Platinum Extras Awards Update

Dear milepoint community,

We sincerely appreciate both the quantity and the quality of the feedback that we receive here. The conversation is always lively, and we do our best to quickly update you on program changes or address your concerns.


As you know, our loyalty program continues to evolve. Over the last several years, we have made a number of changes – most of which have been enthusiastically endorsed by our members. As we have said before, we will continue to invest in benefits that enhance the Hyatt experience for the majority of our members and eliminate benefits that are not valued or not utilized. Our Platinum Extras program falls into the latter category, and so, we have decided to discontinue it as of December 31, 2012.

After a thorough evaluation, we concluded that Platinum Extras did not provide a significant enhancement to the Hyatt experience; in fact, more than 75% of the awards earned by Platinum members were never redeemed. Therefore, it simply makes sense for us to focus our time, attention and resources on improving the program in new and innovative ways rather than administering a benefit that members don’t value.

Platinum members will still earn Platinum Extras Awards through the end of 2012 and will have 90 days to redeem these awards. For answers to frequently asked questions related to this benefit change, please visit www.hyatt.com/hyatt/customer-service/faqs/faqs.jsp.


I wish you safe travels.


Jeff Zidell
Vice President
Hyatt Gold Passport

Is there a replacement?

Yes, upon checkin you'll be offered a complimentary basket of bupkis.

Jeff, sorry to hear that. Used one this weekend to kick off a wonderful 4-day stay at the HR Orange County. Was a great benefit.

Great news.

Congratulations!

I have a Platinum Extras certificate expiring at the end of December 2012 that I will mail to the first person requesting it.

I just joined Gold Passport as a Platinum elite through a Chase MileagePlus United Club business card and have no idea what a "Platinum Extras" certificate is. Could someone explain and say how this might impact Plats going forward?

Thx!

with a bissel of gornisht

they were given out to platinum members every third stay and could be used for bonus points or a welcome amenity much like the benefit that diamond members automatically get

I think one of the reasons why it didn't get much use was that it seemed confusing to newly minted Platinums. Especially the upgrades and the dining points (which for me never posted). If they wanted to make it easier for everyone, they could have just offered a 1000 point bonus for every 3rd stay or something like that. Alas, they chose to have the Platinum Extra Awards go the way of the Gx bonuses.

I love most of the Hyatt properties, but the scarcity of bonus offers and other spiffs will have me fall to Platinum next year. Now, there is nothing there at that level, either. I fear I will fall to base member, the following year. Hyatt really needs to try harder to retain their loyal members.

The other hotel chains are working harder.

It's easier when there aren't paper certificates. SPG just has the agent ask, and it's EVERY time. Then again, your "extra" means choosing between WiFi, points, or another amenities. With Hyatt, these points or amenity were in addition to WiFi. I would expect some kind of Platinum Extra benefit to return when/if Hyatt figures out how to incorporate it into the IT system during check-in.

I would not expect them to come back, just like the Gx didn't come back in any shape or form.

Hyatt still hasn't fixed all their IT issues, which were one of the original reasons for eliminating Gx bonuses (problems with them posting to members' accounts).

I will also fall to Platinum. Double-Platinum, actually, since I presumable get it via soft-landing (didn't even have enough nights/stays to actually reach plat level) and also via my UA Club Visa.

For me it was a combination of things: Travel plans that led me to places with no Hyatt. Their lack of properties in many regions really hit me.. Generally less travel in 2012 compared to 2011. And few incentives to actually stay at a Hyatt when it was an option. I am ending up wasting four (4!) suite upgrades. Not a big deal... suites aren't that important to me.

Yes, that's true. I still have problems with their website more often than seems reasonable for a company that wants to drive their customers to its site for its business.

But seriously, it's almost 2013: how hard can it be to provide customers with the ability to add Gx codes to a reservation if they

(a) can't train their staff properly to do it at checkin
(b) don't want to automatically give it to everyone staying at an eligible property

As someone who will be dropping back down to Platinum in 2013, I will miss Platinum Extras. I can retain Platinum with minimal effort, but unless Gold Passport comes up with something equally or more compelling, this will definitely affect my Hyatt bookings in 2013.

Don’t know the experience of others, but I would hand them in when I dined at Hyatt hotels, and the points never showed in my account. I would call and ask, and I would be told that there was no proof I handed one in when I dined in-house, so....

Given multiple experiences like this at different hotels in the US and abroad, my enthusiasm for trying it yet again diminished to nothing. Thought it was a nice extra touch, but the implementation never lived up to the promise for me.

And now, on top of it, you get "blamed" for not using them.

And yes, the one time I tried to use them for dining I had the same experience.

Given the difficulty of redeeming the certificates, maybe the brain trust here can craft our own Platinum Extras program.

This is one reason I despise corporate marketing drivel as most is not well thought out.

You/Hyatt could have turned this into a positive marketing move by explaining a new benefit for Plats but instead have taken away something & offered nothing in return. If such a low % of Plat certs are redeemed, what is the big deal about continuing the benefit until you replace it? (or should we start to believe what HaveMilesWillTravel stated: I would not expect them to come back, just like the Gx didn't come back in any shape or form.)

I recall a hotel focus group I was part of years ago, I outright raved about Hyatt, I'm hard pressed to rave about anything Hyatt lately and quite frankly for the past couple years.

If people didn't use the benefit they just ditched, what makes you think they'll use a new one?

Or, my experience happened to lots of others & Hyatt thinks no one used it!