GIVEAWAY: Top Tier Hyatt Status

World of Hyatt loyalty program changes start today.

Hyatt’s Top Elite Status Has Become Tougher to Get But More Valuable to Have

It’s harder to reach top tier elite status — no more qualifying on stays, no more credit towards top status via credit card spend, and 60 nights instead of 50 to qualify — for those who reach “Globalist” status it’s the most generous top tier in the industry among major programs.

And it’s even better on net than Hyatt’s Diamond status was before. While there are some tradeoffs (like breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children instead of 4 adults, and no more check-in amenity), there are real improvements:

  • My Hyatt Concierge – a dedicated agent to take care of all things related to Hyatt, similar to Starwood’s Ambassador (SPG requires 100 nights for this perk).

  • Upgrades at check-in now include standard suites.

  • Confirmed suite upgrades now valid on award nights, and you can earn more than 4 in a year — an additional suite upgrade or 10,000 points at 70, 80, 90, and 100 nights in a year.

  • A free night at any participating Hyatt property upon reaching 60 nights, waived resort fees, and free parking on award stays.


Park Hyatt Siem Reap

I’m Giving Away Top Tier Hyatt Status to a Reader

Hyatt offered me a Globalist status to give away. I’m not going to do the usual ‘answer a question in the comments and I’ll pick at random’ method. Instead what I’d love is for you to share why or how you’ll benefit from Hyatt Globalist status, and we’ll pick one winner based on the comments.

I’ve got someone who is going to choose for me. I’d love for the Globalist status to go to someone who will get good use out of it and find it meaningful. Entries close Tuesday, March 7 at Noon eastern. All decisions are final and unappealable, you agree that I’ll have no liability for offering this contest. I’m just trying to help a reader here, so please don’t give me a hard time!


Club Lounge at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

What Gifted Globalist Will Get You — and What It Won’t

Gifted status doesn’t come with the perks that are earned based on night (or spend) thresholds. So it won’t come with the free night for reaching 60 nights, 4 confirmed suite upgrades, My Hyatt Concierge or reduced qualification requirements for the coming year (the need to stay 55 rather than 60 nights to keep status).

But you will receive:

  • Upgrades including suites subject to availability, as well as club lounge access
  • Breakfast in the hotel restaurant when no club lounge is available
  • Free parking on award stays, and no resort fees on paid stays
  • Guest of honor privileges, grant someone top tier status for their stay when you redeem your points for them
  • Priority early check-in and guaranteed 4pm check-out (doesn’t apply at resorts or casinos)
  • Daily bottle of water
  • Ability to match to MGM M life Rewards Gold status


Buffet in the club lounge, Grand Hyatt Bangkok

All in all not bad.

So Enter Already!

Why or how would you benefit from Hyatt Globalist status if you’re picked?

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Globalist status would be awesome for my upcoming visit with my mother at the PH Paris-Vendome and PH Zurich!

  2. My husband and I are going to Tokyo & Hong Kong next month. It’s our 30th birthday present to ourselves, and we are viewing it as our last really big trip before starting a family.

    We have been saving points for this adventure for over two years, so we are able to fly business class the entire way. (ORD to Tokyo, Tokyo to Hong Kong, and then Hong Kong back to Chicago).

    We were also able to book all of our hotels with points, and we just so happen to be staying at Hyatt properties the entire time. You can bet that we would get a lot of use out of Hyatt Globalist status for this trip, as well as for the domestic trips we have started to plan for the coming year.

    Thanks so much! I am crossing my fingers!

  3. Globalist status would be ideal for my upcoming stays in Paris, Zurich and the soon to be opened Park Hyatt St. Kitts. I love the breakfast benefit and the occasional upgrades extended to elite members. I love being able to book rooms for my family members and extending the Hyatt Guest of honor privileges to them.

  4. First and foremost, thank you Gary for the opportunity to be gifted Hyatt Globalist Status. For the person who has the difficult decision to choose the lucky reader, thank you for reading my submission out of over 500.

    I recently “earned” the Southwest Companion Pass last month, which coupled with the Hyatt Globalist Status, would go a LONG way in giving me and my husband (married last October!) the adventure of a lifetime. We are actually booked to stay at the Hyatt Ziva Cancun for one of my close friend’s wedding (this June!!) and would love to be able to get an upgrade on our room. I actually went through a whirlwind of a time trying to find the best rate for our stay there… First, I made reservations for their Resort King room on Hyatt’s website, but I noticed that they also offered a Best Rate Guarantee which essentially price matches to a competitor’s rate and offer a 20% discount on top of the matched rate. I did some digging and after two denied attempts, I was almost going to give up. Then, I found a competitor who offered an Ocean Front Double for less than the published Hyatt rate and I jumped on the opportunity to make quick reservations on Hyatt and submit my claim. I was again denied because of the way the taxes were shown vs an all-inclusive rate but after calling Hyatt, they were able to honor their Best Rate Guarantee. I was thrilled to save just a bit more money on what appeared to be a superior room (although I will have to check and see if they can put us in a King).

    In addition to this particular Hyatt stay and future stays with my husband, I travel for work and already have a few trips lined up that I would instantly switch over to a Hyatt over my attempts to get SPG status. To be honest, this is my first time attempting to get any hotel status and I’ve never experienced what it’s like to receive all the perks such as free breakfast, lounge access, parking (which is HUGEE for big cities!!!), late check-out (especially on weekend trips where I plan to take a later flight), a daily water bottle (who doesn’t love free water, especially when most hotels where you have no status charge $$$ for one) and matching to M life Gold Status (Vegas is only a 4 hour drive from LA and I go several times a year!).

    One of the best perks of having the Hyatt Globalist status, is the Guest of Honor privileges. My best friend and her husband recently got married last month (yes, it seems marriages come in waves) and they didn’t get a chance to have a traditional wedding. We would love to gift them our Hyatt points (via Chase UR!!) and extend this amazing status so they can enjoy themselves as well. They are traveling photographers and are always on the road. Heck, if you don’t pick me, please pick them for this!

    Sorry for this long post, but I wanted it to be clear that I would make use of every single perk possible. I am also open to writing hotel reviews or about my journey on using Hyatt’s Best Rate Guarantee and using this experience to jump-start my blogging aspirations!

  5. I’ll be traveling between many different university towns to figure out where I’m going to spend the rest of my near future for my graduate degree and at each of these cities I’ll be staying at hotels for quite lengthy visits. Status will definitely help me out as I’ll be getting dirt-bottom cheap rooms, but it will also help for my best friend’s bachelor party in Vegas when it comes to any type of upgrades 🙂

  6. Thanks for giving away such and awesome status as Globalist. The best benefit for me would not be having to pay a dreaded “resort charge” whilst using points.

  7. Gary,

    Thank you for gifting globalist status to a lucky reader. I have been lucky enough to have Diamond status in the past from status challenges but don’t travel enough to meet the criteria to renew. Diamond has made for some incredible experiences at the Park Hyatt Zurich, Vienna and Sydney especially. We have also had very memorable stays at the Hyatt properties in Hawaii.

    We were planning on a trip to Maui and Kauai this fall for our 15th wedding anniversary to and know that Globalist status would make these trips unforgettable. Also, if we were lucky enough to receive the status I don’t know how we wouldn’t be able to plan a trip to Melbourne and Sydney next January where we could stay at some wonderful Hyatt properties.

    Thank you!

  8. Thanks for the opportunity this is a wonderful giveaway. After 10 years of working in NYC I’ve saved up enough and my girlfriend and I are giving up our apartment and most of our possessions and heading off for a year (at least) of travel around the US and much of the world. We’re looking forward to seeing so many amazing places and I’m going to use my newfound free time to finish my book. Hyatt is our favorite hotel chain so we were already planning on visiting several but this would make it a lot easier! Thanks again for this generous opportunity

  9. havent had a proper vacation in years and decided with the state of the world as it is, i will take some time off and think things over to see how best i can contribute. i would still be an advisor, but on a voluntary basis and only on my own terms and only for good causes!

    in the meantime, my partner has decided to ramp up her design team (which is getting bigger), requiring more travel. i would travel with her, being her impromptu “assistant” as many of the places she is going (Europe, Asia) I have some knowledge of. We would also have time to spend together, as our schedules have often collided…

    And, my partner’s daughter, inspired by my lead (or craziness) is taking a year off before going to college (if she even does!), to intern under her mother and to see the world/travel (if so be it!)

    So, these three factors would help us a lot if we had Globalist…whether solo, duo or as a happy trio, having status would be really great!

    Thanks, and Enjoy Life!!

  10. Whenever I’ve stayed at a Hyatt property (with only mid-tier status from the credit card), I’ve been impressed with the hotel and service. My travel is now self-funded, but my husband and I travel around the world annually, and a few smaller tips. I spend massive amounts of time researching flight and hotel deals so that we can afford the travel. Top-tier status at Hyatt would be awesome! It would allow us to start choosing Hyatts since we’d get breakfast and lounge access.

  11. Gary, I’ve been following your blog for years and I always manage to find very helpful information. Just when I thought the blog couldn’t get any better, you outdo yourself by offering Globalist status – amazing!

    I am in the process of planning a trip around the world with my family to celebrate my wife’s 50th birthday. We currently have Hyatt reservations booked at GH Hong Kong, GH Singapore and then returning home through Europe with stops in Cologne, Amsterdam, and Paris.
    We are also planning several trips during the summer and winter which will include Hyatt stays all over North America.
    Globalist status would make all of these trips unforgettable since it would open doors to many possible upgrades, access to lounges, and late checkouts. I also have family members that love to travel with us and the status would benefit them greatly since it would allow me to book Guest of Honor reservations at Hyatt hotels with all the bells and whistles. My nieces and nephews would think the world of me 🙂

    I will be more than happy to write a review of each of our stays on milepoint.com to share our experiences.

    Thank you Gary for all your informative posts and allowing me the opportunity to enter the contest. I’m looking forward to reading more posts in the future!

  12. I would benefit tremendously by the (hopefully possible) suite upgrade, as well as breakfast benefit (however diluted). Mostly because I’m traveling with family, so it will be much beneficial for me than the average business traveler

  13. I’ve got Chase points burning a hole in my pocket and a lot of weddings and family trips this year. These trips will all be made with our two young kids who are 2 and under. Hyatt status would go a long way towards making those trips more comfortable. On top of that, wife and I are planning on taking a trip for just the two of us in December. A getaway without kids would be even sweeter with top tier status.

  14. I quit my job to travel nearly seven years ago (crazy, I know!), and much of it has been made possible due to miles and points. Flying business or first class has become the norm, but hotel points are in shorter supply (when you’re on the road for years, even PointBreaks redemptions will deplete an account pretty quickly!), so I try to save hotel redemptions for when I need a welcome break from more modest accommodations (hello, Hyatt Place), or when I’m joined by friends or family and ready for a splurge (Park Hyatt, here I come).

    Thanks to Hyatt’s generous status match promotions, I have been fortunate enough to hold Diamond status a few times, despite not having enough paid Hyatt stays to earn top tier status outright. (I do have midtier status through my Hyatt credit card though.) This has been great, because even on points, stays at top category hotels can be a stretch when you’re on a (points) budget! Extra perks like free breakfast, room upgrades, and late check-out certainly provide outsized value, and Diamond status in the past year has already helped me celebrate recent family milestones from “round” birthdays to successful surgeries at hotels like the Park Hyatts in Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and the Maldives (all in the past year!), while also making stays at less “flashy” Andaz, Hyatt Place, Grand Hyatt, and Hyatt Regency hotels even more special.

    It’s probably past time for me to rejoin the work force, and I’d love to go out with the bang Globalist status would provide! There are still quite a few Hyatts on my list that I’d like to visit sooner rather than later (I’m looking at you, Park Hyatt Vienna and Andaz Amsterdam!), and winning Globalist status would provide the push I need to help make sure I get to them. I hit at least 10 Hyatts last year with my status matched Diamond status–let’s see if I can beat that record with gifted Globalist status!

    The grueling schedule of my profession makes leisure travel difficult (which is why I had to quit to see the world!), but once I rejoin the “real world,” I’ll have to see about leveraging work stays to earn Globalist status the old-fashioned way for those times when I do manage to get away!

  15. As a loyal readers, my sister and I have racked up a lot of Chase points. We are public school teachers of many years who are looking forward to traveling extensively this summer. Teaching in Detroit is not easy! Hopefully, we can enjoy traveling in style with Hyatt Globalist status. We would be so grateful and definitely get good use of it.

  16. Thanks for running the giveaway in advance! While we may not be celebrating any major, major milestones this year, it’ll be our (still significant) 5th anniversary this year and hopefully our last year of travel (and freedom!) before starting a family. We were planning to do a few trips both domestically and internationally so the Globalist status would be a wonderful surprise (with the complimentary breakfasts and suite upgrades) for my wife. This would certainly have the potential to make a memorable trip we were planning to Maui (the Andaz looks amazing there!!) into an exceptional one!! But regardless who wins, here’s to wishing the winner enjoys some incredible stays this year!

  17. Want to use the status to make my parent’s stay with free breakfast and parking when I use my points for them. 🙂

  18. I’ll be flying back to visit my grandma to take her on an 85th birthday trip. The Grand Hyatt’s in SE Asia look stunning and the Globalist suite upgrades and lounge access would definitely create some incredible memories for her. She had raised me up since I was very little so I would love to be able to surprise her on her big birthday!

  19. Hi Gary, Thanks for running this contest. I am a regular reader and really appreciate your service. I used to live in Texas, but am now stationed in Seoul, Korea, as such, I cannot take advantage of most of the valuable information on specials you provide. I travel a lot for work and try my best to stay at Hyatt properties. If personal travel, I almost always stay in a Hyatt property. Since my company policy is 4 star hotels, I usually pay for the difference to stay at Hyatt, as I generally find Hyatt hotels in Asia to be the best in service, quality, cleanliness, etc… I am currently Hyatt Explorist. Unfortunately, due to budget guidelines, I have to forego things like breakfast when I stay at a Hyatt. If I am awarded this status, the most valuable part of the Discoverist that I will use all the time is the club lounge access. As most of my stays will be for work, having the chance to relax in the lounge as well as breakfast and happy hour will be invaluable. This will make certain that I only stay at Hyatt. I also promise to take you out to dinner when you visit Korea. Thanks for reading.

  20. It would give us a great reason to start staying at Hyatt properties, as we’ve always gone to Hilton and IHG properties due to credit card-based status offerings. Hyatt Tokyo, here we come!

  21. Our 1-year-old daughter is used to having her own room at home and will not go to sleep if she can still see us. Since we bring our little one wherever we go, it is a sanity-saving boon to have the extra space of a suite and the ability to segment off the bedroom.

    Last year, we were able to put DSU’s to good use at Hyatt Tsim Sha Tsui and GH Singapore. This year, we are planning a stay at the GH Hong Kong and would love to experience their decadent, albeit expensive, breakfast offerings.

    For our 10th anniversary, we will be making a long-awaited trip to Australia including a stay at the PH Sydney. It would be a terrific way to celebrate having breakfast with a view of the Sydney Opera House.

    We will be returning to Singapore to attend a wedding with my wife’s elderly parents in tow. In Singapore, it is very difficult to find hotel rooms that sleep 4 adults. An upgrade to the Grand Duplex Suite would have plenty of room for 4 adults and a toddler.

    The wedding couple are looking at having their honeymoon in the Maldives. It would be fantastic privilege to gift them Guest of Honor benefits at the PH Maldives.

    My wife’s parents are celebrating their 40th anniversary and her mother’s retirement with a trip to Switzerland and Italy. Being able to book them at the PH Zurich and PH Milan with Guest of Honor benefits would be a wonderful surprise!

    This is an exciting and generous giveaway with many worthy entries. Thanks for your time and consideration.

  22. My wife and I have been together for 28 years and have been traveling more and more based on what we learn from the travel blogs. The more we learn and earn in points and miles, the more we enjoy our travel experiences. We have really upgraded from the days of staying in Travelodge hotels! Even though we travel a lot while working Monday to Friday jobs, we do not have enough stays at any particular hotel chain to earn top status. When we have access to the hotel lounges which normally include breakfast and evening snacks, it seems to make the trip more laid back and relaxing since we do not have to worry about leaving the hotel to find something to eat. I would love to win this status so that we can direct all stays to the Hyatt brand in cities we are visiting that have properties there. I would enjoy being able to present this to my wife to help with all the travel planning she works on. In order to maximize the status for a year, we could most likely direct a little more than 30 nights to Hyatt for the year. Thank you for the unique way you are awarding this!

  23. I have a big passion for travel.
    Over the past few years I visited several Hyatt hotels and resorts in North America, and really loved my time at Hyatt properties.
    My favorite North American Hyatt property was Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach in Southern California.
    During my stays, I got to know various employees at the hotels and also met other guests who had top-tier status with Hyatt, and realized how awesome Diamond (now Globalist) status is.
    This year, I am further expanding my travel to areas outside of North America, and would love to visit Hyatt hotels and resorts all over the world.
    I’ve been following Gary’s blog for a long time, and I really enjoyed reading his reviews on many outstanding Hyatt properties such as the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, and ton of others.
    Having Hyatt’s Globalist status will enrich my stays at Hyatt properties around the world so much with all the great benefits it comes with: upgrade to best available room including standard suites, club lounge access with breakfast, 4 pm late check-out, etc.
    I especially love the fact that I also will be able to share the great Globalist benefits with friends and family members via the Guest of Honor program, who will have fantastic times at Hyatt properties on their vacations.

  24. Thank you for offering your readers this opportunity.

    Last year, “coupledom” became a “family” with the arrival of our son following a very difficult pregnancy. The pregnancy sensitized us to how blessed we are to have the family we have, and to cherish even more the time we share together. Following our son’s arrival, we scheduled an extended family vacation together — four generations of our family invaded Park City, Utah and we had an amazing time at the Hyatt Centric. An upgraded suite served as our base, and we had other rooms as satellites that orbited the base. The suite had a full kitchen and living room, so our amazing holiday vacation was filled with food and fun in the suite upgrade. And, because we cooked and played in the suite, it saved the 11 of us lots of money, too. Doing so we created memories for a lifetime, and status truly took these experiences and memories to the next level. Globalist status, for us, means grounding in a place, community and communal cooking, extended family together. Hyatt upgrades, especially with kitchens, mean spaces where we can break bread and where children can play. We’ve never had Hyatt breakfasts, but we hear they’re to die for, and they’d be icing on the cake for us.

  25. When our daughter was born in 2015, we have made a few promises to ourselves. The first was to instill in her an appreciation for different cultures and a love of travel. The second was to ensure she would understand her own culture as the granddaughter of immigrants. The third was to share as many memories as possible with her grandparents while they still have the ability to travel.

    The Hyatt Diamond status last year was invaluable to us with regards to fulfilling these goals. We were able to go to multiple cities in the US and Asia with a great deal of comfort.

    When we travelled last year, the suite upgrades allowed us to enjoy some alone time while providing the baby to have her own space to sleep in (she needs 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night). We were also able to feed her a good breakfast and clean her up (she is a messy kid!) before we left our hotel for the day.

    In addition, we were travelling with her grandparents, they were able to stay with us in our upgraded suite in Singapore. We were also able to host a small get together for grandpa’s relatives who we haven’t seen in over 15 years.

    Finally, we were able to grant grandma’s big wish last year… which was to go to a performance of the Met Opera in NY. That was a memory she will never forget!

    But the best thing of all is the excellent service we received as Diamond members. When you are travelling with a small child, it’s the small things that concierge service provides that makes a trip that much more fun.

    This year, we are not likely to be able to gain Diamond status without a lot of help. As health care workers, our schedules are tight. Regardless, we are still planning on spending whatever precious time we have on travel.

    Thank you for holding this contest for people like us. We really appreciate all that you do for us with your website. The information we get from your reviews is essential for travel.

  26. G – Going to Maui in May
    L – Looking for status
    O – On our stay
    B – Baby and a terrible two
    A – And auntie & uncle & grandparents too
    L – Looking to celebrate one, five & thirty year
    I – Incredible anniversaries with top tier
    S – So please pick us this spring
    T – Thanks Gary & View from the Wing!

  27. first family trip planned for may. will be in florida – hyatt globalist would help a bunch! appreciate it.

  28. Thanks, Gary. Would love to use on my upcoming stay at PH Sydney for a shot at a suite!

  29. I’m a PhD student so I’ve got a limited budget. Your blog has been my main portal into the world of points and miles. My favorite thing about them is getting to surprise friends and family with luxury trips that are well beyond what they are used to. For example, my Christmas gift to my little sister this year was a trip to Vietnam, including Cathay business class flights (using AA miles) and a 3-night stay in a suite at the Park Hyatt Siem Reap (using Chase->Hyatt points & cash). I’m super excited about the new Globalist program and the prospect of unlimited suite upgrades in particular. I don’t see how I am individually deserving over anyone else, but I can assure you that I would be “spreading the wealth” and sharing the Globalist benefits with as many friends and family as possible.

  30. The Suite upgrades would be amazing as space is one of single most important aspects when on the road. I would love to tour asia while visiting multiple Hyatts like PH Shanghai or Tokyo.

  31. I would benefit from Hyatt Globalist because I do not currently stay at any Hyatt properties. I have been a loyal Hilton customer for 15 years and rarely stray away from Hilton properties. I’ve stayed at some Starwood properties globally while working on gold status. I would like to experience Hyatt’s properties in the US and internationally when I travel for business and with my wife. This would open me up to a new brand and I would get to see why there is so much buzz about Hyatt, the suite upgrades and get away from Hilton.

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