RTW1

Really... you rubbed the magic 8 ball and this is what popped up :-). Care to share how you came to that calculation since that seems the purpose of your post?

So forgive the skepticism, but these somewhat ridiculous calculations always make me laugh and annoy me at the same time.... especially when you don't even take the time to provide even a glimpse of your assumptions. But as you probably already know, the value of having status in a program is largely in the eye of the beholder. But for sure it's dependent on the actual use of a program, and therefore there is no one size fits all answer. But since I'll have half an hour to kill before a meeting I'll play.

First the hard benefits:

• Bonus points, both the 30% and the amenity. Enough posts about valuing these without a decent price even for this. Priceless if you don't have any money and need to stay the night. Money saved for pleasure trips when gotten on paid reservations by others. A lot less value when it entices you to stay where you normally wouldn't or pay more than you should. But overall nice to get and somewhat valuable.
• Lounge access/free breakfast, about a $10-50 value for me per night stayed. But more valuable in a decent location and when staying with others.
• Possible upgrades, depending on the locations and duration of the stay. But I would on average value on something like 5-10% of room rate paid, mostly for the savings when I would normally have paid for a better room but now take the chance on getting for free.
• The 4 suite upgrades, also a bit of value there. But again rather dependent on stay pattern and since availability can be hard to find less valuable then it might seem. But for me something of a $250-500 value a year (rather low because in most places I would have stayed in a regular room if I had to pay). But together with the "best non-suite room upgrades" this is probably the most valuable feature of the program for most.
• Late checkout, some value when needed. But since I rarely do need it valued at about one free night for me I guess a year.
• Guaranteed room availability, can be worth a lot when you need it... but I don't.

Then the rest:

• Better treatment and probably a better response to any "complaints", very nice to have but difficult to value.
• My Elite Rate, not specific to Diamonds but they get it anyway. For me valued at about $20 a night on average this year so far.

Tallying it all up, about a $1500-3000 value for me on an average year with about 30-40 nights, >90% for pleasure.
But if I was really honest I could save more by not staying at Hyatt's at most places. I now regularly go for the more expensive option....

So in reality I look at it as a way to spend a little more for my hotels than I normally would, but get a lot of extras for that money that I otherwise wouldn't get or stay at much nicer places that I normally would.