Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Last year I decided not to mattress run to keep my Hyatt Diamond status. It was a tough decision: Hyatt Diamond status is awesome. But, I was simply too far from re-qualifying. Then, a very lucky thing happened. In November of last year, Hyatt briefly offered a Diamond status match to anyone with mid or top tier status in a competing chain. I didn’t think I would qualify since I had Hyatt Diamond status at the time, so my wife submitted a match request instead. And, soon enough, she turned Diamond. Hyatt quickly changed the terms of the match to only give Diamond status to those with SPG Platinum status, but luckily for us (and many others), they did not withdraw the matches already given. And so, throughout this year, we’ve booked all of our Hyatt stays from my wife’s Diamond account and have greatly enjoyed the perks that come with it.
Hyatt Diamond requirements
To earn or requalify for Hyatt Diamond status, you must complete 25 paid stays or 50 paid nights. Points + Cash stays count. Award stays (stays booked entirely with points) do not count.
Not gonna make it
Even though we’ve enjoyed a number of Hyatt stays this year, my wife is still nowhere close to re-qualifying for Diamond status. What to do? We can wait and hope for another (unlikely) generous status match. Or, in 2017 Hyatt might offer a new Diamond Fast Track challenge like the one that was available until April 30th 2016. That would give me Diamond status after only 12 qualifying nights within 60 days. Or, we can find ways to enjoy Diamond benefits without Diamond status…
Diamond benefits
Here are my favorite Hyatt Diamond benefits, along with Hyatt’s description of each:
- Club Lounge / Full Breakfast: “Receive exclusive 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: “Treat yourself to a suite upgrade at the time of reservation four times annually on eligible paid nights.”
- Welcome gift: “Receive a special welcome point bonus or food and beverage amenity during each stay. Welcome amenity consists of the following: at Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency and Hyatt properties in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean; a choice of 1,000 bonus points or Food and Beverage option; at Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency and Hyatt properties outside of U.S., Canada and Caribbean; a choice of 1,000 bonus points or a Food and Beverage amenity will be provided; at Andaz hotels worldwide; a choice of 1,000 bonus points or a locally inspired amenity; at Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Ziva hotels worldwide 1,000 bonus points will be awarded; at Hyatt Place a choice of 500 bonus points or a complimentary beverage; at Hyatt House properties a choice of 500 bonus points or $5 credit in the Guest Market; at Hyatt Residence Club Resorts 500 bonus points will be awarded.”
- 4pm late checkout: “Extend your stay until 4:00 p.m. with a late check out request. Subject to availability at Hyatt resorts and casinos. Not available at Hyatt Residence Club resorts.”
Hyatt Diamond benefits without status
With Hyatt, it is possible to forgo Diamond status altogether and still get the benefits that Diamond elites enjoy. Here’s how…
Guest of Honor
The best way to get Diamond benefits without status is to take advantage of Hyatt’s Guest of Honor program. If you have a friend with Hyatt Diamond status they can book an award stay for you via Hyatt’s Guest of Honor program and you’ll receive all of the benefits of Diamond status during your stay.
A downside to this approach is that the points will come out of your friend’s Hyatt account. While that could be great for you, there’s a good chance that your friend won’t like it. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. Unlike most other points programs, Hyatt lets members transfer points to others, for free. All you have to do is fill out Hyatt’s Point Combining Request Form (found here) and email it to goldpassport@hyatt.com. There is a slight restriction: you can only transfer or receive points once every 30 days, so plan accordingly.
The only major benefit that this approach doesn’t give you is the ability to apply a suite upgrade certificate. If a suite is important to you, then have your Diamond friend book a suite award for you. Suite awards cost 60% more points than standard room awards (found here).
Other Options
If you don’t have a friend with Diamond status, or you don’t have enough points to book a full award stay, there are other options for getting Diamond-like benefits:
Club Lounge Access
If your primary goal is to get club lounge access, there are a couple of easy options:
- Book a Club award stay. You can find the award chart here.
- Book a paid stay and use points to upgrade. Hyatt charges 3000 points per night to add club access to your paid stay.
Suite Stay
If you want to stay in a suite, your options include:
- Book a Suite award stay. You can find the award chart here. Hyatt’s suite award stays require a minimum of a 3 night stay.
- Book a paid stay and use points to upgrade. Hyatt charges 6000 points per night to upgrade your paid stay to a suite.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
[…] written about this benefit before: How to get Hyatt Diamond benefits without status. When I had top tier status, I even booked a few awards for friends using this benefit. But I […]
[…] If we stay at a Hyatt that does not have a club lounge and does not automatically offer free breakfast, we would want to do a Guest of Honor stay. That is, we’d find a friend with Globalist status to book the room for us, so that we could enjoy top-end elite benefits even though we wouldn’t have that status ourselves. See: How to get Hyatt Diamond benefits without status. […]
[…] am finishing up one year as a Hyatt Diamond. I originally took a Hyatt Diamond Fast Track Challenge last year to earn the top level Diamond status for one year. Normally, Hyatt requires at least 25 […]
[…] The new program continues to allow members to combine points, and they continue to allow top tier elites to make “Guest of Honor” reservations. These are the two ingredients necessary for getting Hyatt Diamond Globalist benefits without status. […]
Would anyone be willing to share their hyatt diamond status?
I’ve booked guest of honor before and it works if you add your name as well as the person’s name to the reservation and then call the diamond line for verbal confirmation as to your stay and how it was booked.
[…] Hyatt, all you need are a bunch of points and a friend with Hyatt Diamond status in order to enjoy top tier…. With SPG, there’s no similar silver bullet. Instead, we’ll identify other ways to obtain […]
Great article!! So are you saying if you book a full suite either paid or award stay you get some diamond perks?
No, I didn’t mean to imply that. If a Diamond member books your suite with points under the Guest of Honor program, then yes, you should get Diamond perks like free breakfast and 4pm late checkout. Otherwise, some hotels do extend these benefits automatically to those who reserve suites, but there’s no guarantee.
A lot of times a suite will include access to the lounge. It would usually say that in the room description. Otherwise, you could always email the hotel and ask them if lounge access would come with a suite.
I have an upcoming stay at The Driskill otel in Austin. I am paying cash and booked it using the Federal Government rate. I am interested in upgrading to get Club Lounge access for 3000 Hyatt points per night but would like to see if I get complimentary upgrade first.
Is the 3K upgrade something I can ask for at check in? Or do I have to arrange it ahead of time? Does that fact that I am getting the room at a discount factor at all into understanding my options?
Thanks.
Great question. My guess is that it would work to apply the 3K upgrade at the desk or to step away from the desk and call Hyatt. Another option is to pay the 3K points just for the first night. Then, if they don’t automatically extend it to the following nights (assuming you have a multi-night stay), call to apply to your other nights.
Just a question regarding this promo,
My friend has a Chase Hyatt card and the Platinum status that comes with it. I have Hyatt Diamond status. I have heard of the “Guest of Honour” promotion as well..
My question is that I want to book some nights for myself (I have diamond) but want to buy some points to book these (cash + points) and also take advantage of the 10% back promo that you have linked to.. What is the best way of doing this to ensure I also get the Diamond benefits? Is this even possible?
I am a newbie to Hyatt so don’t know too much about how the program works. If I ask my friend to buy the points and book for me so we can take advantage of the 10% promo, will I get the Diamond benefits as the booking will be using his account?
Thanks for any responses!
It might work to have your friend book the reservation with points and then add your name and Hyatt # in as the primary guest. I’ve never tried that, though, so I’m not sure.
Click bait
Can this be done with a points and cash booking too?
Technically, no. You could try a process like this (but no guarantee that it would work):
1. Diamond member books paid, or points & cash stay
2. Diamond member adds your name to the reservation and adds a note saying that you will be arriving first and should be allowed to check in
I was told by a Hyatt Diamond Reservation line person that the Guest of Honor program does work with points and cash bookings. I haven’t tried it yet though…
That would be awesome, but I’m pretty sure they were wrong
[…] How to get Hyatt Diamond benefit status without status. Good summary. I keep forgetting about the “Guest of Honor” option. […]
Interesting. I have no friends with Diamond besides my faux Twitter ones. Lol
I’ve made reservations for my adult kids from my Hyatt account and asked for Guest of Honor status for them. It is hit or miss whether the hotel gives them the benefits or not. There is NO guarantee that each Hyatt will honor Guest of Honor.
Good point. I’ve heard of that happening to some people. It’s a good idea to go armed with printouts of the guest of honor program details. And, if that doesn’t work, try Tweeting to Hyatt Concierge for help.
I am really going to miss my diamond status next year. It has been the single best status I have ever had in a travel program.
FrequentMiler: I enjoyed your picture of the diplomatic suite – that brings back some good memories of our trip to Santiago. That hotel is a great value for a category 2. 8k points is a no brainer if you are going to be in Santiago. Did you book a room with the amex platinum *deal* last year? I don’t think I will ever beat that…$7 a night for the diplomatic.
I believe the Grand Hyatt Santiago is going up a category or two soon, so book right away if you have plans to go!
No, I missed out on that Amex Platinum deal for the Diplomatic Suite. I just got very lucky in that there were no other room upgrades available when we checked in. We had booked a regular room with 8K points per night. That was the best suite I’ve ever been upgraded too. Amazing views of the Andes!