Hyatt Questions - Newbie

[Creekway6]

All --

Long-time DVC owner that is looking seriously at the Hyatt system. Primarily for use at Wild Oak in the form of "off-season" 3-day weekends.

The information here and at Kal's website have been incredibly helpful. Still I have a couple of random questions that I'm hoping someone can help me with:

(1) Some Hyatts seem to have arrivals only on Saturday. A few on Sunday or Saturday. And then Wild Oak and Pinion Point allow arrivals on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I'm a bit confused how this later kind of arrival flexibility gels with the concept of a fixed week.

(a) Is an arrival date specific to the contract, but set? (I.e. some contracts arrive on Friday, some on Saturday, some Sunday?) Or do you pick an arrival date on each usage?

(b) Is there the same arrival date flexibility on split week, 3-day weekends? And, if not, is the set arrival date always Friday for 3-day weekend stays?

(2) I keep reading how I would be wise to target a unit that has at least 2,000 points in trading power, as it greatly enhances not just length of stay, but overall availability in trading.

Does the same hold true as you continue to increase the contract size? For example, I'm looking at a Gold-3 bedroom (2,520 points) versus a Platinum-2 bedroom (2,000) or Diamond 2-bedroom (2,200) points. Will all those result in roughly the same available inventory for trading? Or would I will I have more choices if I have 2,520?

For the foreseeable future, I see us using this almost exclusively at Wild Oak -- we are in Houston and love long weekends in S.A. outside of the dead of summer -- but I'd like to keep other options reasonably open.

(3) How concerned should I be about the rumored plan to move to a "purely points" based system? I'm thinking the worse that can happen is that I effectively get restricted to usage at my home resort -- a result I would be totally fine with. The DVC system has served me exceptionally well for a decade now, so perhaps I'm not as concerned about such a move as I should be.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[DAman]

(1) Some Hyatts seem to have arrivals only on Saturday. A few on Sunday or Saturday. And then Wild Oak and Pinion Point allow arrivals on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I'm a bit confused how this later kind of arrival flexibility gels with the concept of a fixed week.

Answer
The week you purchase is for arrival on that day of the week in your deed. The three day weekend for a Friday arrival is Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Saturday arrival is Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Sunday arrival is Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

(a) Is an arrival date specific to the contract, but set? (I.e. some contracts arrive on Friday, some on Saturday, some Sunday?) Or do you pick an arrival date on each usage?

Answer
See above.

(b) Is there the same arrival date flexibility on split week, 3-day weekends? And, if not, is the set arrival date always Friday for 3-day weekend stays?

See above

(2) I keep reading how I would be wise to target a unit that has at least 2,000 points in trading power, as it greatly enhances not just length of stay, but overall availability in trading.

Answer

The more points you have the more you can use. 1880 point contracts are very flexible too.

Three day weekend stays require a lot of points. 1320 points are required for a 2 bedroom summer Wild Oak unit 3 day weekend stay.

Does the same hold true as you continue to increase the contract size? For example, I'm looking at a Gold-3 bedroom (2,520 points) versus a Platinum-2 bedroom (2,000) or Diamond 2-bedroom (2,200) points. Will all those result in roughly the same available inventory for trading? Or would I will I have more choices if I have 2,520?

Answer

You will have more choices the more points you have in the Hyatt internal trading system. You will be able to see everything available when searching.


(3) How concerned should I be about the rumored plan to move to a "purely points" based system? I'm thinking the worse that can happen is that I effectively get restricted to usage at my home resort -- a result I would be totally fine with. The DVC system has served me exceptionally well for a decade now, so perhaps I'm not as concerned about such a move as I should be.

Answer

You can't worry too much based on rumors. The Hyatt system is a good one I enjoy it a lot. You have to know the rules to trade wisely.

A point saving tip. You can use a three day weekend stay for Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the summer in a two bedroom for 1320 points. But if you want to use a two night midweek stay in a two bedroom for a Thursday and Friday night it will only cost 440 points. Or a four night stay for 880 points. I am using Diamond season weeks 26-31 in a two bedroom unit for these examples. Outside these prime summer weeks are the Platinum weeks(22-25 and 32-35). Points would be 1200 for weekend stays and 400/800 for 2/4 night midweek stays.

Hyatt's are great for use in II too. Your week includes gold membership in II. You can do short stays using Hyatt points in II.

I do try to use my points in Hyatt but also find I get great value in II too.


I hope this helps. And if you own Hyatt points never let them get to LCUP status if you can help it. They are very hard to use when limited to within 60 days-as LCUP points are.

 

[DMSTWO]

All --

Long-time DVC owner that is looking seriously at the Hyatt system. Primarily for use at Wild Oak in the form of "off-season" 3-day weekends.

The information here and at Kal's website have been incredibly helpful. Still I have a couple of random questions that I'm hoping someone can help me with:

(1) Some Hyatts seem to have arrivals only on Saturday. A few on Sunday or Saturday. And then Wild Oak and Pinion Point allow arrivals on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I'm a bit confused how this later kind of arrival flexibility gels with the concept of a fixed week.

(a) Is an arrival date specific to the contract, but set? (I.e. some contracts arrive on Friday, some on Saturday, some Sunday?) Or do you pick an arrival date on each usage?

The check-in day for each specific unit is set by the deed issued to the first buyer of that unit. I doesn't change once set. It is my understanding that Hyatt targeted a specific number of check-ins units for each specific day that they designated as a check-in day. Then when they started sales, the first buyer of a specific unit could choose between the available check-in days provided Hyatt could still stay within the target for that type of unit.

(b) Is there the same arrival date flexibility on split week, 3-day weekends? And, if not, is the set arrival date always Friday for 3-day weekend stays?

Yes there is flexibility in check-in days for short stays, but the weekend is treated specially. For example, I checked Wild Oak Ranch availability from this weekend through the end of the year using separate searches for 2 bdr 2,4, and 3 day stays requesting . There were two pages of availability. The check-in days for both the 2 and 4 day (even day short stays) were Sunday thru Thursday only. The 3 days searches only revealed Friday and Saturday check-ins. This is consistent with my understanding that the weekends are strickly reserved for 3 day stays, thereby creating a long-weekend.

(2) I keep reading how I would be wise to target a unit that has at least 2,000 points in trading power, as it greatly enhances not just length of stay, but overall availability in trading.

Does the same hold true as you continue to increase the contract size? For example, I'm looking at a Gold-3 bedroom (2,520 points) versus a Platinum-2 bedroom (2,000) or Diamond 2-bedroom (2,200) points. Will all those result in roughly the same available inventory for trading? Or would I will I have more choices if I have 2,520?

If you might eventually decide to trade, then yes the more points the better. It provides greater flexibility, and opens up more available inventory to you.

There are also other significant implications relative to the number of points you get. The maintenance fees for each unit type are exactly the same regardless of season. So if you and John Doe both had unit 3134 at some resort, and the MFs were $1000 per year, and you had a Platinum week at 2000 point, you are paying $0.50 a point. Poor John Doe however, bought a bronze week at 1300 points, so he is paying $0.77 per point in maintenance fees for the exact same unit. He also has less trading power. You of course paid more for your week, but that is a onetime cost, not something you will have to pay year after year.



For the foreseeable future, I see us using this almost exclusively at Wild Oak -- we are in Houston and love long weekends in S.A. outside of the dead of summer -- but I'd like to keep other options reasonably open.

That of course brings you to the typical TUG recommendation. Only buy on the resale market, buy somewhere that you would be willing to use year after year in case changes in the TS trading systems make trading an unattractive option, and finally, if you are interested in trading try to find the highest value trader/with the lowest possible maintenance fees. All the Hyatt properties seem to trade well on the II, so for us the Hyatt of our choice was Pinon Pointe. We love going there, but it is also the strongest trader to MF ratio in the Hyatt system. For you as a golfer though, especially being from Dallas, Wild Oak is probably a very good choice.

(3) How concerned should I be about the rumored plan to move to a "purely points" based system? I'm thinking the worse that can happen is that I effectively get restricted to usage at my home resort -- a result I would be totally fine with. The DVC system has served me exceptionally well for a decade now, so perhaps I'm not as concerned about such a move as I should be.

Read my post of today relative to the pure points owner update. Marriott's transition was troublesome, and problems with that system still exist today. That said, I'm hopeful that Hyatt's change to the points system will be better.

Hyatt may be able to avoid the problem of trust points versus legacy points just for the simple fact that the pre-existing Hyatt internal trading system is already a points based system. Marriott's was not. They tried to force a deeded week into a point program. The structure of the ownership types didn't lend themselves well to such a change.

I'm bullish enough about the Hyatt structure being better able to accommodate this change, that we are considering picking up another week somewhere in the system before the ROFR becomes to restrictive.

Hope this helps.

 

[Kal]

(b) Is there the same arrival date flexibility on split week, 3-day weekends? And, if not, is the set arrival date always Friday for 3-day weekend stays?...

If you are referring to using your owned unit/week for the stay, the short stays are limited to your contracted start day. However, if you are using points to stay in a different unit or week, then you have all the flexibility to pick available dates. Of course once you go to a unit other than your own, the HRPP (guaranteed) usage is no longer there and you have to go to the request list.

 

[DAman]

I did an internal Hyatt search and discovered a number of two day stays with check in on Thursday night and check out Saturday morning at Wild Oak.

I do this at Highlands Inn a lot for quick trips. It saves a lot of points. Unless of course you need a Saturday night included in your stay.

You can also do a four day midweek(Sunday through Thursday) and a two day midweek stay (Thursday through Saturday) combined to make a six night stay. You will have to pay two reservation and two housekeeping fees but you will save a lot of points. You will have to ask at check in to see if you can stay in the same room. Highlands Inn has accommodated me doing this.

 

[Creekway6]

All --

Thank you for the clarifications and information about point savings strategies.

I can see us making heavy use of the split week and weekend options. For example, I can absolutely envision DW going over for a Thursday to Saturday stay in a studio with our two youngest, and then I join them with the two oldest for a weekend stay in a 2-bedroom.

One of the things that is most attractive to me about Wild Oak is that what Hyatt declares to be high season (basically, the dead of summer) is not when we like to visit San Antonio. It's way, way too hot for our taste from late-June to September. We, however, will go multiple times between early October to mid-May.

As such, I think both points charts and availability (we have never been at Wild Oak when it seemed even remotely crowded) should break in our favor. I also like that they share an open campus with Hyatt Hill Country Resort, which itself has great spa, golf, pools and food. Time to shop, I think.

 

[Creekway6]

Just received notice that Hyatt waived its ROFR on my 2 bedroom, week 41, 1400 point contract.

I certainly started out looking for more points, but given my intended use (occasional off-peak weekend and/or mid-week stays) I think we will be happy with this. I know I'm happy with the initial price point as an introduction to the Hyatt system.

Thanks again to all here for the input.

 

[alexadeparis]

Wow! A great buy! Congrats

 

[Creekway6]

As of today, I have access to my new Hyatt VC account. For others going through this, I thought I'd post my timeline.

Offer made and accepted: 10/14 ($1 for 2BR 1400 point week at Hyatt Wild Oak).
Contract prepared: 10/19
Contract executed by both parties: 10/21
Sent to closing: 10/22
Hyatt waiver of ROFR: 12/4
Closing documents prepared: 12/16
Executed closing document sent to county recorder: 12/24
Transfer process initiated with Hyatt VC: 12/30
New member number received and access granted: 1/20

So, from contract acceptance to account access, 94 days.

And given that much of that occurred over the holiday break, I'm very pleased with timeline. Really couldn't have gone much easier.

And, as noted in a separate thread, in addition to current year points, the contract came with 1400 point in LCUP (which I still have several months to use, and can easily do at Wild Oak), plus another 1400 previously deposited into EEE, that I have roughly 18 months to find a use for.

A deal and a process that we are very pleased with. Many thanks to those on this thread and TUG, in general, for providing a wealth of information as I approached this contract.

 

[Creekway6]

So, I have to post one last follow-up to close out my timeline:

I received access to II account five days after my Hyatt account went live. In total, I have now booked with this contract:

(1) Full week in two-bedroom in March at Wild Oak (surprise LCUP points);
(2) Full week in two-bedroom at Marriott Sabal Plams (surprise EEE points);
(3) 3-day weekend in two-bedroom at Wild Oak for my unit (HRBP points);
(4) Our traditional stay at Wild Oak during the winter school break in the forms of a 4-night stay between the end of school and Christmas Eve (CUP points).

The first two reservations are pure windfall, as I paid zero for those points. The later two are exactly the type of multiple "low season" usage that I hope to get out of this Hyatt contract going forward.

Amazing.

 

[MaryH]

How much did you pay for your silver week if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Creekway6]

I found one selling for $1, plus closing costs. I was a bit surprised it didn't get ROFRed. But very happy I took the shot.

 

[MaryH]

$1 + Closing with 2 years of points... You did very well