Hyatt Hotels reward Globalists with a perk called My Hyatt Concierge. Few details about the program have been revealed, but new information suggests solutions to the program’s woes are in store.
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Just Nine Concierges
According to one of the My Hyatt Concierge staff members, there are just nine of them currently working to serve US-based Globalists. Some Globalists have posted their Concierge’s name or initials and there are up to 24 floating around currently but some have left the business as well.
While that seems far too low, Hyatt is a much smaller chain with far fewer hotels, members and thus, elites than their competition. For the avoidance of doubt, this information was reported to others and not by my personal Hyatt Concierge – she’s been on vacation.
More Globalists Than Estimated
Reportedly, each My Hyatt Concierge serves 2,500 US-based Globalists for a total of 22,500 or about double what I had previously estimated. That’s a lot more than I (or many other bloggers) had imagined joined the club but remains one of the most lucrative and exclusive elite tiers in the hospitality business.
However, should that number include the previous estimate (11,000 Globalists) plus known Concierge Key Globalists* (11,300), that number supports previous estimates perfectly. The range of Globalists has moved to 22,500-33,800.
Gary Leff mentioned that the trial version of this program initially rolled out with just four agents and that the program had 37,000 Diamonds in 2014.
Reinforcements Coming
If, in fact, there are 22,500 Globalists, the addition of 10 more My Hyatt Concierges would be welcome news to Globalists who have not had a great relationship with their Concierge. Rumor is that the current staff members can retain clients that they choose and have had a relationship with, those who have been without contact or were not retained would be divided up among the new 10 staff members.
My question is whether these reinforcements are because interaction with My Hyatt Concierge staff has been so low, or because enough of the new American Airlines Concierge Key members that have been given Globalist* status have stressed the system. Have they added too many Globalists to maintain the status quo?
Regardless, Hyatt sees that there is a problem (key to solving a problem) and has done something about it. While nine Concierges was probably never the right number, more than doubling it helps but still may not be enough.
Conclusion
Gary Leff suggested that Ambassadors at Marriott (a similar program) are already too strained with “as many as 300” clients with whom to attend. If that’s the case, 4-8 times as many clients can’t possibly be sufficient to serve Globalists, with or without the inclusion of American Airlines Concierge Key Globalists*. While my experience with My Hyatt Concierge has been positive, we had to work together some before the relationship progressed. It’s a step in the right direction but with many Globalists indicating they have never heard from their Concierge, it seems unlikely this will be enough.
What do you think? Are you surprised by the number of My Hyatt Concierges or US-based Globalists? Do you think doubling concierge staff will be sufficient?
When Hyatt tested the concierge program there were just four agents. The *plan* articulated in 2017 was “growing to 15-20 people” and not limited to English or working out of the Omaha center.
https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2017/02/11/my-hyatt-concierge-benefit/
There were ~ 37,000 Diamond members in 2014.
Added. Thanks.
Actually the My Hyatt Concierge mentions that there were actually around total 27,000 Globalists with Concierges. But you get the point. There are non US based Globalists and their Concierges too.
World of Hyatt is going to fail soon. They are trying to copy Marriott with a much more limited footprint. The benefits are so minimal these days, people will got to Mariott. You get the exact same thing.z. Hyatt needs to differentiate itself and offer welcome amenity, turndown or something special. The old program was so much better. The new one is so underwhelming and devalued. Handing it out like candy to 15,000 aa people shows you just how much Hyatt cares about you, the person who stayed 60 nights.
As someone who has left Marriott, you are highly ignorant for basically saying the benefits are the same at the top end.
I can think of 5 Hyatt differentiators off the top of my head (no resort fees, no parking fees on awards, advance confirmable upgrades, full/complete breakfast, Guest of Honor), and I’m sure there are others I’m not aware of.
Plus, Marriott CS is still a hot mess and the IT is terrible. Good luck w/suite upgrades at legacy Marriott-inc properties. Other than that of course, it’s just fantastic!
UA-NYC- Perfectly stated.
As an Ambassador w/LT Titanium, I jumped from the sinking S.S. Bonvoy and migrated back to Hyatt.
Seven open and unresolved issues with Marriott turned into nine due to mistakes made by my Ambassador.
Amazing how the Hyatt general line (no status) is superior to the “Loyalty Line” at Marriott; which covers no-status to Ambassador.
Just to clarify, we agree that the benefits are not the same at the top end for Marriott and Hyatt, just that the Ambassador program is similar to My Hyatt Concierge. I see you’re replying to @Bon Smart, but wanted to make my stance clear for any others.
Agreed – I’m actually curious once I get my Concierge to see how responsive they are. Even if Hyatt has 8x-10x the number per Concierge guest as does Marriott per Ambassador guest, I can’t imagine the response time is any lower.
If you get a good concierge (mine is great, initials are QL) you will see a lot of value.
We agree benefits are not the same; at any tier. Similar doesn’t mean it actually works.
IMHO- Hyatt is superior.
I have the same concierge and I agree, she is amazing. She has gone above and beyond for us multiple times.
While I’m still extremely unhappy about Hyatt handing out top elite status to AA elites with zero corresponding benefits, I’m still more or less committed to Hyatt at this point, and have held top status with them for four consecutive years now. About two weeks ago, I got my first contact from a concierge and she’s been pretty helpful on small to medium things, since I haven’t hit any real problems yet. I can’t answer to the workload, but if she’s getting buried, she hides it well.
Mine is horrible.
How so? A comparison would be interesting.
Mine doesn’t respond to email usually and when she does, doesn’t do what I ask her.
My Globalist concierge, Quita, is always responding within a few hours and very attentive. I am actually surprised there are so few as she makes me feel like I am the only one she deals with, lol
If Hyatt let us book the suite benefit online, that would be like adding a bunch of Concierges. And there are other things that could be automated as well.
I contacted my concierge long ago and she wasn’t able to take care of what should have been a simple task (reward stay posting as a status night right when that started)—a task that the Flyertalk Hyatt rep was able to deal with competently in minutes. Ironically I’m pretty sure she’s one of the concierges that people gush about on Flyertalk. I’ll probably be farmed out to one of the new ones as I’ve had no contact with her since — I’ve had better luck with the Hyatt Twitter team than my concierge. I’m pretty low maintenance I think so it hasn’t been much of an issue.
I haven’t used my consierge yet. So far the globalist line has been great. I do think the other Hyatt line was already very helpful but you do have to talk to the robot in the beginning.