Earning Hyatt Globalist Status In Vegas
This is my last Vegas post for a bit, I promise! Pinky swear and all of that. I have been covering the new MGM Rewards program quite a bit over the last week or two. We have looked at the good, and the bad and even how to get status for “free”. The good side of things got me to thinking (dangerous I know). Vegas has always been a decent place to hit up a couple of stays if you are going after World of Hyatt Globalist status, or Explorist for that matter. Those pesky $35-$50 resort fees at MGM properties always took away the chance at it being a great deal though. That should change in February, assuming status matched MGM Rewards Gold members get the perk as expected. With that change did earning Hyatt Globalist status in Vegas go from a meh opportunity to a great one? How much would it cost to mattress run 60 nights at the beginning of the year? Let’s take a look!
Our Thoughts On The MGM Rewards Revamp
If you are curious about the changes coming up next month Shawn and I discuss the good, bad and the ugly on our MtM Vegas show.
Cost To Mattress Run Globalist Status In Vegas
Let’s start this off by saying I don’t think this is possible for most (almost all?) people. This is more of a fun thought exercise and something you may want to consider to hit up a few nights here and there. I don’t expect anyone to do the full 60 nights but I enjoyed digging into everything anyway. I guess if you live in California or Phoenix etc. and can “work from home” you could pull it off. Or if you live in the Vegas area and want to pick up some elite nights on the cheap. It would work perfectly if you were in between places or doing a major renovation on your house etc. too.
I wanted to look at this from a few different angles. I’ll first look at the cheapest 60 days over the next few months and what that would cost. Then I’ll look at it if you wanted to do 60 days straight through and try being a Vegas local for a bit.
Spending 60 Nights In Vegas – Cheapest Nights
I pulled up the MGM site and did some dummy bookings over the next few months. I figured the lowest price property would bounce around a bit between properties but that wasn’t the case. The lowest priced location was almost exclusively Excalibur (not a huge shock there). If you wanted to take a step up, the Luxor was only a few more dollars most nights. Here is how the numbers shook out:
- February 1-4 (3 nights) – $67 total or $22.33 a night.
- February 6-11 (5 nights) – $118 or $23.60 / night.
- February 14-18 (4 nights) – $88 or $22 / night.
- February 21-25 (4 nights) – $88 or $22 / night.
- February 27-March 3 (5 nights) – $113 or $22.60 / night
- March 6-11 (5 nights) – $201 or $40.20 / night
- March 13-17 (4 nights) – $108 or $27 / night
- March 20-24 (5 nights) – $135 or $27 / night
- March 27-31 (5 nights) – $135 or $39.50 / night
- April 4-8 (4 nights) – $158 or $27 / night
- April 10-14 (5 nights) – $135 or $27 / night
- April 17-21 (5 nights) – $135 or $27 / night
- May 1 – May (6 nights) – $162 or $27 / night
The total cost for the 60 nights would be $1,643 or an average of $27.38 per night. Is almost two years of Hyatt Globalist status worth close to $1700 out of pocket? Some would say yes but I think most would say no. I guess unless you were able to actually use the stays then that would change things some.
Living somewhere for two months for only $850 isn’t a terrible deal at all, especially in a major city. The fact that it doesn’t include most weekends makes it not doable really. It does show how you can pad your Hyatt stats in Vegas though. Pick one of the low cost weeks and rack up some cheap elite nights while on vacation. The prices could be even better when logged into your M life / MGM Rewards account. A buddy was seeing nights for $9 at Luxor. Just make sure they have a cost per night since full comp rooms won’t earn elite nights.
This also doesn’t include any MGM Rewards points or World of Hyatt points you would earn from the stays plus any other promo opportunities. There may be Amex Offers that come up along the way to reduce the cost too.
What If You Wanted To Stay 60 Days Straight?
The above example does 60 nights in Vegas for the lowest cash price possible. But that would only make sense for locals or someone that could stay during the week and then head out of town. What if you were a nomad and wanted to spend two straight months in Vegas? How much would that cost?
I decided to bring Hyatt points into the fold for this portion of the exercise. I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each. At that valuation any time the cost of Excalibur was above $120-$130 I would move to one of the two 8,000 point a night Hyatt Place hotels in town (8000 points X $0.015 = $120 break even).
- February 1-4 (3 nights) – $67 total or $22.33 a night.
- February 4-6 (2 nights) at Hyatt Place for 16,000 points
- February 6-11 (5 nights) – $118 or $23.60 / night.
- February 11-14 (3 nights) at Hyatt Place for 24,000 points
- February 14-19 (5 nights) – $197 or $39.40 / night.
- February 19 (1 night) at Hyatt Place 8,000 points
- February 20-25 (5 nights) – $169 or $33.80 / night.
- February 25-27 (2 nights) at Hyatt Place 16,000 points
- February 27-March 11 (12 nights) – $523 or $43.58 / night
- March 11-13 (2 nights) at Hyatt Place for 16,000 points
- March 13-18 (5 nights) – $192 or $38.40 / night
- March 18-20 (2 nights) at Hyatt Place for 16,000 points
- March 20-26 (6 nights) – $258 or $43 / night
- March 26-27 (1 night) at Hyatt Place for 8,000 points
- March 27-31 (5 nights) – $135 or $39.50 / night
- April 1-2 (1 nights) – at Hyatt Place for 8,000 points
That is how it would breakdown to stay 60 nights straight in Vegas, from February 1st to April 2nd. The total cost would be $1659 and 112,000 World of Hyatt points. Not cheap by any means, but probably more affordable than any other major city in the US over the same timeframe.
Earning Hyatt Globalist Status In Vegas: Final Thoughts
I had fun figuring this out so I hope you had fun reading it. Maybe someone will be able to pull it off. We have a lot more nomads out there now versus even just 2 years ago. If you enjoy Vegas it may be worth booking a trip one of these weeks to get your status run kicked off. It could also be a way to have a really cheap vacation too.
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I can’t wait to read some trip reports from these mattress runs and how long it takes for Hyatt to post the points, etc. I thought there were a TON of Globalist Lite’s this year but there will be a TON of 60 night Globalists with this promotion I’m thinking. There are a LOT of Globalists in California so vegas is so easy.
I’m going to be in Vegas Jan 30-Feb 2 staying elsewhere on the strip and I want to try this at Excalibur. Right now my MLife account is offering 4 comp nights, and I was thinking of booking 7 nights total so that 3 nights are paid. I’ll wait until Feb 1 to book the nights online and avoid any possibility of getting stuck with the resort fee, then I’ll walk over to check in, and I could them not to do room service because of COVID. Now, I don’t know if doing a mix of comp/paid nights will mean I get 7 nights total of Hyatt elite credit, or 3 nights, or any credit at all. Meanwhile, I plan to redeem three FreePlay MyVegas awards on slots (requires three paid nights), which at $100, $50, and $25 is $175 total of gambling credit, which after cycling through the credit should be available to pay out at some amount hopefully above the cost of the room. They might shoot that part down, as well, because there are *any* comp nights in the mix, but I’ve heard from others that it should work. Do you think this will work?
Please update the thread here after checkout and/or when you receive Hyatt credit as to how everything worked out. Thanks.
In my previous experience, as long as 1 night is paid all nights will count towards Hyatt status. Had multiple stays last year where I had 4 nights comp and 1 night paid. Got 5 nights credited, 10 for my 2021 January stay.
That is how I have always heard of it working too Mimi
For those looking to pair cheap Vegas cash stays with the cheapest Hyatt points stays, the nearest Category 1 Hyatt property is in the SW corner of Utah, about a 2-hour drive away.
For some reason the property name didn’t show above when put in brackets.
It is the Hyatt Place St. George – Convention Center
If you already have globalist, seems pointless to do this early in the year, before you know how many non organic stays you need to requalify. If you don’t have Globalist, it would only make sense if you plan some high end stays later this year for which Globalist benefits would be extremely valuable to you, otherwise best to hit globalist with some organic stays. I’m Globalist in CA, but I’m pretty over the whole Vegas scene, so I’ll pass on this for now.
Do you think that having MGM Gold and booking a comp night through like a “My Vegas” game will qualify for the waived resort fees?
I’m thinking about doing a quick trip to Vegas just to match my Caesar’s diamond status to Mlife gold before the end of the month. Is it possible to match back and forth each year with Mlife and Hyatt once you have Gold/Globalist status like you can with Caesars and Wyndham?
Yeah Hyatt status goes until the end of February every year so you always have some time to do the match back and forth.
Do you have to physically check in or can you do mobile check in? Thanks
I am not sure if they would auto check you out if they see no activity in the room or not etc. Never tried it.
I asked this question on other post without an answer. The rule says in order to get the waved resort fee benefit, your MGM membership number has to be on the booking made directly at MGM. Can you add Hyatt number on top of MGM number on the booking or do you have to swap it? $9-11 a night credit sounds really tempting only if I can be assured I can get Hyatt night credits.
I believe you inform them at check in that you want to add your World of Hyatt number too.
From the programs terms:
2. Notify the Front Desk agent at check-in that you would like to earn World of Hyatt points and ensure that both your M life Rewards and World of Hyatt membership numbers are on your reservation and final hotel folio
Thanks for posting this! I always thought it was one or the other.
I just had a paid stay at Mirage. I do have my Southwest number attached though.
I’ve NEVER had any issues getting the Hyatt credit staying even when it’s not there at check-in. I will call my Globalist concierge and get it added. Sometimes it takes a few days but my tier night credit always has counted. No resort fees will be huge.
You are also at the mercy of the front desk staff to waive the resort fees after you have pre-paid for them when booking the reservation. I have experienced MGM properties changing the terms of rate classes after check-in and see this as ripe for shenanigans. Didn’t spend enough at our property? No fee waiver for you!
That is something we will have to see how it plays out for sure.
Usually resort fees aren’t prepaid, but paid at check out. Based upon the new MGM reward rules resort fees should not be charged if you have Gold status or above.
This does NOT sound fun. Those are some crappy hotels. Where I think it makes the most sense is Globalists that are close to making status and need a few nights. Or I’d imagine there will be some entreprenuer that offers to check in for people for some fee. My friend did this before where he was a few nights short to making Globalist and the cheapest rate (even with the resort fee) was an MGM property. He added my other friend to the reservation and just had his friend check in for him.
I’m sure some enterprising type will offer to even use the rooms daily if only to open and close the doors and perhaps otherwise make the room seem occupied on a day to day basis.
I think Luxor is underrated with them having the old Bellagio furniture now. Most days it was only a few dollars more than Excalibur.
I’m planning on doing the runs in Vegas. It’s easy to get to from Cali and some of my rooms were $2.60 a night (Excalibur, Luxor). I’m booked for the next 4 months, in various MGM properties. Should be fun.
Awesome – let us know how it goes!
For those who actually play and take advantage of comped offers from MGM, if you no-play or low-play during your stay it will affect your future comp offers as they know you’re in town. This applies to discounted room rates that you book via mLife after logging into your account.