The Guide to Hyatt Status

Although Hyatt is a smaller hotel program when compared to Hilton and Marriott, Hyatt still has more than 25 brands and more than 1,300 properties all over the world. Hyatt’s status program also offers its elites a lot of perks. Whether your stays include a lot of Hyatt properties or you’re perhaps looking to switch loyalty, here’s what you need to know about the World of Hyatt elite program.

The World of Hyatt elite status program is broken out into three tiers beyond its free-to-join, entry-level Member designation:

• Discoverist.

• Explorist.

• Globalist.

Lower-level World of Hyatt elite status can mean tiny touches to improve your travels like free bottled water and late checkout. But for the most elite of elite members, World of Hyatt Elite status can mean VIP treatment, including suite upgrades, club access and money-saving perks like free parking and waived resort fees.

Member (Entry-level)

How to earn Hyatt member status: You achieve this level just by signing up for the World of Hyatt program.

Basic "member" status is the equivalent to a hotel-loyalty participation trophy. But just because there’s virtually no effort required doesn’t mean it’s not worth having. To achieve this status, head over to the Hyatt website and sign up for a free account.

Hyatt member benefits

As a World of Hyatt member, you earn 5 points per eligible $1 spent at Hyatt properties, which can be redeemed for free nights, upgrades and experiences. You'll also have access to member rates that can save you up to 15% at participating hotels and resorts. Those pesky resort fees are waived at participating locations when you book with points.

» Learn more: World of Hyatt: What you need to know

Discoverist (Low-level)

How to earn Hyatt Discoverist status: Hyatt Discoverist status can be achieved when you complete 10 nights, earn 25,000 points or schedule three qualifying events at a Hyatt property. You’ll also earn automatic World of Hyatt Discoverist status by holding the World of Hyatt Credit Card or the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card, for as long as the cards are open.

Hyatt Discoverist benefits

Discoverist members have the same benefits as base members, along with a few extra perks. Hyatt Discoverist members earn 5 base points per eligible $1 at Hyatt properties, plus 10% bonus points on all eligible purchases.

Added benefits of being a Discoverist are complimentary premium internet, daily bottled water and upgrades to a preferred room within the same type you booked (based on availability at participating locations). Discoverist members also enjoy 2 p.m. late checkout, subject to availability.

» Learn more: The best airline and hotel loyalty programs

Explorist (Mid-level)

How to earn Hyatt Explorist status: You will reach Hyatt Explorist status once you complete 30 eligible nights, earn 50,000 points or host 10 qualifying meetings or events.

For a boost toward Explorist status, consider holding the World of Hyatt Credit Card. By holding the card, you’ll receive five qualifying night credits toward your next tier status every year (you’re automatically granted Discoverist status), as well as two qualifying night credits toward your next tier status every time you spend $5,000 on your card.

Although the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card doesn’t typically provide automatic qualifying night credits like the personal card, for every $10,000 you spend, you receive five qualifying night credits.

Hyatt Explorist benefits

Hyatt Explorist members earn 5 base points for every eligible $1, plus 20% bonus points. Beyond this, the incremental benefits of being an Explorist are negligible.

You'll receive the same benefits as a Discoverist member when it comes to member rates, waived resort fees, premium Wi-Fi, bottled water and late checkout.

The one valuable difference is that you'll get room upgrades to the next available category, though this still depends on availability at check-in. Explorist members also get an availability guarantee, which ensures room availability at participating Hyatt hotels up to 72 hours in advance (with applicable blackout dates).

Globalist (Top-tier)

How to earn Hyatt Globalist status: Hyatt's highest membership tier requires you to complete 60 eligible nights, earn 100,000 points or hold 20 qualifying events or meetings.

Hyatt Globalist benefits

Hyatt Globalist members receive all the same benefits as previous levels, with some excellent additional perks.

Instead of earning 20% bonus points, Globalist earnings jump to 30% bonus points. This is crucial, as it means you'll rack up points faster so you can start enjoying free nights earlier. Resort fees will be waived on not just award nights — as is the case for all other World of Hyatt status tiers — but on eligible paid rates as well.

You'll get an automatic complimentary upgrade to a standard suite, when available. There's a 48-hour availability guarantee to ensure a room is available when you book last-minute.

Late checkout is extended from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., which is great when you want to squeeze the most out of the last day of your trip. Additionally, in locations where your parking can be charged to your room, you get comped parking when staying on a free night award.

Globalist members can relax with snacks, drinks, continental breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres every day at the club lounge. If your hotel does not have a lounge, you'll get a free full breakfast every day for up to two adults and two children, provided they’re registered guests.

As a Globalist, Hyatt allows you to extend the benefits of your status to a guest. This "Guest of Honor" perk allows Globalists to book award stays for someone else, which includes access to the same elite benefits.

There are two chief ways to earn World of Hyatt status: Through a combination of stays and points or by adding a Hyatt credit card to your wallet.

Stays and points

You can earn World of Hyatt elite status through either staying a set of amount of qualifying nights annually, through earning enough points, or by hosting a certain number of meetings/events. You must complete one of the correlating tasks in order to earn the below status level:

» Learn more: The best hotel credit cards

Through a World of Hyatt credit card

Hyatt has two credit cards that provide automatic Discoverist status for as long as the cards remain open: the World of Hyatt Credit Card and the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card.

If you’re constantly asking for late checkout, or you value room upgrades, then you may find Discoverist status is useful. Then again, Discoverist status is the second-lowest of the tiers of Hyatt status, so temper your expectations of how far it'll get you.

» Learn more: What is the best Hyatt credit card?

It’s sometimes possible to gain Hyatt elite status through a status match from other travel loyalty programs. Some status matching programs are easy, simply requiring you to register to receive reciprocal elite benefits.

Others require a bit of work, such as still requiring you to stay a certain amount of nights at Hyatt to earn elite status, albeit at a lesser rate than what’s typically required.

Hyatt-American Airlines status match

Although previously American Airlines and Hyatt offered a limited-time promotion for a status challenge, the promotion is over now. Now, only American’s highest status level — ConciergeKey — is able to status match to Hyatt’s highest level, Globalist.

Starting in 2025, American and Hyatt elites will be able to select reciprocal elite status after meeting certain thresholds. American AAdvantage members can select Hyatt Discoverist status after earning 100,000 Loyalty Points and Hyatt Explorist status at the 175,000 and 250,000 Loyalty Point milestones.

Hyatt elites who stay 70, 80 and 90 nights will be able to select AAdvantage Gold status, while those who stay 100 nights can choose AAdvantage Platinum status as a reward. Select Hyatt elites can also redeem their points to earn status benefits for a day, up to AAdvantage Platinum Pro status.

» Learn more: How the Hyatt-American Airlines partnership works

» Learn more: Should you pursue Hyatt elite status this year?

First off, Hyatt's elite status tiers offer consistently high-value perks for all its members. Contrast that with other programs, which sometimes offer boffo perks to its highest-tier members but not a whole lot for those in the middle of the ladder. Hyatt is good to all its loyalists — just more so to its most loyal.

Secondly, World of Hyatt points have the most value out of any hotel loyalty program points. According to our most recent valuations, each Hyatt point is worth about 1.8 cents (compare that to Hilton, 0.4 cent each, and Marriott, 0.8 cent each).

Here are some high-value ideas for ways to redeem Hyatt points:

• Hyatt sweet spots

• The secret to booking 5,000-point hotels in major cities (Spoiler: Its with Hyatt points)

• The best Hyatt Category 4 hotels

• Best Hyatt hotels in the Caribbean

• Best Hyatt hotels in Las Vegas

Because of the brand's recent expansion efforts, the ease of earning points and the ease of using points due to of the program's semi-fixed award chart, earning Hyatt status is worth it for travelers considering hotel loyalty this year.

» Learn more: What is the current Hyatt points value?

With an ever-expanding portfolio of hotels, the Hyatt brand may have a hotel wherever your next destination happens to be.

While achieving top-tier elite status might be a bit of a stretch for anyone other than heavy business travelers, it’s worth keeping in mind that with World of Hyatt, some valuable benefits start kicking in once you earn low-level Discoverist status — so it's not a bad choice of loyalty program for casual travelers, either.