Lesson learned: don’t do this until the kids are in bed.

I know this has probably happened to most parents at some point, but it’s never happened to me before, and I have to say that I’m a little ashamed to tell the story.

It’s not what you think.

Seriously, this is not that kind of story. It’s about Hyatt. 😉

If you’re still reading this, here’s what happened: I was online, trying to catch up on some emails, when I saw a friendly reminder that I hadn’t registered for Hyatt’s Spring promo yet, which runs from January 15, 2014 – April 30, 2014.

It’s a pretty solid promo. You’ve got a choice: up to 4 free nights or up to 50,000 bonus points, depending on how many nights you stay during the promotional period.

Personally, I’m opting for the bonus points. In fact, the free nights would not be very useful to me at all, given that they expire on July 31, 2014 and most of my travel is planned through then. But the bonus points don’t expire, and those would definitely come in handy.

I have no idea why I’ve waited to register for this promo (maybe because I’m…busy? Nah.)

I figured there was no time like the present. My kids were running around being kids, Josh was on the phone, and things were pretty chaotic, but I knew that I was likely to forget if I didn’t just click through and register right on the spot.

So I did. I clicked. I registered. In fact, I registered for both Josh and for myself.

In the middle of all of this, my kids burst into a yelling fight. There were tears and a couple of attempted kicks. Josh quickly walked out of the room and left me to handle it, so I did…

But then I saw this:

Do you see it? FREE NIGHTS.

No! I didn’t want free nights! I wanted bonus points!!

And then I saw this:

NO SWITCHING!

I quickly called Hyatt Gold Passport. “Help”! I said, when the rep answered the phone. “I made a gigantic mistake and I need your help!”

I swear there was a long beat of silence. I’m sure the rep was wondering, Why do I get all the nut cases? But of course he recovered quickly. “What can I do for you?” he asked.

I poured out my tale of woe in a heartfelt manner, urgently explaining that I really needed to switch both accounts to bonus points.

To my surprise, he simply said, “Sure. No problem. I’ll take care of it right away.”

Now it was my turn to be stunned into silence. “What about no switching?” I blurted.

He just laughed. “It’s fine,” he said. “I took care of it.”

Whew.

Of course I’m still a little paranoid that he just told me what I wanted to hear in order to get me off the phone, but I’ll call back to check tomorrow. When the kids are in bed.

Have you registered for this promotion yet? Which option did you choose? Are you sure?

.