Changes Coming to Hyatt’s Diamond Challenge?

Last week, I wrote about how there were some communication issues with Hyatt regarding their Diamond Challenge. Namely, the e-mails and representatives were all saying status would exist through February of 2016 but the actual achieved status was only showing February of 2015. I was not alone in this error, but fortunately, they were able to fix the situation for me.

Changes Coming to Hyatt’s Diamond Challenge?

However, during the course of my pursuing this to get it sorted out (and some follow up after), I spoke with three separate executive managers that mentioned some interesting things. The first one was that those of us who got in on this Diamond Challenge (good for status through 2016) were actually activated with the same code that was supposed to have expired April 30. Prior to May 1 (which was the date that the longer duration status had appeared to go into effect), the code for the Diamond Challenge was DMD14.

That offer code was good for the challenge and to be used to register for it from June 1, 2013 until April 30, 2014. The understanding was that, since it apparently expired April 30, there was a new offer code being tied to new Diamond Challenges. Instead, the offer code of DMD14 was still being used which meant that, on Hyatt’s end, the terms of the challenge were still the same. The problem was that Hyatt’s global department (that was sending out the challenge confirmation e-mails) had actually extended the date of expiration to 2016 instead of 2015.

So What Might Be Changing?

What does all of that mean? During my phone conversations, it was mentioned that the date issue was a problem with the global department and the US Hyatt reps actually did not even have terms for the extended offer (from May 1) so they would never have known to give a date of 2016. In addition, the reason that the terms had not been updated/passed out is that Hyatt is apparently in the process of making big changes to the Diamond Challenge (their words, not mine). They would not say what those changes were going to be, but it does make sense that they would be making changes since they are continuing to use a offer code that has “expired” over three months ago.

My guess is that they might be making changes to some of the nicest parts of the challenge, particularly the Diamond Suite Upgrades. Those are very generous to offer considering that they are in your account to use anytime through February of 2015 (and can be used for stays after that), even if you do not complete the challenge. There have been many people who have signed up for the challenge with no intention of completing it just so they could get these upgrades. They can be used on stays up to 7 nights for each certificate! This makes them extremely valuable since, theoretically, you would be able to upgrade to a suite for a total of 28 nights! Considering the difference in price between the base room and the base suite can be $150 per night, that is substantial.

Another change that might be on the table is that, currently, you only need to provide proof of status with a competitor and one night of activity. In fact, some of the status they allow for the challenge is at the mid-tier (and available just by holding a credit card). I could see them maybe changing it to require top-tier status with a competitor in order to challenge.

What Does It Mean?

In the end, these are just theories on my part. If just one person told me that they were making changes, I probably would not believe it. But, to be told by several people that they were making changes, I am inclined to believe something is going to change. If you have been thinking about submitting for a Hyatt Diamond Challenge, now may be the time to do it, especially since challenges started after July 1 should officially give you status through 2016 (if the challenge is complete).