I had a surprising delivery from My Hyatt Concierge this week benefiting from its partnership with American Airlines.
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Hyatt Sent Me A Gift… From American Airlines
I was surprised and delighted (the goal for companies sending random gifts to customers) to find an unexpected package on my doorstep this weekend. Upon opening, I found a note inside from My Hyatt Concierge:
“Hello
We are looking forward to seeing you again at our hotels. To make your next trip a little more comfortable, please enjoy this amenity kit from American Airlines®.As you may know, World of Hyatt elite members can earn 1 World of Hyatt Bonus Point for every eligible $1 USD spent on qualifying American Airlines flights when they link their accounts. If you have not already done so, make sure to link your accounts at worldofhyatt.com/AA.
We hope you enjoy your future travels and all of your benefits through our ongoing
collaboration with American Airlines.Sincerely,
The My Hyatt Concierge Team”
Partnership Feels One-Sided
I have received an awful lot of marketing from Hyatt about its partnership with American Airlines, and a lot less from American about its partnership with Hyatt. Coincidentally, I am both a Hyatt Globalist and an Executive Platinum member with American Airlines so I am uniquely positioned for both cross-marketing opportunities.
I occasionally see emails from American Airlines that include mention of the partnership and some promotion about earning opportunities with Hyatt but I am not getting Hyatt gear from American Airlines shipped to my front door. That’s a shame.
I would gladly welcome some cheap plastic sunglasses with a Hyatt logo on the side, Le Labo toiletries from one of the Park Hyatt properties, or even just the postcards you find in some of the hotel desk drawers. I don’t want to do American Airlines or Hyatt’s marketing job for them (unless they are offering), but some of these touchpoints are really inexpensive. Hyatt is clearly happy to pay for them when connecting with their elites on behalf of American, the airline isn’t so inclined to do the same.
The estimates for the number of Executive Platinums and Globalists are around the same so I would have expected that a similar effort from American to their Executive Platinums would have been matched. I just don’t see Hyatt represented by American in a meaningful way which, frankly, is par for the course for American Airlines management.
Was It Effective?
It’s been a long while since I had an American Airlines Amenity kit and, well, I was surprised by just how happy I was to open it up. It didn’t replace the feeling of taking one with me from a flight I want to be on to a destination I want to visit, but it did inspire me to think more about returning to that premium long-haul travel experience we have all missed so much.
That said, the lasting feeling made me want to go to a Hyatt and check-in for a long weekend in a big suite more than it made me want to get back on a long-haul American flight. If anything, it reminded me that I earn American Advantage miles for my Hyatt stays (I had one this week) but without research, I couldn’t tell you if I earned any Hyatt points from the American Airlines flights I’m not taking.
Admittedly, it was effective. I am thinking about both travel providers today and I do long for a return.
Conclusion
Hyatt is doing a great job of marketing American Airlines, though the same isn’t necessarily true the other way. I was pleased to receive the amenity kit and could see some additional marketing opportunities that get travelers longing and perhaps planning their return.
What do you think? Did you receive something from Hyatt for American? What do you think about their partnership?
“The estimates for the number of Executive Platinums and Globalists are around the same…”
What are the estimates?
11-15,000
I got a FedEx alert on Friday that I was getting something from AA. I guess this is it. A nice gesture, but I’ve flown AA TATL in J 4 times in the last three weeks, so the last thing I really need is another amenity kit. I agree I’d rather have some Hyatt branded junk. I like Hyatt better than AA as a brand anyway.
An amenity kit? Lol. My concierge sent me a box of Belgian chocolates, champagne, a free cat7 night cert and a round-trip first class AA companion cert.
Since this whole tie-in started, as a Globalist I’ve felt kind of dissed. Top tier AA members get top tier Hyatt status for doing nothing; top tier Hyatt members automatically get zero.
If there are 11K to 15K Globalists and EXP, I think the odds of you being the only one who has both status is, well, unlikely. You are therefore not “uniquely positioned”.
Perhaps I should clarify. The two groups are not mutually exclusive. If there are 11,000 Globalists and 15,000 Executive Platinum members, the crossover of those two groups is likely limited. There may be 11,000 cross-overs or just 1,000 – we don’t really know. But assuming it’s the highest possible number (11,000), that’s still a very limited subset group out of the total groups of travelers.
What is the point of giving Globalist an overstocked AA amenity kit during Covid ? It probably helps AA to reduce storage cost….
As someone who spends over 100 nights a year for the last 10+ years at Hyatt, I am quite upset Hyatt is giving away Globalist status to AA elite members (not upset with AA members).
The amenity kit is just rubbing salt in the wounds.
I don’t know any AA Executive Platinums that have been gifted Globalist status, but I do know that some Globalists were gifted American EXP status – I was one such person. I already had EXP status (had requalified before I switched to UA) and thus, I get communication for both.
I was given globalist status as an American Airlines CK and it significantly influenced my inclination to stay at Hyatt properties. I was never even a member of any hotel loyalty program and all of my stays since then have been in Hyatts so that was a smart move.
As an aside, I remember that OMAAT article that speculated there were around 11000 CKs based upon the vendor for the annual CK gift stating they shipped 11300 packages. If so, i suspect there are far more than 15000 EXPs in the AA system.
Anyone AA gifts EXP status to is an insult to anyone who earned PP. All airlines need to stop catering to the “business” travelers who haven’t spent shit in the past 18 months. Leisure travelers that are earnings status are far more valuable than dreaming of suit wearing clowns thinking they are entitled.
As upgrades start on status why should some Hyatt F on his first trip get upgraded before a long term PP?
I got no such thing. But I don’t really have much need for a Hyatt concierge.