If you’ve ever wanted to earn World of Hyatt Globalist status, right now is your time. With Hyatt slashing the requirements to earn status in 2021 combined with a few different promotions and World of Hyatt Credit Card offer — earning status can be obtained in as little as 9 nights! Complete a few mattress runs and status can be yours for close to nothing.
New 2021 status qualifications
Earlier this month, Hyatt announced that they would cut their normal requirements in half to earn status. Typically, you need 60 nights in a calendar year to earn Globalist status, but for just 2021, that amount has been reduced to just 30 nights.
Reduced 2021 World of Hyatt elite status qualifications include:Â
- Discoverist – Stay five Tier-Qualifying Nights or earn 12,500 Base Points
- Explorist – Stay 15 Tier-Qualifying Nights or earn 25,000 Base Points
- Globalist – Stay 30 Tier-Qualifying Nights or earn 50,000 Base Points
Nights count double
While 30 nights still might be quite challenging for many in 2021, Hyatt has extended their Bonus Journey Promotion, which means stays through Feb. 28, 2021 count double towards 2021 status. If you complete a stay in 2020, that means you’ll earn one night towards status in 2020 and 2021, but if you complete a stay in the first two months of 2021, you’ll earn two nights towards your 2021 stay.
That means you only need to complete 15 nights in Jan. or Feb. of 2021 since they’ll be doubled and give you the 30 nights required for Globalist status.
The Hyatt credit card earns you nights
But it gets better!
Existing World of Hyatt Credit Card (or Hyatt Credit Card) cardmembers earn 5 nights towards status. If you are already a cardmember, that means you only need 25 nights to earn Globalist status in 2021. Complete those stays in the first two months of the year, you’ll only need 13 nights.
Now, if you do not yet have their co-branded credit card, earning status can be even easier! Those who apply for a new World of Hyatt Credit Card by the end of Dec. 31, 2021 will earn 10 qualifying nights in 2020 and 2021.
So if you are going for status in 2021 and you are approved for the World of Hyatt Credit Card, that 30 night requirement is automatically brought down to just 20 nights. Again, complete those nights in the first two months of the year and you are looking at just 10 nights needed to secure Globalist status.
But really, you only need 9 nights
One of the perks of the World of Hyatt Credit Card is that you receive two elite qualifying nights for every $5,000 you spend on the card. Assuming you’ll meet the minimum spend requirement for the welcome offer, that will automatically earn you 2 nights. Of course you can earn more nights with additional credit card spend, but for the simple math, I am assuming you are only going to spend $6,000 on the card.
With the 10 night bonus with the card and the 2 additional nights for spending $5,000 on the card, you are down to only needing 18 more nights to earn Globalist status. That means just 9 nights needed in Jan. and Feb. of 2021 and Globalist status is yours!
Complete a mattress run
Even if you are not traveling in Jan. or Feb. of 2021, you still might find that securing Globalist status is well worth it. Especially since you’ll earn this status through the end of 2022.
To earn the required nights needed — between 9 and 13 nights depending on your situation — you can check into a hotel for the full number of nights needed and not actually stay at the property. Or, enjoy a staycation near home.
To do this, you can pay with cash or use points. Yes, using points counts as a qualifying stay towards status.
If you are going the mattress run route — which means staying at a property where you do not actually need to stay — you’ll want to find a property with the lowest rate available or a category 1 property that only costs 5,000 points per night.
I was able to find a property that costs $51 a night, which means a 9 night stay with taxes and fees is $505 total. This would be your total out of pocket cost for your mattress run. But, with you the current 3x points on points earned that will earn you 6,800 points (in this example), or even more if you already have status.
Or, you can redeem your points at a category 1 property for just 5,000 points a night. But again, it gets better! Hyatt is also running a promotion where card members will earn 25% of their points back when redeemed for stays through Feb. 28, 2021. This brings your net cost down to only 3,750 per night. For a 9 night stay, that means you are spending just 33,750 points to secure Globalist status — an amount that is definitely worth it in my opinion.
Overall
This is a great opportunity for everyone to secure Globalist status — regardless if you have the World of Hyatt Credit Card or not. But, for those that don’t, this truly might be the right time to consider the card. Just remember though, you must apply by Dec. 31, 2020.
I personally already earned Globalist status in 2020, which was extended another year, but I really want to continue with this status for 2022 as well. Since we aren’t traveling right now due to COVID-19 and travel next year will also be minimal, this is the best way for my family to earn status. Usually we earn it due to my husbands work travel, but that will be non-existent next year.
Since we already have the credit card, we will need 25 nights to secure status in 2021. We do use our Hyatt credit card and I am going to assume we will put $15,000 on the card to earn the category 1-4 free night benefit. This spend will earn us another 6 nights towards status (for every $5,000 spend on the card you earn 2 nights towards status). This brings our total nights down to 19. We then recently completed a three-night stay at a Hyatt property (driving distance), which means we are down to 16 more nights required for 2021. I am going to assume we are going to stay 6 nights in 2021 during the second half of the year, which means we will only need 10 more nights. That means in our situation we only need to complete 5 nights in in Jan. or Feb. to get those 10 nights.
Keep in mind though earning status will still not earn you all of the Hyatt milestone benefits, just as confirmed suite upgrades. Those benefits are earned when hitting the same number of nights that have always been in place.
What is your plan for securing status?
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This is a great article – thank you! I just signed up for the card. Since I have to spend 6K anyway, I was going to go ahead and spend 15K for the extra free night. Just so I understand though – If I do 15K on the card, then I’ll have the whole year to do that and will only need to stay 7 nights instead of 9 in Jan/Feb to earn Globalist, correct?
Yes, you will have the whole year to spend the $15k to earn the free night certificate (cat 1-4). If you plane on spending $15k, that will earn you 6 nights towards status, which means you only need 7 nights in Jan/Feb. Your understanding is absolutely correct!
Hi. Is there a quantity limit on earning the free night certificates (category 1-4) during the 12 months per $15k spending? Does the free certificate has an expiration date?Thank you.
@Christine – You can only earn 1 free night a year. (Although for existing cardmembers for this year only there is a way to earn 2 certificates in 2021). The expiration date is 1-year from when it is deposited into your account.
This is a friendly reminder to everyone out there to ALWAYS register for these types of promotions, even if you don’t foresee using.
Due to weather events last week, I was delayed 5 days getting home (thanks to Chase travel delay coverage we should get $3k coverage with family of 6). We ended up in Arizona for these 5 days and booked all Hyatts as we traveled (Sedona is awesome!). When we returned, I did a quick mattress run check-in for 5 days.
Similar to Jen, I already have card and plan to charge the $15k over next few months to earn free night reward.
Between the Amex/Chase offers for Hyatt, Brand Explorer promo, ongoing Hyatt promotions, etc. this turned out to be a fun way to get Discoverist status.