Diamond Status Challenge Fail And Why I Won't Stay at Hyatt Properties Any More

So, I'm relatively new to the travel / points / status game. I'd heard of hotels matching elite status via various challenges so I thought I'd take a shot at one with Hyatt. I should have done my homework first because my journey was fraught with a series of unfortunate events. If one person can learn from my mistakes, the time writing this post will have been well spent.

Back Story: Hyatt will match your elite status with another hotel chain if you ask nicely. You can keep that status for an extra year if you stay at their properties x amount of times in x months. Since I was a Marriott Gold Member and had at least one Hyatt stay coming up, I thought I'd give it a shot. I heard that you get this opportunity once per lifetime but since I have a lot of international travel on my plate in 2012 it seemed like perfect timing.

The Initial Call: I called Hyatt for details on this program and was told they would upgrade my status to Diamond and that in order to maintain that status until February 2013 I needed to stay 6 nights in the next 60 days. Easy Peasy. Then he told me that it took 2-3 business days to process that request. Here is my first mistake: I was scheduled to travel the next day! After much pleading, several phone calls, faxes, and emails I was able to get Hyatt to expedite my request.

Off to San Francisco I went. When I checked in to the Grand Hyatt it was confirmed that I was a Diamond member. Did I get upgraded? Nope. Did I get free breakfast? Nope. Actually they didn't mention anything about any diamond benefits and as new member I was unaware of what I was entitled to. I don't even know if they have a Club Lounge there. Mistake #2.

I stayed my three nights in my standard room, and my account was updated pretty quickly after checkout. I got a lot of bonus points too so I was pleased with that. Three nights down, three to go!

A Few weeks later I was scheduled to attend a trade show at the Orlando Marriott World Center. My plan was to go a couple of days early and play at Universal Studios with my daughter, so I figured I'd stay at a Hyatt then transfer hotels on Sunday. Note a couple of days is two, not three, which would leave me one night short of my challenge. I went ahead and reserved three nights at the Hyatt Place Universal and paid both hotels for that overlap. At $100 a night, one extra night's stay seemed like a good investment for the Diamond status perks Hyatt supposedly has.

We checked into the Hyatt, unpacked, and headed to bed so we would be rested the next day. When we turned the sheets down guess what we found. Socks. Dirty socks. In our bed. Can you say gross?! We called the front desk and asked that they come change the linens. In both beds. We figured if housekeeping didn't change one set of sheets between guests they probably didn't change any of them. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. The employee standing there wasn't holding sheets though. She wanted to see the sock. Seriously. So we showed her the sock and she left.

A few minutes later our phone rang. Apparently housekeeping was gone for the night and they asked if we'd like to change rooms. Since we'd already unpacked and had spent the last 9 hours traveling, we told her no, and repeated that we would like for them to come change the sheets. Silence. Finally when I said nothing more she agreed to come change the sheets. Two employees came with sheets in hand and we were finally able to go to sleep. There's an hour I'll never get back.

I know you probably think I'm just venting but there is a reason I'm including these details and not just reviewing on Tripadvisor.

The next morning we went to breakfast. (Since I'm venting, it was awful. The sausage gravy was cold and the fruit was over-ripe). On our way to toss our plates (yes, paper plates) the manager greeted me, apologized for the night before, and said last night was on him. Very nice gesture and it did make me feel better so I thanked him and went on with my day. The rest of our stay was uneventful. I left the next day but kept the room for another two. Diamond Status until Feb 2013 achieved!

Mistake #4.

A few days after we returned I logged into my Gold Passport account to check my status and was dismayed to see that Hyatt only credited me 2 out of 3 nights for my Orlando stay. Back on the phone with Hyatt. They told me that since the hotel manager comped one of my nights it doesn't count towards a qualified stay. I thought that was total BS and after jumping through a few hoops the points department to give me full credit for my stay.

Ok, catastrophe avoided.

Or so I thought. About a month later I received an email from Hyatt that said, stay only 6 more nights to maintain your Diamond status. WHAT??!! I stayed my six nights, I should be done. So I called Hyatt. Again. Apparently you need 12, not 6 nights, to maintain Diamond status. Now I'm getting angry. That is not what they told me in the beginning, and had I known I wouldn't have bothered with this challenge to begin with. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it. I got bad information but there was no way to prove it. I didn't read the fine print; I took someone's word for it instead. Mistake #5!

By now several weeks had passed. I had traveled elsewhere. I could have stayed at Hyatt properties and hit my goal, but didn't think I needed to so I used my SPG points instead. (Mistake # 5½) Time is running out to complete my challenge now so do I hang it up, or do I keep going and try to reach 12?

I'm competitive. I want those suite upgrades. I want my free breakfast, and I want the snob factor that comes along with saying I'm Diamond Elite. And I'm half way there!

So I looked at my calendar. I only have five possible days to stay six nights. What's a girl to do?!

I had a Delta Companion Pass expiring soon, and I love New York. So I booked three nights at the Hyatt 48 Lex. But that wasn't enough. So I also booked three nights at the Washington DC Hyatt for my brother, who I call my husband for the purposes of traveling since we share the same name. I was able to use a suite upgrade for both stays, which I thought was great even though the DC suite was pretty meh. $1200 for New York, $600 for DC, $600 for airfare, and now Broadway shows, shopping at Barneys, and fine dining are also coming into the equation. Now I'm all in. $4000+ for this stupid Diamond Elite status (with the added bonus of a great mini vacation).

So the weekend is over. My wallet considerably lighter but I did it. I - am - Diamond - Elite until February 2013.

Right?

WRONG!

Mistake #6. You can only earn one "qualified night" per calendar day. The overlapping nights in DC and NY do not count. The points rep that I spoke with this time at Hyatt said "you can't be in two places at once." It doesn't matter that I paid for them or that my name and account number was on the reservation. (Which makes me sad because when my business pays for our Hyatt rooms they get the points, not us!) So I asked to speak with a Gold Passport Manager who might be able to work some magic. She put me on hold. Checked on me a few minutes later and put me on hold again. Finally she came back and said they were all busy but she would pass on my information and someone would get back to me. I said great, gave her my email, phone numbers etc. and never heard from the Hyatt again.

So here I sit, passed my deadline and I only have 10 nights credited. Elite Challenge Fail. I only take solice in knowing I will never spend another penny with Hyatt for the rest of my life.

The takeaway for anyone reading this post is make sure you know the rules before you play the game.

Energy Drinks and Their Negative Effects on Teenagers

I sent this letter to my daughter's church after discovering that she was buying energy drinks at her Friday night youth group. While I fully expect that the fear of lost profits will outweigh the importance of our children's health (this is America after all), I wanted to post this publicly for other concerned parents to use in their own endeavors.

Energy Drinks and Their Negative Effects on Teenagers

Health researchers and nutritionists are warning parents, educators, and teens about the surprising dangers of energy drinks. The wide range of drinks, which include such popular brands as Amp, Full Throttle, Monster, and Red Bull, have been steadily gaining popularity over the past ten years. In fact, some studies show that nearly one-third of all teenagers regularly use energy drinks.

Unfortunately, in addition to several critical health risks, these drinks may also cause behavioral changes in the teens that drink them. This has forced some parents to lobby for their removal from schools, recreation centers, and churches. The problems related to these drinks are growing and we can expect to see them worsen as manufacturers continue to market directly to our kids.

According to Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, senior author of "Health Effects of Energy Drinks on Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults" published in Pediatrics, not only do energy drinks provide no nutritional value, many of the primary ingredients utilized in the drinks are unstudied. Unlike colas and soda brands which are considered a "food" by the FDA (Federal Drug Administration), energy drinks are considered a dietary aid. As such, they are not subjected to regulatory actions by the government and are not required to provide packaging information, such as the amount of caffeine or included supplements.

So what are the health concerns associated with energy drinks?

Beating Hearts, Racing Minds

While there are some underlying nutritional issues with energy drinks, the health risks for teens that consume them are much more concerning. Kids who abuse these drinks by imbibing several each day are prone to abnormal heart rhythms, nausea, jitters, and other more severe health problems.

Children like the caffeine buzz and few, if any, recognize the potential health hazards. In several schools across the country, administrators have banned the drinks after students were hospitalized following consumption. However, most schools and other places teens are likely to visit still offer these drinks for sale or in vending machines, leaving many students at risk.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), excessive ingestion of caffeine causes more than an energy rush. Research shows that caffeine can increase the effects of fibrocystic breast disease, blood vessel disease and heart disease. It can increase the rate of birth defects, impact reproductive health, and negatively impact behavior.

Caffeine Rage

While many parents and educators understand the signs and symptoms of alcohol or drug abuse, most are not even aware that regularly ingesting energy drinks can actually cause behavioral changes. A study in The Journal of American College Health, authored by Kathleen E. Miller, PhD, a leading researcher in the field of energy drinks, has drawn a direct correlation between high caffeine drinks and risky behaviors such as violence, unprotected sex, and drug or alcohol abuse.

Making The Change

Taking a step back, it becomes apparent that energy drinks are harmful to teenagers. Like any drug -- and caffeine is a drug -- the answer often lies in removing the temptation. Energy drinks, designed by marketers to attract teenagers, simply have no place in schools, recreation centers, or churches. In addition to the bright colors and other marketing tactics used, many teenagers assume the drinks must be safe simply because they can purchase them from trusted resources like schools and churches.

Too much caffeine is never a good thing and, for teenagers who have easy access to energy drinks, the risks are even greater. Removing energy drinks from our schools and churches is an effective way to protect our children from the potential health hazards and the phenomenon of caffeine rage.

Vending machines have their purpose. In our churches that purpose should not be selling high caffeine energy drinks to our children. Instead of waiting until more kids are harmed, please make a change now. I respectfully ask that you to remove these drinks from the places teenagers are likely to congregate within your congregation.

Energy drinks, should teens worry? (Video)

My Wordle

Wordle.net

I love my kid

So last night I was helping Casey with a project (she had to turn a report into a web page), and while I was hard at working coding, she emailed me this poem:

If I could catch a rainbow
I would do it just for you
and share with you its beauty
On the days your feeling blue.

If I could build a mountian
You could call your very own;
A place to find serenity,
A place to be alone.

If I could take your troubles
I would toss them in the sea,
But all these things I'm finding are impossible for me.

I cannot build a mountian
Or catch a rainbow fair,
But let me be what I know best,
a kid who's always there.

My heart totally melted. I love my kid.

The Couch-to-5K Running Plan

I recall my friend DocJelly mentioning something about a couch to 5k program he was working on ... I'm guessing this is where he got the idea!

Cool Running :: The Couch-to-5K Running Plan

This sounds like a good idea. I'm getting bored with the Precor anyway. I'm going to start this. Today.

Who's with me?

My Aloha Umbrella

There were some helluva storms in Honolulu earlier this month. I found myself out and about in one of them, with a full cart of groceries. Not wanting to melt, I asked the cashier where their non-Barbie umbrellas were and he told me they had sold out. I was weighing my options when the woman in the next line gave me hers. "Take it," she said, "I have plenty."

I was speechless.

So I hugged her.

And then left, with my new aloha umbrella in hand.

You may not find this particularly touching, but it's not often that I stumble across a genuine act of kindness - especially directed toward me! I find myself reflecting upon this often when I help a friend, or a stranger, and think about giving in an entirely new light.

So Mahalo, my umbrella-giving friend, whoever you are.

No mid-life crisis is complete without a tattoo ...

This past year has been one for the recordbooks. I went from being 38 and content to never leave my house, to 39 and a little effin crazy. What better way to top off my bout of insanity than a tattoo!?


This photo was made just seconds after Doug @ Hawaiian Tattoo Company finished torturing me. Does it look painful? Because it freaking was! I don't think I'll be rushing out any time soon to do another (although I am kicking around re-piercing my belly button when I go back).

I've finally been inked, in true farewell to youth style.

My Waikiki Apartment

It sounds funny saying that ... I haven't been an apartment dweller in well over a decade. But 10 years of maintaining a house, houseS if you include the rental property, has me very appreciative of the simple living an apartment provides.

Plus the apartment is in Waikiki - so there's that extra added bonus.

For those of you familiar with the area, I'm off of Kuhio, very close to Lewers St and the Wyland Hotel. For those of you not familiar, I'm in freaking Hawaii, in the heart of all the hustle and bustle of Waikiki.

Wanna see wanna see? I made a little video tour, with some very lame narrations. Just mute your machine and check it out:

I know it's a bit excessive, but I wanted a place to call my own on-island so I can leave my stuff and just bring my fabulous self when I travel back and forth. Since I don't pay mortgages any more (yay me!) I thought that paying rent somewhere wouldn't be the end of the world. Hopefully it will get me back here sooner rather than later too :)

This visit has been considerably kinder and gentler to my body. No crazy parties or hanging out with young boys (well, not a LOT of hanging with young boys) ... mostly I've been getting settled in, revisiting friends, and diving. Oh yeah, DIVING!

I've been working on my Advanced Open Water Scuba Certification since I got here. As of right now I'm about 4/6 of the way there - I need to log two more adventure dives to get my new card. So far we've completed: Night Dive, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Navigation, and Drift Diving. We were supposed to do the deep dive and something else (hopefully scooter!) today, but that charter got canceled. There's a hellofastorm on the island right now - I hope it passes soon!

So that's about all the news I've got. I go back to NM on Monday and need to get back to work and holiday stuff.

Mele Kalikimaka!

Welcome Home, Your Cat Is Dead

After 19 days in Oahu, and five in Las Vegas (which appropriately ended with a jerk cabbie berating me for tipping him $3 on $27 to the airport - I hate Vegas), I finally got home from my mid-life crisis rendezvous yesterday. My dogs were happy to see me for 5 seconds, my kid mustered the energy to give me a hug for another 5, and within the hour I was doing laundry, working around the house, and twittering until way past when I should have been twittering. Life as usual kicking in way to early for my liking.

This morning I slept till noon (much needed), and headed to my neighbors when we discovered a pile of hair, most definitely my cat's, in my front yard. A big pile. I'm not very hopeful at this point and can only assume that I won't be seeing my beautiful, wonderful, Mozart ever again.

So welcome back to the place you can't wait to leave. Your cat is likely dead. We hope you enjoy your stay.

Ooooooooooaaaaaaaahuuuuuuuuuu

So, through Twitter I met @Roxannedarling and @Shane - I'm not sure how. They are very active in social networking and run some very popular podcasts. Turns out they used to live in Santa Fe but now reside on the island of Oahu. I love Hawaii. No, I LOVE HAWAII. Only been there a couple of times, but to me, it's paradise. I always said if there was a work event on any of the islands that I'd go.

Well, not long ago Rox and Shane announced Podcamp Hawaii 2008 - I thought about going, but for whatever reason, let it slip away. Till yesterday. I woke up thinking, I should be in Hawaii this week. It didn't take me long to stumble over to Orbitz.com where I amazingly found cheap last minute airfare! Within the hour I had booked my flight to Honolulu, registered for PodcampHI, and reserved my hotel room at the Waikiki Prince Hotel for tomorrow. Yes, TOMORROW.

Since then I've been wrapping up loose ends, shopping, getting a spray tan (I didn't sit down afterwards this time), and now I'm putting off packing by blogging. I'm going to give Travelpod another shot, so if you want to follow me around Waikiki Beach, hop on over to my Oahu Blog (oh, and you can follow my antics 140 characters at a time on twitter too).

I'm so excited to go to Hawaii again. It's been about a year and a half since my last visit. Rox mentioned many condos for sale, so I may have to do a little real estate shopping while I"m there. We'll see. But for now I should pack and try to get some sleep before the 6am alarm. Sweet dreams are waiting I'm sure.

Aloha!

Shannon's Travel Blogs

Ok, I broke down and made a Travelpod blog and will be posting my antics there.

Check it out here

And let me know what you think :)

On the way to Italy!

Woo Hoo! I'm am on my way to Italy!

Despite the cab being slightly late, I'm here at the gate with a good 45 minutes to spare for the first leg of my journey. From here I go to Cincinnati, then Paris, then Florence, Italy where I get to kick around and do whatever I want for the day. I'll meet up with the travel group on the 12th in a little town called Monticitini Terme, which will be my home base for the rest of the week.

I'm thinking I may start a travel blog on Travelpod since I'm hoping more adventure lays in my immediate future :)

Anyway, I'm off! I hope to be able to log in while I'm there, otherwise, I'll see you in a week.

Ciao!

Sunny SoCal

2008 is going to go down as my most traveled year so far I do believe.

It's been just two weeks since I got back from Silicone Valley & the biggest geek expo of my life, and here I am unpacking from a three day visit with Josh in Los Angeles. (You don't know Josh ... he was a friend and one of the brothers from way back when, turning into a better friend now.)

But I digress.

Southern California was much more fun than I remembered from my last visit in ... probably 1993. We drove up and down the coast (in a bad ass car), went to some lovely restaurants, watched ET (the movie) on the beach, met some very nice people, had a couple of great business meetings, and generally hung out. And don't you know I didn't take one - single - picture?

Oh well, now I have a great excuse to solicit another invite - photo ops!

Labor Day Family Camp

Camp Shaver has family camp twice a year, Memorial Day & Labor Day. We had so much fun in the spring that we had to come back and check it out again!

As we expected, we had a great time. Well, mostly a great time. Our only full day at camp rained and rained and rained and, you guessed it, rained. I have never seen such a steady stream of rain in NM in all my life. But we made the best of it. We were still able to do archery during a brief dry spell and rifelry (thanks to the shelter), but we spent the best part of our day in the East Lodge.

The East Lodge is a rec room with ping pong, air hockey, foosball, and just all kinds of fun stuff. Casey and I played ping pong for a while, until kids her age started rolling in. That's when I turned into chopped liver (which frankly I didn't mind ... that gave me an opportunity to play on my Blackberry for a while). Our "camp fire" that night was moved into the Mess Hall where we all performed our skits (Casey and I sang in front of the whole camp!) and played a game of ... I don't even know what it was, but it was fun!

Monday, fortunately, was gorgeous, and we got to do almost everything that we weren't able to do the day before: high ropes, rock wall, a hike through the Jemez Mountains (to a beautiful waterfall), and a game of Rocks, which is reminiscent of capture the flag.

All in all it was a great weekend! Casey made a couple of nice new friends, I got to do a little backyard traveling, and mother daughter bonding is always good.

I posted my fave pics on Flickr, so click here to check them out!

See, I was at SESSJ!

SES San Jose Photo, originally uploaded by storyspinn.

I stumbled across this photo in Li Evan's photo stream ... Pic was taken at Gordon Biersch with all the SEO big wigs. We were invited because Li rocks like that :)

Thanks!

Jealousy

100_1827, originally uploaded by andi_thats_me.

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I am rather obsessed with Jason Castro. So when I heard that American Idol was touring 100 miles away from my dad's house in Ohio, of course I bought tickets.

Our seats were, meh ... on the floor, but about 50 rows back. I couldn't see the whites of any of the performer's eyes, which is my litmus test of a "good concert"

But I did manage to score two backstage passes. And what did I do with them? Gave them to my dd and niece.

Did I try to hitch-hike in with them? No.

Did I try to buy a third pass? No.

I sat in the bleachers like a good mom, waiting for them to come back and regale me with stories of how cute and cool everyone was.

To further rub salt in the wound, they had this picture taken. Just for me.

I am thoroughly jealous and slightly depressed today, but am thrilled that I was able to have a hand in this experience for them.

You can check out the rest of their pics in our American Idol 08 Flickr set if you want to live vicariously through them too.

Lost: My Waverunner?

I woke up this morning to find out that 45mph winds and 5 foot waves took out the break wall at the marina, and subsequently, the marina was hit. Several boats floated away and some sank even. It occurs to me that I didn't tie up the Waverunner when I was there last (I thought I was going to go back out on the water Sunday but was vetod).

No one has called to tell me my pwc is gone yet, so I guess that's good news. I'm not too hopeful, though. This Video shows some pretty good damage :(

Dan & Fam

2008 was the year that my little brother and his family visited NM. Since it will probably be another ten years before they come back, I figured I should post a few pictures for posterity.

I think the thing we did most while they were here was eat. Green chili cheeseburgers, green chili breakfast burritos, Garduno's, grillables... from the time they got off the plane, and for the next six days, I blew my diet so far out of the water it's not even funny - and I didn't even go out with them every time!

Thursday, their first full day in town, we got up very slowly and headed to Old Town, where we walked around for about 10 minutes, did a little shopping, got all gussied up for our Old Time Photo, and ate mom's favorite cheeseburgers in the Plaza. Pretty mellow day, and I even got Teri to pose in this sombrero while we were out an about.

A couple hours later we were home, where half us got ready for dinner at the Rancher's Club, and the other half (my half) continued to digest lunch.

Friday we were off to Elephant Butte Lake.

I know, most people don't think to go boating in the New Mexican desert, but if you can stand the 100 degree shade-free weather, you can do it!

Most of the day was spent driving, settling in, and you guessed it, eating. More Mexican food at the top of the hill in TorC. It wasn't very good, nor was it particularly spicy. But it was filling and we all slept like rocks afterwards.

Saturday was to be our day-O-fun.

We got up, again slowly, and eventually found our way to water. Danny took to the wave-runner (until his wittle ahms stahted huwrting) and the gals stayed in the boat. We found a little cove, went swimming to beat the heat, and goofed around.

Next thing we new Danny's friend from Texas got to town so we got to hang out with them for the day and evening. Brit and his family were wonderful guests, and even played guitar and sang by the campfire (after we grilled out and ate dinner of course).

Come Sunday we had all had our fill of the lake so we headed back to Albuquerque, showered, and while Paige and I got make-overs at the mall, everyone else rested.

But then (drum roll please) ...

We went to Garduno's for dinner.

I was actually hungry this time, and drank probably the best margarita I've ever had (their Premium Marg - Yum!)

The next day we just hung out, played cards, played with Shaggy, packed, and ate left-overs.

Tuesday Danny & Teri headed home to enjoy their last day of vacation together, and left Paige to hang out with us for a couple of weeks.

Poor kid has no idea what she's gotten herself into.

Hasta la vista, Brother (and Sista)! If you miss us too much, you can always relive your visit via Youtube ...

And Justice Is Served

I don't know if you read my post about the blogger who took the money and ran, but I *finally* got a response from American Express:

We are pleased to inform you that a credit in the amount of $2500 has been posted to your account which can be seen on an upcoming statement.

So thank God that the cost of tuition for this lesson was only a few books on prenatal development.

Drinks are on me!

You should see the other guy ...

Today started out like any other crappy Monday. I woke to 2500 emails, and before my first cup of coffee had so much as a dent in it, my gtalk was blinking and beeping like there was no tomorrow.

Then I had the pleasure of dragging my daughter out of bed so she could make tennis lessons at 10. I got her there, miraculously on time, and afterwards headed to Target to buy furnishings for the rental home hall bath. $200 later I realized I had lost my shopping list, which was written on the backside of a business proposal. Yes, I know, not my smartest move. So I set out, with two tweens in tow, and retraced our steps to find my missing paperwork. After I walked the entire store, I found myself back at customer service without not only my list, but also two tweens.

Five minutes after the announcement for Casey and Mercedes to please meet their party at the front of the store, we were headed to Lowes to buy yet more parts for the rental house we are now affectionately calling the Money Pit. Of course Lowes didn't have the parts we needed, and the contractor was charging me to sit and wait, so we raced off to Ace Hardware for bits and pieces of plumbing parts.

$100 later I proudly handed my contractor the items he'd been waiting for all morning, just to find that most of them were not going to work.

FRICK

Samons must have them, so this time we headed to the warehouse store, when my foot slipped off the brake and I found myself ass-deep in a Nissan Sentra. We pulled into the Jiffy Lube on the corner and I inspected my car ...

Not bad. A couple of scratches that I may or may not have repaired.

But you should see the other guy ...

If I ever wondered if it was worth it to drive an SUV, I have my answer now!

I wanted to be mad at the idiot two cars up who made an illegal U-turn instead of going left with the arrow and caused the car in front of me to suddenly stop two seconds after we all started to go. I also want to be mad at the Birkenstock company who made the shoes that slipped off the brake pedal when I tried to avoid colliding with the car in front of me. Thankfully, I have a medicine cabinet full of anti-madness, and a fridge that's been calling me out for my nervous eating all day. (In other words, there won't be a weigh-in this week :-)

At the end of the day I'm just glad we were only going 5mph, that no one was hurt, and that the other driver's boyfriend had a fake gun for a belt-buckle instead of the real thing.

Gosh I hope Tuesday ends up better.