Hi all-

When we first got the Centurion card, it came with both Starwood Platinum elite and Hyatt Diamond elite statuses. Hyatt Diamond left after our first year and Starwood left about two years later. Clearly on this board, the loss of Hyatt was barely noticed and people are still upset about the loss of Starwood Platinum.

I could understand Starwood's reticence to extend the status. Like many of you, I use the Centurion card for status and the Starwood AMEX to accrue the points that we use for Business and First class airfare and for hotel rooms and have had many wonderful vacations for, basically, nothing. And then we would get pissed if we weren't upgraded to a suite. They probably felt, "good riddance."

In the last two years, I have also been Hyatt Diamond, first by a status match and then by a special program. I will lose the status at the end of the year. But there are major differences between the two programs. First of all, with Hyatt, Diamond elites get four guaranteed suite upgrades each year. So you can use a regular room for your business trips when you're alone while knowing you will be in a suite when you vacation with your significant other - and again, it's guaranteed at booking.

Second - Diamond elites get free breakfasts. This can be a major advantage. We have stayed at the Park Hyatts in Washington DC and last summer, in Paris. The suites were magnificent. In Paris, breakfast ridiculously went for 48 Euros per person! That's over $140 for the two of us. We would have breakfast at 9:30 or 10:00 AM, go sightseeing and have an early breakfast. We were treated impeccably.

It is hard for me to understand, therefore, why Hyatt would not want people who spend significant amounts of money on travel. Anyone staying at their hotels and gaining their benefits is a cash customer - none of us are staying there on points unless they have been earned like any other Hyatt customer. So I wrote a letter today to Gold Passport Customer service explaining my feelings and asking them to reconsider - I wrote the same basic letter to Centurion.

I'm posting this in the hope that others will do the same. Again, it seems like a totally win-win situation and I'm hoping we can nudge them into feeling the same. I hope that many of you will be inspired to contact both parties like I did.

Many thanks.

good luck.. its like beating a dead horse..

Maybe.

But again, it seems a total win-win situation that might be worth a few minutes to send two emails.

Actually, both Centurion and Hyatt would probably much prefer the customer who doesn't mind paying $140 for breakfast.

If the Paris Park Hyatt wanted to attract more customers by giving a EUR48 breakfast for free to customers paying cash for the room, all they need to do is to publish a "breakfast included" rate that doesn't apply to people with corporate discounts or point stays. That would be far easier and produce far greater results than reinstating the Diamond benefit to Centurion cardholders.

Wouldn't that just be the FHR / Virtuoso Rate?
You don't need to be a Hyatt Diamond to get free breakfast... confirmed suite upgrades maybe, but thats what a mattress run is for.

.....

Well that clearly has a LOT to do with my original post!

Sad to say, I'm disappointed with the response to my posting. I still maintain this is a win-win situation and that a lot of feedback to Hyatt and AMEX could make a difference since, as I said, all stays booked would include a paid reservation.

As I said, I hoped for some help here. Too bad.

All the elite benefits cost money. Amex may negotiate very favorable "bulk" terms for them, but they aren't free. That's ostensibly why SPG Platinum was removed - as a cost-saving measure.

To bring back Hyatt Diamond (or another elite membership) would mean Amex weighs the costs of such an offering against the annual fees you pay.

Now, if you got together a petition that said "either give us back Hyatt/SPG or we will downgrade to platinum" then with enough signatures you might be on to something...

:-)

Bringing back Hyatt Diamond would be the one thing that would keep me from leaving, or put another way, the one step that would actually deliver real value back to the Centurion card program. Maybe in this recession, both companies will come to their senses???

Well as long as they would include one top status of the main hotel programs such as Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum or Hyatt Diamond i wouldnt care because Priority Club Platinum really sucks.....

IC Royal Ambassador would be good :-)

Not sure IHG would want to do it though!

+1

The Centurion/Hyatt relationship wasn't paying off for either party. It did however hook me on the Hyatt brand and I've continued earning Hyatt Diamond ever since (8 years).

In a couple of years where I was a little short, Hyatt was kind enough to let me slide and keep the status. If you call and ask, they will look at your spend for the year and make the determination based on that. A diamond traveller who one year stays 35 nights at $350/night is worth them keeping happy vs. someone who has 50 nights at a Hyatt Place for $89/night.

I've actually avoided Starwood ever since Platinum went away.

Dan

That's the part I don't understand. As a chain with no branded credit cards, Hyatt did not have to give away suites to people who never paid for their rooms, like Starwood does. Just hard for me to understand what you mean when you say it wasn't working out for them.

Now obviously you must be right since the program ended but can you explain what you mean and how you know this? Thanks.