Redefining Loyalty? World of Hyatt Announces Big Changes for 2024!

Disclosure: Hyatt invited me to their headquarters in Chicago to learn about this announcement. They provided my room, meals and flights, but did not dictate how this news is covered.

World of Hyatt Changes 2024

World of Hyatt has long been considered one of the most generous loyalty programs for members, especially when it comes to elite benefits. The program and company have grown tremendously in the past few years and now they aim to make World of Hyatt more rewarding beginning on January 1, 2024. Their goal is to, “redefine loyalty by adding more rewards, more milestones, more choice and more opportunities to gift benefits to loved ones.” What this means is an overhaul to Guest of Honor, Milestone Rewards, Event Planning and a few surprises along the way.

Hyatt Reimagines Guest of Honor for 2024

Currently World of Hyatt Globalist members are entitled to the Guest of Honor benefit which allows them to gift on-property Globalist benefits like free breakfast, upgrades, late checkout, etc. to friends or family when booking points out of the Globalist member’s account. There is currently no limit to this benefit, but it can’t be booked online. Hyatt told me the average Globalist member currently uses Guest of Honor about twice per year.

For 2024 Guest of Honor is getting re-hauled in a way that should be an improvement for most members. Among the headline changes are:

• Both Paid & Award Stays – Guest of Honor awards can now be redeemed on eligible cash and award stays.
• Part of Milestone Rewards – Guest of Honor awards will become part of Milestone Rewards and will be earned at various night levels. Depending on how many nights you stay, there is an opportunity to earn up to 10 Guest of Honors Awards per year (more on that later in the Milestone Rewards section).
• Gift & Book Online – Guest of Honor awards can now be gifted to another member from within your account and can also be booked online. As a Globalist member you can also still book Guest of Honor awards “the old fashioned way” by calling and redeeming points from your account as well.
• Expanded Beyond Globalists – Non-Globalist members can earn a Guest of Honor Award starting at 40 nights and use it on themselves or gift to another member.
• Gifting Guest of Honor Is Rewarding – The “gifter” now gets 1 elite qualifying night when the stay is completed as a “thanks” for sharing. The person staying also earns their elite qualifying nights just like before.
• 5 Awards for Current Globalist Members – Members with Globalist status as of December 31, 2023 will receive a one-time gift of 5 Guest of Honor Awards on January 1, 2024.

World of Hyatt Changes 2024 – New Milestone Rewards

As part of the world of Hyatt update beginning on January 1, 2024, Hyatt is changing and expanding their Milestone Rewards chart. They will be the first company to recognize members with perks at up to 150 elite qualifying nights. Now let’s take a look at the new World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards chart for 2024.

Admittedly there is A LOT to go over here. To start, you’ll notice that the benefits for most night levels have been expanded. Depending on the night level reached you will receive a guaranteed perk (for example a Category 1-4 certificate at 30 nights) plus a choice of another reward in the following 3 categories: earning points, enhancing your stay and wellbeing.

While the chart above is self explanatory for the most part, let’s talk about the 60 night level. At this level you get ALL of the perks listed. Just like now you receive a Category 1-7 free night, 2 suite upgrade certs and access to My Hyatt Concierge, but you also now get 2 Guest of Honors Awards as well.

Breaking Down World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards

Now that we know a little more about the new World of Hyatt Milestone Rewards, let’s go over each of the perks of the program. Check the chart above to see when each of these perks kicks in along your journey.

• 2K Next Stay Award – Earn 2K bonus points on your next stay within 180 days at a Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Caption by Hyatt or UrCove hotel.
• Club Access Awards – Enjoy access to the club on stays of 7 nights or less. This benefit is largely the same as before with the big exception being that you can gift it to another member.
• FIND Experience Credit – FIND experience credits from $25-$300 depending on the level reached. These CAN be stacked if you earn multiple codes from different night levels. Valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which it is issued, plus an additional fourteen (14) months.
• Guest of Honor Award – Gift someone the Globalist experience on stays of up to 7 nights. Works for both eligible cash and award stays. Valid for the remainder of the calendar year in which it is issued, plus an additional fourteen (14) months.
• Suite Upgrade Award – Upgrade to a standard suite at time of booking on stays up to 7 nights.
• Miraval Extra Night – A free extra night at Miraval on both paid and award stays. For example, if you stay 2 nights then you would pay for one and get the second free. These CAN be stacked if you earn multiple from different night levels. For example you can use two Miraval Extra Nights on a 4 night stay. Expires after 180 days. Stay must be completed by the expiration date.
• Ultimate Free Night Award – 1 free night at any participating Category 1-8 hotel, Category A-F all-inclusive resort, or participating Miraval resort. Expires after 180 days. Stay must be completed by the expiration date.

More on the Ultimate Free Night Award

Yes, you read that right. Hyatt is launching a Category 1-8 certificate, however to get it you will need to earn a hefty 150 elite qualifying nights. While some may balk at the tier required to earn this very valuable certificate, I think it is a positive development that it now exists. And who knows what promos could come in the future? (Note: Hyatt made no mention of promos or this award being for anything other than reaching 150 nights, so don’t get too excited, but one can be hopeful!)

One other downer on a personal level is that we aren’t getting the ability to top off free night certificates. Hyatt was asked about this and said they are always taking feedback in order to look at ways of making things better, but they don’t have any plans to add this function as of now.

Gifting Expanded for 2024 – Huge Improvements

Perhaps the biggest improvement with this new World of Hyatt rollout for 2024 is on the tech side. Many Milestone Rewards can now be redeemed online and you can gift most of them to others online as well. While I can’t show you how this will work yet, I can assure you it is so much better than before. Hyatt aimed for simplicity and based on what I saw they seem to have achieved that.

Another way Milestone Rewards have improved is by showing up when you login to the app. Instead of relying on an email to remember to claim your reward, Hyatt will now allow you to choose within your account. Much easier! Overall the gifting aspect along with some of their other app and website changes are very welcome and user friendly.

Here are a few more things you should know about Milestone Rewards and gifting:

• My Hyatt Concierge is NOT giftable
• Free night certificates, Club Access Awards and Guest of Honor Awards can all be transferred to another member online
• Suite Upgrade Awards cannot be booked or applied online as of this time
• You still cannot stack multiple awards on one stay. For example you can’t use a Suite Upgrade Award along with a Free Night Certificate. This has not changed from the current version of the program

One other small disappointment in my book comes with points transfers. Unfortunately there is no change to the way points are transferred between accounts. Currently you have to fill out a form that you either email or mail to Hyatt which is a bit cumbersome. Hopefully next time…

Improvements for Event & Travel Planners

Hyatt is also enhancing how event planners, travel advisors and small business admins earn in their program. Starting January 1, 2024 people planning events on behalf of others will earn 2 qualifying night credits for every $5,000 USD in spend. This caps out at 60 elite qualifying nights or $150,000 USD.

World of Hyatt 2024 – My Thoughts & Takeaways

After hearing this news and chatting with Hyatt executives for a few hours about the changes, I really do think this is an overall improvement. Hyatt’s Chief Commercial Officer Mark Vondrasek noted how Hyatt is embracing loyalty at a time when many in the industry are moving in the opposite direction. In other words at a time when it seems like everyone has been continually devaluing their programs, Hyatt seemingly is moving in the other direction.

World of Hyatt has quadrupled its membership in the past 5 years while adding tons of new brands, properties and high-end rooms. With Hyatt still being much smaller than their competitors, they feel they have to “play different” due to their size. Hyatt says they are doing well, but feel they can continue to enhance their loyalty program to get even better. Let’s hope things keep going in this direction!

New Milestone Rewards Are An Improvement

The new Milestone Rewards is their attempt to enhance World of Hyatt, but does it deliver? I think it does, because in almost every case you are getting the same or more as before. Guest of Honor isn’t unlimited anymore, but it is expanded to cash stays and more members can take advantage of it. You can also book Guest of Honor online and transfer the award to your friend to book with their own points. This makes the perk sustainable and better for the vast majority of people. Plus adding 1 elite qualifying night for the “gifter” is a nice touch. That said, for a very small minority, this could be a downgrade even if a very small one.

Guest of Honor Recognition

One discussion I had was regarding the recognition of Guest of Honor on a property level. I have had a few issues over the years with my “Guests of Honor” not getting the benefits or having to fight for them. It stinks and really ruins the experience. Thankfully with the training for this new rollout and Guest of Honor becoming a much more visible perk, they believe this will help to alleviate those types of admittedly anecdotal issues.

Big Tech Improvements

My other big takeaway comes from the improvements to tech side of things and the ability to do most everything online. Being able to transfer and gift awards looks to be super simple and is a much welcome change. I hope they move to make further enhancements like online points transfers and being able to stack multiple awards, but no one is perfect.

World of Hyatt Changes 2024 – Bottom Line

Hyatt announced big changes to World of Hyatt including an overhaul of Guest of Honor, Event Planning and Milestone Rewards. These changes are mostly positive and really make the user experience far simpler from the guest perspective. While we didn’t get every single thing on our wish list, I’d say this all seems pretty good to me considering Hyatt is doubling down on their focus to provide a more rewarding program instead of going in the opposite direction.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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