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.

Click HERE for the full list of changes that are coming to the World of Hyatt loyalty program in 2024!

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
  • 2 Club Lounge Access Awards
  • 2 Club Lounge Access Awards; or 2K Next Stay Award (Select Hotels); $25 FIND Experience Credit
30 Nights or 50K Base Points
  • Category 1-4 Free Night Award
  • 2 Club Lounge Access Awards
  • Category 1-4 Free Night Award
  • 2 Club Lounge Access Awards; or 2K Next Stay Award (Select Hotels); $25 FIND Experience Credit
40 Nights or 65K Base Points
  • 5,000 Bonus Points; or $100 Hyatt Gift Card; or S$150 FIND experience credit
  • 1 Guest of Honor Award
  • 5,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Upgrade Award; or $150 FIND Experience Credit
50 Nights or 80K Base Points
  • 2 Suite Night Awards
  • 2 Suite Night Awards; or 5,000 Bonus Points; $150 FIND Experience Credit
60 Nights or 100K Base Points
  • Category 1-7 Free Night Award
  • 2 Suite Upgrade Awards
  • My Hyatt Concierge
  • Category 1-7 Free Night Award
  • 2 Suite Upgrade Awards
  • 2 Guest of Honor Awards
  • My Hyatt Concierge
70 Nights
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award
  • 1 Guest of Honor Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or $300 FIND Experience Credit 
80 Nights
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award
  • 1 Guest of Honor Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or $300 FIND Experience Credit 
90 Nights
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award
  • 1 Guest of Honor Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or $300 FIND Experience Credit 
100 Nights
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award
  • Category 1-7 Free Night Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or Miraval Extra Night Award
110 Nights -
  • 1 Guest of Honor Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or Miraval Extra Night Award
120 Nights -
  • 1 Guest of Honor Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or Miraval Extra Night Award
130 Nights -
  • 1 Guest of Honor Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or Miraval Extra Night Award
140 Nights -
  • 1 Guest of Honor Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or Miraval Extra Night Award
150 Nights -
  • Category 1-8 Ultimate Free Night Award
  • 10,000 Bonus Points; or 1 Suite Night Award; or Miraval Extra Night Award

 

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.