Finishing Off Lifetime Hyatt Globalist Status!
Those that follow my blog know that I’ve been a HyattHomerTM for a number of years now. They consistently deliver great service and benefits to me. They’ve done so for a number of years. Their lifetime status is one of the hardest to achieve among the major chains. Unlike chains like SPG, award nights don’t boost your total. Lots of nights at cheap properties don’t boost your total. Only cold, hard cash boosts your total. Earning 1 million base points (by spending $200,000 at Hyatt hotels) was the only way to earn Lifetime Diamond status.
I was a devoted Starwood Preferred Guest fan for many years. I crossed the finish line for lifetime status with SPG last year, something I was hoping to lock up prior to the merger with Marriott. With the merger finalized, there have been plenty of positive announcements for SPG fans. Since then, Marriott has slowed down on the merger front. There’s been no clear indication that SPG lifetime status will be honored by Marriott, though I expect that to be confirmed at some point.
Hyatt has been going through some changes lately, rolling out the new World of Hyatt program earlier this month. I wasn’t 100% sure how lifetime status would be affected by these changes. I was really close to finishing off lifetime status with Hyatt and would have been upset if the goal posts got moved further away. Luckily, the standards to qualify actually got a bit easier, as they removed the requirement to be a member of the program for 10 years.
At the same time, they also made lifetime status even more valuable than I originally thought. Folks who earn lifetime Globalist status AND qualify for Globalist the old-fashioned way (with 60 nights in hotels) will get 2 sets up upgrade certificates and an extra free night at any Hyatt hotel in the world.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a number of opportunities to pay for rooms for staff members traveling with me over the years. I did the same thing on family trips. That, plus a busier travel schedule than I would have preferred over the past half-dozen years put me at the cusp of lifetime status just as Hyatt was rolling out the new program. This was the lifetime status I really wanted to tuck under my belt.
I ended up at the Hyatt Regency Denver, a place I’ve stayed more than 100 nights at over the years. I had some stays a few days prior that had just finished posting, which meant I would finish up lifetime status where I started. The Hyatt Regency Denver was the first hotel I stayed at as a business traveler about 8 years ago. It was the service there that convinced me to qualify for Diamond status and ultimately to move a huge chunk of business from SPG to Hyatt.
It wasn’t immediately obvious to me that the hotel knew I was qualifying for lifetime status that evening. After all, I didn’t really expect that someone was actively tracking my progress. My Hyatt Private Line Agent knew I was close. I’m guessing she was the one who alerted the hotel, because it was pretty clear they knew.
I was upgraded to a beautiful suite. I’ve been very fortunate with upgrades at that property, so that wasn’t really the thing that tipped me off. However, this was.
There was a nice note from the general manager of the hotel congratulating me on hitting lifetime status. And, there was one heck of a feast for one person. My only regret? That my wife and kids weren’t there to help me finish the meal, especially since they’ve sacrificed quite a bit of time away from me over the years.
Finish Line?
Now that I’ve finished off lifetime Diamond Globalist status with Hyatt, I’ve got a bit of time to reflect on what’s next. After hitting the milestone with Starwood Prefered Guest last year, I’m behind my normal pace for bookings with them. So far, that’s a product of where I’ve been staying. Hyatt is generally my first choice if they have a property in the market. In markets with no Hyatt, there’s also frequently no SPG property.
My entire thesis behind lifetime status was to have these benefits for when I got finished with this crazy merry-go-round of business travel. I’m glad to have the achievement completed and to have it survive a major change to the program. I won’t be changing where my primary loyalty lies. Hyatt has earned my business consistently every year for quite some time. The recent changes to the program are a net positive me. Most of all, though, I have faith that Hyatt will continue to deliver on what they promise. That’s most important to me, even more so than fancy rooms and extra points.
I might be considering which chain to make my backup. I’ll be writing about my feelings on hotel loyalty in the future, and asking for your help with that decision. In the meantime, though, doesn’t this look cool?
Valid through Lifetime. I like the sound of that.
The post Finishing Off Lifetime Hyatt Globalist Status! was published first on Pizza in Motion
Congrats Ed! I’ve only got 700K base points to go… 😉
Thanks, Matthew! I hope to be congratulating you soon. Shall we schedule it for 2026? We can celebrate Augustus’ 10th birthday as well. 😉
Let’s shoot for that!
I have it in my calendar. You choose the location since it’s your party. I’ll bring the Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque.
Congrats, Ed! That’s great and it does look cool!
Thanks, Charlie. 🙂
Great news! I am about 75,000 points away myself!
Thank you, sir! Didn’t realize you were that close. Amazing how slow the number moves when you get that close!
Congrats Ed!
Thx, Clint! Happy to be at the finish line.
Nice article. Congratulations on the significant milestone. I will make Hyatt Lifetime soon. I agree it is far and away the best program – at least for me. I was a little disheartened by the changes particulary losing the 1,000 point amenity. However, after using my added free night to book my favorite hotel, the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome and booking the rest of the week on points, I was able to suite upgrade that entire award stay. A wonderful benefit – that award stay is probably worth almost $10,000.
As for your future plans, I recommend Marriott. You still get to stay SPG with their luxury properties. Marriott has significant luxury properties and of course they are everywhere. When you look at future builds for Marriott it is primarily luxury whereas the others are into expanding the mid-price tier.
Diamond Dave, hope you lock up lifetime Hyatt status soon! Losing the amenity doesn’t bother me as much as others. Sounds like you used your free night in about the best way possible. Thanks for your thoughts on the future. Hope to post more on that soon.
Congrats Ed. Glad to hear Hyatt continues to work for you. This is quite a nice achievement. Especially in a world where so many hotels stomp out the business travelers by denying points and credit on business travel.
Tenmoc, Hyatt does continue to work very well for me. I totally get why it might not for others. But, hey, I’m selfishly happy with the recent changes. 🙂
What’s a HyattHomerTM? And where can we find the status of our lifetime standing on the new website?
Congratulations and thanks for the update!
How mad will you be when they roll our Globalist Pro next year? 😉
Perryplatypus, if they do, I’m hunting you down.
Well I just called Hyatt to complain that I can’t see any of my Lifetime tracking with points. They told me I had 496k, so then I asked where are my records of stays going back to 2001? They are now purged!!! They only show 2 years worth. So how do I know their 496k is correct? I got to just take their DAMN WORD FOR IT?
This is also unacceptable, since SPG has my stays from 1998 when I was ITT Sheraton Gold, before they went SPG program.
I also like keep track of some of the good properties I’ve stayed at around the world, I mean you forget sometimes right? Well can’t do that either, since Hyatt seems to have purged the records.
Ever since they went to this new program it’s been a bag of shit in my view.
Andre, try sending an e-mail to them. I’ve had good experience with various hotels and airlines over the years being willing to pull down more history that way.
Has anyone every approached Hyatt about possible having other routes to Lifetime Status–perhaps if you have been Globalist for the past 5 years and march 500k bass points, etc. I am nearing the end of my travel career and it is unlikely I will hit the million point mark–While I have held many events at Hyatt Hotels those spending dollars do not count toward life time base points, I sure hate to loose status when I do retire. thx
Rob, they removed the 10-year requirement for status, making it just based on spending. I doubt you’ll see a change beyond that, especially given Marriott’s retreat from allowing higher levels to earn lifetime status.