Hyatt and American Airlines are teaming up to offer a reciprocal status challenge. This is similar to a challenge that they offered back when they first announced their joint loyalty relationship. As part of that relationship, World of Hyatt elite members can earn 1 bonus World of Hyatt point for every dollar they spend on American Airlines flights. And American AAdvantage elite members can earn 1 bonus AAdvantage mile for every dollar they spend on Hyatt stays and experiences.
Beginning on March 9, customers who have linked their accounts with the other program will be able to enroll in a special promotion to earn elite status sooner. Visit the link above to learn more about linking accounts and register. The value of these promotions is that you don’t have to register today. Although you have only three months to complete the necessary qualifying activity, you can choose to register at a time that aligns with your travel plans.
American AAdvantage Challenge
World of Hyatt Explorists and Globalists can register by September 30, 2020, and complete qualifying AAdvantage activity within 90 days to achieve AAdvantage Gold, Platinum, or Platinum Pro status through January 2022. Qualifying activity includes when a member flies on eligible tickets for flights operated by American Airlines or marketed by American or American Eagle.
As a current World of Hyatt Explorist, I was targeted for a challenge to AAdvantage Gold status:
Register by September 30, 2020, and complete the qualifying activity below within 3 months of registering, and you’ll enjoy AAdvantage® Gold status through January 2022:
- Earn $1,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) and either 7,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) or 8 Elite Qualifying Segments (EQSs)
World of Hyatt Challenge
AAdvantage Platinum, Platinum Pro, and Executive Platinum members can register by October 2, 2020, and complete qualifying World of Hyatt activity within 90 days to achieve World of Hyatt Explorist or Globalist status through February 2022. Qualifying activity includes when a member books an eligible rate or award night through Hyatt channels.
I do not have status with AAdvantage, so I wasn’t targeted for a challenge at Hyatt. However, One Mile at a Time reports that Executive Platinum members are able to get an offer for World of Hyatt Globalist status after 20 nights.
Remember, any points and miles earned as a result of this promotion are bonus points and miles only, not elite qualifying miles or elite qualifying base points. However, the partnership is a nice way to boost your account balances if you’re eligible.
Recap
Remember that when this partnership originally launched last year, there was a similar invitation to status challenges made available to elite members of the other program. We’re seeing pretty much the same thing today. I’ll have a better chance to confirm these details after the embargo is lifted and the site is live.
I don’t know how much of the current promotion is prompted by the recent decline in global travel. I have this in the back of my mind all the time now when I see new deals announced, but I suspect that because a similar offer was made before the timing now is likely to be coincidental. If anything it was a promotion they were planning anyway for the summer and just moved up.
Sadly it’s not very useful to me. I’d love to progress faster toward World of Hyatt status (currently at 22 nights), but I don’t have any American AAdvantage status to be eligible. And I’m already committed to Alaska Airlines, so using my Explorist status to get an AAdvantage challenge isn’t very appealing.
