Will Hyatt’s Loyalty Program Soon Adopt Valuable Starwood Traits?

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Here’s some potentially good news for folks who collect Hyatt points!

Hyatt has appointed Starwood’s former senior vice president and commercial services officer to lead the World of Hyatt loyalty program, and Hyatt’s 5-star wellness retreats, Exhale and Miraval.

Hyatt Brings in Starwood Executive to Run Loyalty Program

Starwood’s former loyalty program head, Mark Vondrasek, is now working for Hyatt.  And because Starwood’s loyalty program is so useful, this could really be a positive for Hyatt!

Hyatt is both Emily’s and my favorite hotel brand, because we think it’s the best balance of value and comfort.  And its loyalty program is already very valuable!  It costs a relatively small amount of Hyatt points for hotel stays compared to other hotel brands.  And there are no blackout dates for award nights!

I’m excited to see if World of Hyatt will get even better after hiring someone who was integral in making Starwood Preferred Guest the program we all love.  Mark Vondrasek has 25 years of experience in his field, and he’s spent the last 15 years captaining Starwood Preferred Guest.  So let’s hope he brings some of those handy qualities to Hyatt!

What Qualities Might the World of Hyatt Program Adopt?

There are plenty of things the Starwood Preferred Guest program offers that Hyatt does NOT.

For example, Starwood offers discounted award nights on the weekends.  I’d love to see the same with Hyatt!  It would also be nice if Hyatt offered the 5th consecutive award night free, as it’s one of the few programs that does NOT come with this benefit.

Starwood even has a program called SPG Moments, which lets you redeem your Starwood points for experiences you wouldn’t normally be able to buy directly.  You can redeem points for things like exclusive concert tickets or expensive sporting events.

Perhaps the most valuable feature of Starwood points is the ability to transfer them to 30+ airline partners at a 1:1 ratio.  With a bonus 5,000 miles when you transfer in increments of 20,000!

The ability to do the same with Hyatt points would be a game changer.  Because Hyatt points are relatively easy to earn!

How to Earn Hyatt Points

Link:   All the Ways to Earn Hyatt Points

Link:   Chase Hyatt

You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, or (no longer offered) Ink Bold or Ink Plus card.

And if you have one of the cards listed above, you can indirectly transfer points earned from the Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Unlimited, and Ink Business Cash Credit Card cards too!  Emily and I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt for a free stay at the Park Hyatt Milan.

And you’ll earn 40,000 Hyatt points when you apply for the Chase Hyatt card and spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account.

Bottom Line

Mark Vondrasek, Starwood’s former senior vice president and commercial services officer in charge of the Starwood Preferred Guest program, is now working for Hyatt!  He’ll be in charge of the World of Hyatt program, so let’s hope he brings some of the Starwood program’s valued characteristics with him!

What changes would you most like to see in the World of Hyatt program?