Hyatt elite status matches and challenges were originally meant to be tools for Hyatt’s sales team to use in bringing business over. As they became public in social media Gold Passport publicly acknowledged and welcomed members into them.
A little over a year ago, Hyatt eliminated their fast track elite status methods. Then they brought them back as tools for Sales only. That’s because only a small percentage of people went on to maintain the status they were granted through these offers.
In June Hyatt began offering fast track to Diamond status again but without granting Diamond status during the challenge period.
Then in November, with many members worried over Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood, Hyatt took to Twitter to look for disaffected elites from other chains and offer them status matches.
They were way too generous. Initially they were comping Diamond status through February 2017 to anyone who sent in an eligible elite membership card and a statement that showed just one hotel stay. That wasn’t really what they were after. So they started limiting who they’d comp (they were really after Starwood Platinums) and with the overwhelming crush of submissions it was taking a couple of weeks for some members to get a reply.
It’s hard to dispute the strong value of Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status:
- Hyatt has the best suite upgrade benefit of any chain — offering Diamond members confirmed-at-booking suites valid on any paid rate booked through a Hyatt channel four times a year.
Suite at the Park Hyatt Chennai - Hyatt has the best top tier breakfast benefit: full restaurant breakfast when no club lounge is available. (And if the club lounge is closed 2500 bonus points, also.) Several Hyatt properties are among the hotels with the very best breakfasts anywhere.
Complimentary Diamond Room Service Breakfast at the Park Hyatt Vendome, Paris
Complimentary Diamond Room Service Breakfast at the Andaz 5th Avenue, New York
Now via The Points Guy the terms of Hyatt’s current status match offer are clear.
- It’s a tool for sales. The match request is supposed to come from a Hyatt hotel.
- It’s open to Starwood elites. Starwood Golds with at least one night in 2015 or so far in 2016 get Hyatt Platinum, and Starwood Platinums with at least 20 nights in 2015 or so far in 2016 get Diamond.
- It’s available through the end of February. Status will last through February 2017.
Starwood elites can still get matches — just talk to a Hyatt hotel to submit the request for you.
As a datapoint, I’m currently SPG Plat and Hyatt Diamond, although I was short a few stays with Hyatt last year so my status is set to expire on 2/29/16. I easily re-qualified for SPG Plat last year. Tried to get Hyatt to match me so I could extend my status through 2017, e-mailed in a request with SPG screenshot and noted I have 10 paid stays with Hyatt booked for Jan-Mar, but no dice. So apparently this doesn’t work for existing Hyatt elites. Bummer.
Why the obsession with Starwood? I’m multi year Marriott Plat with several hundred nights over the years. If I like the experience I’m as likely to stick as a Starwood Plat? They only offered me Platunum which I declined to accept.
Do you know if status matched Diamonds will receive upgrades for 2016-2017? There was some speculation that they would not..
I’m disappointed that they are limiting this to Starwood elites. If they opened this offer to Hilton elites it would be an opportunity for me to use my 2014 comped Kimpton Inner Circle status that I recently parlayed to Hilton Diamond and get the second parlay to Hyatt Diamond.
Does Hyatt still do status challenges? If you’ve done one before, can you do it again?
I’m sad they’re not extending this to Hilton elites, not because I want to game the system or parlay some oddball thing into Hyatt Diamond, but because I actually would like to give Hyatt a try. I’m an HHD on stays every year and would consider giving Hyatt business (maybe even all of my business), but the drop back down to starting from scratch – no breakfast, no lounge, no nothing – just isn’t palatable to me after being used to even the modest treatment that hhonors Diamonds receive.
Hyatt Platinum for SPG Gold – really? All you need for Hyatt Platinum is the Chase Hyatt credit card. At least SPG Gold you actually have to stay a few nights to get it.
I’m a 50 night SPG Plat. Sent in my request for a match the same day the blogs were posting it, and they responded on twitter after 4 days by telling me to email them. Then the emails took another week before I got a response back – where they then changed the requirements.
Hyatt can eat it. I loved Hyatt, but them not following through on the offer and giving me the runaround left me with a pretty sour taste. I’ll stick with SPG until Marriott obliterates the program, and then roll the dice with Hyatt’s competitors.
I am a 112 night Hilton Diamond, Gold SPG and a Hyatt Platinum. I responded to the offer as I am not too pleased with Hilton benefits. I received an immediate response that they would consider it and get back to me. It took them 4 weeks to get back to me with a NO as they were only makong the offer available to SPG Platinum members, and since I was already a Hyatt GP member, i was ineligible.
It’s funny how people who want to game the system turn around and say they’ll never stay at Hyatt because they didn’t get a match, solelt so they can game the system even more. I applaud Hyatt. If you really want to give Hyatt a try, then book a room like most of us do. If lounge access makes or breaks your life, your priorities are screwed up.
@betty – well spg gold can be got with a credit (charge) card – no need to stay – Amex platinum .