Hyatt Gold Passport, my primary hotel loyalty program, a fabulous one to be a part of. As a hotel chain focussed on customer experience to get heads in the beds, Hyatt has largely not disappointed me, apart from a stray stay here or there. A couple of years back, I had to run their status challenge to be able to get the Diamond status, which got me Gold status till the end of March 2016. I’m now working on requalifying for the year ahead.

Of course, I love the Hyatt hotels very much because I also find their loyalty program valuable. For instance, you get one of the best stays in the Maldives retailing at about US Dollar 1000 per night, only for 25,000 Gold Passport points per night . As Hyatt Diamond, the three perks I value the most are the 4 confirmed suite upgrades per annum, which can be confirmed in advance, along with the free breakfast and the 4 p.m. late checkout guarantee (for the days I am taking a late flight out!).

Now, Hyatt used to offer the trial for Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond, where you could prove status with another hotel chain and Hyatt would invite you to try their Diamond status for 60 days. If you completed 12 nights in those 60 days, you would be able to retain the status for the year ahead and the year after as well. This was pulled last year, and since then there has been no on going way to get status with Hyatt without doing 50 nights/25 stays per annum.

Apparently, in the light of the acquisition of Starwood by Marriott, Hyatt has decided to offer elites an opportunity to become Diamond till the end of February 2017 as long as they could prove status in a competing program. While this broke over Twitter, the process is fairly straight forward and you need to connect with Hyatt Gold Passport over email at goldpassport (at) hyatt (dot) com.

Looking for a new loyalty program? DM us and let’s talk. pic.twitter.com/cgfkZwxBcL

— Hyatt Concierge (@HyattConcierge) November 19, 2015

You need to be able to provide a screenshot of your competing top-tier status, along with proof of at least one stay at your competing hotel chain. In return, if accepted, you get an outright status match to Diamond status. While it is not clear which tiers match which ones, here are some I’d be sure about:

• SPG Platinum
• HHonors Diamond
• Marriott Platinum
• IHG Spire Elite

I’d guess they should also be able to honour the following status, but not sure:

• Marriott Gold
• IHG Platinum
• HHonors Gold

Given that Hyatt is rolling out tonnes of hotels around India (they are present in most major cities, and I am trying to visit each one of them!), they should be a great ammunition in your road warrior portfolio in case you are worried about changes to hotel programs such as Taj Inner Circle.

Do keep me updated in case you choose to apply and the outcome of your status upgrade request with Hyatt.

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