Searching Hyatt Hotels for the latest 48-hour sale participating properties has me thinking about the recurring marketing venues for SPG, Hyatt and IHG hotel discounts I find to be annoying and stupid marketing for consumers.
Hyatt is on the second day of a 48-hour sale ‘Bask in savings this June’. I think Hyatt has offered these 48-hour sales every month for the past couple of years.
Hyatt’s Stupid Factor – why offer a 48-hour sale and not give consumers an easy to read list of the participating properties?
Today, I searched several of the 30 pages of Hyatt Special Offers to locate several hotels participating in the 48-hour June sale.
Bottom left box on Hyatt.com Special Offers tab lists ‘Special Rates’.
Click on ‘Special Rates’ and a webpage shows up stating there are 720 offers at 291 hotels. There are 30 pages of offers. This is where you will find hotels participating in the Hyatt 48-hour sale ending at midnight tonight.
The problem is the list needs to be filtered for the USA (404 offers at 180 hotels on 18 pages) or type in a specific state to narrow the search down from 18 pages.
Filtering for USA Special Offers reduces the list from 30 pages to 18 pages. The list can be narrowed more by searching individual states where you will be traveling between July 2 and September 30, the stay period for the current 48-hour sale.
Type in California and the list shrinks to 38 offers at 18 hotels on 2 pages. Looking through the two pages reveals there are only 3 California hotels participating in the 48-hour sale.
The stupid factor is the amount of search time needed to find the three participating hotels in California in Hyatt’s 48-hour sale.
Why does Hyatt Hotels have a recurring marketing campaign for 48-hour sales each month and not provide a list of participating hotels for potential buyers?
You need to search for a specific country to find participating hotels in Caribbean and Latin America (Mexico, Central and South America) or wade through 30 pages of special offers around the globe.
Bask in savings this June
This June, give in to the urge to get away and save with our 48-hour sale. For a limited time, simply book using Offer Code C48JUN beginning June 17, 2014, and save up to 15% on a family vacation, romantic getaway or a holiday just for you.
Great sales and great getaways don’t happen every day. So, book your escape now at participating hotels and resorts in the U.S., Canada, Caribbean and Latin America. This offer is valid through 11:59 PM CDT on June 18, 2014.
Offer valid for bookings only between 12:01 a.m. on June 17, 2014 and 11:59 p.m. on June 18, 2014 Central Daylight Time, for travel between 7/2/2014 and 9/30/2014 at participating Hyatt Hotels & Resorts in the US. Reservations are subject to availability and must be made in advance. Full non-refundable prepayment required at time of booking. Offer is for a limited time only. Simply request Offer Code C48JUN when you book your reservation and pay the 48 hour Sale rate. Discount is off the Hyatt Daily Rate for the room type requested at time of booking.
Hyatt 48-hour sale for June.
Hyatt has a 48-hour sale ending today offering discount prepaid, nonrefundable rates for hotels in the Americas. Good luck locating a hotel offering these discounts.
Two other hotel marketing campaigns I find annoying and stupid are Starwood’s weekly SPG Hot Escapes (over 200 hotels this week posted today) with teaser rates that are often only available one or two dates when you check the rate calendar. IHG Rewards Club Last Minute Reward Nights offers 50% off award nights, but only for about 100 or fewer hotels globally and only for the first full weekend of each month.
My unsolicited advice for big chain hotel marketers is think of your consumers and make it easy for us to find and evaluate hotel discount rate offers quickly.
And hotels wonder why we use OTAs to find hotel rate deals.
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Ric Garrido of Monterey, California is writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler.
Loyalty Traveler shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. Check out current hotel loyalty program offers across all the major chains in Loyalty Traveler’s monthly hotel promotions guide.
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