New Hyatt Promotion Offers Free Night After Two Stays

Even in today’s hyper-competitive hotel environment, Hyatt’s newly announced “Big Welcome Back” promotion is about as good as frequent-stay incentives get.

During the promotion period—March 26 through June 30—Hyatt Gold Passport members can earn a free night or 5,000 bonus points after every two qualifying stays. There’s no limit to the number of free nights that can be earned, but they must be taken between April 1 and August 31. There are no blackout dates.

The offer requires that Gold Passport members register, indicating their choice of free night or bonus points. The registration page should be live later this week—look for a link from the Hyatt Gold Passport homepage.

Deal or No Deal

This offer should put Hyatt on the shopping list of anyone planning two or more hotel stays before June 30.

While the free nights require two paid stays, each of them could be one-nighters. So this is potentially a buy-two-get-one-free proposition. And by logging the qualifying stays at less expensive Hyatts and taking the free night at a higher-end property, the value proposition can be further improved.

Also enhancing the offer is its duration. At more than three months, it affords travelers plenty of time to rack up some free nights.

If I have a quibble with this promotion, it’s the cut-off date for taking the free night. Forcing program members to complete their award stays within two months of the offer’s end seems unnecessarily harsh. Of course, you could opt instead for the bonus points, which can be used any time. But a free night has more potential value.

Overall, though, Hyatt is giving travelers a good reason to give the chain a second look when booking trips. And that’s exactly what a good hotel promotion should do.