I’ve been a loyal Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member for years, and it looks like Hyatt is making some major changes to the program. Major changes. Starting next year Hyatt Gold Passport will cease to exist, and World of Hyatt will be Hyatt’s new loyalty program.
To sum it up, these changes are great news if you’re someone who spends 55+ nights per year at Hyatt properties, while they’re bad news if you’re a Diamond member who barely squeezes by on 25 stays per year.
I should also mention that these changes are insignificant if you’re a casual Hyatt guest. There are no changes to the number of points you earn for stays, or the number of points needed to redeem for a free night. That’s why below we’ll focus mostly on changes to elite status, since that’s what’s changing most.
Matthew leaked the details of this new program earlier today, though they’re now official, and I just had the chance to hop on the phone with Jeff Zidell (president of Hyatt Gold Passport) to discuss them.
The old Hyatt Gold Passport program
Before I talk too much about the new program, let’s recap the current Gold Passport program benefits:
| Membership | Platinum | Diamond | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification | Upon enrollment | 5 eligible stays or 15 eligible nights each calendar year | 25 eligible stays or 50 eligible nights each calendar year |
| Points earned for every eligible U.S. dollar spent | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Point bonus when choosing points | N/A | 15% | 30% |
| Premium Internet access where available | Standard | Premium | Premium |
| Better room upon arrival, based on availability | N/A | Higher floor, larger room | Best room, excluding suites |
| Guaranteed room availability | N/A | 72-hour guarantee | 48-hour guarantee |
| Late check out request | N/A | 2:00PM | 4:00PM |
| Regency Club® or Grand Club® lounge access, including breakfast | N/A | N/A | Enjoy daily complimentary full breakfast in hotels without a club lounge |
| Suite upgrade awards on eligible paid nights | N/A | N/A | 4 annually |
| Welcome amenity at check-in | N/A | N/A | Receive a special point bonus or food and beverage amenity during each stay |
I want to briefly mention a few of the key points, which will be significant in relation to Hyatt’s new loyalty program:
- There are only two elite tiers; Platinum status has very limited benefits, so really there’s only one worthwhile tier
- You can qualify for top tier Diamond status on either 25 stays or 50 nights
- Diamond members receive four confirmed suite upgrades per year, each of which can be used to confirm an upgrade to a suite for up to six nights at the time of booking
- When not using a confirmed suite upgrade, Diamond members receive upgrades to the best available rooms, excluding suites
With that out of the way, let’s talk about Hyatt’s new loyalty program.
The new World of Hyatt program
As of March 1, 2017, Hyatt Gold Passport will be renamed World of Hyatt, and we’ll see a lot of changes. Not to overwhelm you guys, but here’s a chart with what the new program will look like (below that I’ll talk more about what this means in practice):
| Member | Discoverist | Explorist | Globalist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points earned for every eligible U.S. dollar spent | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Point bonus when choosing points | N/A | 10% | 20% | 30% |
| Free night at Category 1-4 award | • After staying at 5 unique brands (Keep in mind there are currently only 11 brands, so this is capped at two awards) | • After staying at 5 different brands (Keep in mind there are currently only 11 brands, so this is capped at two awards) | • After staying at 5 different brands • After completing 30 eligible nights (must be consumed within 120 days) | • After staying at 5 different brands • After completing 60 eligible nights (up to Category 7, but must be consumed within 120 days) |
| Complimentary Internet access where available | Standard | Premium | Premium | Premium |
| Better room upon arrival, based on availability | N/A | Preferred room within the room type booked | Best room, excluding club level & suites | Best room, including standard suites |
| Regency Club® or Grand Club® lounge access, including breakfast | N/A | N/A | 4 Club Lounge Access Awards, can be used on award nights or eligible paid stays | Enjoy daily complimentary full breakfast in hotels without a club lounge for up to two adults and two children |
| Waived resort fees | On all free night awards | On all free night awards | On all free night awards | On all free night awards and eligible paid stays |
| Complimentary bottle of water | One bottle daily | One bottle daily | One bottle daily | One bottle daily |
| Guaranteed room availability | N/A | N/A | 72-hour guarantee | 48-hour guarantee |
| Late check out request | N/A | 2:00PM | 2:00PM | 4:00PM |
Three elite tiers, rather than two
Hyatt has long had just Diamond and Platinum status, with the latter not being especially valuable. Now there are three elite tiers — Discoverist, Explorist, and Globalist.
Explorist members can now upgrade to the club lounge at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
Now you can qualify on spend, not stays
Hyatt Gold Passport lets you qualify for status based on the number of nights you stay or the number of stays you make. A stay is defined as one check-in and check-out, so a 10 night stay at one hotel would earn you 10 elite qualifying nights and one elite qualifying stay.
Diamond status takes 25 stays or 50 nights. Under the new program, you can no longer qualify for status based on stays, but rather you’ll have to qualify based on either the number of nights you stay, or the amount you spend on your stays. There’s no change to what counts as an “eligible stay,” which is to say that free night awards still won’t count towards status.
In practice here’s how you can qualify for the three new elite tiers:
| Discoverist | Explorist | Globalist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification | 10 eligible nights | 30 eligible nights | 60 eligible nights |
| Option base points | 25,000 ($5,000) | 50,000 ($10,000) | 100,000 ($20,000) |
On one hand this is a much more rational method of qualification. It’s sort of ridiculous that someone spending $1,000 per night at a top Park Hyatt needs to stay the same number of nights to qualify for status as someone spending $80 per night at a Hyatt Place.
On the other hand, this means that for those qualifying on 25 stays and 25 nights per year, qualification requirements for status are more than doubling.
All members can earn free nights for trying different brands
Unrelated to qualifying for status, Hyatt is giving all members an incentive to try their different brands. Beginning March 1, 2017, members can earn free night certificates for trying different Hyatt brands:
- Earn one free Category 1-4 night after trying five different Hyatt brands
- Earn another free Category 1-4 night after trying another five different Hyatt brands
This isn’t retroactive, so your counter starts as of March 1, 2017. Furthermore, only eligible stays count towards this total, which would include paid status and Points + Cash stays. This is also a one time thing, so you can’t earn this annually.
Redeem your Category 1-4 free night at the Grand Hyatt Santiago
All top tier members get a free night at any hotel
Hyatt is excited about the changes to the program, so on March 1, 2017, they’ll be giving all of their top tier Globalist members a free night valid at any Category 1-7 hotel. That includes all Hyatt properties. Awesome!
Redeem your Category 1-7 free night at the Park Hyatt Maldives
Looking more closely at Hyatt’s top tier status
I’m guessing those most impacted by these changes will be Hyatt top tier members, so let’s look more closely at what exactly is changing there:
- Top tier members now receive unlimited suite upgrades on all stays, subject to availability at check-in (previously they only got upgraded to the best available room other than suites)
- You now receive a Category 1-4 free night when you qualify for Explorist status, and receive a Category 1-7 free night when you qualify for Globalist status; these can be earned year after year including when you requalify, though these certificates need to be used within 120 days of when they’re earned
- Globalist members won’t pay resort fees, regardless of whether they’re on a paid or award stay
- Globalist members continue to get lounge access, and if they don’t have a lounge, members get restaurant breakfast for two adults and two children; however, members will no longer get 2,500 bonus points in the event that a club lounge is closed, though they still get free restaurant breakfast
- Globalist members get four confirmed suite upgrades, which are now valid on all stays, including free night stays (previously they were valid only on cash and Points + Cash stays
- Globalist members get free parking on free night stays (not on cash stays or Points + Cash stays)
- You’ll now receive your four annual confirmed suite upgrades as soon as you requalify for status, and they’ll be valid for 12 months from when they’re issued
- Guest of Honor benefits will continue with World of Hyatt
- Globalist members will continue to receive two complimentary United Club passes annually
- After qualifying for Globalist status, you’ll get further benefits at 70 nights, 80 nights, 90 nights, and 100 nights; you’ll have the choice between 10,000 bonus points or a further confirmed suite upgrade at each tier
- Once you’ve already qualified for Globalist status, you’ll only need 55 nights to requalify
- Globalist members will no longer receive the 1,000 point welcome amenity
Redeem a confirmed suite upgrade on an award stay at the Park Hyatt Vienna
How will the transition work?
As stated above, Hyatt Gold Passport will turn into World of Hyatt as of March 1, 2017. At that point:
- Those who have requalified for Diamond status for 2017 will receive Globalist status
- Those who were Diamond this year but didn’t requalify for 2017 will receive Explorist status
- Those who requalified for Platinum status for 2017 will receive Discoverist status
- Hyatt will go back through everyone’s 2016 activity, and if you would have qualified under the new criteria in 2016, they’ll upgrade your status (in other words, those who met the revenue requirement but not the nights requirement will get the upgraded status)
Bottom line
WOW! Those are a lot of changes. For non-top tier members, not a lot is changing. You’ll continue to earn and redeem points at the same rates as before.
This is bad news for Diamond members who qualify on stays.
This is great news for high revenue Diamond members, as well as those who qualify on nights. You’ll need 55 nights per year to requalify (five more than before), but for that you’ll receive suite upgrades on all stays subject to availability, two free nights every year (one valid at a Category 1-4 property, and one at a Category 1-7 property), free parking on award stays, etc. On top of that, confirmed suite upgrades will be valid on free night stays. There’s also finally an incremental incentive to stay more nights than are required for top tier status.
What do you make of the new World of Hyatt status?
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