How a key element of the World of Hyatt made a mattress run pointless

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I’m a big fan of Hyatt despite not actually having World of Hyatt elite status. I cannot remember the last time I had a bad stay at a Hyatt property and the value I frequently get when I redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for Hyatt stays is something that I struggle to match with a lot of my other redemptions.

I like Hyatt so much that I’m genuinely considering giving the hotelier a lot more of my business next year despite knowing that I’m unlikely to ever be in a position to lock-in Globalist top-tier status on a regular basis. To be frank, Globalist status is undoubtedly excellent but I can live without it based on my travel patterns and the other hotel statuses I hold.

However, while I’m happy to visit Hyatt properties without the joys that Globalist status brings, I’m not so happy to visit without any status whatsoever. I’d like to have a few benefits at my disposal to make my trips a little bit more comfortable and convenient. With that in mind, I’ve been considering making the most of the American Airlines/World of Hyatt status match that’s still running and in which my AAdvantage Platinum status gives me the opportunity to earn World of Hyatt Explorist status (mid-tier status) with just 10 qualifying nights.

I already have 2 Hyatt nights booked between now and the end of the year, so that leaves me just needing 8 more nights to lock-in Explorist status into 2022. However, with most of my plans for this year already firmed up (and with very few of them requiring a hotel stay), I’m struggling to find a way to earn those 8 nights organically. So, if I can’t earn the nights organically, it’s time to see what a mattress run can do.

Right now the Hyatt Place West London Hayes is offering nights at £45 each (including breakfast!):

This means that an 8-night stay would cost ~£359 or ~$467.

The question that now arises is this: Is World of Hyatt Explorist status worth buying for $467? To answer this question I’ll need the World of Hyatt elite benefits chart:

I’d like to book quite a few stays with Hyatt next year (I’m increasingly unhappy with Marriott) so the 20% bonus points on all my paid stays would be nice. Premium internet would definitely help me work more efficiently, room upgrades are always nice and late check-outs are one of my very favorite benefits around.

I’m not sure all of those would add up to a value of $467 over a period of a year (bearing in mind I wouldn’t be staying with Hyatt exclusively) but it would probably be a close-run thing so, all things being equal, I would be tempted to book the mattress run, enjoy a few nights away from home (I wouldn’t spend all 8 nights at the hotel) and lock-in World of Hyatt mid-tier status for next year.

But all things aren’t equal. The American Airlines/Hyatt status match isn’t the only path to World of Hyatt elite status. card_name offers Discoverist status to all cardholders and it only costs annual_fees. Yes, Discoverist is a lower status tier than Explorist but if you take a look at the benefits chart above, is it really that much worse?

As far as I can see, the only key differences between Discoverist and Explorist status are these:

• Explorist status offers 10% more bonus points on stays
• Explorist offers the option of a better room upgrade

There are a few other minor differences (Explorist offers better M-Life status, a marginally better Exhale benefit, and guaranteed room availability 72-hours out) but they’re far from being key to me.

Suddenly the idea of doing a mattress run to earn Explorist status doesn’t seem quite so appealing.

The net cost of getting Explorist status over Discoverist status would be ~$372 and, while a few amazing upgrades would certainly make up that difference pretty quickly, let’s not forget that card_name would give me Discoverist status for as long as I hold the card while the mattress run would only guarantee me Explorist status for a year.

Mathematically, it makes very little sense for me to pay for a mattress run (which would also see me incur additional costs like travel to/from the hotel) to earn Explorist status when I can pick up Discoverist status for the cost of card_name.

Why Explorist status doesn’t have to be much better than Discoverist status

At first glance, this may seem like a big flaw in the World of Hyatt program (how can a status tier granted by a credit card be almost as good as a status tier that requires a significant number of nights to be credited to a loyalty program?) but this isn’t a flaw. This has been done by design.

What the World of Hyatt status benefit page doesn’t show are the additional perks that World of Hyatt members pick up on their way to earning status.

These are the Milestone Rewards which are also earned by crediting elite nights to the World of Hyatt program, but which are not tied to a particular elite status tier. More importantly for me, they cannot be earned through the elite nights I would get from my status challenge.

Upon crediting 20 elite nights to the World of Hyatt program a member earns 2 club lounge access passes, and upon crediting a further 10 qualifying nights (for a total of 30) a member earns a further 2 club lounge passes and a certificate for a free night at a Category 1-4 property (they earn Explorist status too).

With this in mind, the 20 elite nights you need to earn to move between Discoverist Status and Explorist status look a lot more worthwhile.

If all you received for those 20 nights was the difference in status benefits between Discoverist and Explorist status it would be hard to justify making any extra effort to earn the higher status.

When, however, you factor in the 4 lounge passes and the free night award that’s on offer to anyone earning those 20 elite night credits, it’s a lot easier to see the value.

Designing the World of Hyatt program like this (splitting milestone rewards away from elite status) was a clever move. Hyatt can offer holders of the World of Hyatt credit card good solid benefits for just the cost of the card’s annual fee, and it can do so without diluting its loyalty program’s offering as you still have to credit a good number of nights to the World of Hyatt to get some of the better benefits the program offers.

Bottom Line

I had never really compared Discoverist and Explorist statuses before I started thinking about doing a mattress run, so I was genuinely surprised to see how little difference there is between the two and, comparatively speaking, how good the status that card_name offers actually is.

If you want the better benefits that the World of Hyatt offers, you’ll have to earn elite night credits from stays and/or by spending on card_name as the best benefits are to be had by hitting the various elite night milestones set out by the loyalty program.

If, however, you’re just looking for an elite status to make your stays a little more comfortable and convenient, the Discoverist status that card_name offers will probably be more than enough.