How To Get Globalist Status With Just One Credit Card…But Should You?
We have been talking about Hyatt slashing their status requirements for 2021 for a few weeks now. I even broke down all the ways you can earn Globalist status on the cheap. And if you jumped on the train last year, when the World of Hyatt card got 10 elite night credits, it was pretty easy to earn. But even now, with the elite nights dropping from 10 to 5 it is still possible to earn Globalist with one credit card welcome offer. The question remains though: just because you can, should you? We will get into that a bit later.
I will say this will only work for certain people. You have to be under Chase 5/24, eligible for the World of Hyatt credit card’s welcome offer and be able to do some big spend fairly quickly. I figured I would still run through it as a thought exercise and because I have fun thinking about this stuff. If you already have some World of Hyatt points in your account, or transferrable Ultimate Rewards points, this is even easier. So let’s dig in!
Some Of These Offers May Have Ended Or Changed
Globalist Status Requirements
For the 2021 calendar year, World of Hyatt reduced the Base Point and Tier-Qualifying Night requirements by 50 percent so members can achieve or requalify for status and enjoy elite benefits in half the time – either by staying half the number of nights or earning half the number of Base Points required in a calendar year. For example, a member can earn top-tier Globalist status in record time by staying 30 Tier-Qualifying Nights or earning 50,000 Base Points in 2021 and start enjoying exclusive benefits including 30% Bonus on eligible purchases, waived resort fees on eligible rates and free night awards, room upgrades including standard suites available at check-in, Club access or breakfast, Guest of Honor benefits and more.
Reduced 2021 World of Hyatt elite status qualifications include:
- Discoverist – Stay five Tier-Qualifying Nights or earn 12,500 Base Points
- Explorist – Stay 15 Tier-Qualifying Nights or earn 25,000 Base Points
- Globalist – Stay 30 Tier-Qualifying Nights or earn 50,000 Base Points
How To Earn 30 Nights With One Welcome Offer
Now that we know we are shooting at 30 nights lets look at how to get there by signing up for the World of Hyatt card. The card comes with a welcome offer of 50,000 World of Hyatt points. You get 25,000 points when you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months and an additional 25,000 points when you spend a total of $6,000 within the first 6 months. To be eligible for the offer you have to be under Chase 5/24, as well as, not received a welcome offer on a Hyatt card in the last 2 years. Current World of Hyatt or legacy Hyatt card cardholders are not eligible either. A lot of boxes to check for sure.
Quick Spending Required
After completing the spend you will have at least 56,000 points in your account. To make this whole thing work it would require spending $6,000 before your February statement cuts, no small task. It is best for people that have a large expenditure upcoming or know they can easily reach the spending requirements.
However, if you have some points in your World of Hyatt account already from cancellations or Ultimate Rewards available for transfers it gets a little easier. You can essentially rob Peter to pay Paul. Maybe you can only hit the first tier of the bonus, $3,000 in spend, by February earning 25,000 points. But say you already have 20,000 in your account, you could borrow those until the second part of the offer is earned etc.
Mattress Running
Now that we have the points earning down we need to focus on using them to get the nights required for status. We are shooting for 30 but you get 5 for carrying the card, so we have 25 left. If you hit the $6,000 in required spend you would earn another 2 nights since you earn 2 for every $5,000 in spend. That knocks it down to 23 nights.
Hyatt currently has a couple of promos running that will help us in our quest. Cardholders get 25% back on points bookings and stays through February earn double nights, including award stays.
That means we would require 12 nights in stays that are doubled into 24 nights. If we booked ourselves into a category 1 Hyatt the cost is 5,000 points per night. With the 25% back promo that is a real cost of 3,750 a night. The total cost for the 12 nights would be 45,000. That falls underneath the 56,000 points we would get from the welcome offer.
The 12 nights in bookings would actually require 60,000 points, since the rebate comes after the stay. This means you may need to break up your stays some in order to get your rebate points to make the next bookings.
Remember this also only works if you hit the $6,000 in spend before your February statement. Unless you have some points already and only need to hit the first tier of the bonus etc. before then.
What About Credit Card Spend?
What if you did a hybrid approach and included credit card spend? If you are going for status then doing the $15,000 in spend required for a category 1-4 free night certificate makes sense. Because you know you will use it and your status works on free night stays. The spending required for the certificate would get you a total of 6 elite night credits, 2 per $5,000 in spend.
When you add that to the 5 nights you get from the card you only need 19 more. That would mean you would only need to book 10 nights during the February promotions. This would only require 37,500 points for the 10 nights, after the rebates.
Remember that you have all year to do the $15,000 in spend, so you don’t need to rush through that in February.
Consider Future Travel
Something else you should consider is future travel stays you have with Hyatt. If you already have some rooms booked in March and April or know you will be traveling etc. be sure to account for those. You will not earn the double nights but you can still count them as one less night you need.
The other consideration is if you want the status for these stays. If it is somewhere like Baha Mar, where Globalist can save you a ton of money then you may want to push forward to earn it before the trip. If it is a limited service Hyatt Place or Hyatt House or you are leaving early in the morning etc. then status will not be very useful. So weigh all those options and adjust as needed.
But Should You Chase World of Hyatt Globalist Status?
This may be the most important part of this entire discussion and something you need to seriously consider before doing anything. I have noticed a lot of people in Facebook Groups etc. getting roped into the hype of this status. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is an amazing opportunity but that is looking through my glasses. If you don’t know much about World of Hyatt, never stay there and their hotels are not available where you travel then avoid this at all costs. There is no point in spending time and money on something you won’t get value out of.
Once you earn the status you get it for 2021 and 2022 which means you have plenty of time to use it. You have to also consider that it is only useful at full service properties. Everyone gets breakfast at Hyatt Place / Hyatt House and there are no upgrades really etc.
If you look at the high end of this, 45,000 points are required. At a 1.5 cent valuation that is $675 in value you may be spending just to get status (assuming it is earn entirely by mattress running). If you assume you get $50 in value at full service properties with your status per stay then you need to stay 14 nights in full service properties over two years just to break even. For many of us that is not a problem but if you are even close to that number then pass on this promotion.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully I have shown you that it is still possible to get Globalist status with just one credit card. It won’t be easy, and many people won’t be able to pull it off, but it is possible. Also I hope I made it clear that this promotion is not for everyone. Remember to make that decision before you do everything else.
If you check all of the boxes though and know you will get value from it then it is best to start as soon as possible. Grab that World of Hyatt card and get to spending!
 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
bonus_miles_full
Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Hi Mark,
Great read. I’m a little late to this article and hoping you can help clarify. How much spending do you have to do if you don’t have any stays just the five nights from having the cc in order to obtain globalist status?
This year it would require $65,000 to get the additional 25 nights needed by Dec 31st
Great write up Mark – helped cure me of any FOMO on this one. When travel opens up for me i expect it will include countries and destinations with few or no convenient Hyatts.
Glad I could help Rich – definitely not worth it for you then.
I’m on my way to Globalist status; should be there by end of month with 5k stays and my 5 night CC award. We love and stay at Baha Mar. Not sure if they have a lounge, but if they don’t, will we be able to get a complimentary breakfast each day. Additionally, with the Globalist status, what other perks can we enjoy at this property … Thanks!
I think upgrades are tough to come by at Baha Mar and you may just get a better view etc. They do have a lounge that serves breakfast and finger foods at night that can cover most of a dinner plus they have free alcohol. It can easily save you $100+ a day on property with the prices of food there.
As a Hilton diamond, I have found that suite upgrade availability declined after the Aspire card was introduced thus resulting in a sudden uptick of diamond members.
I would expect a similar outcome with Hyatt if sufficiently large number of members manufacture Globalist status this year. Less upgrade availability, crowded lounges, possible cost cutting measures at properties with more people getting free breakfast, etc.
Good point,Teo. I have wondered that myself. Even wonder about Hyatt’s viability.
That is something to consider for sure. I don’t know if it will be as bad as it could be because hotels are so empty right now and will continue to be for a while. So I think we may dodge a lot of that bullet etc. It will also depend where you are traveling and when. If it is a super busy place etc. upgrades will be less likely for sure. I think overseas you will see little to no effect.
For me breakfast is the most important aspect and I don’t see that changing much.
I have been trying to find out what clubs are open despite COVID. We have a trip planned to Maui and Kauai in March and it doesn’t look too promising to be able to enjoy these beautiful clubs. Where can I find out the club status in US Hyatt locations?
I think the only way is to call the individual hotels.
I live in Hawaii and club lounges in general aren’t going to open anytime soon here in Hawaii. Grand Hyatt is just opening up again as well period and with our numbers rising again, I don’t think it will be soon, as I am waiting as well.
I also think the valuations and expectations for things need to be put into perspective. Yes Globalist is an amazing status for sure. I’m Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, and Marriott Platinum because of our lifestyle, we pretty much lived in hotels the last 2 years in Asia.
Now, with all the lounges pretty much closed in the US, and buffet breakfast at these gorgeous resorts are now made to order, the value for the status has gone down because so many things aren’t open. I used to love going to club lounges and there was real value there, especially when one is recovering from surgery and can’t leave the hotel. Now, that’s all closed. We’ll see what happens…
Good points Jen. I think the status will be worth less this year, at least for the first half for sure. But I hope it will be mostly back to normal and lounges open later this year and all of 2022.
Aren’t you leaving out that Chase is doubling the elite night credits for 2021 credit card holders to 10 instead of 5? So someone hitting 15K in spend only needs 7 nights at a Cat 1 Hyatt Place in Feb to qualify? Or am I wrong?
Only people that signed up before December 31st got that offer.
Don’t new cardholders get 10 bonus nights? (Not 5)
That offer ended at the end of last year.
Excellent analysis (as always).
In the middle of my Mattress Run as we speak.
The GM at my chosen hotel actually offered me a discount in the future if I want to try it again in the future. 🙂
It is probably more of a whim for me, but Hyatt has been always much better than any other chain, even at lowly Discoverist.
A blessed year to you, Mark, and the rest of the MTM crew!
Thanks as always doc and a blessed year for you too – let’s hope for a much better 2021! 🙂
I’m not understanding your $50 a night value. If you get a suite upgrade because you have globalist status that has a value of much more than $50
I intentionally put the value low. I think people tend to overvalue status, upgrades, perks etc.
Your analysis is alot like getting a Southwest companion pass when Southwest does not fly into your town. Why get globalist if you have not stayed at any Hyatts and do not have enough points to make being Globalist worthwhile.
I am not sure if you are talking to me directly or just an overall you. But I normally stay 30-40 nights a year with Hyatt. I would never be able to get to Globalist without this offer but I sure will get a lot more value than the cost so it is worth it for me. Each person needs to make their own decision.
This is also a soft landing for anyone thinking of switching brands. Say you are fed up with Bonvoy and want to try Hyatt etc. This gives you an avenue to get status earlier than you normally would.