I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to this day.
Since Hyatt broke off their partnership with SLH (and we await Hilton’s implentation – but we’ve been told the SLH hotels will fit into existing pricing as hoped!) we’ve been waiting for the ability to book Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels using our World of Hyatt points.
Today, the first swath of Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels are live for booking (I first saw this on Frequent Miler) and it gives me chills that bring me back to seeing Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels bookable for IHG points. While availability seems much better than with IHG, the gist is the same – awards are priced dynamically.
It looks like awards are pricing on the low end of the 1 cent range, around 1 – 1.5 cents per point. I’m seeing a ton in the 1.3 – 1.4 cpp range. If you find one that brings over 1.5 cents in value, I would love to hear it.
This stinks because I’m very used to receiving over 2 cents per point from a World of Hyatt point – or much more. But I redeem at 2 cents. Believe me, I would not have spent the 1.82% fee to pay my taxes with my Hyatt credit card if I thought the currency was worth ~1.4 cents!
I’d been holding out hope that I’d finally be able to book a room on Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket over the summer – two islands that have absolutely no other chain (points) options and horrendous summer pricing. Both have Mr. and Mrs. Smith properties and I’d hoped that when this day came, my massive stockpile of World of Hyatt points would come to the rescue.
Nope. For a four night stay, I’d be looking at 468,000 points at the Edgartown Inn on Martha’s Vineyard vs a cash price of $6,176 (1.3 cents per point) or 503,000 points at the Blue Iris on Nantucket vs a cash price of $6,949 (1.38 cents per point).
(The next screen added the taxes and fees for Blue Iris)
Also – IMPORTANT – note the cancellation terms. I do not believe the Hyatt benefit for Globalists and Explorists to cancel up to the night before arrival if the policy is 48 hours or less applies and, perhaps more importantly, you may find some odd ones like a $25 fee if you cancel more tnan 1 hour after booking etc. In another case I had a choice of a non-cancellable or a flexible rate, but when I chose the flexible rate I was warned that it was non-refundable. That one I’d chalk up to an integration issue.
Now about those fees…. another disappointment is that there are no resort fee waivers, even for Globalists. Free breakfast? Nope, although these high end hotels quite often include it anyway for everyone.) The only elite memebr benefit I can see is a room upgrade – if available. You cannot use Suite Upgrade Awards at Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
You also cannot redeem free night awards at Mr and Mrs Smith – since there are no categories.
If you want to earn Hyatt points and elite night credits on paid rates, you’ll have to book via Hyatt.com or the Hyatt app. Ancilary expenses, as was the case with SLH, won’t earn points. That means no points for food, beverage, or the spa to name a few.
But at least you’ll get those bonus points when you charge that spend to your Hyatt credit card? Nope. Per the T&Cs: “No. Currently, Participating Mr & Mrs Smith Properties are not considered a “Hyatt hotel or resort” for purposes of earning bonus points on World of Hyatt credit card spend.”
On the good news side, the brand will count towards the Brand Explorer benefit, where you receive a free Category 1-4 Free Night after each 5 distinct brands you visit.
Hyatt told Frequent Miler to think of Mr and Mrs Smith more like the Homes & Hideaways platform (vacation rentals) and that we shouldn’t worry about the rest of Hyatt moving to dymanic pricing. (That’s good news! But I remain worried.)
I guess my utimate disappointment here is that SLH hotels were on the award chart and represented an extension of the World of Hyatt program for points redemeptions, even if on property benefits were similarly lacking.
When Hyatt bought the Mr. and Mrs. Smith platform, that sure sounded like it would be a CLOSER integration than SLH, which was a mere partnership, would offer. Instead, it’s offering much, much less.
This means that Hyatt has lost a ton of the footprint that it gave up when the SLH partnership was disolved – especially in Europe – and did not gain it back with Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Sure, you can technically redeem your points – but do you want to do so at less than 1.4 cents per Hyatt point? I know I don’t. Which basically means this entire partnership won’t mean too much to me.
I personally think it’s a missed opportunity. Even a new, higher award chart would have been reasonable to me, but simply pricing it to the cash price means I’d be better off earning cash back on a credit card and just buying the stay.
I’d love to hear what you think about this, either here or in the MilesTalk Facebook group.
Thoughts?
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