There was some commotion on Twitter yesterday about an amazing offer one reader forwarded to Loyalty Lobby. Apparently Hyatt or Chase (not clear which) had sent an offer that included LIFETIME Diamond status with Gold Passport. Edit to add: “lifetime” in the sense that it would last as long the person held the card. Those of you who are already Diamond members might know it is very difficult to get lifetime status (the biggest hurdle is 1 million earned points, not including bonuses). Even renewing each year isn’t a piece of cake.
No, the email wasn’t Photoshopped. It was real. But fortunately for those of us who earn our status the hard way, it was also a mistake. Here’s the response from Hyatt’s team:
This was, in fact, a mistake sent yesterday to some Diamond members. The email had a statement that the Hyatt Credit Card includes Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status, which was incorrect. The Hyatt Credit Card includes Platinum status.
All of us here at Hyatt Gold Passport – particularly Jeff – are disappointed that we sent a communication that was not correct, and we are taking the necessary steps to make sure that this does not happen again.
As you know well, we hold our elite membership in high esteem, and we know our Diamond members are proud of their tier achievement. Please accept our sincere apologies. Members who received the email and have questions may call our Diamond Customer Service line at 1-800-544-9288 or email goldpassport@hyatt.com.
Mistakes happen. I think we can be glad that this is not part of an intentional strategy to water down Diamond benefits by handing the status out willy nilly like Hilton has done with their Gold status. I’m not quite sure, though, what Hyatt plans to do next for those who did receive the offer. I imagine there’s a clause somewhere that says the offer can be rescinded at any time, so those who haven’t yet applied are out of luck.
