Bet You Didn’t Know: Two Quirks in the Hyatt Changeover That Might Be Mattress Run Worthy

25

By Julian, author of Devil’s Advocate

 

Yesterday’s reveal of the new “World of Hyatt” elite status program lit up the points and miles community, with tons of speculation about winners and losers. I’m sure Greg the Frequent Miler will have some thoughts on it going forward, especially about whether it’s worth pursing the new top-tier Hyatt status.

As for myself, it’s safe to say most folks have no problem choosing which category to put me in. And it has nothing to do with my Hyatt status.

mattress run

But whenever there’s major changes to a loyalty program, there’s also the potential for leveraging those changes, especially during the transition period. In this case, there are a few quirks in the switchover between the old Hyatt elite program and the new one that might be intriguing. So let’s take a look and see what we find.

The new Hyatt elite status chart.

Most other major hotel chains have a basic member status and then 3 elite status levels above that, but for years Hyatt has only had 2 status levels above the basic one – Platinum and Diamond. So it’s not a surprise that the biggest change in the new program is the addition of a third elite tier.

Here are the new Hyatt status tiers, courtesy of One Mile at a Time via our Senior Editor Shawn Coomer at his own blog Miles to Memories

mattress run

As mentioned, the most obvious difference is the number of status levels. While there are a number of changes to the perks, it’s fair to say the old Platinum tier roughly equates to the new Discoverist tier, while Diamond status is now Globalist. It’s the middle tier – the one called Explorist – that’s new to the party.

There are also two specific details being reported about the changeover between the old program and the new one…

  1. The new program will take effect on March 1, 2017, which means the old program will still be in effect through February 28, 2017.
  2. Hyatt will automatically convert folks who earned Platinum status for 2017 to Discoverist, and those who earned Diamond to Globalist. However, when the new program starts, they will also manually go back through all accounts and upgrade anyone who would have earned a different status based on their 2016 nights and spend.

These are the two quirks we want to take a close look at.

Quirk #1: Earning Diamond in two months.

Under the old elite program, you could earn top-tier Hyatt status with either 25 stays or 50 nights during a calendar year. The new program eliminates the option to earn status via stays, so now you’ll need either 60 nights (or 55 if you’re requalifying) or $20,000 in spend at Hyatt, both of which are pretty steep climbs.

However, because the new program doesn’t kick in until March 1st, there is (theoretically) the possibility that you could still qualify for top-tier status using the old “stays” standard in the first two months of 2017 and get Globalist status for both 2017 and all of 2018.

Now, there’s a few problems with that plan, the major one being that you’d have to make 25 separate stays at Hyatts in 59 days.

That’s a lot. As in… a lot, a lot.

There are very few people who travel that much, and almost no one who does it for anything but business trips. Hypothetically though, you could make these 25 stays with “mattress runs.”

mattress run

For folks who might be new readers to Frequent Miler, a mattress run is when you book a stay at a hotel even though you don’t actually need it. You find a low-cost room in the expectation that the points or benefits you’ll gain from elite status will (hopefully) be worth more than the unnecessary hotel stay. You can do the same thing with airline flights, in which case it’s called a “mileage run.”

In this case, it’s unlikely the cost of 25 unneeded stays is worth Globalist status. Perhaps it could make sense if you already have a bunch of actual Hyatt stays planned for January and February and only need a few extra.

But keep in mind you can’t just book the room and not show up. You have to actually check in at the hotel in person for the stay to count. If you don’t, the hotel will chalk you up as a no-show and charge you for the night, but you won’t get the elite credit. Nope, online check in doesn’t count – see my post “Bet You Didn’t Know: Two tricks for chasing Hyatt Diamond status (and 1 that won’t work)” for more details.

On top of all that, it’s not entirely clear from yesterday’s reports that this two month plan will work at all. Our friend Ben at One Mile at a Time believes it will, but our other friend Gary at View From The Wing indicates that January and February 2017 stays will be calculated using the new methods.

I expect Ben and Gary will settle this dispute the way they always settle things – with a three-round steel cage match (I’ll take Gary). Regardless, this doesn’t seem like a great play for leveraging the changeover. [UPDATE a/o 10/28/2016: Our friend Mommy Points has confirmed directly with Hyatt that this method will in fact work, and Gary also adds that Hyatt credit card spend will still count for stay/night credits during the first two months of 2017, which might make this path more feasible. Regardless, I still want to see the cage match.]

mattress run

Quirk #2: Qualifying For 2017 using 2016 activity.

If you’ve done 5 stays or 10 nights at Hyatt by the end of 2016, you’ll automatically get Discoverist status in 2017. If you do 25 stays or 50 nights this year, you’ll get Globalist status.

But what if you’re roughly between those two levels?

Under the old program, that meant nothing. However, since Hyatt will review your 2016 activity and upgrade your 2017 status based on the new program terms, if you’ve stayed 30 nights at Hyatts in 2016 you’ll get the new Explorist status instead of Discoverist status.

Explorist status seems worth… exploring. (I’m not going to say “no pun intended” because when people say that, what they actually mean is “Look, I made a pun!”) So let’s go back to that new mid-tier Explorist status and compare it only to where it’s better than Discoverist…

mattress run

The Explorist free night award at a category 1-4 Hyatt after 30 eligible nights immediately jumps out as intriguing. If you only needed a few extra nights in 2016 to get to 30 nights and could do a mattress run at a super cheap category 1 Hyatt, that free night award alone might be worth the cost.

However, I wasn’t sure if you’d get this benefit based on Hyatt’s manual review of your 2016 activity. Fortunately I was able to double check with the head honcho, the Senior Vice President of Hyatt Gold Passport Jeff Zidell, who confirmed that 2016 activity will NOT count towards the free night that comes with 2017 Explorist status.

mattress run

So that doesn’t help us, though we greatly appreciate Mr. Zidell for responding with the clarification. We might ask him to referee the Ben/Gary steel cage match.

What about the other Explorist benefits?

With Explorist status, you’ll get the best room excluding club and suites, a 72-hour room availability guarantee, a 20% bonus on point earnings, a match to Mlife Gold instead of Mlife Pearl, and 4 Club Lounge Access awards.

The first 4 items on that list are nice, but not huge. But the 4 Club Lounge Access awards are definitely interesting. Many Hyatts have impressive lounge breakfasts. Just last week I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo and enjoyed the breakfast in their lounge, which featured both Western and Japanese style cuisine.

mattress run
This is just one of the 4 or 5 different breakfast areas at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo.

Even if you only value breakfast at a conservative $15, the 4 Club Lounge Access awards are good for 2 adults and 2 children and up to 7 nights each. Plus they can be used on award stays, not just paid stays. So if your average Hyatt stay is 2 nights long, at $30 for two adults those 4 breakfasts are worth $240.

The Hyatt lounges also offer complimentary cocktail hours at night, sometimes with food that can be substantial. That’s useful as well, though I don’t know how much value to put on it. Let’s conservatively call it another $110 in total for the cocktail hours for all 4 awards, bringing the minimum value of Explorist over Discoverist to $350.

A quick example of a worthwhile mattress run.

If you’re already close to 30 nights this year, it might be worth mattress running for Explorist. For instance, I’m currently at 24 nights and have a few more nights of planned travel before the end of the year.

mattress run

Let’s assume I end up around 28 nights and need 2 more nights to get to 30. If I mattress run at a Hyatt that costs $75 a night, I’d pick up at least $350 in value for spending just $150.

Also, Hyatt currently has a fall promotion that awards extra points for every 5 nights you stay between September 1 and November 30, 2016 (you have to register for the promotion at this link). Since I’ll have already stayed 9 nights during the promotion period, those extra 2 mattress run nights will get me another 10,000 points which are worth at least $100 and probably $150. So now I’m at $500 for spending $150.

Of course, there’s the possibility I won’t be able to find a nearby Hyatt charging only $75 per night. In that case, I could book those mattress run nights with Cash + Points. Category 1 Cash + Points is only $50 + 2,500 points per night, while Category 2 is $55 and 4,000 points per night. My cash outlay would be less, though I’d have to spend a few points to make it work. But I’d get those points back with the promotion.

Finally, there’s the convenience factor – do I really want to take time to trek out to a Hyatt for no reason? Fortunately, since I still have a few Hyatt stays left on my agenda, it’ll be easy for me to simply add an extra night to the end of my upcoming bookings. That way I’m already checked in (not being there for check out isn’t usually an issue). I’ll also get the benefit of leaving the room as late as I’d like on my last actual day since I’m paying for the following night.

See if a mattress run works for you.

Obviously a mattress run won’t make sense for everyone, but if you’re on the cusp of the new Explorist tier, it’s worth taking a few minutes to calculate what it’d cost to get there. Personally I like to get at least triple my money in value to make the effort worthwhile. So while 1 or 2 mattress run nights make sense, any more than that starts to get questionable for me. But everyone’s calculations are different, so do the math and see if one of these quirks work for you.

Did you know how to mattress run to take advantage of the "World of Hyatt" transition?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Bet you didnt know

Other Recent Posts From The “Bet You Didn’t Know” Series:

•  A Quicker Way to Finish Draining Prepaid Gift Cards at Amazon
•  Is Chase Using Bulk Fares for Sapphire Reserve Tickets?
•  Sears Shutdown, RadPad Issues, and Southwest Standby

Find all the “Bet You Didn’t Know” posts here.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

25 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Stan

Looking forward to see what my new Hyatt level will be in Mar. I am definitely not doing 25 stays in the first 2 months of this year. I didn’t even do an end of year mattress run because I was only at 15 stays for 2016. However, I was a Diamond for the past 2 years but did not requalify for 2017. I believe this will still get me to the Explorist level.

[…] Cracking the Bulk Fare Code! How to Tell When a Flight is a Bulk Fare •  Two Quirks in the Hyatt Changeover That Might Be Mattress Run Worthy •  A Quicker Way to Finish Draining Prepaid Gift Cards at […]

[…] enough to warrant a mattress run in the last months of 2016 – check out my post “Bet You Didn’t Know: Two Quirks in the Hyatt Changeover That Might Be Mattress Run Worthy” over at Frequent Miler for […]

[…] Bet You Didn’t Know: Two Quirks in the Hyatt Changeover That Might Be Mattress Run Worthy – Two interesting quirks of Hyatt’s new loyalty program that might make you consider mattress running. […]

[…] Passport and has since been detailed by a slew of bloggers. There’s a good article over at Frequent Miler, released this morning, that has some good analysis of Mattress Running with the new program. […]

Ken Y.

Are you sure 25 stays in Jan and Feb will not earn Globalist through Feb 2019?

sam_goh

I don’t think it will work – the world of hyatt site has language that essentially says so in several places. For example:

“These Terms & Conditions govern the World of Hyatt program, which fully replaces the Hyatt Gold Passport program on March 1, 2017. While the World of Hyatt program and these Terms & Conditions are effective March 1, 2017, the new program accounts for a member’s activities starting January 1, 2017.”

Devils Advocate

Mommy Points has now confirmed directly with Hyatt that this will in fact work. I’ve updated the post with her link.

DGG

Any idea if you can use the 4 club lounge access awards for hotels without club lounge access? Thinking the Andaz Papagayo resort.

Shabs

@DGG… Huh?? How can you not realize if there is no club, how do you use the lounge access??

DGG

If there is no club, you will normally get free breakfast in the restaurant as a Diamond member. I am inquiring whether we can use these 4 club lounge access awards to get free breakfast in those hotels/resorts where there is no lounge or if the lounge is closed.

UnluckySuki

The award is for club access. They would not knowingly add the award to a reservation at a hotel without club access.

Neil

Shouldn’t your Hyatt membership number be 6666666 instead of 5555555?

JakePB

I thought the same thing.

Devils Advocate

It’s a typo. 😉

FlyingDoctorwu

Two nights in a Presidential Suite at the PH Paris at 9890 euros a night will get you Globalist status. Easiest mattress run ever!

Eli Sherer

Any thoughts or word on earning through the Chase Hyatt credit card? I matched to Platinum last year and got the card to get more free nights (and benefits). Wondering if there’s any word on what happens to us folks.

Gary Leff

“On top of all that, it’s not entirely clear from yesterday’s reports that this two month plan will work at all. Our friend Ben at One Mile at a Time believes it will, but our other friend Gary at View From The Wing indicates that January and February 2017 stays will be calculated using the new methods.”

I’m not sure that’s what I intended to convey, the new program doesn’t launch until March so I understand you can qualify under current terms in jan/Feb 2017. You just cannot use credit card spend for up to 5 stays/10 nights in 2017.

Ken Y.

I for one am planning on 25 stays in Jan and Feb.

Gary Leff

Actually I need to correct this.

Talked with Hyatt folks again today. Asked this specifically. Though spend towards mid-tier status starts January 1, 2017 **YOU CAN SPEND TOWARDS STAYS/NIGHTS IN JAN/FEB***.

For instance, if you spend $40k and earn 4 stays, those stays would combine with 21 others and let you earn status on stays before end of February. Your Globalist status would then last through February 2019.

Or spend $40k you also earn 10 nights. Those 10 nights plus 50 more during the course of the rest of the year would give you top tier Globalist through February 2019.

So as long as you do the requisite spend by end of February, you do earn stays/nights. The stays help you if you earn Diamond by end of February. The nights help you for that to, or continue to help you earn Globalist by end of year.

So my impression from yesterday was mistaken!

Devils Advocate

Thanks, Gary. Summer at Mommy Points also confirmed with Hyatt that the January/February strategy will work, so I’ve updated the post to reflect both clarifications.

John

How does the statement closing date factor in these calculations? Do you have to hit the target before February 28th or before your February statement closing date?

Jamie

In the section towards the end “A quick example …” You say Globalist at the beginning of that following paragraph when you mean Explorist.

Nice article though. I like the insight. I’m not sure if this program will be better or worse for me, but I generally don’t like change. So, I’m uncomfortable with the new program. 🙂 What I do like is that there is no longer any benefit to doing that awful hotel hopping thing. So, either we get it on nights, or we don’t. No gut wrenching decision about disrupting out vacation in order to get closer to diamond.
And (finally) well done on the double hat tip to Lucky and Shawn!

Devils Advocate

Thanks for the correction, Jamie — I’ve fixed it now.