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hyatt-diamond-status-hyatt-logoYesterday I wrote about an offer where Hyatt was seemingly matching anyone with any kind of status to Hyatt Diamond status, which is their top-tier status, and Hyatt Diamond status is probably what I would rank as the best hotel status out there

That set off a maelstrom of activity as the entire Internet spent the day DMing and emailing Hyatt Gold Passport, trying to get comped to Hyatt Diamond status.  I sent off my information, but I have not heard back, and honestly, am not really expecting much.  I saw that Mike over at One Mile at a Time did already get confirmation of his Diamond status, but others seemed to report that now people were only getting matched to Hyatt Platinum status.

What I’ll do with my new Hyatt Diamond status

So even though I haven’t heard anything back and aren’t really expecting much, that shouldn’t stop me from dreaming up ways that I can use my Hyatt Diamond status, right? 😀  I tried to think of things realistically, rather than just sharing a list of the top Category 7 hotels.  I need to find either places that I thought my wife and I could get away to, or places we might realistically take the whole family.

Here are a few thoughts I’ve had – feel free to share your ideas in the comments!

1. Amsterdam

As I look to save enough miles to take my family of 8 to Europe, Amsterdam was the one place that seemed like it might be a good fit.  Going to Europe costs us 320,000 AAdvantage miles roundtrip, even on off-peak, and that’s only if we book before the impending American Airlines AAdvantage devaluation.

There is a Category 3 hotel but it is only a Hyatt Place, and it’s by the airport, rather than near the city center.  Still, that was the first Hyatt related thought that came into my mind.

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San Juan, Puerto Rico as viewed from the fort in Old San Juan

2. Puerto Rico

We went to Puerto Rico last winter, and stayed at the Hyatt House San Juan, which is a Category 2 hotel

(SEE ALSO: Hyatt House San Juan: Pretty good for only 8000 points / night!)

(SEE ALSO: San Juan expenses: How much did my “free” trip cost?)

Part of the allure of Puerto Rico is that because it’s part of the US, you only pay the $5.60 TSA tax, instead of the hundreds of dollars (per ticket!) that you’ll pay going to other Caribbean destinations.

3. Hawaii

Just like Puerto Rico, Hawaii is part of the US (duh), so it’s less expensive tax-wise than many of the Caribbean islands.  You do typically have to pay more in miles to visit Hawaii than you would to visit the lower 48

I know Shawn from Miles to Memories got Hyatt Diamond Status with a Diamond challenge and visited Hawaii recently and had a great time at the Hyatt Regency on Maui.

Plus Hawaii is one bare spot on my USA map (currently at 48/50 states; just missing Alaska and Hawaii) – remember, I’m trying to visit all 3,143 counties!

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County progress

4. Paris

Well, we know I’m not going to be “Vendoming“, right??!?! 🙂

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Park Hyatt Vendome

One of the things on my travel bucket list is to see the fireworks in Paris on Bastille Day, so if I had Hyatt Diamond status, this might be the year to try that?  Plus, the Deal Mommy has already let me know that to see the fireworks, it’s not the Vendome that you want – it’s the Hyatt Paris Etoille (a Category 4 hotel – 15,000 points / night)

5. Seattle

I’ve been to Seattle once, in 1985, for a Seattle Mariners game.  Has it changed much since then?!!? 🙂

My family and I went on a cross-country Amtrak trip this summer, which had a retail cost of over $6500.

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We booked the trip for free with points, and although that Amtrak zone map sweet spot is going away with the new Amtrak Guest Rewards 2.0, we still have a few options.  Because our train was so super-delayed, we ended up calling about our Amtrak delay and got $1100 in Amtrak compensation.  One thought I had was taking the Empire Builder train out to Seattle – for 2-4 people it has a cash price of about $1200, which would fit right in with our voucher.

6. California

San Diego? Los Angeles? San Francisco?  When I asked Carolyn where she wanted to go, she suggested California, which sounds good to me!

7. Hyatt Ziva or Hyatt Zilara

Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Ziva are five all-inclusive resorts in various resort places in Mexico and the Caribbean.  Zilara is adults-only while Ziva is family-friendly, so obviously we’d pick one of those depending on who was coming.  If we flew to Mexico, we WOULD need to get passports for everyone

Well, that probably maxes out the realistic possibilities we might be able to go to between now and the end of 2017 – did I miss anything glaring?  And, because being a “Diamond Guest” has been on my mind all-day, I leave you with this hilarious Youtube video

Where are you planning on going?


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