Update: World of Hyatt is now extending status and awards by at least a year; see here for full details.
Obviously the coronavirus situation has had a huge impact on travel in Asia, and we’ve seen all kinds of travel brands issue waivers. However, World of Hyatt is the only loyalty program I know of that’s proactively extending status for members as a result of this.
World of Hyatt extending status for members
World of Hyatt will be offering members residing in the Asia Pacific region a series of tier status and benefits extensions, including:
- Qualifying World of Hyatt Discoverist, Explorist, and Globalist members will now have a new tier expiration of February 28, 2022 (rather than February 28, 2021), to maintain their elite tier status and benefits
- Currently valid Suite Upgrade Awards, Club Access Awards, and Free Night Awards that expire in 2020 for qualifying members will be extended through December 31, 2021
Grand Hyatt Chengdu
World of Hyatt is working on making these updates, and expects the changes to be fully made by March 31, 2020.
Hyatt will be communicating directly with eligible members through email, My Hyatt Concierge, and WeChat. Members with questions can contact Hyatt’s global contact centers, reach Hyatt via WeChat (WeChat ID: HyattHotels), or email [email protected].
World of Hyatt is also working to evaluate tier and benefit extensions for global members who travel frequently to the Asia Pacific region, though nothing exact has been announced on that front yet.
As Amy Weinberg, SVP of World of Hyatt, explains it:
“Now more than ever, it’s a priority for us to stay close to our World of Hyatt members, understand how their lives are impacted and help. Extending the expiration of elite tier status and benefits for our members is one of the ways we can care for our most loyal guests, so they have one less thing to worry about during this incredibly difficult time.”
Andaz Tokyo
Bottom line
This is an extremely generous offer on the part of World of Hyatt, as they’re the only loyalty program I know of so far to do something like this.
World of Hyatt will be communicating directly with members. My assumption is that they’re deciding status extensions based on where a member’s address is registered.
“Asia Pacific” is of course a pretty broad term. I would assume they’re not including Australia or New Zealand in this, but you never know.
Will anyone benefit from this generous World of Hyatt status extensions?
- British Airways Suspends All Mainland China Flights
- Hi Fly Is Flying An A380 To Wuhan
- Cathay Pacific Staff Can Now Wear Face Masks
- American Pilots File Lawsuit, Refuse To Fly To China
- Delta Cancels All Flights To China Until May
- Starluxing Through A Zombie Apocalypse
- American Airlines Cancels Mainland China Flights Until Late March
- US Adds New Coronavirus China Travel Ban
- Emirates Tells Beijing Passengers To Show Up Eight Hours Before Departure
- American Airlines Suspends Hong Kong Flights
- Air China's Unique Strategy For Maintaining US Flights
- Cathay Pacific Cuts 30% Of Flights, Puts Employees On Unpaid Leave
- Cathay Pacific Cutting New York To Vancouver Flight Early
- Flight Diverts After Man Jokes About Having Coronavirus
- American Airlines Extends China & Hong Kong Cancelations To Late April 2020
- KLM Crew Accused Of Coronavirus Racism
- KLM Executives Issue Formal Apology To Koreans
- World Of Hyatt Extending Status For Those In Asia
- Marriott Bonvoy Extending Status For Those In Greater China
They should extend this to all members. No one is able to fulfil the 50 night requirement this year, due to borders closing and all events being cancelled. I am counting on Hyatt to do so.
This is ridiculous. Should be extended to all members considering further restrictions.
Definitely only Asia will be granted status extension . People in Singapore and Japan have posted on WOH Facebook group the emails they received advising status extension on the 28th August .
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3051921/coronavirus-cathay-pacific-prolong-perks-frequent-fliers
Lots of program extensions
What's the Hyatt property in the cover picture?
Thanks
@josh I agree re Australia but my concierge confirmed in writing that Australia is included.
@Rick, do you have a link to where "Asia Pacific" is referred to? When looking at the global map of hotels there is "Asia" and "Australia and Pacific". That would actually suggest Australia is EXCLUDED from this promo.
IHG, Hyatt, and Hilton all have extended elite status.
Only Marriott has not taken any action, not surprise at all.
I am Australian and globalist. My concierge just confirmed I will be getting the extension. Given I am struggling due to cancelled work trips, this is a bonus. Now just need SQ to do the same! FYI for any Australians, Qantas has just come out with a double status credits promotion (yet to receive an email but have registered).
I am a Globalist based in Japan and haven't heard anything yet, so this would be great news. I was likely not to make Globalist again as I am retiring, unless it happened to be through spending. I was going to do a lot of travel in Asia this year ahead of moving back to the US, but it is now on hold except for an Australia trip (5 nights booked at the Sydney Park...
I am a Globalist based in Japan and haven't heard anything yet, so this would be great news. I was likely not to make Globalist again as I am retiring, unless it happened to be through spending. I was going to do a lot of travel in Asia this year ahead of moving back to the US, but it is now on hold except for an Australia trip (5 nights booked at the Sydney Park Hyatt, so hoping travel situation doesn't get worse). Overall even if I don't make Globalist again, I love Hyatt so much more than Marriott, so we will continue to use Hyatt properties, but it is great if the Globalist is extended a year - one more year of great benefits.
When you look at Hyatt websites they clearly refer to Asia- Pacific. Hotels in Australia are included in their listings. So Pacific members, including those in Australia will expect to be included.
IHG was a day ahead of Hyatt to offer such extensions which I think it’s worth mentioning in this article.
It’s very likely Marriott and Hilton will also (have to) do so.
It's nice to know Hyatt's compassionate to its members.
I'm a lifetime Globalist where is my extension? ;) I'd like next lifetime too!
Depending on how long Airlines stop flying into China, it will be interesting to see how they handle status this year. I have already cancelled two trips to Asia and I my fellow business travelers where I work are not anxious to travel anywhere in Asia. Lots of family pressure to stay out of the region. This plus on-going cancellations of large conferences in the region.
That will dramatically effect status qualification for many of us.
Actually, IHG is the first to have such status-extending policies.
China Southern had also extend elite status of Gold/Silver members for another year. Mileage expiration also extend for one year.
ANA also extends mileages if booked but can't travel due to restrictions. Some folks got extension for 3 years if ANA cancelled their rewards tickets.
I wonder if Asian airlines will do something similar? What happened during SARS? I am based in Japan and my company has basically banned overseas business trips in/out any APAC countries. Even domestic trips and events are being cancelled, and I know many companies are applying the same policy too, with no specific deadline. At this rate I won’t requalify for my status next year..
Very classy, Hyatt. Why I love them so much.
IHG had announced to extend elite status in great China area for one year.
it applies to members with registered address in Asia Pacific, or selected Chinese/Japanese/Korean language at time of membership enrollment, or enrolled via wechat
*requalify
I wonder...what if someone resides in (for example) Europe, but travels to Asia regularly, and gets most of their qualifying nights there? The coronavirus would impact their ability to regularity for Hyatt status arguably even more than for those who live in Asia but travel outside of it, but I assume they wouldn’t have their status extended?
@ Alex -- Hyatt is saying that they're working on something for those kinds of members, though this initial extension applies to members based in Asia. So we'll have to wait and see.
Off-topic Lucky, but...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/feb/19/boeing-737-max-debris-found-in-fuel-tanks-of-grounded-planes
Say no to Qatar Airways.