A Look at the Future Hyatt Diamond Challenge

Hyatt discontinued their very lucrative Hyatt Diamond Challenge on October 31, leaving maybe would be miles and points chasers wondering how to obtain the blogged-to-death status.

We appreciate the overwhelming enthusiasm for Hyatt Diamond elite status. The Diamond trial promotion that began on May 1, 2014 has run its course and has been discontinued as of October 31. We very much appreciate all of our members who were able to take advantage of this promotion and have continued to stay with Hyatt throughout the year. We are currently evaluating the best path forward with these types of promotions. As always, we welcome your feedback.

Even with the discontinuation, one can only speculate as to how the program will be re-shaped and re-formed.

I’ve put together some thoughts about what this program might look like, in the hopes that when the new program comes out, I’ll be able to look back to compare.

No More Match

A future program most likely won’t include an outright match of Hyatt Diamond Status. For future, I think they’ll only award the status until after the challenge is completed. Or, an alternative would be them issuing a temporary Platinum status, and then granting the full Diamond membership once the trial is done.

Suite Upgrade Limitations

While I think the Suite upgrades will remain in some capacity, they may only be awarded until after a certain amount of stays are completed, or may have restrictions – such as needing to purchase a certain priced room in order to be able to use them.

No More Free Points

The Hyatt Diamond Challenge previously included 1,000 points for the first 6 nights. Essentially, this is a free Category 1 hotel night for simply staying 6 nights. This was a total freebie offer, and you could earn these on any rate of the first 6 nights. I think this benefit will go away with a future Challenge.

Competitor Program Match

In matching you into Diamond, Hyatt required proof of one stay at a competitor’s comparable program. For future Diamond programs, we’ll probably see more stringent requirements – like seeing a history of stays, or perhaps even a certain spend requirement.

Spend Requirement

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hyatt implements a requirement to spend a certain amount during the challenge. Or, perhaps it will cost a fee to partake in the challenge, just like American does with its elite status challenges.

It’s anyone’s guess as to what the new program, if any, will bring, but hopefully I can use these thoughts to compare with any new concepts Hyatt comes out with.