gets me into a room at a PH, whereas 44K HH points only gets me into a Cat. 4 property at HI.

But, as always, YMMV (er, YPMV).

I don't know where the Conrad is in Tokyo, but generally Conrads are a lot nicer than equivalent Hiltons internationally, and you still get full benefits like breakfast and club lounge access - if you are elite, that is.

FWIW, and given how many of us would be staying at their hotels, I’ve reached out to the Hyatt people in Japan and the Far East to see if some sort of group rate might be worked out for us and for the Tokyo Do people. I’ve only just initiated it, so may take a while to work out, if such a thing is possible. I’ll report back on what they write me.

Having some sort of hotel chart, to know how many people would be staying where for how long, would be a help in this process. That’s beyond my ken.

I definitely agree with you on the points, Hilton points, stink. My comparison to that would be Marriott and SPG, which I believe are better points wise.

One thing that was interesting, I have about 4800 hyatt points -- I actually just logged in there the other day and haven't stayed there since Jan 2006, but they didn't expire my points. Had to login to get my number to get the free Hyatt Plat status upgrade from MilePoint premium. So that was cool -- they never expired my meager amount of points.

Perhaps with getting the free Plat status, I'll have to go out of my way to stay at some Hyatt properties in the near future.

SPG points seem the most valuable, but Hyatt is pretty close
Hilton points have much less value but they distribute them faster - they are worth around half a cent
I don't like the lack of elite benefits at Marriott and many of their properties are blah
So Hyatt, SPG and Hilton work for me - but because I can qualify for Hilton status with my credit card, I focus stays on SPG and Hyatt, and I use Hilton when there isn't a good SPG or Hyatt option or the Hilton property is far better located or a better property or the SPG and Hyatt rates are crazy

They do have some super nice properties, but most of them ate meh, IMHO, so I stick with Hilton.

I'm booked at the Conrad, but may have to adjust that. On another trip, I'm booked a night at the Tokyo Bay for the obvious reason.

Since we're collecting and not burning, going to do my stay as cash.

I moved to Hyatt about three years ago, and have not looked back (though I do have Hilton Gold, and may aim for Diamond). The Diamond program at Hyatt is pretty nice, and things like the benefits that jetsetr has already mentioned are what keeps me coming back Unlike many, I did not status match, etc, but I achieved Diamond via a minimum of 25 stays. I've also thoroughly enjoyed the Andaz and Park Hyatt concepts. The PH Tokyo was an spectacular property.

Having no luck booking award nights at the PH. Also no room at the HR and GH. No bueno.

I’ve heard back from the Hyatt Japan and Far East people concerning working out some sort of group rate between the very large Tokyo Do folks and us; they’ll be sending a proposal along sometime soon.

I’ll bring this up to them once I see the proposal; it might be the time of year when it’s pay only. The GH is a terrific hotel with lots going on around it, and some great places to eat nearby.

Well, I'm willing to stay at whatever place most people are staying at.

Given that I'll already have most of my stays for Hilton Gold by that point and the points won't post quickly enough for our Maldives post-Do trip, there's little short-term point in my staying at the Conrad other than curiosity. We're not going to be taking advantage of their points + cash rate as we'll be using those points in the Maldives instead.

Folks, I need your help in order to sort out a deal with Hyatt hotels in Japan. Much like what’s happening with the SMD4 hotel situation in ZRH, Hyatt Japan’s come back and asked how many single occupancy and how many double occupancy rooms there will be. I need to know which Tokyo hotel you’d stay in, the dates and if you’d be staying at any other Hyatted city in Japan while you’re over there as part of this trip. If you can’t give me solid dates, let me know how many nights, please. Help me help you. So,...
2 nights HR Tokyo (double occupancy)
2 nights Kyoto
2 nights PH Tokyo

Would stay at a Hyatt Hotel in Japan.
Give me dates you’ll be there, single or double, other Hyatted cities in Japan with dates.

Park Hyatt Tokyo
From NYC - single, 01-03 Apr (if too expensive still, I’ll try GHT or HR below)
Jetsetr - quad room 05APR-07APR


Grand Hyatt Tokyo
From NYC - 1 night at the end of my stay, single occ.
Jetsetr - quad room 01APR-03APR or
Desamo - 3/28-4/2 double occ.

Hyatt Regency Tokyo
Jetsetr - quad room 01APR-03APR or GH
Seacarl - double, 01-03 Apr
Canucklehead - single, 01-03 Apr
mht_flyer - ???, 01-04 Apr

Hyatt Regency Osaka
From NYC - single occ., 03-05 Apr


Hyatt Regency Kyoto
From NYC - single occ., 05-07 Apr
Jetsetr - quad room, 03APR-05APR

Grand Hyatt Fukuoka




Hyatt Regency Fukuoka



Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort and Spa