Is your assistant cashing in on your travel? (Assistants, read this.)

Assistants spend a lot of time booking travel and accommodations for their bosses. What if there were a rewards program just for them? Oh, wait. There is.

If your assistant seems to by pushing Hyatts on you, they may be cashing in. And if you’re an assistant reading this? Dude, start pushing Hyatts on your boss. Why?

Hyatt has introduced the Gold Passport Planner Rewards program – which allows whoever’s planning a trip to a Hyatt to secure personal Hyatt Gold Passport “points,” especially if you’re booking corporate meetings. What does this mean for you? Possible. Free. Vacation.

Hyatt conducted a survey of over 1000 administrative professionals, and this is what they found:

  • 81 percent are responsible for planning meetings and events and on average they plan four off-site meetings per year
  • Meeting and event planning is an Administrative Professional’s second most time consuming office activity, accounting, on average, for 17 percent of their time (trailing only creating documents, which accounts for 26 percent of time)
  • 95 percent of Administrative Professionals believe that the budgets to support off-site meetings will shrink in the current economic climate, however, 85 percent still view meetings as valuable
  • To stretch smaller budgets, event and meeting planners are choosing locations that require less travel (82 percent) and are limiting food choices (65 percent)
  • 44 percent have been asked to do personal errands for their bosses – with the top indiscretions being keeping secrets (24 percent), covering for their bosses (20 percent) and making personal travel arrangements (16 percent)
  • 93 percent of Administrative Professionals expect to receive flowers, a card or a lunch out this year for Administrative Professionals Day, however, more than 60 percent wish to be recognized with dinner at a favorite restaurant, a visit to a spa, or an overnight stay with a significant other in an upscale hotel
  • 61 percent state that the title that best describe their role as an Administrative Professional is CEO – Chief Everywhere Officer

So why not cut these “CEOs” some slack?

Administrative professionals can receive one Hyatt Gold Passport point for every qualifying dollar spent at a Hyatt hotel on accommodations, meeting room rentals, and catering, up to 50,000 points per event. More details on Hyatt Gold Passport Planner Rewards are available at www.plannerrewards.hyatt.com.

And if you’re a boss, reading this? Stay at a Hyatt next time. Your assistant deserves it.