American Airlines and Hyatt have announced a new partnership this morning. I’ve been waiting (for years) to hear this news since United and Marriott teamed up to create RewardsPlus and Delta offered Crossover Rewards with SPG. The tie-up offers members of each program a new way to earn rewards and status. However, it’s not live yet, so you will still need to wait before you’re able to register.
Earn Bonus Points
World of Hyatt will offer the chance to earn Hyatt points on every American Airlines flight. Those with Discoverist, Explorist, or Globalist elite status will earn one bonus Hyatt point per eligible dollar spent on qualifying American flights. This does not prevent you from earning American AAdvantage miles under existing policies.
Meanwhile, American AAdvantage will offer the chance to earn AAdvantage miles on every Hyatt hotel stay. Those with Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro, Executive Platinum, or ConciergeKey status will be able to earn one bonus AAdvantage mile per eligible dollar spent at qualifying Hyatt properties. This does not prevent you from earning World of Hyatt points under existing policies.
Receive a Status Match or Challenge
American Airlines currently offers an invitation-only elite tier called ConciergeKey, similar to United’s Global Services. All ConciergeKey members will receive complimentary World of Hyatt Globalist status, Hyatt’s top tier.
Other members of both programs will also be targeted to complete status challenges. So if you have Platinum status with American AAdvantage perhaps you’ll receive a chance to earn Explorist status with World of Hyatt after completing a reduced number of stays.
No additional details were provided on the specifics of the challenges, so I’m making this up. But the point is you should link your accounts just in case so you can take advantage of such offers down the road.
I first brought up this idea with Jeff Zidell (former SVP for World of Hyatt) years ago, and perhaps it wasn’t feasible then. But his successor, Amy Weinberg hits the nail on the head: “Through our continued commitment to listening to member feedback, we learned that an ideal airline and hotel relationship would make the travel experience more seamless by providing dual earning and status options.”
Many frequent travelers who are loyal to one airline are also loyal to one hotel, and vice versa. If you’ve already identified someone who is a high value customer to one program then why not leverage that information to make them your customer, too?
