As of now, my timeline is as follows:

• Nov 14 early morning: Applied for the card, approved via recon line.
• Nov 14 evening: Hyatt retracts the offer.
• Nov 16: New account is visible on my Chase account page.
• Nov 17: Sent mail to Gold Passport asking for clarification on Diamond status.
• Nov 19: Received reply from Gold Passport representative saying that they will "review this with Hyatt Gold Passport management and get back in touch with you as soon as possible"
• Nov 20: Received automated mail from Chase stating "Your New Hyatt Credit Card Is On Its Way"

I have not yet received a followup reply from Hyatt. Do they have the right to obligate me to a credit card arrangement that is different from the terms that I agreed to?

You've omitted whether or not you received the offer. Selective memory or a slip?

No bets placed here. I've considered the GP program for 8 years before jumping in. I live in Calgary, and there isn't that many Hyatts locally to travel to (actually none at all, except Downtown Calgary, and I don't do mattress runs for status in a hotel where I live).. Lots of Fairmonts though close by.

We don't spend more just because of the Lifetime Carrot. But I've been with Fairmont for 10 years, and spent upwards of $300K on the program. I feel as I'm not a valued elite member because of the lack of lifetime recognition.

So I've decided to qualify Platinum with Fairmont President's Club through Amex Platinum Plat5 each year (5 nights instead of the 30 nights), and not devote business solely to the FPC program. Hyatt is generally half the price of Fairmont and offers incredible value and benefits. Since we travel 2 1/2 months a year for the purpose of leisure anyways, we've chosen Hyatt as a cornerstone for our travels for the benefits and recognition it offers. Plus we appreciate that Hyatt honors its long term customers with recognition.

In the end, I don't care as long as we enjoy our stays at Hyatt. I'm actually quite excited about the possibilities going forward for our travels. The Lifetime Diamond.. if I last that long.. would be great recognition, if the value of the program is preserved. Its a nice end game.

We'll move on if the program removes the key benefits that motivate us. I'm ready to go where the market takes us. The market has us here at Hyatt currently.

I received a voice mail from Hyatt Gold Passport customer service this morning. They told me that they will be honoring the offer for Diamonds who signed up for the card before the correction email was sent out. As long as you keep your Hyatt credit card you will maintain your Diamond status!

were you part of the original target email?

Yes I received the original target email and the correction email. I applied for the card before the correction email was sent out.

Sounds like the criteria are:
You are a Diamond
You received the targeted offer
You applied prior to the retraction email

I can live with that. Not happy because I already had a Hyatt Visa so I wouldn't have been targeted, but I won't be happy if those who weren't targeted Diamonds also get the offer honored.

It may help you feel better. The thing is, many companies don't do a very good job when it comes to traceability. This kind of targeting a lot of times is computer generated and they may not have a good handle of to whom the emails went out. A better bet is the application links themselves may have something embedded in them that can be used to tell how many people applied using the same link.

This information should be readily available in the logfiles of the servers that sent the emails.

There's also the case of people that received the mail, didn't realize what was being offered, then saw it spelled out on Loyalty Lobby and applied from that link.

The user's name and account information is indeed embedded in the URL in clear text that can easily be changed. But I thought it best to use the link from a respectable travel blog as is instead of hacking the URL and possibly being accused of getting the offer in a fraudulent manner. Especially since the offer itself was not limited to any group of people according to the terms.

I am already a Diamond, so I can afford to be patient while Hyatt figures out what they want to do next.

The travel blog author received the targeted email, was a Diamond and signed up before the error email was sent out. Fits the profile of KCHockeyFan.

Data point:

My status is only Gold. I applied through a link posted on a blog mentioned earlier in this thread as I did not get an email. Was approved before Hyatt admitted the offer of Diamond was an error. Yesterday I emailed GP for clarification on what level of membership I would be getting since the link I used stated I would be getting Diamond as long as I had the card. Heard back today saying I would only be granted Platinum level. Just logged into my Hyatt account and I indeed am Platinum.

This is what I expected and even though I was hoping for Diamond I understand why I am not. This makes sense and even though I probably wouldn't have applied for the Hyatt Credit Card if this offer wasn't out there, I figured it was worth a chance since I would have applied for this card in a few months during my next set of apps anyway.

Good luck.

I think that is fair.

Interesting, so it seems that they are sticking to the fact that you must be targeted and you must be diamond. fair enough.

Hi All,

I am Diamond but was not targetted. I applied through a link sent by a friend. The e-mail did not have any special codes or any indication that it was not open to all.

I applied and e-mailed Hyatt to ask when the new Diamond card would be sent out.

Finger crossed that they honour this. I have not been targeted for a promotion in the 4 years I have been diamond.

Cheers,

Timo