World of Hyatt has just rolled out a long overdue feature…
In this post:
More Hyatt awards can now be redeemed online
Effective immediately, World of Hyatt is allowing members to apply Suite Upgrade Awards and Club Access Awards online, either through hyatt.com or through the World of Hyatt mobile app. As a reminder, these are both perks that are earned through the Milestone Rewards program:
- Each Suite Upgrade Award can be used to confirm a suite upgrade for a stay of up to seven nights at the time of booking
- Each Club Access Award can be used to confirm club access for a stay of up to seven nights at the time of booking (this is unnecessary for World of Hyatt Globalist members, who receive that anyway)
Up until now, it hasn’t been possible to apply these online, meaning that members have had to reach out to World of Hyatt customer service to apply these. It’s not just that members had to pick up the phone, but the Hyatt representative then had to call the property to block the suite, so it was quite the process. Not having to pick up the phone is such an awesome improvement.
This development follows World of Hyatt’s changes in early 2024, whereby the program started offering more functionality online, like the ability to redeem Guest of Honor Awards online.
Keep in mind that Hyatt awards can be gifted to other members, so you now have the choice of both transferring these online to others, and also applying them online for your own stays.
How this new functionality works in practice
What’s the process like of applying a Suite Upgrade Award or Club Access Award online? I’m impressed by how this functionality works. First you’ll of course need to be logged into your World of Hyatt account.
Then just search for a hotel stay as you’d usually do. When you get to the page showing rates for a particular property, at the top you should see all the eligible awards listed.
Note that they’ll only show as clickable if that option is actually available. In other words, if a hotel doesn’t have an open club lounge, the option to redeem a Club Access Award won’t be shown. Similarly, if a standard suite isn’t available, then a Suite Upgrade Award won’t show as an option either.
For example, if I select the option to apply a Suite Upgrade Award, then it will automatically show the type of suite that’s eligible, plus the rate that you’ll pay (compared to the cost of the suite).
The above is how this works on hyatt.com, though the same process applies through the World of Hyatt mobile app. When you search for a hotel, you’ll see the section at the top with “Available Awards,” and then just select the awards that you want to apply.
Bottom line
World of Hyatt now lets members apply Suite Upgrade Awards and Club Access Awards directly through hyatt.com or the World of Hyatt mobile app. As someone who is basically allergic to the phone, I’m delighted to see this long overdue development.
What do you make of this new Hyatt functionality?
I guess it is a glitch, but the Club Access Award applies to All-Inclusive resorts right now.
I doubt it's a glitch - many (most?) Hyatt AI properties have club-level access - might be a club lounge, and/or a additional restaurant(s), club-level pool, etc.
So, what’s the point of a Hyatt globalist concierge agent?
I used to have a great one for several years but lately I have had 3 different ones in one year! They have been slow lately getting back via email/voice mail & chat takes forever. I am questioning their value for the first time.
Good, but I'm so tired with beating this dead horse - At least make Club Access Awards a breakfast voucher for hotels without club rooms / clubs don't open, it's not rocket science.
The club access certificates are entirely useless because the vast majority of Hyatt properties don't have a lounge. Even within the Regency brand.
Frankly, at this point, it's deceptive for Hyatt to continue touting this benefit.
getting out of the US and there're still nice Regency and Grands with nice club lounges. But the thing is, this even punish Explorists who wants to stay in luxury brands like Park Hyatts, Andaz and Alila due to no lounges. So the current CAA totally doesn't make any sense, and from the new milestone reward choices, I feel like Hyatt is giving up on it.
Brilliant advice. After trying the phone twice without success, jumped online after reading your blog and, hooray, Suite Upgrade 5 days Park Hyatt Buenos Aires in January done. Thanks a lot, and I hope you have digested Ehgypt,
Best, Andreas
Couple of things to note: this functionality works on hotels that have not yet opened. I was unable to use an SUA at the PH Cabo over the phone, but can now lock it in online. But minor downside: two types of standard suites show on their site, but only one can be booked using SUA online (resort view suite vs partial ocean view suite).
Hallelujah! Such a long time coming. Now if Hyatt will finally allow application on a FNC…
I redeem my FNA on my phone no problems.
I think she means you can’t combine a SUA with a FNA.
Yes thank you, correct. Even Marriott allows, & I think it’s ridiculous to obviously be a loyal customer to earn the FNC to begin with but then cannot upgrade in advance. There are even plenty of Hyatt House with nice suites off limits unless can maybe score via status at check-in.
I’m actually finding SUAs harder to apply in general anyway, because the definition of standard/premium suites is quite strict with Hyatt’s newer/boutique brands.
I really like being able to gift Hyatt reward . I could have my family and friend across the globe us them instead of just expiring.
Can you apply a suite upgrade to an existing reservation online?
Good news for sure. How would this work when booking a club lounge award for another person?
@ Christian -- The easiest thing would be to first transfer the award to them (by going to the "Awards" section in your World of Hyatt account), and then going through the process outlined in this post.
Excellent. That makes a lot of sense.
Let them sign up for Hyatt account and then go to your account and have the award as gift by transfering it directly to that account.