Airline and hotel loyalty programs survey members all the time, and a lot of the changes proposed never come to fruition. However, it’s interesting to note what World of Hyatt is currently surveying some members about, as flagged by LoyaltyLobby.
In this post:
Hyatt considers big changes to elite tiers & benefits
World of Hyatt is surveying members about all kinds of possible program changes, including the following:
- World of Hyatt is considering a new tier above Globalist, which would presumably have some sort of a revenue requirement like Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador and Hilton Honors Diamond Reserve
- World of Hyatt is considering ending free parking for Globalist members on award stays, and no longer waiving destination fees when members redeem points
- World of Hyatt is considering letting members top off free night awards with points, to redeem at more expensive properties
- World of Hyatt may allow members to redeem points to redeem for awards, like for additional Guest of Honor awards, club access awards, suite upgrade awards, etc.
- World of Hyatt may completely overhaul the Milestone Rewards program, including introducing new options for waiving peak pricing, and instead redeem at the standard award rates
- World of Hyatt may get rid of the Globalist concierge concept, or at least decrease eligibility for it considerably
Again, let me emphasize that these concepts are just being surveyed. So there’s no indication that these changes will actually become a reality, but instead, they’re just under consideration. I tend to think these surveys are worth considering in terms of understanding the general direction programs will go, rather than reading into them beyond that.
My take on these possible World of Hyatt program changes
World of Hyatt recently announced it would overhaul award pricing, which is a negative development. So I’m sure many of us aren’t too thrilled at the prospect of even more changes, assuming any of this becomes a reality.
I think most of us will have similar perspectives on these concepts:
- A new top tier elite status is bad news, unless you’d qualify for it, in which case it’s probably good news
- Being able to top off awards or redeem points for additional awards is probably a positive
- I imagine that just about anything else would likely be a negative, from no longer waiving destination fees when redeeming points, to getting rid of the Globalist concierge concept
Presumably any program changes would be motivated by a combination of trying to increase loyalty program revenue, trying to decrease costs, and trying to limit the burden on hotel owners, none of which are very good for consumers.
I’d argue that World of Hyatt is currently pretty differentiated in terms of the approach it takes toward loyalty, and its genuine best effort to deliver value for members.
As I see it, the fewer changes, the better. Now, even with the changes to award pricing, I do still think that World of Hyatt is the best program when it comes to elite recognition, and there’s still a lot of merit to pursuing status. I think the most useful perk remains confirmed suite upgrade awards, which are an unrivaled perk.
My concern with a new top tier status is that it would essentially just change the goalposts, and offer many of the same things that Globalist currently offers. Also, as a lifetime Globalist member, I’m certainly not thrilled at the prospect of essentially being downgraded by one tier.
But hey, it is what it is, and we’ll see how this all plays out. We all have free will, and can choose whether or not we want to participate in these programs. I do think the overall concept of being loyal to hotel groups isn’t nearly as compelling as in the past, between the constant devaluation of points, the lack of consistent brand standards, the watering down of elite perks (less so with Hyatt than with Hilton and Marriott), etc.
Bottom line
While we’ll see if anything comes of this, World of Hyatt is surveying the concept of some more program changes, including everything from a new top tier elite status, to no longer waiving destination fees on all award stays.
Surveys like this aren’t uncommon from loyalty programs, and often the changes don’t actually happen. After all, the goal is to solicit feedback, and see how members react. So I hope that we don’t see most of these changes, but if we do, I imagine they’re not imminent.
What do you make of these possible World of Hyatt changes?
If they're concerned about the status of rewards for globalist then why do they conduct all of these corporate challenges that elevated people to globalist lite??
As a globalist the main reason I put up staying at more inconvenient lower quality Hyatt places and Hyatt houses for work is to get my nights for Globalist when I vacation with my family to use the perks. I jumped ship from Marriott years ago when the continued the devaluations. If these changes happen I’ll likely go free agent and cancel most of my Chase cards.
They done Bonvoy’d Hyatt!
if anything close to this happens I think it will be the end of Hyatt loyalty for most of us. I stay approx 100 nights per year mostly in Thompson/Andaz/Centric/Unbound properties. Many don't permit SUAs. I am perhaps once per year upgraded to a suite without one. I may be a rarw Globalist with a great conceirge whom I value. Free parking on points stays and no destrination fees are a major value of being...
if anything close to this happens I think it will be the end of Hyatt loyalty for most of us. I stay approx 100 nights per year mostly in Thompson/Andaz/Centric/Unbound properties. Many don't permit SUAs. I am perhaps once per year upgraded to a suite without one. I may be a rarw Globalist with a great conceirge whom I value. Free parking on points stays and no destrination fees are a major value of being a globalist without which the program probably looses most of its value. The small Hyatt footprint is a major issue. The loss of SLH to be replaced by Mr and Mrs Smith has been a drag. Basically using points at them is a waste since they are typically worth 1/2 what you can get when using them at Hyatt branded properties. There is little in these proposed changes to like.
Interesting survey from Hyatt that is perhaps skewed.
I am a Globalist and received the survey. After answering several questions (about 25% based on the line), it stopped. I presume they did not like my answers and cut off the survey.
Therefore I think it will be a "goody goody" survey done by an "outside" company.
I am a Globalist, but I am not staying at Hyatt's, I am staying at Marriott's and...
Interesting survey from Hyatt that is perhaps skewed.
I am a Globalist and received the survey. After answering several questions (about 25% based on the line), it stopped. I presume they did not like my answers and cut off the survey.
Therefore I think it will be a "goody goody" survey done by an "outside" company.
I am a Globalist, but I am not staying at Hyatt's, I am staying at Marriott's and Hiltons. My protest against Hyatt management is due to severe prejudice I suffered from Hyatt management, which they did not resolve.
I suffered it once before with Hilton and finally Chris Nassetta got personally involved and solved it. I was angry with Hilton but his phone call created goodwill. In this case, the abusive behaviour of their VP in Europe Michel Morauw was overlooked by USA President Edan Ballentine and CEO Mark Hoplamazian. They sided with Morauw instead of investigating the incident, disregarded my proof to them. So I stopped staying at Hyatt. That is 150-200 nights a year since 2020 to 2025.
I was going to try Thomas Pritzker, but we know his recent circumstances.
Look for a very "favorable" survey for Hyatt.
Buying World of Hyatt Globalist status cheaply in places like Yantai, China without actual stays—and believing that its value won’t drop—is a foolish idea, right?
Not the way it works. It’s based on actual spend, not number of nights
Hyatt has presented Globalist as a class act with high quality benefits that offer value. That worked with me. I've been Globalist since the level was initiated and consistently chose Hyatt hotels that were sub optimal in some way to keep going with that loyalty and status. Now Hyatt has effectively turned to static award pricing, has normally adjusted the vast majority of hotel categories to a higher cost, has consistently refused to make the...
Hyatt has presented Globalist as a class act with high quality benefits that offer value. That worked with me. I've been Globalist since the level was initiated and consistently chose Hyatt hotels that were sub optimal in some way to keep going with that loyalty and status. Now Hyatt has effectively turned to static award pricing, has normally adjusted the vast majority of hotel categories to a higher cost, has consistently refused to make the desperately needed update for FNC's to go from category 1-4 to category 1-5 to belatedly keep up at least partially with category inflation, and now threatens to wipe out a huge amount of the value of top tier status for their most loyal guests. Perhaps I'm being simplistic but I'm really not seeing anything at all that makes WOH more beneficial as a whole to guests with these changes.
Honestly, I hope they do this. Hyatt is like a toxic partner. Treating us worse for our loyalty every year, seeing if we leave or not.
As a lifetime globalist I would hope they would keep us st whatever level is “higher”. We have earned it with loyalty to the brand
I hope so too but it won’t happen. The super new tier ‘Galaxist’? Will need to be much better for those members LTGs are small fry going forwards
It's gonna be a bloodbath when lifetime globalists have their benefits cut lol
All that time and money (well ok mostly OPM probably) staying in crappy Hyatt hotels chasing soon to be worthless lifetime status
I think the biggest perk they could offer, at this rate, is firing whomever in leadership is considering "improvements" to their program. I'd happily place my name on their pink slip.
I am $10,000 in spending before gaining lifetime globalist. I had a few bookings lined up this year to get there.
If Hyatt is going to commit Bonvoy Harakiri then I would rather take that money and go Virtuoso.
Absolutely ridiculous if it happens. Ironically I had qualified for Starwood Lifetime platinum the month Marriott took over
The small Hyatt footprint is already challenging, even at the globalist level. The company needs to realize that they simply do not have the footprint of a Marriott. The loyalty program and the globalist benefits provided some good incentives to still go out of your way and seek out a Hyatt in the past, but it looks increasingly like this incentive won't be there in the future. I'm sure they're modeling this, so perhaps it...
The small Hyatt footprint is already challenging, even at the globalist level. The company needs to realize that they simply do not have the footprint of a Marriott. The loyalty program and the globalist benefits provided some good incentives to still go out of your way and seek out a Hyatt in the past, but it looks increasingly like this incentive won't be there in the future. I'm sure they're modeling this, so perhaps it doesn't matter and they'll make up for it in some other way.
Hyatt sadly is just following the lead of Hilton and Marriott to discouraging loyalty, especially from their mid- and lower-tier guests. The obscene amount of points those two brand charge for some middling properties is beyond belief.
I guess it was inevitable, but as a lifelong Hyatt loyalist I'm glad to be nearing the end of my major travel days if these changes do indeed get implemented.
They have fallen in to the Marriott trap of listening to the owners and not the guests.
In my experience, (meaningful) upgrades are nonexistent and the value of Globalist status, at least for me, is largely the waived resort fee and free parking (the latter is for any award stays, regardless of status I think).
Folks also nèed to consider the layoffs and white collar travel slowdown.
That will impact the occupancy rates for all hotel chains and subsequently the bigger chains will compete for limited and restrained revenue dollars.
I assume Hyatt/Hilton will need to sweeten the pot for paying customers and not other way around. Lets see how it pans out.
This is something people don't talk about. Many of the white-collar road warriors have never resumed travel anywhere near pre-covid levels. I know many of former road warriors in consulting and business development who before covid could fly out to the West Coast to wine-and-dine a client. Nobody is doing that now, at least once the contract is signed. I know others whose company used to send a dozen workers to a trade show or convention. Now they may send six.
That is great. The less of these freeloading "status" holding people are out there, the better.
I could see them using a combination of earnings based on how much you spend on hotel rates as well as a ratio based on how much you spend on the credit card. I earn on Alaska, so a program like that (and similar to other airlines and programs) where you earn 1 point per dollar spent on hotels and maybe 1 point per 3 spent on the card (and with a premium card, maybe...
I could see them using a combination of earnings based on how much you spend on hotel rates as well as a ratio based on how much you spend on the credit card. I earn on Alaska, so a program like that (and similar to other airlines and programs) where you earn 1 point per dollar spent on hotels and maybe 1 point per 3 spent on the card (and with a premium card, maybe a 1:2 ratio). It just seems so many programs are going this route. To be clear, I am quite happy with the status quo and pretty upset with the award chart changes. So much so I've cut the spending on my Hyatt card about 90%.
I typically stay about 30-40 nights and use my cc to get up to 60-70 each night. Depending on how it's set up, I'd be okay with having a minimum night requirement for status (maybe half the nights, so 30 for current Globalist) and you can make up the rest with cc spend.
I too find huge value in waived destination fees as a Globalist (and some for the parking, but we often don't rent a car). That saves hundreds/thousands of dollars a year. Cutting that will really drive away a big incentive to stay loyal to Hyatt.
My prediction:
Credit card that gives you globalist
Globalist loses some perks
New tier is the old globalist with
a couple token things thrown in
The free parking benefit ensures that I don't ever consider any other hotel brands when staying in a city.
Having a milestone reward reduce from peak to standard pricing would be hugely valuable. 2 of those a year and I would have much less issue with the new award chart
One problem with linking loyalty program status to dollars spent is international pricing. Hotels are cheaper in Asia and the Middle East—the very markets where Marriott, IHG, Hyatt, and others are expanding. It’s legitimately difficult to spend $23,000 a year and qualify for Marriott Ambassador status if you’re based entirely outside North America or Western Europe. Likewise, domestically, Hyatt doesn’t have the footprint to generate $20,000+ a year from elites seeking top-tier status.
Let’s look...
One problem with linking loyalty program status to dollars spent is international pricing. Hotels are cheaper in Asia and the Middle East—the very markets where Marriott, IHG, Hyatt, and others are expanding. It’s legitimately difficult to spend $23,000 a year and qualify for Marriott Ambassador status if you’re based entirely outside North America or Western Europe. Likewise, domestically, Hyatt doesn’t have the footprint to generate $20,000+ a year from elites seeking top-tier status.
Let’s look at a typical road warrior in a white-collar job—consulting, business development, and so on. Assume they take one week of vacation at a luxury property: $700 per night for seven nights, or $4,900. They then stay another 40 nights at Hyatt Place or Hyatt House properties at an average rate of $170, totaling $6,800. (Hyatt’s systemwide average daily rate is around $200–$204, but that includes Park Hyatt and other higher-end brands.) Add 10 nights at a Hyatt Regency at $200 per night, or $2,000.
At this point, we’re at 57 nights and $13,700 in spending.
Now add another five nights at a Grand Hyatt for an annual business meeting or trade show at $300 per night, or $1,500. That brings the yearly total to 62 actual, butt-in-bed nights and $15,200 in spending.
Marriott can extract $23,000 from Ambassador members because it has far more Sheraton, Westin, Renaissance, Marriott, and JW Marriott properties than Hyatt has Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt. Hyatt’s growth over the past five years has been almost entirely limited to all-inclusives, resorts and limited-service brands, like Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. It simply doesn’t have enough full-service, business-oriented four-star hotels to support that kind of spending threshold.
This “survey” coming on the heels of the most recent point devaluation really is a harbinger of a somber future with Hyatt. Agree with all that Hyatt’s small footprint forced them to be more “generous”. Not really sure much has changed with the footprint, but do suspect Hyatt is facing increasing pressure from corporate and hotel owners to “tighten” the program and increase profits…..like every other loyalty program.
We’ve enjoyed the perks of Courtesy Card...
This “survey” coming on the heels of the most recent point devaluation really is a harbinger of a somber future with Hyatt. Agree with all that Hyatt’s small footprint forced them to be more “generous”. Not really sure much has changed with the footprint, but do suspect Hyatt is facing increasing pressure from corporate and hotel owners to “tighten” the program and increase profits…..like every other loyalty program.
We’ve enjoyed the perks of Courtesy Card for 12 plus years now and have seen minimal changes with that program. In that time, we’ve also developed personal relationships with many properties and expect we would continue to enjoy perks at these hotels regardless of status. No doubt based on our spend (a combination of work and leisure) we would qualify for any new tier; however, not sure this would be better than CC and in the event we lose CC status, we soft land at lifetime Globalist.
For the time being, we plan to continue our loyalty to Hyatt as the benefits still are far better than Hilton/Marriott/IHG. We also accept that those benefits will continue to decrease….its no different than what the airlines have done as well as most other loyalty programs…(Starbucks, LOL). I suspect, like many others, we eventually will become free agents, particularly after full retirement, and simply pay for what we want…..what a novel concept!!
* You * have, * you * plan etc.
The royal "we" is wildly unbecoming, honey. And your poor imaginary wife can speak for herself.
What a dick comment, “Mona”
Nice try, HONEY! I don’t have a wife, real or imaginary and WE certainly are not ROYALTY! WE do make a great team navigating this thing called LIFE together. Go crawl back under your rock or troll someone else……..YAWN!!!
I hope Hyatt doesn’t lose their way. I stay 80-90 nights a year with them, but always have to go out of my way to stay at their hotels. It’s a small chain compared to Hilton or Marriott. If they dilute the offerings too much, I’ll just choose the ease of Marriott’s locations.
Also, as a biz traveler, I like club lounges. So many Hyatt regency’s have shut them down, whereas Marriott has an M-club in almost every Marriott.
Hyatt ran a similar survey in a closed group (was part of it) last summer.
I think at the moment they are testing with the survey how far they can go, before their customers move away.
If they get enough bad feedback, they might reconsider.
Get rid of the "concierge"?
My concierge is available during limited times (I get it, she hasta have her own life). But as long as I get elevated service from someone, I am quite satisfied.
Also, the Concierge hours have in general been cut back somewhat (and phone service late at night is non-existent).
I can’t believe how quickly Hyatt is destroying their brand loyalty–especially among elites. They’re really going to blow up Globalist within only about six months of completely ruining their award chart? If the points become worthless and status perks become less valuable, why stay with Hyatt? Becoming a free agent with Marriott, Hilton or IHG would save considerable money and yield better locations. Thank god I kept most of my points with Chase and only...
I can’t believe how quickly Hyatt is destroying their brand loyalty–especially among elites. They’re really going to blow up Globalist within only about six months of completely ruining their award chart? If the points become worthless and status perks become less valuable, why stay with Hyatt? Becoming a free agent with Marriott, Hilton or IHG would save considerable money and yield better locations. Thank god I kept most of my points with Chase and only transfer to Hyatt when needed.
Even Marriott waited over a year after taking over SPG before they Bonvoyed everything.
All of these programs have finally woken up and smelled the coffee. All of these programs have come to the realization that the only metric that matters is revenue. Hobbyists tend to be a very small percentage of revenue yet are the largest individual consumers of benefits. The programs are aligning benefits with revenue. I'm not saying anyone has to like it. But, I understand why they're doing it.
Agreed. Hyatt wasnt being "generous" with their globalist tier. They needed to do it to compensate for their smaller footprint. And guess what? It worked on me. I deliberately stay at Hyatts a little further out than comparable Hiltons and Marriotts because of the value that their loyalty program provides.
Already, their points are basically equivalent to Hilton, when looking at it as a discount per dollar spent (you get more points with Hilton...
Agreed. Hyatt wasnt being "generous" with their globalist tier. They needed to do it to compensate for their smaller footprint. And guess what? It worked on me. I deliberately stay at Hyatts a little further out than comparable Hiltons and Marriotts because of the value that their loyalty program provides.
Already, their points are basically equivalent to Hilton, when looking at it as a discount per dollar spent (you get more points with Hilton but each is worth less, and at the end it balances out to and the same per dollar spent).
Without the nice loyalty program to tip the scales, I'll probably shift over to Hilton, including cancelling my hyatt card and getting a Hilton one. I travel for work about 100 nights a year. I've stayed with hyatt even after hitting 60 nights just because I do feel I continue to get value from the program.
After devaluing the points, if they also gut the loyalty program, I'll become a free agent but which will probably end up being predominantly Hilton because they happen to have the most convenient hotels where I work.
"Already, their points are basically equivalent to Hilton, when looking at it as a discount per dollar spent (you get more points with Hilton but each is worth less, and at the end it balances out to and the same per dollar spent"
But many of us get Hyatt points thru Ultimate Rewards transfer making Hyatt points 3X Marriott and 4X IHG/Hilton.
The enshitification continues.
I’m glad I’m burning the last of my Hyatt points this week at various Park Hyatt properties. Hyatt doesn’t have the footprint like Marriott and Hilton to run a program similar to theirs.
I’ve had to go out of my way to keep globalist staying at places like the Grand Hyatt in Barcelona instead of my preferred hotel location and amenity wise (Edition).
Thanks for making it easier for me. One less program to worry about.
What a milquetoast post about value destruction for a guy who speed ran to $200,000 spend with Hyatt
@ Stvr -- It took me about 15 years to reach lifetime Globalist, including periods where I lived in hotels full time. So I wouldn't really call that "speed running." And I'm sharing my take here, but obviously just because something is surveyed doesn't mean it will become a reality.
What a predictable comment from a Millennial or Gen Z. Deal with it.
IT has started.
The Globalist concierge is a farce. It takes 2-3 days to get a response. There’s no real 24/7/365 coverage either, unlike Marriott’s ambassador.
I don’t see how Hyatt could require 100 nights for top-tier status because their foot print is still challenging. Maybe 60 or 75 actual butt-in-bed nights for globalist.
I think we’re most likely to see a revenue requirement for whatever the top tier of published status is. Hyatt already tracks eligible spending....
The Globalist concierge is a farce. It takes 2-3 days to get a response. There’s no real 24/7/365 coverage either, unlike Marriott’s ambassador.
I don’t see how Hyatt could require 100 nights for top-tier status because their foot print is still challenging. Maybe 60 or 75 actual butt-in-bed nights for globalist.
I think we’re most likely to see a revenue requirement for whatever the top tier of published status is. Hyatt already tracks eligible spending. They just don’t have it tied to anything. I think that changes since it is in keeping with industry-wide loyalty program trends.
I really wish Hyatt would focus on improving tangible benefits for globalist or whatever the top tier is called. Specifically at Hyatt Place and Hyatt House properties where two bottles of water a day just doesn’t cut it.
How about improving hotel operations? Club lounges are supposed to be brand standards at Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt. And yet even Hyatt corporate-operated properties don’t have lounges. If they aren’t going to require a lounge anymore then they need to provide something to globalists more than just a restaurant breakfast. Especially at the Hyatt Regencies that only offer a pathetic breakfast buffet, like the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center and Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment.
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Totally agree on the club lounges. The brands are meaningless anymore. If it's a Hyatt Regency, it should have a Regency Club.