Hyatt Shutdowns for Fraudulent UrCove Stays
World of Hyatt is one of the most popular hotel loyalty programs. World of Hyatt points are quite valuable and elite members get great benefits.
That also puts World of Hyatt elite status in high demand, and sometimes that status it achieved through fraud. Apparently one or more UrCove properties in China have been facilitating this process for over 2,000 World of Hyatt members.
If you are not familiar with UrCove (pronounced Your Cove), this is a relatively new brand launched in 2019 in partnership with BTG Homeinns Group. BTG also runs these properties, which are not directly connected to Hyatt like other brands.
And that is where staff at some of these UrCove hotels found loopholes in order to rent out cheap rooms without requiring check-ins.
Advertising Fraudulent Stays
UrCove Hangzhou Riverside, UrCove Hangzhou Xiaoshan Jiangnan Technology City, UrCove Hefei and possibly other properties, were selling “packages that allowed customers to earn points and nights without actually staying. They even provided official invoices for these transactions.” There are over 50 UrCove properties in China, but it’s not clear how many were involved.
These Hyatt “stays” would cost about $20 per night, making it cheaper to earn elite status. A few World of Hyatt members even worked their way to lifetime Globalist.
Some of these World of Hyatt members who earned Globalist status, were also selling Guest Of Honor and Milestone awards.
The scams have been going on for a couple of years at least, and in recent weeks Hyatt starting going after members who were taking advantage of these schemes.
Hyatt Shutdowns
Hyatt has shut down the accounts of everyone who earned points at these properties, apparently without any proper investigation or explanation. That’s over 2,000 accounts as far as I know. This again could be due to the disconnect where Hyatt can not get full details about these UrCove stays.
But some members who were wrongfully banned have been reinstated after appealing. So if you do have legitimate stays at these properties, don’t hesitate to contact Hyatt.
Guru’s Wrap-up
It’s surprising that this has been going on for so long and Hyatt is just taking action now. It’s also unclear why Hyatt would not have a better system in place for its partnership with BTG Homeinns Group and UrCove properties.
Hyatt has shut down account of 2,000 or more World of Hyatt members who were taking advantage of these schemes. But they don’t appear to be going after the properties who were fraudulently selling these packages.
If you want to read more about how this all worked, you can check out FlyerTalk, reddit, UScardforum, and these articles from Loyalty Lobby and One Mile at a Time.
Affected by these Hyatt account shutdowns, or have anything else that you can share about these fraudulent UrCove stays? Leave a comment below.
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