World of Hyatt announces major changes to Milestone Rewards, Guest of Honor and more

HOSTED BY: 1 AIR TRAVEL

Hyatt hosted the writer in Chicago for meetings about changes made to its program and provided a complimentary two-night stay at the Park Hyatt Chicago. The opinions expressed in this story are entirely the author’s and weren’t subject to review by Hyatt.

World of Hyatt just announced several changes it’s making to its loyalty program that will go into effect in 2024. I’m always nervous when a loyalty program I use announces it’s modifying the current rewards structure since it’s often not good news. But, I’m happy to report the upcoming World of Hyatt changes are all seemingly positive. And I suspect most other loyalists of this hotel chain will be pleased with the upcoming modifications made to its program.

Although Hyatt acquired Mr & Mrs Smith in April, none of the changes or announcements are (surprisingly) about Mr & Mrs Smith. So, keep reading as we dive into the changes you’ll see in the World of Hyatt program in 2024.

Related: How to earn, use and make the most of your Hyatt free night certificates

World of Hyatt makes changes to Milestone Rewards

World of Hyatt is making its Milestone Rewards more meaningful and relevant by giving members a choice at most milestone tiers. Hyatt Milestone Rewards will still start at 20 qualifying nights or 35,000 base points within a calendar year. But starting in 2024, you’ll have more (and some new) choices at most tiers and earn Milestone Rewards on up to 150 qualifying nights per year.

“The new Milestone Rewards are rooted in what we heard from our members—we understood they wanted more rewards and more choice—so we are offering a wider array of options to craft their travel journey, care for their wellbeing and immerse themselves in the transformative experiences that World of Hyatt offers,” said Amy Weinberg, Hyatt’s senior vice president of brand, loyalty and data, said in a statement.

Here’s a look at how the existing and upcoming Milestone Rewards options compare:

When there is a choice, you’ll still need to choose within 90 days of earning the Milestone Reward. Here are more details about the new Milestone Rewards choices:

Although the Find Experiences credits aren’t a new option, we did clarify that these credits are stackable. So, you could select these credits at multiple milestones and then use multiple credits to book a single experience. But you can’t use suite upgrade and Guest of Honor awards on the same trip.

Most awards you’ll earn as Milestone Rewards, including Guest of Honor awards, are valid for the entire calendar year that you selected the award, plus 14 additional months. So, a Guest of Honor award selected in mid-2024 would be valid through the end of February 2026.

Related: Last-minute strategies for earning World of Hyatt elite status

World of Hyatt Guest of Honor 2024 changes

As you likely picked up from the previous section, World of Hyatt will end the unlimited Guest of Honor benefit available to Globalist elite members at the end of 2023. Starting in 2024, World of Hyatt members can earn Guest of Honor awards through the Hyatt Milestone Rewards program.

Members will earn one Guest of Honor award after 40 nights (or 65,000 base points) — giving you a chance to earn a Guest of Honor award without (or before) reaching Globalist status. You’ll also earn two Guest of Honor awards once you reach 60 nights (or 100,000 base points) in a calendar year and another Guest of Honor award after 70, 80, 90, 110, 120, 130 and 140 nights in a calendar year.

You can use a Guest of Honor award on your own stay if you don’t already have Globalist status, giving Explorist members who reach 40 nights (or 65,000 base points) a chance to enjoy Globalist perks on a stay of up to seven nights, even if they don’t earn Globalist status. Starting in 2024, you can use each Guest of Honor award on an eligible paid or award stay of up to seven nights.

However, each time you use a Guest of Honor award for another member’s stay, you’ll get one elite-qualifying night once the other member completes their stay. You won’t get this elite-qualifying night if you use the Guest of Honor award for yourself.

In January 2024, Hyatt will deposit five Guest of Honor awards into the accounts of all Globalist (including lifetime Globalist) members. These awards will be valid through the end of February 2025. Then, starting in 2025, Hyatt will deposit five Guest of Honor awards each March into the accounts of lifetime Globalist members. Hyatt confirmed that all of the other current lifetime Globalist benefits will remain.

Related: How much value does World of Hyatt status provide when you book directly?

Gifting World of Hyatt awards

In early 2024, Hyatt plans to add the ability to gift most award types — including suite upgrade awards, club access awards and Guest of Honor awards — to another member through the World of Hyatt app or website. The only awards you won’t be able to gift are My Hyatt Concierge and the 2K Next Stay award.

Once you gift an award, that member can use it to book a stay from their World of Hyatt account. However, once an award is gifted, you can’t take it back and it can’t be regifted. So, be sure you want to transfer an award to another member’s account before you do so.

For Guest of Honor awards, you may want to avoid gifting these awards to other members. Instead, you can continue to call Hyatt or contact your My Hyatt Concierge to book a stay for another member using your credit card and points. The downside of doing so is that you’ll need to pay for the stay — although the other member can still transfer Hyatt points to you for the booking. But the upside is that you’ll get the Guest of Honor award back into your account if the stay is canceled.

Although you can gift suite upgrade awards and club access awards to another member online, you’ll still need to call Hyatt or contact your My Hyatt Concierge to apply these awards to an eligible stay. And, at least for now, Hyatt still requires members to fill out the paper form to transfer points to another member.

Related: The best Hyatt hotels in the world

Hyatt makes changes to earning elite status for meetings and events

World of Hyatt is also changing how members earn elite-qualifying nights toward Milestone Rewards and Hyatt elite status through hosting meetings and events.

The current World of Hyatt program lets you earn elite status through qualifying nights, base points or hosted meetings and events. But starting in 2024, you can earn two qualifying night credits per $5,000 in eligible spending (up to 60 qualifying night credits per year) booked to a group master account.

This means you can earn qualifying nights from hosting events, whether you’re a business professional planning several events or a member hosting just one wedding or family reunion. Best of all, you don’t need a set number of rooms attached to your meeting.

Hyatt travel advisers, including Hyatt Prive advisers, will earn two qualifying nights per $5,000 in eligible spending when stays are booked through qualifying methods. Hyatt Leverage account administrators will also earn two qualifying nights per $5,000 in room spending when they book room nights for other members (stays they book for themselves won’t count).

This change lets members — including meeting and event planners, travel advisers and small business administrators — qualify for Hyatt elite status and Milestone Rewards based on a mixture of events and their own travel.

Related: Why I aim to spend $15K on my World of Hyatt Credit Card each year

Bottom line

Hyatt says it aims to redefine loyalty and change what it means to be (and feel) rewarded as a member with these program updates. I’m pleased with these changes as a World of Hyatt Globalist member. None of the changes are negative for me, as I don’t need to book more than one or two Guest of Honor stays for friends and family each calendar year.

I’m excited to select something besides club access awards at the 20-night (or 35,000-point) and 30-night (or 50,000-point) milestones. I’ve yet to find a use for my club access awards and frequently stay at Hyatt Place and Hyatt House properties, so I’ll happily select a 2K Next Stay award at these milestones. I’m also excited to choose up to five suite upgrade awards — currently, I can choose up to four — each year as I stay 60 nights (or earn 100,000 base points) to qualify for Globalist status.

Being able to gift awards more easily will be a major plus for some Hyatt members. Earning a Guest of Honor award at 40 nights will be great for Explorist members, and using Guest of Honor awards on qualifying paid and award stays provides more options. Those who spend more than 100 nights per year with Hyatt will certainly appreciate the addition of Milestone Rewards at 110, 120, 130, 140 and 150 nights.

The only real losers with these changes are meeting and event planners who enjoy qualifying for status based on hosting many relatively inexpensive events and Globalist members who enjoy making a lot of Guest of Honor bookings for friends and family. Hyatt says the average Globalist makes two Guest of Honor bookings each year, though, so most members will likely still earn enough Guest of Honor awards to satisfy their needs.

You can read more about the upcoming changes on the Hyatt website and check out the upcoming terms and conditions.