There are many benefits I love about Hyatt’s top tier Globalist status, though arguably my single favorite perk is the suite upgrade awards that members can earn. In this post I wanted to take a closer look at how this benefit works.
In this post:
What are Hyatt suite upgrade awards?
With World of Hyatt suite upgrade awards, members can confirm an upgrade to a standard suite at the time of booking for a stay of up to seven nights when booking an eligible rate. This is in addition to the standard upgrade benefit that’s available to Globalist members, which is suite upgrades subject to availability at the time of check-in.
To me this is such a spectacular benefit — while several hotel loyalty programs offer room upgrades subject to availability at check-in, World of Hyatt is the only program that offers suite upgrades that you can use to confirm an upgrade at the time of booking (IHG One Rewards suite upgrade awards can confirm an upgrade up to 14 days out, while Marriott Bonvoy suite night awards can confirm an upgrade up to five days out and are capacity controlled).
Any frequent traveler can appreciate the significance of this — it allows you to lock in upgrades for the stays that matter most to you at the time of booking.
Earning Hyatt suite upgrade awards
World of Hyatt members can earn suite upgrade awards as part of the Milestone Rewards program:
- Earn two suite upgrade awards upon earning 50 elite nights or 80,000 base points in a calendar year
- Earn two additional suite upgrade awards upon earning 60 elite nights or 100,000 base points in a calendar year
- Earn an additional one suite upgrade award for passing 70 elite nights, 80 elite nights, 90 elite nights, or 100 elite nights; at each threshold you have the choice between one suite upgrade award or 10,000 bonus points
- World of Hyatt lifetime Globalist members receive four additional suite upgrade awards per year
In other words, those qualifying for Globalist with 60 elite nights receive four suite upgrade awards, while members can earn up to eight per year, should they earn 100 elite nights. Meanwhile a lifetime Globalist member earning 100 elite nights in a year could earn up to 12 suite upgrade awards.
Even elite nights earned through the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review) would qualify toward this.
Suite upgrade awards post almost immediately after a member reaches a particular threshold.
Redeeming Hyatt suite upgrade awards
While the process of earning suite upgrade awards is pretty straightforward, there’s a bit more nuance to redeeming them. So let’s cover this in a few parts.
What rates are eligible for suite night awards?
You can apply suite upgrade awards to any eligible paid rate (this includes Hyatt Privé rates) or eligible points redemption. The only type of stay that’s typically considered eligible for accruing elite nights that you can’t use suite night awards on is free night certificates, whether we’re talking a Category 1-4 free night certificate, Category 1-7 free night certificate, etc. Furthermore, Guest of Honor bookings aren’t eligible for suite upgrade awards.
However, nights booked with free night certificates as well as Guest of Honor bookings are eligible for complimentary suite upgrades subject to availability at check-in.
At what hotels can you redeem suite night awards?
Suite upgrade awards can’t be redeemed at the following properties:
Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa, Park Hyatt Sydney, Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, Hyatt Regency Kyoto, Hyatt Regency Wichita, Hyatt Paris Madeleine, Hyatt Herald Square New York, Hyatt Key West Resort and Spa, Hyatt City of Dreams Manila, Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami, Spirit Ridge at NK’MIP Resort, Hyatt Rosemont, Hyatt Regency Suites Atlanta Northwest, Hyatt Regency Lisle near Naperville, Hyatt Regency John Wayne Airport Newport Beach, Thompson Seattle, Thompson Hollywood, Chicago Athletic Association, Hotel Revival Baltimore, Hotel Avatar, Waterfront Hotel, Park South, The Laurel Inn, Hotel Kabuki, Alila Manggis, Studios at Alila Sminyak, Alila Villas Uluwatu, Alila Taihu Suzhou, Episode Hsinchu, Hôtel du Louvre, Ventana Campground, Sunscape Sabor Cozumel, Dreams Aventuras, Dreams Royal Beach, Now Emerald Cancun, AluaSoul Alcudia Bay, AluaSoul Menorca, Alua Leo, AluaSun Far Menorca, AluaSun Mediterráneo, AluaSun Cala Antena, Alua Boccaccio, AluaSun Lago Park, AluaSun Doblemar, Caption by Hyatt, or Hyatt Place hotels or resorts or any Destination by Hyatt Residences
As you can see, Destination Residences, Caption by Hyatt, and Hyatt Place properties are excluded, as are select recently acquired resorts. On top of that, there’s a small additional list of properties not eligible for suite upgrade awards. This is primarily due to how few suites these properties have.
Furthermore, suite upgrade awards can’t be redeemed at Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) properties or MGM Rewards properties, since these aren’t managed by Hyatt.
You can redeem a suite upgrade award for up to one room per stay, so if you’re booking multiple rooms, you can’t apply those upgrades toward multiple rooms.
Are there capacity controls on suite upgrade awards?
As long as a standard suite is available for sale you can use a suite upgrade award to confirm it. That’s pretty remarkable when you think about it, given that there’s potentially quite an opportunity cost to a hotel for that. That’s also precisely what makes this perk so valuable.
How long of a stay are suite upgrade awards valid for?
Each suite upgrade award can be redeemed for a stay of up to seven consecutive nights at one hotel. Generally speaking a suite upgrade award can only be applied to a single reservation.
In other words, if you’re staying for a week at a hotel but have two separate reservations (perhaps due to using different types of rates), you wouldn’t be able to apply a single suite upgrade award to the whole thing. Similarly, if you have a single reservation for more than seven nights, you also couldn’t apply multiple suite upgrade awards, as you’d need to make separate reservations.
However, in some cases the hotel may be able to work with you.
What kind of suites are eligible for suite upgrade awards?
Suite upgrade awards can be used to confirm an upgrade to a standard suite, and each hotel has a different definition of that. How do you determine what a standard suite is at a particular hotel? There are two options:
- Many hotels will list it directly on their website when you do a search — just look at room categories, and specifically for the one that says “this is a standard suite” in the description
- Not all hotels list this, in which case you’re best off calling Hyatt, and a representative can tell you what a particular hotel considers to be a standard suite
As long as a standard suite is available for sale over your dates, you should be able to apply a suite upgrade award for your stay.
How do you apply a suite upgrade award?
Unfortunately there’s no way to apply a suite upgrade award directly, but rather you’ll need to reach out to Hyatt customer support (rather than the hotel directly) to do so. You have a few options for that:
- Phone up World of Hyatt customer service
- Contact @HyattConcierge on Twitter
- If you have a My Hyatt Concierge, they can help you
Note that even when your suite upgrade award is applied, your reservation through the Hyatt website or app might not actually reflect the updated room type — that’s normal, and nothing to be concerned about. Generally speaking within a couple of days of the stay you should see the upgraded room reflected in the app.
What is the expiration policy for suite upgrade awards?
Hyatt suite upgrade awards are valid for the year in which they’re earned, plus around 14 months. In other words, suite upgrade awards earned in June 2023 would be valid through the end of February 2025.
Note that you have to actually stay by the expiration date (with the check-out date being prior to when the suite upgrade award expires), and not just make the booking by then.
Can you cancel a suite upgrade award request?
You sure can. For one, if you do end up canceling a booking where you used a suite upgrade award, it will be redeposited back into your account with the original expiration date.
Alternatively, you can cancel a suite upgrade award any time up until your arrival date, and you’ll be placed back into the original room booked.
Can you use a suite upgrade award for someone else?
Hyatt suite upgrade awards can only be used for a reservation in the name of the World of Hyatt member who earned the upgrades. You can’t transfer these to others, and can’t apply them to reservations in the name of someone else.
My Hyatt suite upgrade award strategy
I’ll admit that I’m probably a bit too much of a suite upgrade award hoarder, since some of my suite upgrade awards typically end up being used sub-optimally shortly before expiration.
The challenge is that you have a finite number of suite upgrade awards, and it can be hard to predict what your travel will look for an entire year. In general here’s how I prioritize suite upgrade awards:
- How long am I staying? Ideally I use these for stays of at least four nights
- How much time would I spend in the room? Personally I value suites more when staying at a resort than when at a city hotel, since I’m more likely to spend time in my room at a resort
- How good is the standard suite at a hotel? At some hotels the standard suite is a small junior suite, while at others it’s a massive “full” suite
- What are the odds that I’d otherwise get a space available suite upgrade as a Globalist? Globalist members get suite upgrades at check-in subject to availability, and odds of that happening vary greatly by hotel based on how many other Globalist members there are, how many suites the hotel has, etc.
Bottom line
Hyatt’s suite upgrade awards program is probably my favorite aspect of Globalist status, and what most sets World of Hyatt apart from other loyalty programs. Being able to confirm suite upgrades at the time of booking for stays that matter most to me is something I value immensely.
A Globalist member who earns 60 elite nights per year could be looking at up 28 nights per year in confirmed suites at the time of booking, which is pretty awesome.
What has your experience been with Hyatt suite upgrade awards?
There are times when Hyatt run a promo to earn double elite nights. Will these nights qualify me to earn the suite upgrade certificate? Similarly, will the mattress run nights count toward earning the suite upgrade certifocate?
You should mention you are charged $40 per suite upgrade
When did this happen?
I think they confused with how much hotel was compensated for applying a SUA, which is $40 per night.
Sad to learn that I cannot apply my suite upgrade awards for guest of honor reservations. My husband and son are traveling to Australia this year and since I will not be there, they will be at the mercy of the hotel staff and availabilility for an upgrade. Although I did consider changing my name on my Hyatt account to my husbands for a time :)....
My upgrade cert will expire in Feb. Could I use it for my March booking?Thanks,
You probably can, but YMMV.
Email your Concierge, or try calling.
Ben, we used 3 globalist suite upgrade certs at Alila Jabal Akhdar on 3 award bookings during the same dates last December. No issues.
I hope someone can answer this question, I have looked everywhere and cannot find an answer! I was recently approved for the WOH credit card, waiting for it to arrive in the mail. So I’be decided to go for Globalist this year. The WOH card automatically comes with Discoverist status which normally requires 10 qualifying nights. Just for having the card, you get 5 qualifying nights toward status. So with the card I have 10...
I hope someone can answer this question, I have looked everywhere and cannot find an answer! I was recently approved for the WOH credit card, waiting for it to arrive in the mail. So I’be decided to go for Globalist this year. The WOH card automatically comes with Discoverist status which normally requires 10 qualifying nights. Just for having the card, you get 5 qualifying nights toward status. So with the card I have 10 qualifying nights (Discoverist) plus the 5 nights for having the card for a total of 15 nights, correct? So I need 45 more nights to qualify for Globalist, right? Or do I only get credit for the 5 nights for the card and not the 10 nights for Discoverist? I can’t believe this isn’t addressed anywhere and I’ve read Hyatt’s site, Chase’s site, and many,many blog articles about this card. Thanks to anyone who knows the answer to this.
Only 5 nights, sadly!
Yea, you're going into it it a little too deeply there. Nowhere does it say that you get 10 qualifying nights (which qualify you for Discoverist).
What the terms do say (and the way it works) is you get 5 qualifying nights. In addition, you're granted Discoverist (even though you don't have the qualifying nights yet).
I'm sure you're aware you also get 2 qualifying nights every time you hit $5000 in credit card...
Yea, you're going into it it a little too deeply there. Nowhere does it say that you get 10 qualifying nights (which qualify you for Discoverist).
What the terms do say (and the way it works) is you get 5 qualifying nights. In addition, you're granted Discoverist (even though you don't have the qualifying nights yet).
I'm sure you're aware you also get 2 qualifying nights every time you hit $5000 in credit card spend. It's a running total that only resets to zero when you hit the 5K (no reset at the ernd of the year or anything). These nites can add up. They post usually a day or 2 after your next credit card statement date.
Thanks, steve64. Kinda figured it out last night when I noticed my status had updated to Discoverist with 5 qualifying nights. Will be putting most of my spend on the WOH card to get the 2 qualifying nights per $5K. Between actual stays and the card I should be able to make it to 60 qualifying nights.
I find the upgrade process on award bookings extremely frustrating as there is no record of your suite upgrade anywhere. I also recently had the following experience, I checked that a standard suite was for sale at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells, called up Hyatt to apply my upgrade. Agent came back saying the hotel said NO, they were offering a different room type instead. I was astonished, so seriously, is this a Bazzar where...
I find the upgrade process on award bookings extremely frustrating as there is no record of your suite upgrade anywhere. I also recently had the following experience, I checked that a standard suite was for sale at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells, called up Hyatt to apply my upgrade. Agent came back saying the hotel said NO, they were offering a different room type instead. I was astonished, so seriously, is this a Bazzar where you start haggling? So I escalated, another agent tried and after a long time came back, OK, the hotel agreed. So seriously, these hotels have some balls to openly negotiate with Hyatt agents trying to violate policy. I then asked for a confirmation email from the Property which they claimed they would send but never did. Since I have no record , I fully expect that when I check in, they will deny everything and screw me. Some properties are good and others are just shameful.
you also can't use suite upgrades at the dreams/secrets resorts
Bugs me that you can't use them on FNA. You spend sufficient money on Hyatt card or stay at their hotels, and then as a clearly loyal customer, they put in a prohibition on using a suite upgrade against the FNA.
have 2 Suite Upgrade Awards ending end of Feb 2023
what a waste...
So these are capped at standard suites, meaning I can’t book a standard suite and use the SNA to get upgraded to a premium suite, correct?
Also, can I retroactively apply the SNA if I made the reservation before earning the SNA? Assume if availability still exists then yes since they are applied by phone/Hyatt.
Correct. Can't upgrade a suite using a suite award.
Yes, you can retroactively apply it (assuming there's a standard suite available)
Is it possible to pay the rate difference between a standard and premium suite after applying a SUA? Curious how open hotels are to that.
Ben, we’re a family of 3 (2 adults and a teen). Do you know if you can book a standard room that only allows double occupancy and then use a suite upgrade to move to a standard suite that allows occupancy for 3? I’m concerned the change in occupancy may cause a problem.
Search for a room for three people. If the standard suite shows up as a possible option, then you can certainly use a Suite Night upgrade certificate to move to the Suite and accommodate three people.
I did it twice this year.
I do this all the time to travel with my two kids.
If a standard suite is available, but the base room type doesn't accomodate all of us, then I book the base room for just two adults.
Then I call Hyatt or email my concierge and ask them to both apply the suite upgrade and add our children to the reservation. It's never been a problem, including internationally.
Exactly what I have done in the past. Concierge's can refuse if you try to book the std room with the kids. You have to add them after once you have the suite confirmed
I'm
A control freak. I book through my concierge and then contact the hotel to confirm. I also like to use them for longer stays and at resorts. That being the case I have one about to expire.
Great tip to also confirm upgrade with the prop, I have a great Concierge but that will help calm me down not seeing it in writing