FFN earning, phantom, mattress stays to maintain diamond?
May 12, 2006, 8:52 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Hyatt Dia, Marriott Lifetime Plat, Delta Gold
Posts: 240
FFN earning, phantom, mattress stays to maintain diamond?
A few years ago, it looked as though my schedule business trips would not add up to 25 and was considering getting the remainder via "extra stays". Fortunately, my trips ended up going way over 25 stays.
I'm interested, how many of these stays have you done to get to/keep diamond? Obviously getting these in during the FFN promotion usually the best deal with some bang for the buck. A friend of mine was doing a business case involving just the FFN period ("20 $69 stays (up to $79 with taxes) would cost $1580 resulting in 10 FFN's used at room with a hyatt.com rate of $250 = $250+tx..."). Doesn't sound horrible if you would normally consider such a vacation anyway.
Doing large numbers of phantom/mattress runs outside of a promotional period would force the value question pretty quickly.
So what is the largest number of extra stays have you done to maintain status?
I'm interested, how many of these stays have you done to get to/keep diamond? Obviously getting these in during the FFN promotion usually the best deal with some bang for the buck. A friend of mine was doing a business case involving just the FFN period ("20 $69 stays (up to $79 with taxes) would cost $1580 resulting in 10 FFN's used at room with a hyatt.com rate of $250 = $250+tx..."). Doesn't sound horrible if you would normally consider such a vacation anyway.
Doing large numbers of phantom/mattress runs outside of a promotional period would force the value question pretty quickly.
So what is the largest number of extra stays have you done to maintain status?
May 12, 2006, 9:34 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador: World of Hyatt
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: NJ
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Fairmont Lifetime Plat, UA Silver, dirt elsewhere
Posts: 46,919
I consider any mattress run stays in the $100 vicinity a good deal for me.
But, everyone's situation is different and is based upon where you use your diamond status. In my case, we consider the money spent as pre-paying our vacation because we would pay for the upgraded rooms anyway, but, as with everything else YMMV.
But, everyone's situation is different and is based upon where you use your diamond status. In my case, we consider the money spent as pre-paying our vacation because we would pay for the upgraded rooms anyway, but, as with everything else YMMV.
May 31, 2006, 6:28 am
#3
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BOS and ...
Programs: UA 2MM, AA 600k, DL 500k, Hyatt GP 1M, HH Gold, Rad. Gold, CP Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club
Posts: 9,950
Never have done the phantom nights, mainly because I didn't think of it when I was gonna be a no-show anyway!!! But extra stays...? Hm... Four, during FFN earning period. My two favorites are/were Hyatt Orlando before they folded the tent, and Hyatt San Jose, which apparently will do so before this year's FFN starts. Each @ <$70 (usually + GP bonuses) coincided nicely with the promotion between T-Day and Christmas (also known in the lodging industry as the "serenity season"). Next on the list, the HR SFO was usually in the $70s, weekends, during the period. And Fisherman's Wharf and Vineyard Creek were in the $70s on weekdays during the serenity season and the holidays -- except this last winter. OK, up to six, one year, but that included staying near a sick relative.
...And where did I use the FFNs? Vendome and Madeleine.
...And where did I use the FFNs? Vendome and Madeleine.
May 31, 2006, 11:53 am
#4
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: New York, NY, USA
Programs: BAGold; AA3MMPlat; UA1MMGold; FBGold; MarriottAmb; AccorPlat; HHGold; ICPlatAmb; HyattDiscoverist
Posts: 4,378
Originally Posted by Firewind
relative.
...And where did I use the FFNs? Vendome and Madeleine.
...And where did I use the FFNs? Vendome and Madeleine.
May 31, 2006, 5:14 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BOS and ...
Programs: UA 2MM, AA 600k, DL 500k, Hyatt GP 1M, HH Gold, Rad. Gold, CP Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club
Posts: 9,950
Whoops. Caught out. Right you are. That trip, Vendome was all FFNs, and Madeleine was points-for-nights. Caught up in my story, I didn't intend prosaic license. I forgot.