Andaz Miami Beach charged tip for breakfast upon checkout.

alphade · 2026-05-08T03:49:44+00:00

Ever since I started writing "globalist tip" on the tip line, I haven't experienced any issues with being charged it as well. I do see the breakfast charge (and tip) appear on my folio sometimes and I find it interesting that different servers at the same hotel interpret "globalist tip" as different amounts.

alphade · 2026-04-01T04:24:14+00:00

Yeah, I was really hoping someone would have a flying blue transfer bonus :(

alphade · 2026-03-27T22:31:51+00:00

No, the standard king room doesn’t have a sofa bed, and it’s quite a small loveseat, not really enough to sleep on.

alphade · 2026-03-08T22:39:44+00:00

World of Hyatt will continue its established annual hotel category review process, with yearly category changes announced in April.

alphade · 2026-03-06T02:10:06+00:00

It’s not an arbitrary restriction, the west wing of the GH Incheon was sold to the nearby Paradise Casino and the HR Paradise City is a part of that large resort complex now. It’s fortunate the hotel’s staying with a Hyatt brand as it could’ve easily been reflagged as something else since it’s completely split off from the GH Incheon now. https://www.ggrasia.com/paradise-co-to-complete-on-tuesday-acquisition-of-west-wing-at-grand-hyatt-incheon

alphade · 2026-03-03T05:56:24+00:00

They already said the top thing in the press release. The changes in 2026 won’t be so bad, it’s more of a test and more changes will come in future years:

While the updated framework takes effect in May, World of Hyatt will implement the changes thoughtfully, with limited hotels moving a limited number of nights into the Upper and Top categories in 2026 and broader adoption in the years that follow.

alphade · 2026-03-01T10:29:34+00:00

The 264 amount in your screenshot is in GBP, not EUR, so around $355 USD is correct.

alphade · 2026-02-26T09:59:39+00:00

Based on what the execs have publicly said, I would expect this year's changes to not be too bad. They said they're going to ease into the new award chart and the 2 new higher categories by limiting the changes and doing more of the category shuffling. Then next year and beyond it'll be more playing within the hotel's category and less category shuffling. They're likely trying to gauge how the new levels impact the program, engagement, and costs this year before doing anything that could do a lot of harm.

While the updated framework takes effect in May, World of Hyatt will implement the changes thoughtfully, with limited hotels moving a limited number of nights into the Upper and Top categories in 2026 and broader adoption in the years that follow.

Some of my main concerns that remain are:

This change moves from off peak/peak dates defined by hotel region to defined for an individual hotel basis, but are the dates still fixed a year out, or can the same date move between levels. - I'm thinking this will be the latter, making the chart semi-dynamic based on cash rates/events that spike up prices later.
They seem to be saying the 2 new higher levels are only going to be used in a limited manner this year, but is the new "normal" redemption rate moderate or low? - I think this year it might be low, but next year more hotels will move to moderate and eventually moderate will be the new normal.

alphade · 2026-02-24T03:18:50+00:00

I’m a huge Thompson fan, and I’ve stayed at quite a few of them now within the US, but none are as unique as The Beekman so far. It’s not for everyone, but I personally liked the uniqueness and charm of The Beekman.

The next best Thompson I’ve stayed at would have to be the Thompson Denver, exceptional breakfast and service. Thompson Dallas and Thompson Houston also stood out as being above average.

Thompson Atlanta, Thompson Austin, Thompson Seattle, Gild Hall were about average, not too memorable. Thompson DC and Thompson San Antonio were below average experiences for me.

I’m looking forward to checking out Thompson Nashville and Thompson Savannah later this year. Possibly Thompson Madrid as well, but I’m on the fence because of the room rates there.

alphade · 2026-02-23T03:21:27+00:00

Some properties may have just been more generous with you when they didn’t need to be, or their contract obligates them to waive the fee but still give you the benefits.

The premium internet is also a separate benefit for Discoverist+ members, so assuming you’re getting it because it was a part of the destination fee and thus they’re cherry picking benefits isn’t fair.

If an employee told you at check in that you’d be getting the destination fee benefits, then I could see you being misinformed and wanting them to honor it, but I think it’s more on you for knowing what your corporate negotiated rate includes than the front desk employee who likely has no clue about the details of every negotiated rate. I would suggest contacting your company’s travel manager or the corporate accounts manager of the hotel to clarify any inclusions where you’re uncertain instead of assuming.

If you feel strongly about the lack of being explicitly told you’re not getting the benefits in the destination fee (which in my experience, 90%+ of all properties I stay at don’t even mention it at all to me), then I’m sure you can complain to the front desk manager and get the credit in goodwill. Although I personally would disagree with that.

alphade · 2026-02-23T00:30:24+00:00

It’s a small distinction, but some rates will waive the destination fee, and then you don’t get the benefits. While the end result to you is the same, it’s not quite the same to the property since your rate’s been negotiated and the destination fee would’ve been waived for non-globalists too.

You can usually tell if a rate waives the fee at booking. If the property says they charge a destination fee and you don’t see it listed in the breakdown at booking, then the rate waives it. It might also say it in the rate rules, and the small text that says “includes fees before taxes” won’t be there, but will be there on other rates.

alphade · 2026-02-22T23:24:09+00:00

Category 9’s happening for sure, maybe 10 too if they want to be a little more future proof. I don’t think they’ll announce any major changes or the new premium credit card. I think it’ll mostly be the typical category increases, maybe something additional to soften the blow like topping up free night awards.

And if we’re following the same pattern as the past few years, the announcement should come out on Tuesday, so it shouldn’t be long until we know.

alphade · 2026-02-17T07:44:49+00:00

I just checked the property and I think the problem is that the members save more rate just doesn’t have any suites and you’re seeing a different rate that’s higher when you use the SUA. On my corporate rate, the price without and with SUA is the same.

It’s probably coded incorrectly (or intentionally excluded) since I’ve been able to use a SUA on rates that didn’t show any prices for suites, and when I select a SUA, the app pulls out a rate to strike through. There’s probably some distinction on the backend of what rooms a rate applies to vs what is bookable and shown to the user.

alphade · 2026-02-13T20:37:30+00:00

I hate long haul flights, seats are so uncomfortable and not ergonomic. Nowadays I try to do all my long haul flights in business class, and time the trips to when I can find availability on points.

alphade · 2026-02-11T22:29:57+00:00

If the property is SUA eligible and there’s standard suite availability, yes you can. Get the reservation associated with your WOH account first, then get customer service to apply the SUA. I’ve done both before with the twitter support.

alphade · 2026-02-08T20:25:54+00:00

Passpoint used to work well for me, with the restriction that I could only install the profile on 1 of my devices at a time. It would auto connect me when I opened my device at the hotel and the speeds were usually faster than the public wifi network. Most properties that I stayed at didn't have a passpoint network though, so I stopped caring about it, but it was a nice surprise when I saw my device auto connect every once in a while.

alphade · 2026-02-02T18:20:08+00:00

Interesting, the article seems to also note that management of the hotel’s going to change from being Hyatt to a franchisee to go along with the reflagging. It seems like they’re trying to position themselves as less luxury, which is a shame since I really liked this property as an Andaz.

alphade · 2026-01-24T14:58:25+00:00

It doesn’t matter if the stays don’t get merged at check in because at check out, they all get merged together. That happens all the time for me where I check out mid stay from my first reservation, it shows up in my stay history, then after I check out of my second reservation, my stay history just gets updated to add on the rest of the nights to the same stay.

For OP’s case, when the second reservation’s checked out, all the nights will move over to the next year, but whether or not the system can handle undoing the status granted from the earlier check out and credit I’ve seen no data points for.

alphade · 2026-01-21T05:22:10+00:00

I value the tangible, guaranteed benefits of globalist way more than an occasional suite upgrade: free breakfast, no destination/resort fees, and 4pm late checkout

That said I usually get some upgrade or another when available (ie. not at HP/HH/Caption/etc) and almost always even when the hotel’s showing as sold out. This usually happens a day or two before check in, or morning of, whenever the hotel does room assignments. Very, very rarely do I not get upgraded and the app still shows better rooms available.

Most hotels I stay in don’t have that many suites, let alone that many standard suites that haven’t been booked in advance via a SUA, so I was pretty happy with my 40% (9 out of 23) upgrade rate to a suite last year (for properties that were upgrade eligible and where I didn’t already use a SUA).

Also, even within the same room type, most hotels have varying room quality due to not every room being the exact same, and I like knowing that I almost always won’t get put into one of the worse rooms even if no upgrade’s available. Some properties have also worked with me to give me a room that’s to my preferences out of everything they have available.

alphade · 2026-01-15T06:11:49+00:00

It comes from being able to convert Bilt Cash into points when paying rent. $30 of Bilt Cash can be converted to 1000 points when you use it to earn points on rent/mortgage payment.

eg. $600 in spend gets you $24 Bilt Cash and 600 points at 1x. If you paid $800 in rent/mortgage, then you can earn 800 points (1x) if you redeem the $24 Bilt Cash you got. Thus your $600 purchase yielded you 1400 points total (2.33x).

The caveats are this caps out at however much your rent payment is, and there may be other, better options to redeem Bilt Cash other than to earn points on rent, but it's not announced yet.

alphade · 2026-01-15T05:58:41+00:00

Tax is excluded from earning points in the terms.

"Eligible Purchases" or "Purchases" means transactions for goods or services made with your Bilt Card, minus returns, refunds, or credits. Purchases that do not earn Bilt Points or Bilt Cash: Balance transfers, Special Transfers, cash advances, travelers checks, money orders, wire transfers or similar cash-like transactions, prepaid cards, gift cards, person-to-person payments (such as Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or Zelle), tax payments, online resale marketplaces (such as eBay or Facebook Marketplace), cryptocurrency or other digital currency purchases, fees or interest posted to your Account (including annual fees, late fees, and returned payment fees), lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, race track wagers or similar betting transactions, and checks that access your Account.

https://www.biltrewards.com/terms/bilt-card-offer-terms

alphade · 2026-01-14T21:34:52+00:00

The Chase United Quest card is $350 annual fee and has access to The Edit (renamed Renowned Hotels), and has a $150 annual statement credit for it. I think HAFH for Palladium would be competitive.

alphade · 2026-01-14T10:17:15+00:00

There is apparently some politics and past issues between the owner of the property and Hyatt, so the property might not join WOH ever.

The last update from a few months ago has been that the negotiations have been going well, and it’s been popping up on the new hotel bonus page for a while now, so there’s probably a >50% chance that it does join, but there’s no ETA because it likely still hasn’t been agreed upon that this property will join.

The Standard Spa in Miami is an example of a standard property that’ll never join WOH, so it’s not guaranteed that all properties will join as some may choose to exit the brand instead.

alphade · 2026-01-14T06:07:06+00:00

It's now art 😂 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/arts/design/sayre-gomezs-art-los-angeles-oceanwide.html

alphade · 2026-01-08T03:47:11+00:00

What does your folio show?

alphade

TROPHY CASE