New You First Program UPDATE

[d4est]

Thanks...I should have also asked in what time frame. Within a year? Calendar year?

 

[Subi WRX]

Gold was 3 stays -or- 6 nights. Platinum was 10 stays -or- 15 nights.

They used to accumulate your stays year to year, as long as you stayed at the hotels at least once per year (I believe I achieved platinum from April - April).

Now they want you to do it in a calendar year Jan-Dec..

They would let you maintain your status, as long as you had a stay per year.

Now they want you to achieve the level each year.

 

[macraven]

Hi, I sent an email to Loews six days ago about my profile showing me to be at member level instead of blue, I realise with all the "teething" problems (and dissatisfied members) they will have been inundated with mail, has anyone else actually received a reply or had their membership level reinstated? We are travelling to the HRH soon and would prefer it to be sorted by then.

Cheers Michael

my email was answered and i was told i was platinum still on the files.
it has not been updated on the youfirst site though.

was told it could take a week.

don't worry, if you have the email then it is in the system.

if you received the first email july 1st, it said you have been transferred to the new enhanced program.

meaning you are in the system for the correct color level.

they updated and if you have been within the last 12 months, you have nothing to fret about. you would be at that same level still

it is quite possible for people that are a blue and have not stayed at a loews hotel in the last 3 years could be put as member status.
just a guess as i read on another site loews started organizing eligibility based on past stays a year ago.

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

Today I checked my profile after receiving an email from Loews and my status is now back to platinum, so if anyone had problems check again. Maybe they fixed it because of an email I sent, or maybe the glitch is fixed.

 

[damo]

Today I checked my profile after receiving an email from Loews and my status is now back to platinum, so if anyone had problems check again. Maybe they fixed it because of an email I sent, or maybe the glitch is fixed.

I'm still member.

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

Sorry Damo, guess it was because I emailed them.

 

[macraven]

Hi, I sent an email to Loews six days ago about my profile showing me to be at member level instead of blue, I realise with all the "teething" problems (and dissatisfied members) they will have been inundated with mail, has anyone else actually received a reply or had their membership level reinstated? We are travelling to the HRH soon and would prefer it to be sorted by then.

Cheers Michael

i'm back to platinum now.
i checked it this morning.

and i am no longer 108 years old

 

[Catrinabeach]

I emailed and called, and received a reply but I'm still a member so far. Hopefully it's fixed soon since we plan to book another stay in the next 2 wks.

 

[tatersalad]

I am Platinum and just called for reservations in early December. They stated that since they didn't have a garden view available that they would not be able to upgrade me to a suite (or any upgrade for that matter). They did have king suites available but I would have to pay full price for them. So, I guess it's not just that you are upgraded if a suite is available as it seemed to be in the old program. I am in an obstructed view with no upgrade happening..........

 

[damo]

I am Platinum and just called for reservations in early December. They stated that since they didn't have a garden view available that they would not be able to upgrade me to a suite (or any upgrade for that matter). They did have king suites available but I would have to pay full price for them. So, I guess it's not just that you are upgraded if a suite is available as it seemed to be in the old program. I am in an obstructed view with no upgrade happening..........

What is supposed to happen is that you book the lowest rate room available and then you are upgraded. I know that before, if a suite wasn't available for your platinum upgrade, you weren't qualified for any upgrade. I would call again and talk to someone else.

Also, rooms for early December should be plentiful. I'd give it a bit of time.

 

[Tizzy_Meliss]

I am Platinum and just called for reservations in early December. They stated that since they didn't have a garden view available that they would not be able to upgrade me to a suite (or any upgrade for that matter). They did have king suites available but I would have to pay full price for them. So, I guess it's not just that you are upgraded if a suite is available as it seemed to be in the old program. I am in an obstructed view with no upgrade happening..........

Which hotel did you book? How many were in your party? I know when I called HRH for two queen beds I didn't receive an upgrade because there isn't a queen suite, and when I called RPR it was the same thing. If you booked PBH you should receive an upgrade. I'd do what Damo said, call and talk to someone else.

 

[tatersalad]

Thanks, I'll try again and hope to get someone else. There are only two in my party and it was at HRH.

 

[goofy!]

Gold was 3 stays -or- 6 nights. Platinum was 10 stays -or- 15 nights.

They used to accumulate your stays year to year, as long as you stayed at the hotels at least once per year (I believe I achieved platinum from April - April).

Now they want you to do it in a calendar year Jan-Dec..

They would let you maintain your status, as long as you had a stay per year.

Now they want you to achieve the level each year.

I think you have a typo here.

The old system used to be a calendar year - on December 31, it would reset.

The new program is the rolling calendar - so any stays within a 12 month period - any 12 months now counts.

paragraph 11 in the YouFirst terms and conditions:

Membership levels are as follows: Basic membership begins upon enrollment; Blue Membership requires two (2) qualifying stays; Gold Membership requires five (5) qualifying stays; Platinum Membership requires ten (10) qualifying stays.

Qualification for Membership Levels will be determined based on a rolling 12-month cycle. Meaning, a Member must stay at a Loews property 2 times within any 12-month period to earn Blue status, 5 times within any 12-month period to earn Gold status, and 10 times within any 12-month period to earn Platinum status.

If a Member does not earn enough qualifying stays during the 12 months following a change in status to progress to the next level of membership or to maintain the Member’s existing level of membership, the Member will be downgraded to the next-lower level of membership on the 1-year anniversary of that change in status (12 months after earning status). For example, if a Member earns Gold status on October 1, 2008, but does not qualify for Gold status as of September 30, 2009 (has not had at least 5 qualifying stays in the most recent 12 months), that Member would be downgraded to Blue status as of October 1, 2009.

Benefits will also be provided on a rolling 12-month schedule. Per the example above, the Member would begin enjoying Gold benefits as soon as he earned Gold status on October 1, 2008 and would continue to enjoy those benefits for the following 12 months, until September 30, 2009. If, at that time, he has not had at least 5 qualifying stays in the most recent 12 months, the Member would be downgraded to Blue status and begin enjoying Blue-level benefits for the following 12 months.


FWIW - Loews has fixed my profile. It never said anything, now it indicates Platinum. I even changed some stuff, saved it and I stayed Platinum.

Seems like the IT people were on the ball and had the bug fixed quickly.

At least more quickly than say, any Windows upgrade or any software I have ever purchased.

For the person who asked if anybody had received an answer, I and several others that I know have all received personal (not form) e-mails from a VP at Loews addressing our concerns.

 

[calgarygary]

.....

For the person who asked if anybody had received an answer, I and several others that I know have all received personal (not form) e-mails from a VP at Loews addressing our concerns.

Well I finally received a form letter that did not address the specifics of my first email and my status is still member. Frankly, Loews is slipping as far as my experience is concerned.

OK Loews, if you do have employees reading these threads, stop lurking, step forward and explain how you are resolving the current issues and why is it on a case by case basis?

 

[Disneyhappy]

I think you have a typo here.

The old system used to be a calendar year - on December 31, it would reset.

The new program is the rolling calendar - so any stays within a 12 month period - any 12 months now counts.

paragraph 11 in the YouFirst terms and conditions:

Membership levels are as follows: Basic membership begins upon enrollment; Blue Membership requires two (2) qualifying stays; Gold Membership requires five (5) qualifying stays; Platinum Membership requires ten (10) qualifying stays.

Qualification for Membership Levels will be determined based on a rolling 12-month cycle. Meaning, a Member must stay at a Loews property 2 times within any 12-month period to earn Blue status, 5 times within any 12-month period to earn Gold status, and 10 times within any 12-month period to earn Platinum status.

If a Member does not earn enough qualifying stays during the 12 months following a change in status to progress to the next level of membership or to maintain the Member’s existing level of membership, the Member will be downgraded to the next-lower level of membership on the 1-year anniversary of that change in status (12 months after earning status). For example, if a Member earns Gold status on October 1, 2008, but does not qualify for Gold status as of September 30, 2009 (has not had at least 5 qualifying stays in the most recent 12 months), that Member would be downgraded to Blue status as of October 1, 2009.

Benefits will also be provided on a rolling 12-month schedule. Per the example above, the Member would begin enjoying Gold benefits as soon as he earned Gold status on October 1, 2008 and would continue to enjoy those benefits for the following 12 months, until September 30, 2009. If, at that time, he has not had at least 5 qualifying stays in the most recent 12 months, the Member would be downgraded to Blue status and begin enjoying Blue-level benefits for the following 12 months.


FWIW - Loews has fixed my profile. It never said anything, now it indicates Platinum. I even changed some stuff, saved it and I stayed Platinum.

Seems like the IT people were on the ball and had the bug fixed quickly.

At least more quickly than say, any Windows upgrade or any software I have ever purchased.

For the person who asked if anybody had received an answer, I and several others that I know have all received personal (not form) e-mails from a VP at Loews addressing our concerns.

My profile has not been fixed. I have made 2 phone calls and sent 2 emails with inquiries starting last Tuesday or Wednesday (I can't remember anymore)and have not had a response.

 

[goofy!]

Well I finally received a form letter that did not address the specifics of my first email and my status is still member. Frankly, Loews is slipping as far as my experience is concerned.

I certainly am not happy about the changes. I think Loews did a huge disservice to the family traveler.

Many of their hotels such as the Universal Hotels, the Don Cesar, the Loews Santa Monica, the Coronado are just as much resort destinations, perhaps even more so resorts than business destinations. We have stayed in many of them as a vacationing family. I think they had a unique niche in the tight market competing for the traveling family dollars which they blew just to be another in a long line of business incentive programs.

But a minor glitch with a brand new website showing the wrong status level is not a huge indicator of poor service. No matter how much you beta test something, a bug will pop up. It happens to the best. Most everyone here has reported that when they called, their status is properly recorded in the Loews database. So the bug is in just what is showing on the website.

Why did I and many other friends of mine get responses? Who knows. Luck of the draw? The fact that my e-mail went out at pretty much the minute the new website launched before they were probably inundated with e-mails? I personally know many people that did get replies from Loews, so I am a bit satisfied that they are at least trying to wade through their complaints.

I have always been treated well by Loews, so although quite disappointed, I am willing to give them a bit to fix the bugs and see what happens.

 

[macraven]

goofy, i don't recall anyone else getting an email from corporate.
most of us got the form letters. i think you said at first you sent a letter off to a vp in corporate you knew.

mine was a form letter basically that came out of corporate saying i was platinum and others have the same glitch. it never referred to any of the questions i asked.

nothing personalized to me. but the change was made 2 days ago and i'm letting the sleeping dog lie for now. the more i stir it the more it stinks so i'll be wishing mummy dust to the others that their status gets cleared up quickly. my email stated that my status was platinum but due to a computer glitch it was removed in the change over.
on the change over i was platinum but was knocked down to member when i updated my profile.

under the old program they used my date of start for the yearly count.
i always had to make sure that every oct 15th, i had my days in or could have the possibility of dropping down a level.

so now it is calendar year of january to december? for existing platinum levels prior to the change over?

no one needs to answer....
will wait until all glitches worked out before i send anymore emails to loews.
i get different answers depending on who i talk to each time i call.


hopefully next week at this time, all glitches will be gone and forgotten.

 

[goofy!]

goofy, i don't recall anyone else getting an email from corporate.
most of us got the form letters. i think you said at first you sent a letter off to a vp in corporate you knew.

mine was a form letter basically that came out of corporate saying i was platinum and others have the same glitch. it never referred to any of the questions i asked.

nothing personalized to me. but the change was made 2 days ago and i'm letting the sleeping dog lie for now. the more i stir it the more it stinks so i'll be wishing mummy dust to the others that their status gets cleared up quickly. my email stated that my status was platinum but due to a computer glitch it was removed in the change over.
on the change over i was platinum but was knocked down to member when i updated my profile.

under the old program they used my date of start for the yearly count.
i always had to make sure that every oct 15th, i had my days in or could have the possibility of dropping down a level.

so now it is calendar year of january to december? for existing platinum levels prior to the change over?

no one needs to answer....
will wait until all glitches worked out before i send anymore emails to loews.
i get different answers depending on who i talk to each time i call.


hopefully next week at this time, all glitches will be gone and forgotten.

I don't know the VP I e-mailed, nor does she know me from Adam. We are just another customer. I got her e-mail address off the Loews regular website under "contact us". I did not e-mail the general contact us e-mail address under the YouFirst tab. The one on the Loews website gave the address of a specific person, so I tried her. She actually forwarded my e-mail to anothe VP who answered my questions. I know many who have heard back from the same person, some who post here and many who do not.

The literature says it is definitely a rolling program not the calendar year, so that means that if you stay your 10 stays from October to October, you will get your Platinum status. If you stay once between now and December 31, you will get your status for another year. But if you stay in October, that will start your rolling year. Stay 9 more times by October 2010, and you will keep your platinum status until October 2011. But you would have to stay 10 stays between October 2010 and October 2011 to keep your Platinum for the next year.

Since the old program was the January to December calendar year, all of us will keep our status until December 31. They are dropping the 10 stays for 2009 if you stay just 1 time during this 6 month period. But, you can start your rolling year anytime for 2010.

So, from what I understand, if you do your 5 stays during HHN 2008 and then go a week earlier in 2009 so you are within your 1 year and do 5 more stays , then you have your 10 stays within any 12 month period. You now have Platinum for the next 12 months or until October 2010. You would have to do the same thing and stay 10 more times in the next 12 months to keep your Platinum for 2011.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Catrinabeach]

My status may show up as member on my profile but I just booked at the HRH Club and she showed me as a platinum member. As long as that is working I don't really care much about the online profile !

 

[damo]

My status may show up as member on my profile but I just booked at the HRH Club and she showed me as a platinum member. As long as that is working I don't really care much about the online profile !

Thanks for letting us know. I was hoping it was just a problem with the profile page.