Monday Morning Miles Talk is a regular series that has some smaller, more quirky ideas to kick off the work week. These are essentially random ideas that I wanted to share with you. Here are the previous entries.
If you would like to read some of the other articles in the series you can click HERE.
Are Tips Covered with Hyatt Globalist Breakfast?
Hyatt has made some positive headlines over the past few weeks. They finally started allowing award stays to count towards status and even retroactively counted award stays for 2017 status.
With the two above mentioned changes I assume there are going to be an increase in Globalist members over the next year or two. One of the best perks of Globalist status is unlimited lounge access. When there is no lounge access the hotel will offer you complimentary breakfast in the restaurant or via room service (rare these days). During these instances you should always tip on the bill instead of with cash.
Check out my article on the cheapest way to earn Hyatt elite status!
Hyatt Picks up the Tab
You are probably saying to yourself, no ship Sherlock, I want to get the bonus points for billing it to my room! That isn’t the reason though – it is because Hyatt will pick up the tab in full.
I have confirmations from Shawn, as well as PDX Deals Guy, that this works. It was also tested again this weekend.
Usually when dining in the restaurant, instead of the lounge, there will be a mandatory tip added to the bill. Usually anywhere from 15-18% (highlighted in red above). Let’s say you usually tip 20% or you had a really excellent server and wanted to add something a little extra. Normally you may take a few singles or a $5 bill out of your pocket to cover it. But if you write it onto your bill Hyatt will pick up the tab.
We have multiple positive reports of this being the case. Usually it is for only a couple of dollars each day and of course YMMV. I doubt Hyatt would cover large or outlandish tips but the small add on tip seems to be covered on a regular basis, as well as the mandatory service charge tip.
Reader Richard below says that during his stays he has tipped and Hyatt usually covers up to 18% so keep that in mind if the service charge is not automatically added to your bill.
Conclusion
This isn’t an earth shattering huge money saving tip but it could keep a few bucks in your pocket each day of your trip. At the end of the year those few dollars each day could add up to a nice chunk of change. This is a nice little bonus perk of having Hyatt elite status.
Do you have any experience of this working? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
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Stayed at Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort and Spa for two nights during Memorial Day weekend. First morning the bill did not include mandatory tip and we added 15% (after tax.) Second morning, was surprised to see the total bill was higher than first morning and realized they have added mandatory 15% tip (before tax.) Different waiter/waitress. When we checked out hours later, happy to learn $0 balance.
Husband is a globalist and we redeemed two nights for 15000/ea.
Later that day, we opened the World of Hyatt app on iPhone and it displayed “tips included” 🙂
Awesome – thanks for the data point
[…] Are Tips Covered With Hyatt Globalist Breakfasts? […]
I’ve not had any experience with this yet in 2018. I’ve had a few instances during 2016 & 2017 where no tip was showing on the bill and I manually added it (18%). The tip showed up as a separate charge on my room folio (no charge for the meal). I had to request it to be removed. At the time, I was told that Hyatt automatically compensates the server gratuity and anything I write on the bill was my responsibility. Hopefully they’ve now fixed this as it made no sense not adding a gratuity – the server would think they were stiffed.
It sounds like it has somewhat been figured out but it will be interesting to see what people report going forward.
I have only had the auto tip added to one bill out of over 100 breakfast. My experience is that Hyatt covers any tip that you leave up to 18%. That multiple experiences where I’ve tipped 20% and my room bill shows a couple of bucks each day for extra gratuity
Thanks for the info Richard – good to know!
Interesting that I was able to go (a bit) over 20%, combining the auto-tip and manual additional tip. Probably a YMMV. Great data points, Richard. Not that I’ve seen it often, but I’m surprised you’ve only seen the auto-tip once out of 100+. Thanks again.
How is it possible that I’ve never come across the 15-18% tip automatically added to my Globalist breakfast? Any data points around how many Hyatt properties actually display this auto-gratuity? I’ve had 70+ nights with Hyatt in each of the last 4 years, and don’t recall ever seeing the pre-filled tip.
I just experienced it at the Andaz Wall Street. I’m pretty sure I’ve run into it before. But, regardless, the premise is the same, I believe. Leave a reasonable tip and the front desk will usually (always?) take it off the final hotel bill. Given your experience, I’m curious to know if you concur? Thanks.
I concur absolutely. Usually I try and ask the front desk whether or not restaurant servers get a tip automatically at breakfast, just to be certain they’re covered one way or another.