Hyatt coming clean on it’s BRG policy (membership sites)
Maybe the Hyatt BRG staff read my rant last month or it was just time to be changed anyway. Reports on Flyertalk indicate that Hyatt is cleaning up it's act on the fake membership argument.
A couple of weeks ago the Gold Passport Concierge posted on Flyertalk.
Hello FlyerTalkers!
Happy Tuesday! I have been following the thread, and I am happy to post a clarification for you.
If the membership on the third party site is free, and to view the rates, you do not have to log in to the site, we will honor the Best Rate Guarantee. If you should have any issues with the BRG associate, please feel free to reference my name, or contact me directly.
Please note that the Terms and Conditions of the Best Rate Guarantee program are subject to change, but if that should happen, I will certainly let you know as soon as I do.
Happy and safe travels,
Dana Mowrey
I wasn't sure if that would really be enforced but there are reports now that confirm the new policy is taken seriously!
Just called in to do a BRG for Grant Hyatt Washington DC, it was 125 on aa.com. The first BRG rep that I got said that this is a membership only website even though you don't have to login to book the hotel. She mentioned that because there's an asterisk next to the email address, that means you will have to sign up for a mailing list. I stated that doesn't determine membership but she was firm on her stance. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and she said for a fact that aa.com BRG claims are not accepted because you will get membership to AA by booking the hotel. I went through the booking process until it asked for payment and there is no membership required. She was extremely firm on her stance and wouldn't listen to anything I had to say. To say the least I was extremely disappointed. So I cut my losses and just hung up and called back. Got a different BRG rep and BRG was confirmed in less than 5 mins.
Congratulations Hyatt! You have shown that a premium brand can do the right thing and stick to the right policy without misleading consumers and travelers.