Why I Decided Not to Complete the Hyatt Diamond Challenge
In August, I signed up for the Hyatt Diamond Challenge. This is something Hyatt extends to elite members of other hotel loyalty programs; I asked for a match from Hilton Gold. Over the next 60 days, you receive Hyatt Diamond status and the chance to fast-track to full Diamond status if you complete 12 nights during the promotional challenge period. For those who sign up after June and complete the challenge, the status is active until February of the year after next. That is, I would get to keep it until February 2015. During the challenge period, we receive all Diamond benefits, including a full breakfast, possible room upgrades, complimentary internet, a 30% point earning bonus, a Diamond point welcome amenity and four confirmed suite upgrades valid on any point earning stay up to 7 nights. (Note: Although the Challenge period is 60 days, you will get to keep the status until the end of the month so you can technically have it for up to 90 days. I don’t know whether this extends the 12 night deadline as well).
With an upcoming stay at the Park Hyatt Milan and a few more nights planned at Hyatt properties in September, August was the perfect time for me to jump on the Hyatt Diamond status challenge. The status would last until the end of October and would be very useful to me for my stays. In addition, I had not yet signed up for the Chase Hyatt co-branded credit card, which offers two free nights in any Hyatt worldwide as a sign-up bonus. Overall, it was good timing and I had no doubt the challenge would be rewarding. And it has been.
The main draws of Diamond status for me were the full breakfast, complimentary internet and suite upgrades (in that order). While these are great for enhancing my Hyatt stays, I quickly realized that the Hyatt brand is quite generous to begin with so I can actually get most of these benefits without even being a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member. There are plenty of ways to get upgrades with points and complimentary internet is given to those with “just” Platinum status, which is automatically given with the Chase Hyatt Credit Card. Finally, though I do love free breakfast at the hotel, I can just redeem Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard rewards points to get it. While I could have done a few “mattress” runs and tried to book inexpensive nearby hotel stays to keep these benefits for 2014, I decided the numbers just didn’t work out and it wasn’t worth it for me.
Let’s take a look at the Hyatt Diamond status benefits:
- 30% point earning bonus when choosing points.
- Possible room upgrade, excluding suites.
- Access to the Regency Club or Grand Club lounge featuring complimentary continental breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres. Enjoy daily complimentary full breakfast in hotels without a club lounge.
- Suite upgrade at the time of reservation four times annually on any point earning rate for up to 7 nights.
- Special welcome point bonus or food and beverage amenity during each stay.
- Complimentary in-room Internet access.
- 4:00 p.m. with a late check out request.
Yes, I am walking away from all these. But let me tell you why…
(In the interest of full disclosure, I do receive a referral for some of the credit cards mentioned in this post if you apply through my links. I always find and include the bets offer regardless of referral and I would never recommend a card that I do not have and value myself. As always, thank you for your support!)
I don’t stay at Hyatt hotels extremely often.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the Hyatt hotel chain and feel Hyatt Gold Passport points are particularly valuable. I recently used 22,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points a night to stay at the amazing Park Hyatt Milan when rates were $650 a night. I have three more nights coming up at Hyatt this year, though one is booked through the Amex Platinum card with the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program, where I get the equivalent Diamond benefits anyhow.
Although Hyatt Gold Passport points are significantly easier to earn that Starwood, I tend to spend far more time at Starwoods. A few examples. Last year, I spent 12,000 points a night for 8 nights in Rio de Janeiro at the Sheraton Rio Hotel & Resort. Some of those nights would cost $1,000 a night when it was around New Year’s. There was no Hyatt there. On my upcoming trip to Phuket, we are spending 5 nights at Le Meridien Phuket. Also no Hyatt nearby. While I will continue to redeem my Hyatt points for the luxurious Park Hyatts properties, it will likely be for a few nights at a time. I just don’t foresee a scenario where I’ll use my Diamond status all that much.
When suite upgrades matter to me, I can use Hyatt Gold Passport points.
I may be completely crazy, but I am not very concerned with suite upgrades. I am very happy when I get one, but I am more tied to the overall hotel ambiance than the room. I would rather stay in the worst room at the nicest hotel than a very nice room at a so so hotel. I know some people strive for both! And while I always enjoy a luxurious hotel with a spa, nice amenities, location, scenery, I just don’t tend to spend much time in my room to begin with. Perhaps that would change if I had a room with my own infinity pool, but even on my Caribbean vacations, I tend to favor the beach over sitting by the pool.
Regardless, when I do want that suite upgrade, there are lots of ways to get it. I can pay 50% more points when I redeem points for award stays. A suite at the Park Hyatt Milan or the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome or the Grand Hyatt Kauai is still a very attainable 33,000 points a night. Given that Hyatt Gold Passport points transfer from Ultimate Rewards, I tend to rack up these points pretty easily. In addition, for any Hyatt Daily Rate paid stay, 6,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points in total will upgrade me to a suite for up to four nights. That’s an extremely generous benefits that I recommend you familiarize yourself with and take advantage of whenever possible! For a full explanation of these and other upgrade methods, read my post: Don’t Pay For That Hyatt Suite! How to Get Free Suites and Upgrades.
I can always redeem Barclaycard Arrival miles for the full breakfast.
I do value the Hyatt full breakfast benefit probably more than many people do. When I’m on vacation, efficient relaxation is key to a good time for me. So is having coffee and a nice filling meal to start the day. Having breakfast at the hotel takes care of both and that’s something we can’t redeem our Hyatt points for. However, my Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard miles can be redeemed for any travel expense. The card comes with a $440 sign-up bonus and continues to earn 2.2% cash back toward any travel expense. Anything I put on my hotel bill will be considered a travel expense. So I can still go ahead and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before starting my day on vacation… without being a Hyatt Diamond member and without paying for it!
It’s true that hotel breakfast is not cheap and it would cost quite a few points. At the Park Hyatts or Andaz, you can easily drop $50-$80 on a full breakfast. However, it is certainly nice to have that point redemption option.
The Hyatt co-branded card will give me Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status and complimentary internet.
Once I signed up for the Hyatt Diamond Challenge, I applied for the co-branded Chase Hyatt Credit Card. Those with Diamond status at the time of application receive two free nights in a suite (Note: The two free nights in a suite offer is now expired). That’s certainly something to look forward to. But another benefit is ongoing Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum membership as long as I hold the card. This automatically extends complimentary internet at the Hyatt brand hotels.
Moreover, now that I have the card, I will probably be keeping it for a long time. Although it has a $75 annual fee, it comes with an annual free night stay certificate good at any Category 1-4 property. So it easily pays for itself just based on the annual free hotel night.
Conclusion
Application links to credit cards mentioned in this post:
Overall, completing a few mattress runs to receive Diamond status would be like “prepaying” for Diamond suite upgrades on paid stays and the full breakfast. Because my stays at Hyatt properties are infrequent, I decided it’s more viable for me to choose a “pay as you go” option instead. That is, I can select to use Hyatt Gold Passport points for suite upgrades and Barclaycard Arrival miles for breakfast when it matters to me most.
The lesson to be learned here is that Hyatt can be generous to everyone, not just its top elites. With the right tools and a little bit of help from the Hyatt card, everyone can stay in suites, get free internet and have free breakfast. While the occasional suite and breakfast at the hotel will cost me more points, but I still believe I’m ahead in terms of effort and cost in staying those additional nights to keep the Diamond status.
More posts about Hyatt hotels and the Hyatt Gold Passport program:
- My Stay at Park Hyatt Milan for 22,000 Points a Night
- Hyatt and MGM Properties in Las Vegas Announce New Partnership and How You Can Benefit
- Don’t Pay For That Hyatt Suite! How To Get Free Suites and Upgrades
- Natalya’s Stay at Hyatt Regency Monterey and The Hyatt Diamond Treatment
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As it happens, a Hyatt will be opening shortly in Phuket.
http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/hyatt-regency-kamala-phuket.67222/
You can redeem Gold Passport points for a suite on points — and by far the best value for suite awards of any hotel program — but there’s a minimum stay requirement to do so. And you can redeem Gold Passport points for suite upgrades on paid stays for just 6000 points, also by far the best value for confirmed suite upgrades with points of any hotel program, but you’re required to pay the Hyatt Daily Rate (or slightly higher rate at resorts) in order to do so.
Hyatts are not everywhere. But neither are Starwoods. And in-hotel earn at Starwood is basically the least generous of any of the major hotel programs, though of course those Starwood points you do earn are quite valuable.
The Hyatt points are certainly much easier to earn than Starwood, both through paid stays as well as credit card spending. Thank you for the intel on the Hyatt in Phuket… certainly looks like a nice beach :)
During the challenge, try to get an MLife platinum match. An acquaintance of mine had a friend try it and reported success. I’m not sure if the status will be permanent, but my hunch is the Hyatt-MGM partnership isn’t sophisticated enough to remove the platinum status when the challenge ends.
There are some platinum benefits not widely advertised: http://www.vegastripping.com/news/blog/3851/m-life-tiered-benefits-explained/
Oh, yes, very good point. Even though I don’t have any upcoming stays, there’s no harm in getting the match. :)
Is the challenge for 90 day now? Thought it was 60 days. If its 90, good news since I’ll be attempting the challenge soon!
Just updating for completeness although we discussed on Twitter :) It lasts until the end of the month after the 60 days pass. That is, if you start toward the beginning of the month and it’s beginning of month 3 after 60 days, you get it for the full 3 months. It can last up to 90 days that way.
Thanks for explaining why it didn’t work for you. However, for those of us living overseas, either as ex-pats or with extensive travel in Asia or the Middle East, it is worth being a Diamond. Many of the local balls are held in Grand or Park Hyatts, so as a Diamond member, you’ll be able to get a room during busy events. Plus, as a Diamond member one can get access to the gym, pool, and spa whereas the Platinum member will have to pay for access, costing anywhere from $50.00 and up. In addition, the buffet for breakfast or lunch usually cost $40.00 and up per person as has been my experience in Seoul. I lived in Seoul for four years. I also lived in Japan for eight years on and off, but didn’t stay in the hotels.
Booking a standard room in Seoul will give you a HARD bed. So, one would have to either use points to upgrade a room costing at minimum $230.00 and up.
Although my Hyatt Diamond run was expensive this summer, it was all part of my vacation and ‘do something different’ for my bday. I was upgraded to the Presidential Suite at the Hyatt Regency Orange County on my 12th night. It’s been a fabulous run. My only regret is that if I could have combined it with the current promotional….. deep, deep sigh.
Hilarious that in Korea, they provide different beds depending on the type of room you book. [Edited due to insulting language].
It’s great you were able to work it out to time your Diamond challenge for some great birthday vacations this summer! It’s certainly a big plus for those who stay at Hyatts a fair amount and can frequently make use of all the benefits Hyatt Diamond has to offer.
The occasional spa/facilities access is also a great one, but it’s not always given for free. We had full spa access at Hyatt Regency Monterey, but will have to pay for it at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells. This very much depends on the property, but it’s certainly nice when one gets it. On the other hand, at the Park Hyatt Milan, anyone could use the spa freely.
Congratulations on your newly acquired status!
Thanks for the great information and perspective. I’m thinking of applying for the Citi Hilton in the hopes of matching for Hyatt Diamond through a challenge. Is is true that I will need to show that I obtained Hilton status through stays? I don’t want to take the hit on the credit report if I won’t be able to leverage it anyways. Thanks!
Hyatt has typically recently started asking to show a statement including at least one stay in the past 12 months. Alternately, I believe there is an opportunity to get top tier Le Club Accor status right now, which IHG will match to Platinum if you email them a screenshot of your status. Hyatt is also willing to match its Diamond Challenge to the IHG Platinum status, but again, you’ll likely have to show a statement with at least one stay.
It also looks like in the past few days Hyatt has come out with changes to its credit card offer offering first year annual fee waived, but no longer mentioning that Diamond members receive two nights in a suite. I haven’t had a chance to catch up on the change yet, but will post once I confirm the details.