Now over halfway through the year, I have enough data points to reflect how things have gone in my travels as a Hyatt Globalist. I still find the name stupid, but I’m sure I’ll get over it. While on whole, I think the changes are mostly negative, I’m pretty happy with how things have turned out. Here is a link to my post about program changes that came along with the World of Hyatt. Many of the comments are about difficulty in achieving the 60 required nights to qualify for Globalist status. In general, I agree, but I’ll get to that later.
Globalist Free Upgrades with World of Hyatt
For my travel patterns, one of the most intriguing of the new World of Hyatt benefits is free upgrades. This matches a benefit that I’ve enjoyed through the years as a Starwood platinum. I would rarely get upgrades in Hyatt hotels without using what are now called Tier Suite Upgrades, which confirm in advance. Since the new program has begun, my upgrades have been noticeably more frequent, in fact I’ve gotten some sort of upgrade each time I stayed at a full service Hyatt property. Sometimes is just a higher category room, but in most cases, it has been a true suite upgrade, including one of the largest suites I have stayed in:
As nice as that room is, I was only there for one night, and I arrived in the late afternoon and departed the next morning. I could have hosted a party for 50 people and had room to spare. The photo above shows about half of the space. In any case, this new perk has worked out well for me. Not always with an amazing suite, but certainly better than in the past.
60 Nights to Qualify Is Tough with Hyatt’s Tiny Footprint
Not breaking news here, but Hyatt just doesn’t have very many properties. World of Hyatt, not really! And the name Globalist is not only stupid, it is not fitting with Hyatt’s footprint not being global.
My travel patterns change a fair amount, and I’ve had more international travel this year than in recent years. For trips to the Middle East, that’s been fine, as there are a lot of Hyatt properties in the larger cities I’ve been. But in Europe, there are hardly any options to stay in Hyatt properties.
Well over halfway through the year, despite lots of travel, and trying to stay with Hyatt when possible, and with something like 125,000 “butt-in-seat” miles flown already this year, I’m barely over 30 nights in Hyatt hotels. As I feared, when the changes were announced, I may have difficulty to re-qualify for Globalist status. We’ll see how my travels go through the rest of the year.
Is Globalist Worth It?
I find the benefits to definitely be worthwhile, but the dilemma remains getting enough nights to quality. Thankfully, after the first year, “only” 55 nights are needed to re-qualify, but that’s not so simple either with Hyatt. I’m definitely hoping to keep up my Hyatt status, but we’ll see how it goes in coming months.
How about you? What have your experiences been with Hyatt since the changes that came along with the World of Hyatt?
