Hyatt Trade in II: Studio Pts for 1BR unit?!

[heathpack]

Had a curious experience with II today. Many months ago, we deposited enough Hyatt points with II to obtain studios for 2 consecutive weeks in Royal Resorts this April, one at the Royal Haciendas and one at the Royal Sands.

Today, I saw a 1BR unit available for our week at the Haciendas, so I called II to see if I could pay a fee and upgrade to a 1BR- I was pretty sure this was not possible without depositing more points.

The II rep confirmed that it was not possible to pay a fee to upgrade, but said he could cancel our studio week, issue a replacement week, then immediately book the 1BR. My cost would be a second exchange fee, we took him up on the offer and booked the 1BR. (Plus I would lose the ability to cancel and rebook the week in the future should I need to.)

He commented that with a Hyatt deposit, we could obtain a larger unit than our points would normally allow, provided that unit was available at the time of booking. What?! I know this is possible with other timeshares, but I specifically thought it was not an option with HVC, something I never thought it reasonable to complain about since my 2BR gold week generates enough points to obtain 3.5 red studio weeks in II. I can really deposit my 430 points for a studio and book a 1BR or 2BR if available?

Does anyone know if this was some sort of abberation, or did I previously miss a very big concept in trading Hyatts with II?

Thanks,
H

 

[jerseygirl]

I've only traded with II once, and IIRC you are charged the number of points according to the grid (i.e., I think you would have been charged the higher number of points if you had booked the one-BR initially). However, it does make sense that if you cancel, you'll be given a replacement week ... and it sounds like the replacement week was not tied to the grid. It would appear you found a nice workaround for those willing to pay two exchange fees! That's my guess anyway.

 

[tahoeJoe]

Time frames?

This makes sense but what was your time frames? Did you cancel the Royal resorts reservation 30, 60, or 90 days before check-in? Does it make a difference?

-TJ

 

[heathpack]

This makes sense but what was your time frames? Did you cancel the Royal resorts reservation 30, 60, or 90 days before check-in? Does it make a difference?

-TJ

We cancelled and rebooked 3 weeks to the day before our stay was scheduled to start, I don't know if this short time-frame made a difference or not. Rep did not saying anything about the timing of the weeks being important.

I wonder if anyone else has had this experience with a Hyatt deposit?!

H

 

[hulakaren]

This happened to me once. It does have to do with the time frame. We canceled a studio less than 30 days out and we were given a replacement week to use within a year. We could only book 30 days out, but could book any available room.
This year we again had to cancel a trip, but called less than two weeks out and we lost our points, so make sure you cancel more than two weeks out!