First read is on us.

Subscribe today to keep up with the latest travel industry news.

Hyatt Adds Thompson and Joie de Vivre Hotels as Loyalty Partners


Skift Take

Portions of Hyatt's recent Two Roads acquisition are already getting incorporated into World of Hyatt, which should delight loyalty program members.

Hyatt is once more expanding the portfolio of properties in its World of Hyatt loyalty program. Hyatt last week added eight Thompson Hotels to World of Hyatt, giving loyalty members the ability to earn and redeem points at the properties around the world. In May, it plans to add the spectrum of Joie de Vivre hotels while other brands will get added later in the year.

World of Hyatt’s expansion comes as part of the hotel group’s recent acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality, a move that added some 85 properties to the boutique operator’s portfolio. Though the acquisition was only announced in the fourth quarter of 2018, Hyatt was quick to ingest at least some of the properties and release them into World of Hyatt in the first quarter of this year.

That aggression seems to be reflective of Hyatt’s general operations of late. In the last three years the operator has been moving quickly, from acquiring new wellness businesses to investing in the sharing economy to the nonstop tweaking of its loyalty program. And while Hyatt is still a dwarf compared to its siblings at Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Wyndham, it’s certainly starting to make waves.

— Grant Martin, Business of Loyalty Editor

Skift Stories and More Expert Insight

Wow Air Joins 20 Other Airlines That Folded in Just the Past Year: Add Wow Air to a long — and growing — list of airline failures around the world. Like Primera Air before it and perhaps Norwegian before long, the Icelandic carrier was a victim of intense fare competition on transatlantic routes.

Hyatt Expands Loyalty Program to Include Its Two Roads Hospitality Brands: Hyatt Hotels is expanding its World of Hyatt loyalty program to incorporate properties from a recent expansion. In October of 2018, the acquisition-hungry hotel chain announced its intent to acquire Two Roads Hospitality, a network of 85 properties and several brands around the world. Now, Hyatt is releasing plans to incorporate those properties piecemeal into its loyalty program.

United Airlines Accuses Rogue Flight Attendants of Fraud: United Airlines is threatening to fire some flight attendants it suspects are engaging in a sophisticated effort to grab the best trips — such as lucrative and comfortable long-haul flights to London, Sydney, or Tokyo — and selling them to colleagues, according to a new memo.

Cathay Pacific Pays $287 Million to Join Low-Cost Market: Cathay Pacific agreed to pay $287 million in cash for Hong Kong’s only budget airline to enter the no-frills market, after more than a decade resisting such a move to focus on premium services.

Breakage: Good or Bad for Loyalty Programs? Breakage is simply the technical term for points that expire and are never redeemed by members. It’s important to understand as it’s a critical aspect of modeling the liability for your program.

Air New Zealand Introduces Free In-Flight Wi-Fi, No Strings Attached: Airplane Wi-Fi has come a long way. It used to be a special treat, while it’s increasingly becoming the norm. With that, we’re also seeing airlines use Wi-Fi as a point of differentiation.

When You Should(n’t) Use Airline Co-Branded Credit Cards to Pay for Airfare: All of the larger airlines in the U.S. offer co-branded credit cards. These cards, which provide extra benefits to cardholders, range from ones with no annual fee to premium cards costing up to $450 per year. While you’d think that using a co-branded card would be the best choice for earning points with your flight purchase, that’s usually not the case. For most airlines, you don’t earn any extra points for airfare purchases for having a more expensive card either.

Subscribe to Skift’s Free Business of Loyalty Newsletter

Skift Business of Loyalty Editor Grant Martin [[email protected]] curates the Skift Business of Loyalty newsletter. Skift emails the newsletter every Monday.

Up Next

Hotels

What’s Next For Boutique Hotel Pioneer Richard Kessler

Hotel legend Richard Kessler is still willing to take risks when creating hotels. Think putting dinosaur fossils in hotel lobbies, or displaying modern art in a converted power plant. So far, travelers and Marriott like it.