Mattress Running Hyatt Globalist: Why it Makes Sense for Me
I have a confession: I am a travel hacker who has never stayed in a Hyatt. What? Why? How? Here’s my reasoning for mattress running Hyatt Globalist status.
My loyalties have long been with Hilton and IHG (and SPG…RIP), mainly because it’s been so easy to manufacture points and free night certificates, and both programs have such a large footprint that I have always been able to find a hotel with either of those programs wherever I needed to go. I’ve always earmarked my Chase Ultimate Rewards points for transferring to airline partners. It’s what has worked for me, and I never felt like I was missing out, so I never bothered to go out of my way to stay with Hyatt. In fact, I’ve gone out of my way to NOT stay at Hyatt in favor of Hilton properties. Sometimes those Hilton promos and Amex offers are too good to pass up.
Changing My View on Hyatt
So what’s changed? Two kids, that’s what! Hilton and IHG offer a lot of value and I’ve gotten some pretty great deals on award stays, but even with Diamond status in both programs, upgrades have always been a crapshoot. Hyatt is widely regarded as the best loyalty program out there, and they tend to be more generous than competitors when it comes to upgrading top-tier elites. Traveling a lot more with my wife and two young kids, we need more room, and preferably suites with a separate bedroom. I just dropped below 5/24 for the first time in a while, so I picked up the Chase Hyatt Business card and was already planning on making a run at Globalist.
Enter the Bilt Rewards Hyatt Globalist status challenge. I was not a Bilt Rewards member until this promo sparked excitement around the blogosphere (and if you’re just learning about it, it’s too late now to enter the promotion…sorry!). It’s a simple promo – join Bilt Rewards, opt into the challenge, and receive Explorist status for 90 days. Stay 10 nights between April 17th and July 16th and keep Explorist status. Stay 20 nights during that time period and earn Globalist until February 29th, 2025. Nights earned via credit card spending do NOT qualify for this promotion.
Mattress Running Hyatt Globalist: Why it Makes Sense for Me
Hyatt’s Bonus Journeys promotion overlaps with the Bilt challenge, and I already had 10 nights booked during the overlapping window. That leaves 10 nights to mattress run. I found a couple off-peak Category 1 Hyatt properties near me, so I booked two more nights at 3,500 points each. Booking the remaining eight nights at standard Category 1 rates of 5,000 points per night would have a top line cost 47,000 Hyatt points. The Bonus Journeys rebate for my 10 nights earns 15,000 points back, dropping my total cost to 32,000 Hyatt points to earn Globalist status for a year and a half. Not bad.
Bringing My Costs for World of Hyatt Globalist Down Even More
I found a property willing to cut a deal for not actually staying in the hotel. I’ll keep my two off-peak reservations for 7,000 points and pay cash for the eight additional nights I need. The deal is $50 + tax without having to actually stay at the hotel. Here is the new math:
- 5 base points x $400 = 2,000 base points.
- 20% Explorist bonus = 400 bonus points
- $438 room + tax x 4 points per dollar spent on the Hyatt Business credit card = 1,752 bonus points
- Top line cost is $438 + 7,000 Hyatt points
I’ll earn back 4,152 Hyatt points + 15,000 points via the Bonus Journeys rebate. That means I will spend $438 and earn a net total of 12,152 Hyatt points. Assuming a valuation of 1.7 cents per point, the earned points are worth $207. My total theoretical cost to mattress running Hyatt Globalist status is $231.
What About Milestone Rewards?
It’s true that Globalist status offers some pretty great benefits, but fast-tracking does have some caveats. People who complete the challenge to Globalist will not collect the Milestone Rewards for staying:
- 30 nights (2 Club Lounge Access Certificates and Category 1-4 Free Night Certificate)
- 40 nights (5,000 bonus points or $100 Hyatt Gift Card or $150 FIND Experience Credit)
- 50 nights (2 Suite Upgrade Awards)
- 60 nights (Category 1-7 Free Night Certificate and 2 more Suite Upgrade Awards and access to My Hyatt Concierge)
Why Mattress Running Hyatt Globalist Makes Sense for Me
Having a toddler who still naps in the middle of the day makes travel more challenging. Elite status will help us travel more comfortably. Is it worth spending $231 extra to ensure my family has extra space and a separate room for kids to nap? Abso-freakin’-lutely! Earning a lot of Chase Ultimate Rewards points through credit card spending is easy for me (hello office supply stores!), and Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Hyatt at a 1:1 rate. I will still spend on my Hyatt Business credit card to reach at least 50 nights for the Milestone Rewards, but now the pressure is off to spend an additional $20K to hit 60 nights. Will I still go for the full 60 if I can do the spending before the end of the year? That will be a decision for later.
Mattress Running Hyatt Globalist: Bottom Line
I crunched the numbers, and mattress running Hyatt Globalist status makes sense for me and my family. The math ended up even better than expected and this is one promo I am happy to be participating in. Are you going for it?
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! I know I’m a little late to the post but I wanted to know if its possible to physically check into multiple MGM Vegas properties in order to get nights? For example 3-4 properties have low rates Sunday-Thursday. Or is this approach not good? Having a hard time finding others who tried this.
I’m taking advantage of the latest Hyatt promotion of getting 3000 points back per 2 nights and additional 500 points per 2 nights if booked at certain cities.. My net cost per night is 3500 points for Cat 1 offpeak – 1500 back – 250 back = 1750 net which is about $31.50 a night if 1 hyatt point is valued at 1.8cpp. but again, that’s finding off peak at these select cities correctly and spaces are probably all gone now. 12 down, 6 nights to go. Globalist since 2016. There is no better royalty hotel program than World of Hyatt for family with kids who often likes to stay at resorts. $200 breakfast bill at Andaz Maui? fully covered including tip. I was once upgraded to a presidential suite at Grand Hyatt Doha just becase… That thing had a seperate office and buttler’s kitchen.
Curious to know what your approach is to asking for a negotiated deal. Do you email the hotel gm or call directly and what do you say? Do you just say hey I’m doing a mattress run and don’t plan to stay, can you cut me a deal?
Not sure I follow the “old” math. 2×3500 + 8×5000 = 47,000, not 52,000.
Good catch. When I started writing this, it was 11 nights to mattress run and then I replaced another award night booked with Hilton to Hyatt and I didn’t update the math when it posted.
[…] Mattress Running Hyatt Globalist […]
Are those kinds of under-the-table negotiated rates even eligible for WOH points and night credits? I have received super-discounted rates from properties for assorted service snafus and the nights didn’t count.
I cannot confirm first-hand (yet) but a reliable source has told me that the minimum rate to earn elite night credit is $50.
Hello Kevin,
My name is Carlos. I am visually impaired, totally blind and on disability. So my financial resources are limited. I wanted to take advantage of this promotion, and have sent you a private email with questions with the help of a service that helps blind people. This was expensive for me. Please respond to my email or call or text. I would love to talk to you about a few questions that I have about different things you mentioned in this Hyatt Mattress article. Thank you.
Is it too late to opt-in? I missed the April 1st deadline 🙁
Yes unfortunately it is.
I am also doing the mattress running Hyatt Globalist. Luckily I am flying to Asia this summer and managed to book cat 1 and 2 award nights.
If you don’t have to stay nor be there physically to check in/out, then the $50/night mattress run is pretty solid, especially seeing how you can pretty much do a “remote mattress run”. Care to share the property?
I’d love to know the method of how you “cut a deal?”
My only worry if we “cut a deal” is will the rate be considered an “eligble rate”
How can we try and ensure that it is in fact an eligible rate
The math doesn’t add up for most of the country. 1/8 of us live in CA where the lowest rates generally top $100/nt all-in and physical checkin is required.
So congrats, it’s a nice brag, but not easy to replicate. And the real value is not suite upgrades (which are not guaranteed w/o certs but in waived resort and parking fees on 2 rooms and free breakfast.
It might not be that hard to replicate if you’re willing to call and talk to a GM or DOS. And yes, free breakfast and parking are a big part of why I’m going for globalist.
Care to share the property? I’d cancel a lot of my 5k mattress run nights for $50 a night.
Use the Hyatt Biz card for status (in 5 elite night increments) but Bilt (along with Chase) to generate the most Hyatt points to go with your new status.
Were you able to negotiate this with the hotel yourself? You told them you don’t want to stay? So they gave you a discounted rate? Thanks for the help. In case you can disclose the property, please do.
Yes to everything except disclosing the property. I have heard rumors of Hyatt keeping a close eye on Cat 1 properties during this promo, so a sudden spike of $50 rates at a particular property might get some unwanted attention. This practice is pretty common at the end of the year for people looking to top off their nights to keep Globalist, so you may get lucky by contacting a property that has done this before…YMMV
Uhhh… there are NO 7K point stays for most of the entire country west of the Rockies. Nice for OP, I suppose.
Off-peak Category 1 is hard to find anywhere during the promo, I was lucky to find 2.
The secret to West Coast running of the promo is leveraging MGM partnership. I have a 4 night stay on my Companion Pass run which gives me some nice double stacking of promos with Bonus Journeys. I also just came back from a trip where a $55 4 night stay at Excalibur triggered the bonus twice.
That is another great option, using the MGM partnership. Comp stays should count too, as long as there’s at least one paid night.