Some hotel companies plan changes to their loyalty programs in 2024, including Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Omni Hotels & Resorts, each company recently announced.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, Hyatt will "expand" its World of Hyatt loyalty program with "reimagined" benefits, such as bonus points, free nights, experience credits and guest-of-honor gifts, some available at lower thresholds—as well as benefits for meetings and events professionals and corporates—the company announced Thursday.
"Milestone Rewards will begin after 20 qualifying nights or 35,000 Base Points per year and continue for each 10 qualifying nights, up to 150 nights," the company announced.
Hyatt will allow member to choose from three eligible awards, including earning points for future stays, next-stay suite upgrades and well-being experiences at "almost every milestone," the company said.
Additionally, members will be able to earn Guest of Honor benefits—for themselves or others—at the 40-tier qualifying nights, as opposed to only at the Globalist membership tier.
Currently, Globalist members can book Guest of Honor awards with no limits if they use points from their account. In 2024, this will change. Going forward, members will receive Guest of Honor awards from a list of available milestone reward options. This structure allows members to earn one Guest of Honor award at the 40-night mark, and two at the 60-night mark with seven more opportunities through the 70-night mark and beyond, totaling up to 10 Guest of Honor awards.
Hyatt loyalty members can earn 2,000 bonus points during their next stay at select hotels, such as Hyatt Place and Hyatt House, and earn experience credits for Hyatt's Find program. Find credits will vary based on which milestone members achieve, according to Hyatt.
Hyatt's update to its loyalty program also includes changes to meetings and events benefits.
Loyalty members booking meetings and events can earn rewards and gain status for a mix of events, up to $150,000, according to Hyatt. In 2024, members can earn two qualifying night credits per $5,000 in event spend, totaling up to 60 qualifying night credits per calendar year and does not require an associated room block for group events. Previously, benefits were accrued by booking Qualifying Meetings, which Hyatt said still will be tracked through Dec. 31, 2024.
Omni Sets Changes
Omni Hotels & Resorts also has announced and upcoming update to its Select Guest Loyalty Program in 2024. Beginning Jan. 1, Omni guests can accumulate status and rewards through on-property experiences charged to their room, the company announced last month.
The 2024 update will allow Omni loyalty program members to earn status and benefits with on-property purchases, including food, beverage and retail, as well as spa appointments and golf outings. Omni's updated loyalty program will also include a "revamped" structure and tier names, progressing from Member to Insider, Champion and Icon Status, the company said. Following this update, loyalty members can earn status and rewards—which will be called Omni Credits—through on-property spend, in addition to room-night spend, only when purchases are charged to the room, according to Omni.
With this update, guests can earn "achieve higher levels of status after even a single stay," the company said. "We wanted to make this level achievable to encourage guests to return and enjoy a higher level of benefits on their next stay," Omni VP of loyalty and customer engagement Josh Belkin said in a statement.
The updated loyalty program still includes existing member benefits such as free nights redeemable at any Omni property, suite upgrade availability and various in-stay amenities. Rewards earned during 2023 will be honored "at an equivalent level" throughout 2024 as the spending power of existing Omni rewards are locked in, according to the hotel company.