Hyatt Adds Revenue Component to Its Loyalty Program — Skift Business Traveler

What to Know Now

Hyatt has a new loyalty program starting in 2017 and a big part of qualifying can now be tied to how much you spend with the hotel chain. The Chicago-based company is partially moving to a points system where base level members earn five points per dollar spent with the chain (elites get bonuses) and where balances earned per year will dictate status — top tier is only 100,000 points.

Travelers can also still qualify for elite status with hotel nights (not stays), though top tier status, which is now called Globalist instead of Diamond, is earned at 60 nights and not 50. That’s two whole months in hotel rooms.

Driving the change? According to Skift’s Deanna Ting, Hyatt’s CMO says it’s “the opportunity to build a stronger community of loyal travelers.”

Stronger, maybe, and most certainly a whole lot smaller. Comments on the Flyertalk thread centered around World of Hyatt, the new program, are already up to 37 pages and the thread is just warming up. It’ll be interesting to see how many Hyatt loyalty members stick around for the transition.

Social Quote of the Day

@pizzainmotion I knew [the Cubs] were going to be humiliated. Now it’ll be painful humiliation. It’s like trying to figure out World of Hyatt…

– @joesentme | Joe Brancatelli, Business travel expert at joesentme.com 

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Tips and Comments

Can be sent to gm[at]skift[dot]com or to @grantkmartin

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