Hyatt Diamond Challenge Update

2013 is the year my father's trying out Hyatt Hotels instead of focusing only on his beloved Starwood. My previous Hyatt posts included:

1. Looking Hard at Hyatt
2. Dad's Hyatt Challenge
3. Hyatt - Suite Upgrades with Points

As you may recall, to optimize his experience, my father timed his 60-day Diamond Status Challenge to coincide with both (a) Hyatt's "More Possibilities Promotion" of 3,000 Hyatt points after every 3rd night from March 1-May 31 and (b) his Hyatt credit card application that would give him 2 free nights in a suite at any Hyatt Hotel in the world.

He had a choice to simply take 60 days of Hyatt Diamond status and not complete the challenge (which helped us get upgraded to suites at both the Park Hyatt Mendoza and the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires a few weeks ago) or to complete 12 paid nights and keep Diamond status through February 28, 2014.

As you probably guessed, he went for the latter. Remember, he had 7 of the 12 nights "in the bag" since he was already planning on staying 1 night in South Korea, 2 nights in California and 4 nights in Argentina. But now he needed 5 more paid nights by April 26.

But we didn't really have any more need for hotels, so my father ran the numbers. Interestingly enough, he concluded that it was "worth it" to book 5 nights at lower cost Hyatts ($80-100/night) and let his friends/family use them instead. Perhaps it was cheating, but Hyatt got 5 more paid nights, our friends got a few fun staycations in a hotel, and my father got Diamond Status for the rest of the year. Win-Win-Win.

And while my father spent an additional $550 for those extra nights, he got enough Hyatt points for those stays to make it worth his while because all Hyatt Gold Passport members receive 5 Hyatt points for every (pre-tax) dollar spent at Hyatt, and Diamonds get an additional 30%. Additionally, by paying for the hotels using his Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, he received 2x on all travel spend. But in March, he received his Chase Hyatt Visa which gave him 3x on all Hyatt spend.

As far as Hyatt knows, my father stayed at all these hotels in the past 60 days. This is what his travels would have looked like if he didn't have friends in key suburban locations willing to participate in the scheme.

Here's the math ($ cost includes taxes; bold for nights given to friends/family):

1. Seoul Incheon Hyatt Regency - $273 cost, 1,769 Hyatt points + 546 credit card (2x) points
2. Riverside, CA Hyatt Place - $122 cost, 708 Hyatt points + 244 credit card (2x) points
3. Ontario, CA Hyatt Place - $104 cost, 604 Hyatt points + 208 credit card (2x) points
4. Schaumberg, IL Hyatt Regency - $108 cost, 562 Hyatt points + 323 credit card (3x) points
5. Schaumberg, IL Hyatt Regency - $108 cost, 562 Hyatt points + 323 credit card (3x) points
6. Mendoza, Argentina Park Hyatt - $219 cost, 1,243 Hyatt points + 638 credit card (3x) points
7. Mendoza, Argentina Park Hyatt - $219 cost, 1,243 Hyatt points + 638 credit card (3x) points
8. Mendoza, Argentina Park Hyatt - $219 cost, 1,243 Hyatt points + 638 credit card (3x) points
9. Mendoza, Argentina Park Hyatt - $219 cost, 1,243 Hyatt points + 638 credit card (3x) points
10. Sorrento, CA Hyatt House - $118 cost, 683 Hyatt Points + 354 credit card (3x) points
11. Sorrento, CA Hyatt House - $118 cost, 683 Hyatt Points + 354 credit card (3x) points
12. Morristown, NJ Hyatt - $100 cost, 567 Hyatt Points + 300 credit card (3x) points

And now, my father has Diamond status for the rest of the year! And in addition to the 11,109 stay points and the 5,205 credit card points, he received a bunch of Hyatt point bonuses:

• Promotion Points:  For staying 12 nights during the Promotion Period (12,000 points)
• Hyatt Visa: During the promotion, he received another 20% (2,400 points)
• Diamond Amenity:  500-1,000 amenity points per stay for Diamonds (5,500 points)
• Retro Bonus: if a hotel forgets to give you the Diamond Amenity, 50% more amenity (250 points)
• Diamond Status Challenge Bonus: first 6 nights, get 1,000 points each night (6,000 points)

Overall, he cleared 40,759 Hyatt points for the 12 nights. Additionally...

• For having Diamond Status, he was also given 4 suite upgrade awards. 
• For getting the Chase Hyatt Visa, he received 2 free nights at any Hyatt in the world (being a Diamond, those free nights come in a suite).

Wondering what we'll do with 40,759 Hyatt points? With just 3,241 more Hyatt points, we're looking at 2 more free nights at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome in May (valued at about $800/night).