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Via Pen and Passport, there are major changes coming to Hyatt’s loyalty program. And it isn’t great news for a lot of folks!
Along with changing the name of their loyalty program, they’re adding another membership level and making it harder to earn Elite status. That said, Hyatt’s award chart is NOT changing as of now.
I’ll explain what this news means for you.
Hyatt Program Changes
According to Pen and Passport, in March 2017, Hyatt’s loyalty program, Hyatt Gold Passport, will become “World of Hyatt.”
Along with the name change, you’ll see major changes to the program’s Elite status qualification rules and the perks that come with each membership level.
The good news is, there does NOT seem to be any changes coming to Hyatt’s award chart. So these changes mainly affect folks who are interested in Elite status with Hyatt.
What’s Changing?
There are currently 3 Elite tiers under the Hyatt Gold Passport program: Member, Platinum, and Diamond. Hyatt is replacing these membership levels with 4 new tiers, Member, Discoverist, Explorist, and Globalist.
Under the new Elite qualification rules, you won’t be able to qualify for status based on stays.
Instead, your status will be based on the number of qualifying nights or spending with Hyatt. And to qualify for the highest status, Globalist, you’ll have to stay at least 60 nights per year. That’s more than DOUBLE the current requirement for their current top-tier Diamond status of 25 Hyatt stays in a year.
Here’s a look at the new membership levels and perks according to Pen and Passport:
As you can see, the major difference between the old rules and new rules is that you’ll have to spend more money or more nights with Hyatt to earn status.
I’m also interested to learn which status will come with the Chase Hyatt card once these changes go into effect. Because the card currently offers automatic Platinum status.
I’ll keep you posted as we learn more!
Bottom Line
If the rumors are true, major changes to Hyatt’s loyalty program will be coming in March 2017.
The good new is, these changes do NOT impact Hyatt’s award chart as of now. But it will be harder to earn Elite status. And the perks of each Elite membership level are changing.
What do you think about these rumored changes? Let me know in the comments!
The changes are horrible! Also, for Mlife match with the chase Hyatt card, you only get Pearl, which is a major downgrade, especially since you have to pay an annual fee. I think you have to spend $50k to get the Explorist level. Very disappointed with this change.
Can you get top tier solely by spending $20,000 on card? Or do you have to combine it with stays?
We aren't sure how the Hyatt card will be affected, but we'll let you know when we find out!
Watered down? I don't think so. They are finally returning to awarding loyalty by actually staying in a hotel, instead of from a match, a few stats or a credit card. Hats off to Hyatt for realizing the error they made last year. Now if only Hilton will follow suit and do the same, it will feel like we have a true loyalty program again!
This will likely cause me to change from Hyatt program. Been a member since year one of gold passport. Dont like this at all. Water down loyalty program. Wanting loyalty from guests but no loyalty by Hyatt if they do this. I have gone through costing more points for hotel tiers. But this goes way beyond this.
Any idea about with the Hyatt Visa, which status will this come with now and which will it mach to with MLife? I was going to sign up for this, but now I might wait it out.
I'd actually get the card and your status will be valid at least until the end of 2017. And this is still a rumor!