Today’s Confusing HRC and Welk Announcement [merged]

[travelguy84]

I’m sure many of you have received this email. I would love to hear a better interpretation of this email and its impact on legacy owners like myself who despise the portfolio program.
The email…

Dear Owner: I am excited to announce that today, the name of the Welk Resorts Platinum Program will become the newly-branded Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program. With this step, the Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program and its eight boutique properties reach an important milestone in our journey together as part of the Hyatt Vacation Ownership family. More than just a name change, we’ll be adding benefits that only a relationship with Hyatt could provide. Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program Owners will enjoy membership in the World of Hyatt®program, similar to the Hyatt Residence Club Portfolio Program Members today. Beginning with the 2023 Use Year, Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program Owners will be able to exchange for World of Hyatt Bonus Points, and Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program Owners enrolled in the World of Hyatt program are now eligible to earn and redeem World of Hyatt points for eligible ancillary purchases and stays at the Hyatt hotels and resorts around the world.* Participating resorts will be included on hyatt.com.** How will this affect Hyatt Residence Club? The Hyatt Residence Club Portfolio Program and Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program will continue to operate as two distinct point ownership products. As both clubs are affiliated with Interval International®, Hyatt Residence Club Owners may utilize Interval International to complete exchanges with a priority booking window and reduced exchange fee when traveling to the eight properties comprising the Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program. Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program Owners will only be able to access inventory that is deposited with Interval International by Hyatt Residence Club Owners and Hyatt Residence Club Portfolio Program members. This exchange capability is not expected to impact the volume of Hyatt Residence Club inventory available for your usage. I would also like to reiterate that the Hyatt Vacation Ownership leadership team continues to focus on you, our loyal and valued Owners, listening to your feedback and working to improve your experiences. We recognize the uniqueness of your properties, as well as your ownership, and are committed to bringing you the best of vacation choices. As you will see below, we are pleased to announce some initial changes based on your feedback. Hyatt Residence Club News and Updates Since I last wrote, our Hyatt Vacation Ownership leadership team has received a great amount of thoughtful feedback from Owners. The passion of our Owners is evident, and we are excited to have this dedicated team in place to listen to and serve you all. As a result of this feedback, we are evaluating various aspects of your ownership experience and have implemented changes in two key areas: First, to understand your concerns and better serve you, our General Manager Forums are returning to your Hyatt Residence Club resorts. We know that Owners have missed these opportunities to get together with the resort managers and fellow Owners, and we look forward to reinstituting these for our Owners to enjoy. Also, we have expanded the weekday hours of operation for the Member Services team until 8:00 PM ET, Monday through Friday. Based on your feedback, we understand that the prior hours were too restrictive for our West Coast Owners and believe these expanded hours will help better satisfy Owners’ needs. We will continue to take steps to further evaluate ways to enhance your ownership and are committed to making your Hyatt Residence Club ownership even better. We appreciate your loyalty, feedback, and ownership. Thank you,​

Stephanie Butera Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Hyatt Vacation Ownership ​

 

[Pathways]

At 3pm the email came from HRC announcing the official change from Welk to Hyatt, effective today

'Welk Resorts Platinum Program will become the newly-branded Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program'

With this step, the Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program and its eight boutique properties reach an important milestone in our journey together as part of the Hyatt Vacation Ownership family.


The Hyatt Residence Club Portfolio Program and Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program will continue to operate as two distinct point ownership products.

 

[RunCat]

Per the email, "Eligible Owners are expected to be able to begin exchanging their Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Points for World of Hyatt points on or before October 1, 2022," This is a perk that was not previously available to Welk Owners. No info on the exchange rate. I suspect it won't be very good. But it is still a nice benefit.

 

[ScoopKona]

I've only stayed at the Welk Resort in Temecula. I thought the "fit and finish" of that resort was comparable to Hyatt.

Looking at the locations, I think all but the Branson resorts fit with the Hyatt "boutique" philosophy. If it were up to me, I'd jettison Branson (sorry guys, nothing personal -- just that Branson is built-out); and fold the rest into the Hyatt system. I'd gladly trade into Santa Fe at the earliest opportunity.

I just hope that the system is seamless for both Welk and Hyatt owners.

 

[Sapper]

The Hyatt Residence Club Portfolio Program and Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Program will continue to operate as two distinct point ownership products.

So, what it comes down to is: there is no integration. There is a name change for Welk, and the change only helps to create marketing confusion between the products.

 

[Pathways]

So, what it comes down to is: there is no integration. There is a name change for Welk, and the change only helps to create marketing confusion between the products.

Exactly - The integration is now complete and - 'voila' the integration is the name Hyatt Vacation Club replaces Welk.

Platinum program / Portfolio program - yes -confusion will ensue.

Cross reservations are only available through Interval for a 'reduced' fee.

 

[ScoopKona]

This is very disappointing because the Welk/Hyatt "merger" was hardly lopsided. There are a few Welk properties which don't interest me. But I'm sure the Welk owners feel the same way about Hyatt locations.

One of the best things about the Hyatt system is its internal trades. (I don't know how well Welk compares with its internal trades.) If we can't directly access each other's properties, what's the point? (Other than muddying the waters and making "Hyatt" much larger at a stroke.)

 

[RunCat]

This is very disappointing because the Welk/Hyatt "merger" was hardly lopsided. There are a few Welk properties which don't interest me. But I'm sure the Welk owners feel the same way about Hyatt locations.

One of the best things about the Hyatt system is its internal trades. (I don't know how well Welk compares with its internal trades.) If we can't directly access each other's properties, what's the point? (Other than muddying the waters and making "Hyatt" much larger at a stroke.)

FWIW, there are no “internal” trades as it would normally be understood. The preponderance of Welk ownerships are points attached to an ownership trust. Thus there is not any exchange; only a reservation made with points. It would be best to compare it with Sheraton/Westin Flex except all of the resorts are with one system. All owners can make a one-week reservation 15 months in advance. Different rules exist for less than a week reservations. Owners with many points can make reservations earlier than that; albeit from just a subset of the availability. I think the difference in systems may be a challenge for complete integration

 

[ScoopKona]

FWIW, there are no “internal” trades as it would normally be understood.

I think the difference in systems may be a challenge for complete integration

If Welk owners would be OK simply going with the Hyatt trade system, a few of us who know the system well could assign Copper-to-Diamond values to each week at each resort. Most people would be happy. And those who aren't still get to keep what they have.

I don't see much grumbling from the Hyatt owners "we have to put up with all these Welk people" and I don't see much grumbling from the Welk owners.

I think mostly, everyone involved would like to access each other's portfolio's. Hyatt's biggest weakness is its lack of diversity. Their biggest strength is the inherently fair system of trading they have.

 

[Norcal5]

I've only stayed at the Welk Resort in Temecula. I thought the "fit and finish" of that resort was comparable to Hyatt.

Looking at the locations, I think all but the Branson resorts fit with the Hyatt "boutique" philosophy. If it were up to me, I'd jettison Branson (sorry guys, nothing personal -- just that Branson is built-out); and fold the rest into the Hyatt system. I'd gladly trade into Santa Fe at the earliest opportunity.

I just hope that the system is seamless for both Welk and Hyatt owners.

I had been told by another guest at Coconut plantation last year that the Santa Fe wasn’t really with Welk anymore. I hope they were wrong as I was very interested in staying there too.

 

[ScoopKona]

I had been told by another guest at Coconut plantation last year that the Santa Fe wasn’t really with Welk anymore. I hope they were wrong as I was very interested in staying there too.

It's still listed as part of Welk. I just checked. Whether that is accurate is another matter.

» El Corazon de Santa Fe

thecollections.welkresorts.com

 

[Kal]

It's still listed as part of Welk. I just checked. Whether that is accurate is another matter.

» El Corazon de Santa Fe

thecollections.welkresorts.com

It's likely a points resort and therefore not a part of the Interval exchange package. Of course, how does this new "hybrid sausage" arrangement function for Portfolio owners? 8 resorts line up with the HRC, but what about the others?

 

[ScoopKona]

It's likely a points resort and therefore not a part of the Interval exchange package. Of course, how does this new "hybrid sausage" arrangement function for Portfolio owners? 8 resorts line up with the HRC, but what about the others?

If my last name was Pritzker, and I still owned Hyatt, I'd send a team consisting of a Hyatt reservations exec; a broker (probably from Key West) and an owner (probably you) to each Welk property to assign point-levels. I'd make sure this team was stingy. We can always bump people up later -- nobody ever complains going from Bronze to Gold -- but anything in the other direction would result in mutiny.

Bam. Every Welk property is now interchangeable with Hyatt. And as any Hyatt owner knows, a Bronze week and 1300 points is plenty to dip a toe in the water. It won't get Christmas in Colorado. But they'll be able to travel.

 

[dioxide45]

Give it time, Marriott Vacations Worldwide move slow. Very slow.....

 

[ScoopKona]

Give it time, Marriott Vacations Worldwide move slow. Very slow.....

Well aware. But Hyatt, back during the Pritzker days, moved just as slow.

We knew about Maui for years before they'd let us talk about it. And there was a section of Hyatt which talked to nobody in sales who basically ran the program -- their word was law. Fine with me. It's a good system. But they were cautious to a fault.

 

[mjm1]

Give it time, Marriott Vacations Worldwide move slow. Very slow.....

Yes, I can see where this is a first step so they move things forward. After a couple of years they provide a system that provides for internal exchanges. I actually prefer this over taking forever like the MVC-Vistana program to come. At least there is forward movement.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[ivywag]

As I read it, it doesn’t affect legacy owners. The only units that the Hyatt Vacation Platinum Club (Welk) can access are the ones deposited into Interval. Everything else stays the same as it has been between the HPC and the HRC. The Welk owners are also getting access to World of Hyatt. Of course, I would expect this all to change down the road. This is most likely only the beginning!

 

[mjm1]

I agree. I don’t think it changes anything for Hyatt owners other than providing a discounted exchange fee to trade via II into Welk resorts. I also think it is a first step, so they are least providing some forward movement. It wouldn’t surprise me if within a couple years they provide Welk owners with “HRC point equivalents“ and incorporate “enrolled” Welk units into the HRC points exchange system. Time will tell. In the meantime, we will just keep using our Hyatt ownership the way we have been.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[alameda94501]

Per the email, "Eligible Owners are expected to be able to begin exchanging their Hyatt Vacation Club Platinum Points for World of Hyatt points on or before October 1, 2022," This is a perk that was not previously available to Welk Owners. No info on the exchange rate. I suspect it won't be very good. But it is still a nice benefit.

Are "eligible" owners the ones who bought Developer points? That'd be amazing if Resale Platinum owners could get the World of Hyatt exchange!

 

[travelhacker]

I was relieved that it keeps the systems separate for now. I'm sure there are Welk resorts that we'd enjoy, but there wasn't anything I'd exchange into immediately and I wasn't looking forward to the increased competition.

I'm sure at some point they will integrate the systems, but I am guessing that it will require a purchase of some sort from the legacy HRC owners as well as Welk owners.

 

[CPNY]

I was relieved that it keeps the systems separate for now. I'm sure there are Welk resorts that we'd enjoy, but there wasn't anything I'd exchange into immediately and I wasn't looking forward to the increased competition.

I'm sure at some point they will integrate the systems, but I am guessing that it will require a purchase of some sort from the legacy HRC owners as well as Welk owners.

Lucky….. I wish Sleaziott did the same with Vistana and the DC program

 

[travelhacker]

Lucky….. I wish Sleaziott did the same with Vistana and the DC program

Marriott is too busy screwing Vistana right now. We'll get our turn.

 

[CPNY]

Marriott is too busy screwing Vistana right now. We'll get our turn.

FACTS…..Or well possibly facts. They have a soft launch of lies and half truths

 

[RunCat]

Are "eligible" owners the ones who bought Developer points? That'd be amazing if Resale Platinum owners could get the World of Hyatt exchange!

Terms/conditions have not been disclosed. Availability supposedly starts in October. And if resale qualified, I could see a run on resale points. I'm considering some myself.

 

[Kal]

The message is clear that Hyatt is being very careful not to cause issues with the HRC owners. That's a good thing. However, if I were a Welk owner, I would not be happy with this structure. At the onset, a Welk owner would likely believe the buyout would result in a full integration of all Welk properties into the HRC/HPC. They would have unlimited access to all Hyatt resorts. What a deal! So now owners of 8 Welk resorts are in a tiny pool where they hope Hyatt owners will take interest in those properties. IMHO, there's not much of an incentive for me to even think about tipping my toe in those waters.