World of Hyatt Loyalty Program Changes - New Milestone Rewards, Transferrable Guest of Honor Awards, and Everything You Need to Know
World of Hyatt is one of my favourite hotel loyalty programs and even though it is commonly being criticised for a having a small footprint in some parts of the world, it is one of the most consistent programs for frequent travellers with benefits that are frequently delivered in the best possible way. World of Hyatt will be introducing some new changes from 01 January 2024 and members will soon be able to earn more milestone rewards (and share them with friends and family members), as well as earn even more points along the way.
Photo Credit: Carmel Valley Ranch - The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
More Milestone Rewards
Milestone Rewards are a fantastic way to pick up additional points and awards along the way - World of Hyatt is one of the most generous hotel loyalty programs in the market, offering members the opportunity to pick up free night stays, bonus points, guaranteed suite upgrade awards, club access awards, and FIND experience credit along the way. Milestone Rewards are currently capped at 100 elite-qualifying nights per calendar year but this will soon change in 2024.
| Milestone Rewards | ||
| Nights/Points | Current (2023) |
New (from 2024) |
| 20 Nights or 35K Base Points |
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| 30 Nights or 50K Base Points |
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| 40 Nights or 65K Base Points |
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| 50 Nights or 80K Base Points |
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| 60 Nights or 100K Base Points |
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| 70 Nights |
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| 80 Nights |
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| 90 Nights |
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| 100 Nights |
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| 110 Nights | - |
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| 120 Nights | - |
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| 130 Nights | - |
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| 140 Nights | - |
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| 150 Nights | - |
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Starting from 01 January 2024, World of Hyatt members will be able to earn Milestone Rewards starting from 20 elite-qualifying nights (or 35,000 Base Points - essentially USD 7,000 spent) and every 10 subsequent qualifying nights, up to 150 nights.
Transferrable Awards
All Club Lounge Access, Guest of Honor, Suite Night, and Free Night Awards can be transferred once to a different World of Hyatt member's account - you may only do this once. As Globalist members already have access to Club Lounges, Club Lounge Access awards are only useful when they have multiple rooms on the same stay. Starting from 01 January 2024, you will be able to transfer these awards to a friend or family member so they can enjoy additional benefits even when they are not traveling with you.
Guest of Honor Award
The Guest of Honor benefit in the World of Hyatt program is undoubtedly one of the best features of the loyalty program as it allows non-Globalist members to enjoy all the Globalist perks on a stay for up to 7 nights. Currently, Globalist members can make a Guest of Honor booking (on points only) for other members but starting from 2024, you will be able to apply a Guest of Honor Award on both paid and point stays. While you will not be able to make unlimited Guest of Honor bookings starting from 2024 (since you will require a Guest of Honor Award and you can only earn up to 10 of such awards in a given calendar year), being able to transfer them and apply them even on eligible cash rates make them a whole lot more valuable.
Photo Credit: Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono
As a quick reminder, Guest of Honor Awards may be applied only to reservations at a participating Park Hyatt, Miraval, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Centric, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Thompson Hotels, Alila (some locations only), JdV by Hyatt, Dream (some locations only), Destination by Hyatt (both participating Destination Hotels and participating Destination Residences locations), Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Vivid, Impression by Secrets, Secrets, Breathless, Zoëtry, Alua, Sunscape, or other Legacy AMR Collection (some locations only) hotel or resort. Not valid at Hyatt Vacation Club properties.
Travel Professionals will Benefit More
Starting from 2024, travel professionals who are corporate meeting planners, or luxury travel advisors will be able to benefit from the loyalty program changes. Planners who are also World of Hyatt members will earn two elite-qualifying nights (up to 60 nights) for every $5,000 that they spend in a calendar year. The ability to qualify based on the number of meetings will be discontinued in 2024.
Conclusion
While some may argue that the upcoming World of Hyatt changes might not benefit existing Globalists (since it essentially opens up a black market opportunity for elite members to sell these valuable awards), it does change the dynamic of this program and it is funny how the Club Lounge Awards are suddenly valuable again (since they will soon be transferrable). Overall, the upcoming changes are quite positive in my opinion and I would be sharing which Milestone Rewards to go for in a different article.
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