What Happened to My Free Room Upgrade?, Part II

Last week, I wrote about not getting the free room upgrade at Secrets Mirabel that our UVC contract entitles us to. When we left the property, the resort had not responded to my formal complaint that we were denied our contract benefit. A month after we returned, I still hadn't heard any more about the issue from Camilla, the UVC rep we met at the resort. On February 13, 2026, I texted Camilla and asked if the resort had responded.

Camilla didn't respond to my text, but on February 22, 2026, I received an email from Liliam at UVC:

The email raised more questions for me than it answered. 

1. It doesn't mention Secrets Mirabel anywhere, but it does reference a "QR E-claim," which I thought might be the complaint I submitted via the QR code Camilla gave me at Secrets Mirabel.
   
   
2. The third line tells me my "comments have already been addressed." Really? I wonder how they addressed them. They certainly haven't been addressed to my satisfaction.
   
   
3. It offers me $200 of Leisure Cash "as part of (UVC's) commitment to (my) satisfaction." I wasn't entirely sure what Leisure Cash is, but I was more confused by the implication that this offer was being presented as only part of UVC's commitment to my satisfaction. Why is UVC trying to resolve my complaint in parts? Does this imply that a future offer to compensate me fully for denying me a room upgrade that was valued by the resort at $1,050 was in the works?

 I responded the same day to Liliam:

Hello, Liliam, and thank you for your email. Although you don’t mention it specifically, I assume your offer is related to my complaint that on our January 2026 trip to Secrets Mirabel, we were denied a free upgrade to the next higher room category, though the next higher room category was available and offered to us for $150/night.

I need some clarification of your offer:

1. What is “leisure cash”?  On some of our UVC vacations, we’ve been given resort coupons that can be used in only small amounts to reduce the cost of various on-site purchases (e.g. $20 off a bottle of wine, $10 off a purchase in the gift shop, $25 off a spa treatment, etc). On other vacations, we been given a resort credit which can be used, as a lump sum, to offset any additional expenses (e.g. room upgrade, romantic dinner, bali bed, etc). How does leisure cash work?

2. You mention that you’ve referred my complaint to UVC Quality Assurance group and tell me that your leisure cash offer is part of showing UVC’s commitment to my satisfaction. That suggests to me that this leisure cash offer is just a start, and that I can expect a more comprehensive offer from UVC QA in the future that resolves my complaint fully. Is my understanding correct? I wouldn’t accept a $200 leisure cash offer as a full settlement of my complaint.

Please provide me these clarifications.

Thank you.

Liliam wrote back on February 24, 2026.

The jaw dropper is in the third paragraph:

After carefully reviewing the situation with the hotel’s management team, we confirmed that the next room category was not available during your stay.

Six weeks after we were offered an upgrade to the next higher room category if we paid $150 more per night, UVC "confirmed" there was never availability in that room category. Wow! I've got to see evidence of that before I'm willing to believe it.

Liliam did answer my leisure cash question, but she revised the bit about that being just part of the resolution. She wants to settle the entire issue for $200. I won't accept a $200 resolution to an issue that the resort valued at $1,050.

Liliam also mentioned this blog. I'm famous! -- well, UVC-famous. 

When we returned from our February trip to Secrets Papagayo, we were sent the usual "how was your stay" follow-up email from UVC. It asked about my experience with the resort as well as with UVC. In short, I told them I loved Secrets Papagayo, but I don't love UVC. The survey asked for specifics. I didn't want to spend time reiterating all the UVC complaints that I've been writing about in this blog, many of which have already been relayed to someone at UVC in one forum or another. So, feeling bold and defiant, I sent them a link to my blog to help them understand my comment that I've fallen out of love with UVC. (Ok. Bold, defiant and lazy). That's undoubtedly how Liliam came to hear of the "blog where club-related documents and benefits are shared."

I responded to Liliam's second email on February 25, 2026:

I’d like to see the evidence you viewed that led you to conclude that there was no availability at Secrets Mirabel. Please forward it to me at your earliest convenience. I’m skeptical that it actually exists.

The upgrade was offered to us for $150/night. Oscar, the resort staff who checked us in, even offered to give us a key to the room so we could see it to help us make a decision. We turned it down because we didn’t want to pay the money. I’d also point out that at no point when we were talking to Camilla (a Mirabel UVC rep) about this denied benefit did she ever tell us there was no availability. It seems disingenuous for UVC to claim, six weeks after we were offered the room, that there was no availability. How could the room be offered to us, and how could we be invited to walk through it, if it wasn’t available? Without seeing evidence supporting your conclusion that there was no availability, I’m going to conclude that this is yet another issue where UVC is denying me a contractual benefit.

The value of the upgrade offered was $150/night. Our stay lasted 7 nights. That equates to a benefit of $1,050 USD that UVC has denied me. The only resolutions acceptable to me are a $1,050 refund, seven Premier Nights or a return certificate to Secrets Mirabel. I will not accept $200 in leisure cash for denying me a contractual benefit even the resort valued at $1,050.

I started writing a blog on my experiences with UVC and Hyatt in November 2025 after finding no Hyatt executive willing to engage me on why Hyatt was denying me access to (now) eight AMResorts branded properties that my contract tells me I have a contractual right to book at. The blog also addresses the many other complaints I have about my experiences with Hyatt and UVC. Neither the moderators of the Official UVC Facebook group nor the QA folks assigned to investigate my original complaints (made in an unapproved post in the Official UVC group on July 24, 2025) have even addressed my complaints let alone resolved them.

I doubt someone in your position in the UVC organization can do anything about my complaints. I really want a Hyatt executive, a decisionmaker, to talk to. Employees at your level, even if they sincerely want to resolve my issues, have no authority to do anything about them. If you sincerely want my feedback on my Hyatt/UVC experience, read all about it at https://jteahan.blogspot.com/.

I am aware of the confidentiality clause in the contract. It’s actually the thirteenth clause in my contract:

THIRTEENTH. CONFIDENTIALITY AND PERSONAL INFORMATION.

Member will not disclose the "Confidential Information" (as this term is defined further on herein) to anyone else. This provision will remain in force until after the termination of this Contract. This Contract and its Exhibits will be considered as Confidential Information, as well as any other material which Member obtains or receives from the Mediator in relation to: (1) rates, benefits, discounts and promotions from Suppliers or Mediator; (2) sales, marketing and business methods, list of Member requirements and any other information related to Suppliers or  Mediator. Any breach of this condition will result in immediate termination of this Contract.

The clause applies only to my contract and its exhibits. When I reference contract language in my blog, I don’t use my contract. I use another UVC contract (the Tate contract) I found online at: https://www.scribd.com/document/744848104/SA1-003433-CO-10-03-2019

The Tate contract was written at a different resort but in the same year as my Gold+ contract and is similar, but not identical, to mine. It works for my purposes.

I post once a week and currently have another 14 posts drafted. I’d like to see your comments on the posts which I’ll respond to when appropriate. 

This blog exists because of the stonewalling I got from Hyatt's UVC in the Official UVC FB group when I asked why Hyatt's UVC was denying me my contractual benefit to book with club benefits at all AMResorts brands. The stonewalling continued with Rosie, the first UVC QA person I talked to and went on with Luis, my 2nd QA rep. Neither would even address my complaints.  I encountered more stonewalling from Rodrigo Llaguno, and Javier Águila, the Hyatt execs I found on my own trying to get some resolution to my concerns. Neither Rodrigo or Javier would respond to me. It continues now with Camilla and Liliam who won't give me a contract benefit I'm entitled to and who seem to spend significant time dreaming up excuses for why.

Every one of these GBS/Hyatt/UVC employees (I'm rarely sure who anyone is employed by in the network of suppliers UVC gives me to work with) has been made aware that Hyatt's UVC is breaching my contract, but none of them has done anything about it. This is what UVC has devolved to under Hyatt's management. 

Now that UVC has suspended my membership (without any contractual authority to do that and despite contract language that allows me to use club benefits as long as my annual renewal fee is paid up), it seems, the stonewallers have become suppressors. I've already experienced this tactic from the moderators of the Official UVC Facebook group when they refused to publish a couple of my posts in their group.

When members raise legitimate issues about what's going on with a club they've spent tens of thousands of dollars on, an alternative approach (and I think, a better one) is to communicate with them. More communication, not less, is what's needed. That's what honorable companies do.

What Happened to My Free Room Upgrade?

My wife and I visited Secrets Mirabel in January 2026. It's located in Cancun's hotel zone. Secrets Mirabel was formerly branded as another UVC property called Now Emerald. Now Emerald shut down for over two years, and in that time, they built a new, 16-story tower for preferred guests and renovated all the spaces in the original buildings. It was rebranded and opened under the Secrets Mirabel name in November 2025. We got a very good pre-opening price through UVC.  

We had a great time. We loved the location, the view, the food and the service. For a resort that had only been open for a couple months, they really had their act together, except for one thing.

We booked a Non-Preferred Ocean View Balcony room. As Gold+ UVC members, we get preferred benefits by contract regardless of the room we book. At our level, there's no need to book a higher-priced preferred room to use the resort's preferred amenities, so we don't. We were checked in at the preferred lounge. Even though we were early, our room was ready. As he was checking us in, Oscar, the resort employee working the preferred check-in desk, asked us if we wanted to upgrade our room to the new preferred tower. He offered to give us a key to the room so we could see it to help us make our decision. 

The preferred tower was brand new. It's closer to the preferred pool and the beach and has better ocean views than the resort's other buildings. I expected Oscar to tell me this upgrade was being offered for free as a contract benefit. He didn't. Oscar told me we could upgrade for $150/night.

Wait! What?

One of the standard benefits in all UVC contracts is a free upgrade to the next higher room category. On page 16 of 44 in this UVC contract, it reads:

2. Exclusive Benefits for Members and Users.

a. Room Upgrade: As an additional benefit, a free room upgrade to the next level may be requested on arrival at any of the Participating Hotels, subject to availability. 

Why didn't Oscar offer my upgrade for free? 

The view from the balcony of our NP Ocean View Balcony room. That's the new preferred tower on the left. I loved our room and our view, but I paid a lot of money for my UVC membership. I want all the benefits my membership entitles me to. Hyatt's UVC won't honor that.

Right after checking in, I met the UVC rep, Camilla. I asked her why I wasn't offered the upgrade for free. She didn't have a good answer. 

At that first meeting, Camilla said that there was a room category at Mirabel called Preferred Tropical View and that would be the next level up from the Non-Preferred Ocean View Balcony room I booked. She told me that's the room category my contract entitles me to be upgraded to. I told her I didn't think any UVC member with preferred privileges in their contract would consider a preferred tropical view room an upgrade to a non-preferred ocean view room. 

I checked other sources after that meeting and none of them show a room category at Secrets Mirabel called "Preferred Tropical View" -- not World of Hyatt, not the UVC members' site, not the Secrets Mirabel resort guide and not the Accommodations tab on the Inclusive Collection app. None of those sources show a room category called "Preferred Tropical View". In every source I looked at, the next room category up from the room we booked was the Preferred Ocean View room Oscar offered for $150/night. 

The next time I talked to Camilla, she told me she investigated more and now had a different take. She told me the room we were given was a "little upgrade" from the room we booked. I'm not sure what that means. Either you're upgraded to a higher room category, or you get the room category you booked. We got the room category we booked. What's a "little upgrade?" 

In any case, the second time we met, Camilla told me she would send me a QR code through which I could make a formal complaint that the resort would have to respond to. She did that. The QR code took me to an online form where I lodged a formal complaint that as UVC members the upgrade offered for $150/night extra should have been offered for free.

I spoke with Camilla one last time before we checked out. At that final meeting, she acknowledged receipt of my complaint and told me that the next step is for the resort to respond. The resort hadn't done that by the time we checked out.

This is the sort of benefit erosion that has become increasingly common in Hyatt's UVC. Benefits that never used to be withheld from members now are. My contract tells me I'm entitled to a free upgrade if one is available. Non-availability is the only reason why I shouldn't get upgraded. Obviously, a room was available if it was offered at $150/night. Oscar even told us he'd show us the room to help us decide if we wanted to pay the additional $150/night. The upgrade wasn't offered to me for free, UVC knows it, and refuses to honor their contractual obligation. It doesn't matter what the contract says in Hyatt's UVC. Hyatt's UVC is going to do what Hyatt's UVC is going to do and members are expected to just live with that. How many other companies do you work with that treat their loyalty customers the way Hyatt treats theirs?

The QR complaint process that Camilla initiated isn't necessary to give me my contract benefit. It's Hyatt's UVC's attempt to keep Hyatt out of the middle of a dispute and get the resort to negotiate a solution directly with me. That attitude is a big part of why so many UVC benefits are being eroded.  Hyatt should be advocating with the resort on my behalf. Hyatt should step into disputes like this and demand the resort's compliance. They don't. They take a passive approach and try to get the resort and member to work out their own solution.

My UVC contract is not with any of the resorts, it's with two corporate entities: UVC Global Panama, S. de R.L., UVC Sales Panama, S. de R.L., and their representative, Erick Gilardo Jimenez Ortiz. These entities are defined as the "Mediator" in this 2019 UVC contract. In the opening paragraph on page 7 of 44, you'll read this:

MEDIATION CONTRACT (THE "CONTRACT") EXECUTED BY AND BETWEEN, ON ONE PART, UVC GLOBAL PANAMA, S. de R.L. AND UVC SALES PANAMA, S. DE R.L., REPRESENTED  BY ERICK GILDARDO JIMENEZ ORTIZ (HEREINAFTER REFERRED COLLECTIVELY TO AS "MEDIATOR"), AND, ON THE OTHER PART ...  

The resorts, themselves, are part of the Mediator's "network of service Suppliers," as that term is defined in the Antecedents on the same page of that 2019 contract:

Mediator has executed contracts with different suppliers of travel and other services (hereinafter "Suppliers") under which Suppliers have the obligation to offer goods and services at preferential rates and discounted prices to the members of Mediator (discounts and benefits are jointly referred to as the "Discounts").

As a result of the contracts executed with Suppliers described in the preceding paragraph, Mediator has organized a network of service Suppliers named "Unlimited Vacation Club" to ensure that its members receive the Discounts by means of a membership number given to them when they sign the Contract. (emphasis added)

My contract is with the Mediator. It's the Mediator who owes me the Discounts my contract entitles me to. I have no contract with the Mediator's Suppliers, so I have no way to demand anything from them. The Mediator, who holds contracts with both members and Suppliers must mediate disputes between members and Suppliers.

The Antecedents tells me the Mediator has separate contracts with each Supplier through which each Supplier is obligated to provide me my Discounts, but the language seems to assume that the Mediator can do no wrong in coordinating the obligations of Suppliers under its Mediator/Supplier contract with the benefits of its members under its Mediator/Member contract. What happens when the Mediator has done a poor job of coordinating the two contracts and, based on contract language, the Supplier has a reasonable argument for not providing a benefit that the UVC member, under his contract, has a reasonable expectation of receiving? On page 8 of 44, the third paragraph in the 2019 UVC contract linked above attempts to put the blame on the Supplier:

THIRD. MEDIATOR LIABILITY.

Member acknowledges and agrees that Mediator will be liable solely for the mediation activities described in this document. Any liability related to the goods and services acquired from or provided by Suppliers will rest solely on the Suppliers. Therefore, Member hereby releases Mediator from any liability that may arise from or relative to any act or omission by Suppliers in relation to the Discounts, goods and/or services it offers to Member.  (emphasis added)

If only the Supplier, and never the Mediator, is responsible for providing the Discounts, and the Supplier refuses to provide what a member is entitled to, how can a member expect to ever receive a benefit? A Supplier can simply refuse to provide benefits. Regardless of what UVC is trying to do with their contract language, if a Supplier isn't providing members a benefit they're entitled to, the Mediator must step in and resolve the dispute. Hyatt, who owns 20% of the Mediator organization and manages all of it, refuses to behave like that. They want no part of dispute resolution.

Camilla's QR code process (Which is new. I haven't heard anyone in my Facebook groups talk about it) is evidence of that. The process allows a disappointed member to formally lodge a complaint but it promises no results. If a Supplier refuses to provide a benefit, the member won't get the benefit he's entitled to. Even in my case, where it's undeniable that the resort had a room available in the next room category but would not offer it as a free upgrade, Hyatt's UVC won't take an active role in resolving my complaint and get me the benefit that UVC is contractually obligated to provide.

A price matching complaint I hear frequently from members since Hyatt bought ALG is that Hyatt's UVC won't approve a price match until the resort accepts it. Even if a member follows all the contractual requirements for getting a price match (which is all they have to do), Hyatt's UVC sometimes won't approve a price match until the resort agrees to it. There's nothing in the member contract that requires resort approval of a price match request, but that's what Hyatt's UVC enforces. Hyatt's UVC will not intervene with its Suppliers to demand they provide members the benefits they're entitled to.

UVC members have no advocate with the resorts in Hyatt's UVC. Hyatt provides management services to the resorts under separate contracts with the resorts. The resort owners are a much bigger revenue source to Hyatt than any individual UVC member. In a dispute between a resort and a member, Hyatt will not alienate a resort by advocating for members. In the environment Hyatt has created, there's not a single member benefit I can count on getting any more. This is Hyatt's UVC.

The European Collection

UVC's venture into Europe began in 2018 with ALG's purchase of Alua Hotels and Resorts.  The original purchase included 12 Alua properties in the Balearic and Canary Islands off Spain. Since then, first ALG, then Hyatt, has opened other Aluas in Spain and has expanded the Alua brand into Bulgaria and Greece. Additionally, ALG, and then Hyatt, has opened European resorts in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Bulgaria under their older AMResorts brands: Secrets, Dreams and Zoetry.

The European properties are included in the UVC inventory in what UVC calls its "European Collection." Currently, there are about 40 properties in the European Collection that UVC members can book with membership benefits, but those properties have some different rules.

• Prices are quoted on the members' website and charged to your credit card in euros. 
• Members cannot book with Premier Nights or VIP Weeks. Only a cash transaction (Unlimited Nights) can be used to reserve a European Collection property.
• Many resorts in the European Collection are open only from Spring to Fall. There are about a dozen properties that are open all year. UVC publishes a table showing the open months for European Collection resorts in the FAQs on the members' website.
• Members get their UVC discount at these properties, but the Alua properties (At least some of them. I haven't checked them all.) have a second loyalty program called "Customer Club" that offers partial discounts to non-UVC members.  UVC members do not get a 25% discount off Customer Club pricing. They do get 25% off the non-Customer Club price, and price matching is allowed.
• The "all-inclusive" aspect works differently for European Collection properties. When reserving, a room can be booked with just breakfast, half-board (breakfast and dinner) or full board (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks). Some resorts offer beer as part of an all-inclusive option, but none offer unlimited alcohol like UVC resorts in the Americas. There are more options for a reservation due to the levels of food and drink you can include with your room reservation.

Other than the Customer Club offering free partial discounts that UVC members cannot price match to (the same issue I have with WoH), none of these rules bother me. What does bother me is that UVC members are not allowed to use club benefits at all Aluas.

Alua was an existing AMResorts brand and was part of the AMR Collection that ALG created in 2021 before the Hyatt purchase. As noted in this news story from 2021, "AMR Collection brands include Secrets, Dreams and Breathless Resorts & Spas, Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Alua Hotels & Resorts and Sunscape Resorts & Spas."

Yet, as of this post, Hyatt is preventing me from booking three Alua properties with club benefits:

1. Alua Calas de Mallorca 
2. AluaSoul Costa Adeje
3. AluaSoul Sunny Beach 

None of these European Collection properties can be booked on the UVC members' website despite contract language that allows UVC members to book "All AMResorts brands" with club benefits. 

The language in this 2019 UVC contract is similar to the language in my contract. In Exhibit B on page 15 of 44, you'll find this:

Hyatt's UVC is behaving the same way with these three Alua properties as they are with the five Playa Resorts properties they rebranded to AMResorts brands. They willfully and brazenly refuse members a benefit they're contractually obligated to provide. 

This issue came to light when Hyatt announced the opening of AluaSoul Sunny Beach in June 2025. Notice the quote in the second paragraph of the linked press release:

"...As travelers continue to seek all-inclusive stays in Europe, we’re dedicated to creating seamless experiences that allow guests and World of Hyatt members to relax in comfort while also connecting with local culture, exploring the destination, and enjoying stays that consistently exceed expectations."

Hyatt identifies its World of Hyatt members as beneficiaries of the new property but specifically excludes its UVC members. That's UVC members' reality for all three of these Aluas. They've been made available to Hyatt's free loyalty members in World of Hyatt, but not to their paid loyalty members in UVC despite a contractual obligation to the UVC members.

On the same day that Hyatt announced the opening of AluaSoul Sunny Beach, a UVC member asked this question in the Official UVC Facebook Group:

The question was an opportunity for Hyatt's UVC to let members know their intentions for the Aluas, but they rejected that opportunity. Ten months later, there's been no response to this question from the Official UVC FB group moderators. UVC should let the 150,000 (+/-) members whose contracts they're violating know their intentions for the Aluas. They don't. 

Why are some Aluas being withheld from UVC members when others aren't? How is the decision made to withhold some? Will the properties currently being withheld ever be added to the UVC inventory? If so, what needs to happen, and what's Hyatt's schedule for getting them into the UVC inventory? If Hyatt's UVC has to violate contracts to address whatever issues are keeping these AMResorts properties out of the UVC inventory, they owe members these answers. They don't respond to member questions. Hyatt's contempt for its UVC members continues.

No matter what benefits you think you have with your UVC membership these days, you can't be sure which ones Hyatt's UVC will honor and which ones they'll ignore. What you have today may be gone tomorrow. This is Hyatt's UVC.

World of Hyatt

World of Hyatt (WoH) is Hyatt's other loyalty program. WoH was operating before Hyatt's 2021 purchase of ALG. WoH is free to join, but it works differently than the UVC loyalty program. WoH members get discounted rates at Hyatt hotel brands and receive points for each night they stay. (There are other ways to earn WoH points, but staying at Hyatt properties is the main way.) Accumulated points can be exchanged for free nights at Hyatt brands or for other rewards. Hyatt has direct control over the value of a "point" in this program. Hyatt can, and does, modify the value of a WoH point to control what the WoH program costs Hyatt. That behavior affects the value of WoH to its members.

In contrast, UVC was developed and launched by ALG as a loyalty program for ALG's all-inclusive AMResorts-branded properties, but the UVC program is a simple transaction, not a points-based loyalty program. UVC members pay a substantial up-front cost to buy the specific travel benefits described here. The main benefit of a UVC membership is what UVC tells you is a 25% discount on the all-inclusive properties Hyatt includes in the UVC inventory. (I dispute UVC's claim of a 25% discount in this post.) Once your Premier Nights and VIP Weeks are used up, the UVC discount on resorts in the UVC inventory remains until the end of the contract term which is 5-50 years (+/-) depending on the level of your membership.

Almost all Hyatt branded properties participate in the WoH loyalty program, including all of the properties in the UVC inventory. The full complement of properties participating in WoH is around 1,450. Since its purchase of ALG, Hyatt has expended a lot of time and energy to get the UVC inventory, totaling about 112 properties, into its WoH program very quickly. The same time and energy hasn't been spent getting additional all-inclusive Hyatt properties into the UVC inventory (e.g. Zivas, Zilaras, former Playa Resorts properties, just recently Bahia Principe properties). In fact, a case could be made that the inventory of properties available to members in Hyatt's UVC is less than what it would be if ALG still owned UVC because of all the AMResorts properties that Hyatt's UVC is denying members. UVC was developed as a loyalty program for all AMResorts properties. ALG never denied its UVC members access to any AMResorts properties.

WoH members, who pay nothing to join WoH, get a 6-9% (+/-) discount on the 112 properties in the UVC inventory when they book through their WoH account. UVC members get a larger discount on those 112 properties as a membership benefit but get no UVC benefits at the other 1,338 Hyatt properties in WoH.

UVC members, like everyone else, can join World of Hyatt to get discounts on those other 1,338 WoH properties. I'm a WoH member. However, the two programs, UVC and WoH, are administered separately with only a loose connection between them. I have separate membership numbers for my UVC and WoH accounts. UVC members are told that booking vacations through their UVC membership can earn points in their WoH account, but there are rules that limit how it works, and the rules, in my experience, aren't well defined or consistently enforced.

I have learned from my FB groups that stays using Premier Nights and VIP Weeks do not qualify for WoH points. Apparently, the thinking at Hyatt is that Premier Nights and VIP Weeks already are using "preferred" prices, so no additional rewards are given. Based on the prices Hyatt is asking for new memberships and upgrades, I'm not sure it's true that Premier Nights come with any preferred pricing, and it's definitely not true that a $2,400 VIP Week at a 1:1 resort is special pricing. 

I've also learned in my FB groups that when I book through my UVC membership using Unlimited Nights (i.e. pay for my reservation with cash), I am supposed to earn World of Hyatt points. Unfortunately, that hasn't been my reality.

Here's what the Frequently Asked Questions on the members' website says about acquiring WoH points on a UVC reservation.

WHICH ON-PROPERTY PURCHASES EARN WORLD OF HYATT POINTS AT RESORTS THAT PARTICIPATE IN UVC? AND HOW DO I ENSURE THESE POINTS ARE ADDED TO MY ACCOUNT?

Eligible stays booked via UVC call center or website, and using Unlimited Nights are eligible for earning World of Hyatt points and Tier-Qualifying Night credits. Eligible stays using Premier Nights are eligible for Tier-Qualifying Night credits. Other on-property spend may be eligible to earn World of Hyatt points, such as private dining and spa experiences. Your World of Hyatt membership number must be added to your reservation and can be done at check-in or checkout. Points are automatically deposited into your account following checkout. Your World of Hyatt account is available for review online or in the World of Hyatt app.

Note that the onus is on the UVC member to ensure that the appropriate WoH account number is on the UVC reservation. It's been more than four years since Hyatt closed on its purchase of ALG, but they still haven't figured out how to coordinate their two loyalty programs. A UVC member needs a separate WoH account number and the WoH account must be in the same name as the person who makes the UVC reservation if he wants WoH points from a UVC reservation. There must be two separate numbers on the UVC reservation to get the WoH points. Hyatt hasn't figured out that, in all cases, when a UVC member with UVC account number XXXXXX books a reservation, his WoH points should be credited to WoH account number YYYYYY. The member has to do that for Hyatt on every reservation. Hyatt's clunky process for getting WoH points to UVC members leads to a lot of frustration.

The majority of my reservations, to date, have been with the Premier Nights or VIP Weeks I bought with my membership. Those have expiration dates. I have to use them before they expire, or they'll be lost.  To date, through my UVC membership, I've booked three vacations using Unlimited Nights: Secrets Playa Blanca, Secrets Playa Esmeralda and Secrets Mirabel, and I paid $900 to upgrade a VIP Week reservation to an oceanfront room at Dreams Cozumel. Based on the language in the FAQs, I expected WoH points for each cash expense. Two of them, Secrets Playa Blanca and Dreams Cozumel, I did wind up getting my points, but I had to fight with Hyatt to give them to me. They weren't given voluntarily.

At Secrets Playa Esmeralda I was told I wasn't entitled to WoH points because I booked through a third-party site (UVC's members' website) and at a pre-opening rate. Both of those facts are true, but the FAQs specifically say booking through the UVC website can earn WoH points, and there is nothing in the FAQs telling members that booking with a pre-opening rate is disqualifying.

At Secrets Mirabel I was credited with 7 WoH points despite spending $2,600 on my reservation using Unlimited Nights.
Why? I don't know. As I did at Secrets Playa Esmeralda, I booked a pre-opening price at Secrets Mirabel through the UVC website. That may be why, but it doesn't explain why I got a whopping total of seven points for my $2,600 purchase. I got 0 points at Secrets Playa Esmeralda booking the same way. I also noted, that I got 7 points at Secrets Papagayo, but that trip was booked through the UVC website using a VIP Week. I just don't get how Hyatt applies points. It seems completely arbitrary. 

When I tried to submit a request for additional points for my Secrets Mirabel trip through my WoH account, I get an auto-response telling me I've already been credited with points for that trip. That's true, but the 7 points I've been given doesn't reflect the amount of money I paid for the trip. I just don't know how the rules are being applied to UVC members, but I've given up trying. Even if I could get Hyatt to make this right, or just tell me the rules they use to make an entitlement determination (which is an exercise in frustration in itself), I'm just not going to be loyal to a company that treats me the way Hyatt does. Loyalty is a two-way street, and Hyatt's street only goes one way.

It would be helpful if there were clear, written rules for what qualifies and what doesn't, but there aren't. I suspect Hyatt would tell me that a reservation booked with a pre-opening rate is not an "eligible" stay, but if that's the rule that Hyatt enforces, why don't the FAQs on the UVC website tell members that? Why don't the terms and conditions for each reservation made on the UVC website clearly state when a booking isn't eligible for WoH points?  Without clear rules on how WoH points can be earned, UVC members will be continually frustrated by what appears to be a capricious application of rules by Hyatt. What good is having rules if you don't tell people what they are? 

Based on comments in my FB groups, some members seem to be doing pretty well getting points from their UVC stays, but that hasn't been my experience. What Hyatt often touts as an additional benefit Hyatt has brought to its UVC members has been nearly a complete bust for me. 

Lifestyle Collection and UExperiences

Only a couple months after joining UVC, I got a call from a woman who wanted me to buy more travel products. She told me I could get cruises, hotels, rental cars and other travel products through her and that my UVC membership wouldn't be complete without it.  She told me she would be my personal concierge to make sure I was getting all the services I needed. She wanted, if I remember right, a couple thousand dollars for me to get my "full benefits." I had just plunked down way more than that for my UVC contract and was still trying to learn how to get the most out of that. I was only interested in my all-inclusive UVC resorts and didn't think I even had time to add the cruises, car rentals and hotel stays she was peddling. I told her "no" and hung up.

Soon after, I noticed people in my FB groups describing receiving similar pitches over the phone. I learned that this was the modus operandi of Lifestyle Collection. They strike within a month or two of a new member joining and present themselves as UVC even though they are a separate company selling a separate membership. Before you understand what you have with UVC, they're trying to get you to spend thousands more for their products. The woman who called me never mentioned Lifestyle Collection. She did mention UVC and wanted me to believe that what she was selling was a necessary part of a complete UVC membership.

Look at the Lifestyle Collection Enrollment Application on page 3 of 44 included in the 2019 UVC contract found here: 

This is the Lifestyle Collection agreement in the contract, but it's hard to recognize it as that. You quickly notice the big UVC logo and name in the upper left of the document. Under that logo, you'll see, in much smaller letters, "Lifestyle Collection." This is Lifestyle Collection's approach to sales. They scream "UVC" in their sales materials and phone calls to get new members to think they are UVC and then whisper "Lifestyle Collection," probably to retain plausible deniability to later accusations that they misrepresented themselves.

Lifestyle Collection is one of those "additional benefits" that comes free for two years with a UVC membership. Paragraph 13 on page 4 of 44 in the contract linked above explains the benefit:

 13. UVC Lifestyle Collection Membership - Member will receive free of charge an affiliation covering the first two years with UVC  Lifestyle Collection, which provides exclusive benefits and services that can be consulted at  www.unlimitedvacationclub.com/members/partners. Member(s) are eligible to take advantage of promotional offers to extend their UVCLC  membership benefits for an annual or multi-year billing plan at substantial savings off the then current annual extension price, which are separate from the UVC Renewal Fee. 

 A one-time Activation Bonus of Saving Credits will be credited to the member's UVCLC account upon enrollment,  also receive an Anniversary Credit of Saving Credits that will be credited to the members UVCLC online account on the anniversary date of their initial enrollment into the UVCLC Program. Savings Credits that can be used as a partial payment, dollar-for-dollar, to buy down the total purchase price of qualified travel and lifestyle transactions, including cruises, non-AM resorts and hotels, tours, vacation packages, wine and merchandise (depending on member residence). 

If for any reason member chooses not to extend the UVCLC membership member will forfeit all access to the UVCLC membership benefits, the UVCLC website, any available Saving Credits in their UVCLC account or the ability to earn any future Saving Credits.

I never used Lifestyle Collection in the two years I had it free. I did look at their pricing for hotels and car rentals and found I could get similar or better pricing through conventional online travel websites (e.g. Expedia, hotels.com, Costco, etc). I saw little value in Lifestyle Collection -- certainly not enough to warrant a $2,000 membership fee. 

Their calls and other attempts to get me to buy have been relentless over the years. That last part in the language quoted above about forfeiting all access to the Lifestyle Collection benefit if you choose not to purchase a Lifestyle Collection membership I wish was true, but it isn't. I still get calls and junk mail from Lifestyle Collection, more than seven years later, presenting themselves as UVC and inviting me to buy a Lifestyle Collection membership.

In addition to their deceptive and aggressive sales tactics, a common complaint of members who have tried Lifestyle Collection is that the value of the cruise credit they give you isn't what it's presented to be. Apparently, Lifestyle Collection doesn't provide reduced cruise pricing. They provide credits to be applied to the total cost of of a cruise. Their package might include, for example, a $1,500 credit. On its face, someone might think, "If it costs $2,000 to buy in, I'll make my money back on just a couple cruises." 

You won't.

What they don't tell you is that you can use only a small portion of that $1,500 credit on each cruise. You might be able to reduce the total cost of a $5,000 cruise to $4,700, for example, using only a portion of the total credit they give you. You have to take many cruises, spending many thousands of dollars, to use the full credit. Many members who have priced cruises through Lifestyle Collection claim they get similar or better pricing dealing directly with the cruise lines.

There are a few members in my Facebook groups who have found some value in Lifestyle Collection, but a large percentage of members, including me, will have nothing to do with them. 

Around June 2025, members started reporting that new UVC contracts were including a membership in an outfit called "UExperiences" rather than the Lifestyle Collection membership that had been in older contracts for years. UExperiences seemed to be offering similar products to Lifestyle Collection. I did some investigation into who UExperiences is and if the two companies are related.

They are two different companies, but there is a common link between them.  Lifestyle Collection was started by the husband and wife team of John and Marcia Rowley. That's the same couple that currently owns and manages the UExperiences brand.

The Rowleys' first venture in the travel industry was a company called International Cruise & Excursions (ICE) which they founded around 1997.  ICE initially provided only cruise vacations but slowly expanded to other travel services, including travel clubs. The heart of ICE's travel club operation was the online user interface and database of resort vacations they developed. By partnering with various resorts, vacation clubs and timeshare operators, ICE sold an inventory of vacation products to the members of the vacation clubs of many well-known resort brands: Marriott, Bluegreen, Hilton, Westgate, UVC and others. UVC was one of ICE's earliest vacation club partners. 

If you look in the first paragraph under Member Acknowledgement of the Lifestyle Collection Membership Application in the photo and link above, you'll see that Lifestyle Collection is a d.b.a of ICE.

International Cruise & Excursion Gallery, Inc. (“ICE”), d.b.a. Our Vacation Center (“OVC”) and d.b.a. Lifestyle Collection (“LC”), a Delaware, United States Company, located at 7720 N Dobson Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85256, is the administrator and redemption  fulfiller of the Unlimited Vacation Club (“UVC”) with LC  Program under contract with UVC. 

In 2018, the Rowleys sold a majority interest in ICE to a UK investment firm which changed the company name to arrivia. Arrivia continues to operate today selling travel services to many different travel clubs, including UVC members under the Lifestyle Collection brand. The Rowleys remained with arrivia for a short time after selling, but around 2020, they left to form a new company, Open Network Exchange (ONE).

ONE is the company behind the UExperiences brand. The ONE logo can be found beneath the UExperiences logo at the top of the UExperiences website and Open Network Exchange's name is at the bottom of the same website.  ONE seems very much like arrivia in appearance, products and business model. In fact, they seem to be a direct competitor of arrivia's.

You can see the current UExperiences by ONE brochure here. It's colorful, glitzy and full of photos of vacation-loving people loving their vacations. It shows all the products and services a UExperiences membership brings. The consensus of the UVC members in my Facebook groups who have tried UExperiences is that, just like Lifestyle Collection, it's short on value. The savings you get with each purchase through UExperiences are small relative to the price you pay to join. It will take many years to recover your initial purchase price.

Members in my Facebook groups report there's not much difference in prices, value or experience between Lifestyle Collection and UExperiences. They both use the same aggressive and deceptive sales tactics and sell similar products and services at similar prices.  Savings in both programs comes largely through the "credits" you're given as a member, which aren't as good as their salespeople present them because they're regulated in how they can be applied to each purchase.

UExperiences has begun selling memberships to older UVC members whose contract includes Lifestyle Collection, including me. UVC has taken an active role in UExperiences' marketing by sending out email blasts to all members announcing UExperiences products, offers and membership opportunities. Unfortunately, some members have reported getting competing phone calls from both Lifestyle Collection and UExperiences each claiming to be UVC's "real" partner.

A business organization that resorts to the deceptive sales tactics used by Lifestyle Collection and UExperiences conveys to me that they don't believe in their own product. I won't enter into a business relationship with an organization that doesn't believe in what they're selling. I don't care what the product is.