How 4 x Hilton stays got me Hyatt Diamon *and* SPG Plat ;)

[Febs]

(Well, close...)

Hi all,

Just thought I'd share a story. Firstly though - if you think this constitutes dillution of the benefits of Hyatt Diamond/SPG Plat, I'd suggest your beef is with the program administrators making such offers available, and not those taking advantage of the offers.

Last year I jumped on the HHonors Hilton Racing Gold VIP deal and, with 4 x 1 night stays at Hampton Inns across the US, managed to get Hhonors Gold. A little later, through the help of a double stay promo with SPG, I managed to get SPG Gold.

So earlier this year, armed with my SPG and HHonors Gold cards, I sent a status match request to Hyatt, suggesting these were equivalent to their Diamond status. I also sent in my stay histories (by this time, consisting of maybe 7 Hilton stays and 7 SPG stays). 24 hours later, I received an e-mail letting me know my Hyatt account had been upgraded to Diamond until some time in 2009. Excellent.

Being the cheeky bugger I am, I thought I'd see how far I could take this. A few weeks later, I sent a request to SPG to match my SPG Diamond and Hhonors Gold cards to SPG Platinum (with a swag of SPG stays booked in the following weeks). I again sent in my stay histories with Hyatt and Hhonors, but these didn't come close to the requisite 25 stays.

About a week later...an e-mail arrives - basically saying "enjoy your complimentary one-time upgrade to SPG Plat".



Scammer? Maybe, and sure I'll never get to use these offers again...but with the number of upcoming stays this year, now was the time to take advantage of them. Looking forward to some nice upgrades and welcome amenities over the coming weeks. Just a pity SPG Plats don't get any more points than Golds!

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Maybe I should send a status match request to Hhonors...

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Keith009]

Pls make sure you 'refresh' your status with the SPG reservations. PLT concierge will insist that the all reservations already made will be updated automatically, but that's clearly not the case per experience. Just insist on them checking with each individual hotel, if that doesn't happen simply PM Starwood Lurker or Starwood Lurker II over at the FT SPG forum.

One sure way of finding out whether the hotel has your status at check in is whether they offer you the PLT amenity - if they don't 99% of the time it means you're still showing as GLD in their system. But by that time it might be too late for upgrades etc as the entire hotel might already be full.

 

[Febs]

Thanks Keith, excellent advice (and something I wouldn't have thought of!)

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Alanslegal]

Yes you are that cheeky bugger

Enjoy the stays!

 

[drron]

My experience with a status match to SPG plat was that my prior bookings were updated to reflect the plat status.Certainly got worthwhile upgrades and amenities.Never hurts to make sure though.

 

[oz_mark]

Scammer? Maybe, and sure I'll never get to use these offers again...but with the number of upcoming stays this year, now was the time to take advantage of them. Looking forward to some nice upgrades and welcome amenities over the coming weeks. Just a pity SPG Plats don't get any more points than Golds!

Just using their marketing mechanisms to improve your lot. The downside is of course, you only get to do it once (although I don't doubt there are those that have had mutliple status matches)

(My online Hyatt account has me as a platinum with an expiration of June 2008, not sure what that means!)

 

[Alanslegal]

Lets say my SPG PLT expires 28/02/09 & assuming I don't requal , I should email HH with copy of my PLT card & stay history early Feb 09 to get HH Diamond to status match. Assuming it is approved this HHD status, lets say, runs through to April 2010.

In early April 2010, I send my HHD card & stay history to Hyatt and get them to status match to Hyatt PLT...which if successful runs through to 2011.....

And the cycle goes, abliet only once per program per lifetime.


(this is all hypothetical of course)

 

[drron]

Lets say my SPG PLT expires 28/02/09 & assuming I don't requal , I should email HH with copy of my PLT card & stay history early Feb 09 to get HH Diamond to status match. Assuming it is approved this HHD status, lets say, runs through to April 2010.

In early April 2010, I send my HHD card & stay history to Hyatt and get them to status match to Hyatt PLT...which if successful runs through to 2011.....

And the cycle goes, abliet only once per program per lifetime.


(this is all hypothetical of course)

Though HH does not status match but may give you an accelerated path to diamond.

 

[Febs]

Though HH does not status match but may give you an accelerated path to diamond.

How accelerated are we typically talking? I may have quite a few Hilton stays coming up this year (gotta love the cheap and cheerful Hampton Inns, Embassy Suites etc.. in the middle of nowhere, USA ).

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[JohnK]

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Maybe I should send a status match request to Hhonors...

Enjoy the status....