After buying Ambassador status I realized you don't get a room upgrade if you book with points. Another blogger commented on how Hyatt's DSU aren't really free, because you have to spend money to get them (P&C or just cash). So I realized that some elite statuses are more worthwhile if you continue to spend money, and some are more worthwhile if you just want to redeem your points you have accumulated.

But isn't status about trying to get something for nothing? For free, that is? If you wanted to spend money, you can always just book the suite, or fly first-class and not worry about seeing who gets what priority in line. Or you can do a private jet and not worry about other passengers at all!

In that sense, SPG is better than Hyatt because you can potentially get a suite for free (using points and using a SNA). Some may say Hyatt is guaranteed, but it is still subject to availability at the time you book it. I'm pretty certain cash is king, and that is the ultimate guarantee.

There is no free lunch in life.

no, status is about having a gold-colored luggage tag to hang on your Targus backpack

You mean Rimova/Tumi?

I was thinking about that after Lufthansa started imposing baggage charges with no exceptions for status, even for HON members, on economy tickets in Europe. I think the trend will continue that financial benefits of status will continue to be eliminated, while non-financial benefits (priority check-in/boarding) will remain. I suspect that lounge access will be the next target as that is a cost to the airline, but hopefully I'm wrong.

Well, if you are important, I'm pretty sure there are lots of free lunches in certain countries of the world.

I don't get the Hyatt DSU criticism: can't you apply it to the normal rates you'd otherwise book? Or do they have an airline-like structure where you must buy-up to an artificially high rate in order to be DSU-eligible.

Most Hyatt people on FT seem to value their DSU's pretty highly.

Most of my top-tier hotel years have been HH and Marriott where true suite upgrades have become quite rare.

In most cases, the biggest benefit I get out of hotel/airline elite statuses is access to basic, adequate customer service. Genuinely *good* customer service is of course reserved for the very, very top tier - UA Global Services and the like - which is way beyond my current rate of travel. But a low/mid-tier means you generally aren't treated horribly. (Stress generally...)

It is applicable to any rate you use, just not with points (you can do points and cash). The point is that you have to have a cash component.

For Intercontinental Ambassador the room upgrade is guaranteed only if you booked with cash. For points bookings you don't get any room upgrade.

Well, being able to do award+upgrade is actually a less-common feature in airline/hotel programs around the world. Starwood is great for this, although the inverse is usually what I want: the ability to book a cheap rate and then confirm a suite with points. (I'm not an SNA-level Plat anymore.)

That's a little frustrating in that it feels like they're withholding a core elite benefit from an award stay. Especially in that program where you pay for it upfront. In my thousand-plus MR/HH nights, I've enjoyed the fact that award stays aren't treated differently than paid stays as far as elite benefits go. It's just that elite benefits at those places don't include suites at all. (A few rare Marriott properties do have true-suite upgrade awards. Don't see them that often though...) The basic level of "room upgrading" (nicer rooms, higher floors, exec level, good views, etc.) isn't impacted by how the stay is paid for.

In any case, I think there are still a lot of great points about Hyatt Diamond even if award+upgrade isn't a (confirmable) part of the program.

status is getting something for something
if you earned status rather than paying for it, the earning (nights etc) = something

careful looking at SPG considering merger with marriott

It's a rebate from the customer's perspective, but from the airline/hotel perspective, it exists only to drive your *future* purchasing decisions.

I've always regarded my almost complete uninterest in status as perhaps the greatest gift God bestowed on me at birth.

I love expensive stuff, and in fact my tastes are much more expensive than they ought to be. But "status" doesn't enter into it; lucky me.

DSUS work with any stay eligible rate, i.e. points and cash, AAA, corporate, BRG, etc. You book the cheapest room you can and then upgrade. Great benefit to confirm room in advance. The last 2 times that I have used, the hotel sold out of suites weeks before my stay (or other Diamonds got them too.) It's just one less thing to worry about if you want that extra special and/or larger room.

To OP, I like the benefits of free breakfast and/or lounge access and the upgrades. I only have hotel status to compare to.

I used exactly 0 of my DSUs, from a combination of staying mostly on points or at hotels without DSU availability. But then again, I'm a low-yield traveler and only had the Diamond from cash and points stays during a challenge.

Best post ever hahaha