Status fasttrack bonanza! (Hyatt and Hilton)

[Febs]

Anyone else getting some very good offers regarding status upgrades?

In the past week, I've been issued my new 2010 Hyatt and Hilton cards. Hyatt I dropped back to Gold, from Platinum (Diamond before that), and Hilton I've stayed on Silver (Gold before that).

Both came with a letter saying I could fast-track if I made the required stays in a given timeframe, only this time the offers are very generous!

Hyatt: 5 nights (instead of 15) between now and 31st August, 2010 to earn Platinum
Hilton: 8 nights (instead of 36) to achieve Gold, and 12 nights (instead of 60! :shock: ) to achieve Diamond. By the end of June.

The Hyatt stays are looking likely, but unfortunately I usually only have the opportunity to rack up Hilton stays towards the end of the year. Still, not bad value when 12 x sub-$100 nights @ Hampton Inn could qualify me for Diamond! :shock:

Anyone got similar offers?

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[anat0l]

I'm waiting for my status to drop in a few days

After which, we'll see what Hilton throw at me. Although I have a decent handful of nights and stays from last year (obviously not enough to go Gold on my own, although Silver was easily tied up), I'm not expecting much love from Hilton. In fact, I will probably have to beg them for a fast track.

 

[serfty]

...
Hilton: 8 nights (instead of 36) to achieve Gold, and 12 nights (instead of 60! :shock: ) to achieve Diamond. By the end of June. ...

Anything about stays? i.e. For HHonors Gold, it's 16 stays and Diamond is 28 stays.

Each stay can be as little is one night.

 

[moa999]

targeted or generic?

 

[oz_mark]

Hyatt gave me a free night to use by the end of June. Not exactly a fast track, but not bad either.

 

[Febs]

Anything about stays? i.e. For HHonors Gold, it's 16 stays and Diamond is 28 stays.

Each stay can be as little is one night.

Nothing, just nights.

targeted or generic?

Targeted I'm guessing.

Hyatt gave me a free night to use by the end of June. Not exactly a fast track, but not bad either.

That's pretty good. When I won a free Hyatt night last year, I used it at the Park Hyatt Shanghai (which was amazing). A good $800 saved right there.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[oz_mark]

I'm still waiting to hear from Hilton - seems everyone else has a new card, but nothing for me yet.

 

[v8Statesman]

Hyatt extended my Platinum until FEB 2011 with no stays there in 2009 (moved all of it to IC)

 

[GCC]

I received my HH letter last week and "qualified for Silver status again" - have been silver since mid 2007 & just short of gold each year, but have no stays at all this year.

My "exclusive offer" for fast track is Diamond for 7 stays or 15 nights by the end of June. Tempting - but probably still not going to happen with this years travel plans.

I don't suppose there's any chance they'll give me gold for a lesser number of stays / nights?

 

[markis10]

Both came with a letter saying I could fast-track if I made the required stays in a given timeframe, only this time the offers are very generous!

Hyatt: 5 nights (instead of 15) between now and 31st August, 2010 to earn Platinum
Cheers,
- Febs.

Very nice of Hyatt considering they are offering instant Plat and then you get to keep it after 5 stays through to Feb 2011 or shoot for Diamond with 15, :

Hyatt Gold Passport - Airline Acquisition

Given the free night after every two stays until June 30 it should be quite a good incentive to re-qualify between now and June 30.

 

[oz_mark]

Got my exclusive offer

2 stays to get back to silver or 4 stays to turn gold.

(The 2 stays are already booked - need to figure anther 2 out to go gold)

 

[drron]

Got my exclusive offer

2 stays to get back to silver or 4 stays to turn gold.

(The 2 stays are already booked - need to figure anther 2 out to go gold)

I guess I must have p*ssed HH off bigtime.7 years as diamond,6 of those qualifying on all 3 criteria yet no free night with the devaluation and no fast track offer now having fallen back to Gold.

 

[Danger]

My "exclusive offer" for fast track is Diamond for 7 stays or 15 nights by the end of June. Tempting - but probably still not going to happen with this years travel plans.

I received my new Gold card about a month ago with the same fast track to Diamond. I didn't give it much thought but today it dawned on me that I will actually rack up the required seven stays within the period. However, the fine print is ambiguous. At the top of the promo flyer offer thingy it reads:

". . . Simply book your stays at any of more than 3,400 hotels in the Hilton worldwide portfolio between April 1 and June 30, 2010 [emphasis added."
​

But the fine(r) print at the bottom of the page reads:

"Offer valid for stays completed between April 1 and June 30, 2010 [emphasis added]."
​

So which is it - stays booked during the period or stays completed during the period? If it's the former I'm buggered as all seven were booked prior to 1 April; if it's the latter, Diamond for me.

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[simongr]

No targetting here other than double points

Dropped from Diamond to Silver in April :'(

 

[straitman]

I received my new Gold card about a month ago with the same fast track to Diamond. I didn't give it much thought but today it dawned on me that I will actually rack up the required seven stays within the period. However, the fine print is ambiguous. At the top of the promo flyer offer thingy it reads:

". . . Simply book your stays at any of more than 3,400 hotels in the Hilton worldwide portfolio between April 1 and June 30, 2010 [emphasis added."
​

But the fine(r) print at the bottom of the page reads:

"Offer valid for stays completed between April 1 and June 30, 2010 [emphasis added]."
​

So which is it - stays booked during the period or stays completed during the period? If it's the former I'm buggered as all seven were booked prior to 1 April; if it's the latter, Diamond for me.

Anyone have any experience with this?

I'd say you have three options.

1. Ring and ask them. (Several calls may be required as they often suffer from left hand, right hand syndrome)
2. Stay your stays as planned and see what happens.
3. Change and rebook your stays as necessary to cover the worst case scenario.

Good luck and let us know.

 

[GCC]

So which is it - stays booked during the period or stays completed during the period?

Interesting - please post if you get an answer. But my reading is that the offer is for stays booked and completed during the period, so as straitman says I'd rebook if that's an option for you.

I am thinking of emailing HH to see if I can somehow exchange my 7 stays for diamond offer for a 4 stays for gold offer. What does anyone with experience dealing with HH think of my chances?

 

[Danger]

Well I just put in a call to Hilton's Australian 1800 number and reached the lovely Patti. Patti confirmed that I have indeed achieved five stays since 1 April and that I only need two more stays by 30 June to achieve the Diamond fasttrack. I asked her to read out my stays that I've had and she did; all stays that were booked prior to 1 April but completed since 1 April. So it sounds like it might be good news for me.

Now the next important question: assuming I get Diamond by 30 April 2010, when will my Diamond status expire, 31 March 2011 or 31 March 2012 (FlyerTalk is confusing and Patti couldn't give me an answer).

 

[straitman]

I may have to ring also and do a little grovelling in an attempt to get the Diamond Fast Track also :!:

 

[Danger]

On the Hilton website at Hilton HHonors I came across this:

Maintaining Your VIP Tier
Once the Member has reached a certain VIP tier, the Member may keep such status for the calendar year in which the VIP tier was earned and the subsequent calendar year. Documentation (as defined in item #17 of Accrual of Points) must be furnished within 90 days of stay in order to count toward tier-level qualification. Your reward stays count toward VIP tier qualification. And HHonors VIP members will receive the VIP point bonus on Base points earned for incidental spending during HHonors hotel reward stays. It all adds up to putting you on a faster track to enjoying exclusive VIP privileges!
​

So it looks good for 31 March 2012. Winner, Hilton!