What is the current Digital Acquisition Fee for a Caption By Hyatt franchise, and how is it calculated?
Caption_By_Hyatt Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We currently charge the Hotel and other Participating Hotels the "Digital Acquisition Fee" to help drive bookings through the Hyatt Group's online direct booking channels (the "Digital Channels"). The Digital Channels currently are the Hotel System Website and any Hyatt-branded website or mobile app (such as the World of Hyatt app). You must pay the Digital Acquisition Fee on the subset of Gross Rooms Revenue resulting from reservations that are generated through the Digital Channels, whether directly or via a link from another platform, such as a search engine advertisement, social media page, or any Franchisee Organization Website. We may, in our sole judgment and subject to change, exclude certain types of bookings that originate through Digital Channels for purposes of calculating the Digital Acquisition Fee and certain portions of Gross Rooms Revenue that is generated through the Digital Channels, such as the Upsell Revenue (defined below). Digital Channels do not include reservations placed through external sources, such as online travel agencies (e.g., priceline.com and expedia.com) or through Hyatt-managed channels that are not digital in nature, such as reservations placed via telephone calls to our global contact center.
Source: Item 6 — Other Fees (FDD pages 20–36)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Caption By Hyatt Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees must pay a Digital Acquisition Fee. This fee is designed to help drive bookings through Caption By Hyatt's online direct booking channels, referred to as the "Digital Channels." These channels include the Hotel System Website and any Hyatt-branded website or mobile app, such as the World of Hyatt app.
The Digital Acquisition Fee is calculated based on a subset of Gross Rooms Revenue resulting from reservations generated through these Digital Channels. This applies whether the reservations come directly through the channels or via a link from another platform, such as a search engine advertisement, social media page, or any Franchisee Organization Website. However, Caption By Hyatt has the discretion to exclude certain types of bookings or portions of Gross Rooms Revenue, such as Upsell Revenue, from the calculation of this fee.
It's important to note that reservations placed through external sources like online travel agencies (e.g., priceline.com and expedia.com) or through Hyatt-managed channels that are not digital, such as telephone calls to the global contact center, are not included in the calculation of the Digital Acquisition Fee. The FDD does not specify the exact percentage charged for the Digital Acquisition Fee.