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Yesterday, Hyatt made the surprising announcement that it was reducing the number of nights and base points needed to earn World of Hyatt status by 50% for the 2021 qualification year and, in tandem, Hyatt also announced that it was extending a number of promotions that are already running.
At the time I was writing about yesterday’s big Hyatt announcements, two things flashed through my mind. Firstly, I thought that the decision to reduce the elite qualifying criteria by 50% was incredibly generous. Secondly, it occurred to me that the combination of the reduced elite status targets and the extension of one of Hyatt’s promotions may open up an incredible opportunity to earn Hyatt elite status with fewer nights than ever before.
The excitable part of my personality wanted to shout about this opportunity from the rooftops (it really is an amazing opportunity), but the more pragmatic part of my nature told me that this could easily be too good to be true, so I decided not to write about it until I had confirmed my thoughts with Hyatt directly.
Well, I’ve now had clarification/confirmation from Hyatt and the opportunity open to all World of Hyatt members really is as incredible as I thought it may be (and as some have already written), so it will genuinely be possible to earn top-tier Globalist status in 2021 with as few as 10 nights spent at World of Hyatt properties around the world.
Earn Hyatt Status Easily
The key to earning World of Hyatt elite status incredibly easily lies with Hyatt’s Bonus Journeys promotion. At the outset it was offering double 2021 elite night credits for all stays with checkout dates between 1 – 4 January 2021 and now, with the Bonus Journeys promotion having been extended to 28 February 2021, World of Hyatt members will earn double elite night credits for stays with checkout dates between 1 January and 28 February 2021.
As my Hyatt contact confirmed:
“[I]f you are registered for Bonus Journeys and stay 15 qualifying nights between January and February 28, 2021 (checking out on or before February 28, 2021), you will earn 15 Tier-Qualifying Nights for your stay and 15 Tier-Qualifying bonus nights for a total of 30 Tier-Qualifying Nights. These 30 Tier-Qualifying Nights would qualify you for Globalist status in 2021, which is valid through February 28, 2023.”
Essentially, for stays with checkout dates between 1 January and 28 February 2021, these are the number of nights you’ll need to stay to earn Hyatt elite status:
- Discoverist – 3 nights
- Explorist – 8 nights
- Globalist – 15 nights
For those of us fortunate enough to have access to the World of Hyatt credit card things are even easier.
If you have held the World of Hyatt credit card since before 16 October 2020, you’ll be receiving 5 elite night credits into your account at the beginning of January (as part of your card’s annual benefits) so the total number of elite night credits that you’ll need to lock-in Globalist status will be 25. This means that just 13 qualifying nights with checkout dates between 1 January and 28 February would see you qualify for top-tier Globalist status through February 2023.
If you have successfully applied for the World of Hyatt credit card since the new welcome offer was launched on 16 October (or if you successfully apply for the card between now and 31 December), you’ll be receiving 10 elite night credits into your account at the beginning of January (5 as part of your card’s annual benefits and 5 as part of the current limited-time promotion) so the total number of elite night credits that you’ll need to lock-in Globalist status will be 20. This means that just 10 qualifying nights with checkout dates between 1 January and 28 February would see you qualify for top-tier Globalist status through February 2023.
Because a number of the World of Hyatt’s better benefits are now linked to its Milestone Rewards (for which the earning criteria have not been changed), there’s not much reason to go out of your way just to earn Explorist status (aside from a few extra bonus points it doesn’t really offer much more than Discoverist status), but there’s every reason to do your best to earn Globalist status.
Among other things, Hyatt Globalist status offers the following:
- 30% bonus points on all spending with Hyatt
- Waived resort fees on eligible cash rates and award nights
- A match to M-Life Gold status
- Upgrades to standard suites at check-in (based on room availability)
- 4:00 PM late check-out
- Access to executive lounges or free breakfast on all stays
- Free parking on award nights
That’s a range of benefits that well worth having and which can genuinely both improve the quality of a stay as well as reduce a guest’s costs. Yes, it would be nice if the 4 suite upgrades were thrown in too, but I don’t think anyone can accuse Hyatt of being miserly for not offering those as well 🙂
Bottom Line
World of Hyatt members can earn double elite night credits for the 2021 qualification year for all stays with checkout dates between 1 January and 28 February 2021. This means that all World of Hyatt members have the opportunity to lock-in top-tier Globalist status by spending just 15 nights at Hyatt properties in the first two months of the year, and World of Hyatt credit card holders can earn Globaisit status with just 10 or 13 nights (depending on when they successfully applied for their card) during the same period.
I think it’s safe to say that we’re unlikely to see a better opportunity to earn top-tier Hyatt elite status than this one.
Do you know if Globalist status waives resort fees at MGM properties? Some of the Vegas hotel/casinos have resort fees that are equal to or above the (very cheap) room rate. I’m thinking of a play where I earn Globalist through 15 nights at a local Hyatt Place using points then another 15 in Vegas on a paid rate to get 60 total and the suite upgrades. I still have dreams about the Diplomat Suite upgrade I received at the Park Hyatt Vienna a few years ago 🙂
Unfortunately not.
All World of Hyatt elites get select benefits at MGM properties (https://world.hyatt.com/content/gp/en/rewards/other-partnerships.html) and Globalist Members can match to M-Life Gold status (https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/mlife-rewards-program.html#/Benefits) but nothing amongst all of that will see the heinous resort fees waived.
Bummer, but thanks for the reply.
Hi Ziggy,
I wonder if we can do even better than ten nights for Globalist.
The new World of Hyatt card offer notes that you get 2 additional qualifying nights for every $5,000 spend. If I’m reading it right, I could apply before December 31st (to get the 10 elite nights) and spend the $6000 for the 50k bonus within a few months, and then I’d only need to stay 9 nights in a Hyatt by February 28th (double elite nights = 18) to reach Globalist.
Come to think of it, if you were planning to spend $15k on the card for the extra free night anyway, wouldn’t that be 6 extra elite nights, so you’d only need to stay 7 nights by February 28th for the Globalist prize?
Hi Dror
That’s exactly right. Technically you could spend your way to Globalist status without staying as single night and just spending (big) on your credit card.
Is there a chart somewhere that states when you have globalist what benefits do you get at each hyatt brand?
Unlike a program like Bonvoy, the World of Hyatt doesn’t alter a guest’s benefits depending on which brand the guest is staying at. Some hotels don’t have executive lounges (e.g the Andaz properties) so lounge acess isn’t an option there but, on the whole, Globalist status offers the same benefits across all Hyatt brands (https://world.hyatt.com/content/gp/en/tiers-and-benefits.html#charts)
What about those who have the legacy Hyatt card and will be automatically converted to WOH card? Do they fall into the 15, 13, or 10 night requirement?
I don’t see why not. Legacy cardholders are being transitioned to the WoH card on 11 January so should recieve the 5 elite night credits for the 2021 elite qualification year just like all other WoH credit card holders and will therefore need just 25 elite nights in 2021 to lock-in Globalist status.
You said “World of Hyatt members will earn double elite night credits for stays with checkout dates between 1 January and 28 February 2021”
If I have a stay from Dec. 29 – Jan. 04. Will that count 6 days (x2 = 12 qualified days) or only 3 days from Jan. 01 – Jan. 04 (x2 = 6 qualified days)?
Hyatt awards elite night credits in the year that you check out of the hotel so all nights from a stay that stradles the year (with a check out date before 1 March 2021) will credit in 2021 and will therefore earn double credits.
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