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I recognise that most readers of InsideFlyer UK do not pay much attention to Hyatt hotels. The footprint is simply too small to be relevant for most European travel patterns; there is also no way to build up points from a British / European credit card. And now that qualification for Globalist status – the top tier at World of Hyatt after the changeover from Hyatt Gold Passport – requires sixty nights per year, it is close to impossible for most Europeans to reach those lofty heights (and those precious complimentary suite upgrades). And if reaching 60 nights wasn’t difficult enough, award nights did not count. Crazy! But finally this is changing…

As of 1 January, 2018, all free night awards will count towards elite status. This includes stays booked using points, as well as free nights using certificates. As a reminder, World of Hyatt members can book an award night starting at 5,000 points per night. They can also earn:

• A free night certificate valid at a Category 1-4 hotel for staying 30 nights in a calendar year
• A free night certificate valid at any Hyatt hotel (Category 1-7) for staying 60 nights in a calendar year
• A free night certificate valid at a Category 1-4 hotel for staying at five different brands (over the member’s lifetime, starting from 1 March 2017) – since Hyatt has 12 brands, you could potentially earn two such certificates,  as Joe wrote about back in February.

Besides the fact that award nights will now help you on your way to qualifying or re-qualifying for Hyatt status, another improvement has been made to World of Hyatt. In 2017, those two free night certificates that can be earned annually (the first two mentioned above) expired after 120 days. Many members complained about this being far too short to take proper advantage. So, in a purely customer-friendly change, certificates earned in 2018 and beyond will be valid for 180 days.

The Bottom Line

It feels somewhat strange to be excited about a change that merely brings World of Hyatt into line with the other major hotel chains, all of whom treat award nights as valid for elite status purposes. But it should make it substantially easier to qualify for elite status as:

• I can count on two or three elite status nights per year being completely free, thanks to the free night certificates
• I can stay at any convenient Hyatt hotel with standard room availability, rather than being forced to look for Points + Cash availability or to pay an excessive cash rate.

Now, hopefully World of Hyatt management will move on to sorting out some of the other issues that make World of Hyatt a “dis-loyalty” programme…