Earlier today my wife received an email from Hyatt stating that they were going to extend her Explorist elite status for 3 months beyond its set expiry. Plus, if she completes 10 nights between March 1 and May 31, they’ll extend her status again through February 2019. I don’t think she came anywhere near re-qualifying for Explorist with her 2017 stays, so on the surface this seems like a really nice offer. Unfortunately, it mucks a bit with my plans…
Yesterday I matched my wife’s Hyatt Explorist status to M Life Gold via Hyatt’s website. She didn’t yet have an M Life account, but after logging into her Hyatt account and clicking the “OPT IN” tier match button (see above), I was able to create her M Life account in the process. The whole thing took about 2 minutes, and her new status showed up on her account the next day.
She doesn’t need M Life Gold status — I doubt she’ll ever make use of it at all. No, the point of the exercise was so that I can later match her back to Hyatt Explorist status once she loses that status. She was originally set to lose her Hyatt status on March 1, so I figured we’d request a status match from M Life on March 1 or 2. Will that really work? Well it absolutely worked for me last year — that’s how I have Hyatt Explorist status today. But, of course, it could stop working at any time.
The promo specifically excludes M life Rewards tier matching during the promotion period, so with this promo thrust upon us, she won’t be able to tier match until June 1.
Why this is a potential nuisance
Why should I care when my wife tier matches back from M life Rewards to Hyatt? Either way she’ll have Explorist status throughout, right? Well, yes, but to me the only Explorist benefit worth talking about is that Explorists get 4 club access awards per year.
Last year, I was granted those club access awards right after tier matching from M life Gold to Hyatt Explorist. But my wife will have to wait a minimum of 3 months to get new certificates. The terms of the promo specifically state that “The member will not receive Explorist Club Lounge Access Awards… during the Promotion Period.”
If I end up in the same situation (I haven’t received the email yet, but maybe it’s still going to come?) then that could be a nuisance because we won’t then have my club access awards to keep us freely fed.
On the other hand…
If I don’t get this promo forced upon me, then the fact that my wife got it could prove to be a blessing. Why? There’s always a chance (a good chance, I think) that the reverse tier matching won’t work this year. If that happens then our only realistic chance of keeping Explorist status in the family is if we manage to credit 10 nights to her account during the promo period. I don’t think I’d “mattress run” for those nights, though. Explorist status is simply not all that valuable. If they offered Globablist, though, I’d be all over that!
Here’s the email text:
Enjoy Your Explorist Benefits Longer
Thank you for letting World of Hyatt® be part of your travels and the unforgettable memories you’ve created.
Your loyalty deserves special attention, so we are happy to maintain your Explorist status through May 31, 2018 and provide a special opportunity to extend it even longer. Stay 10 qualifying nights with checkout dates March 1 through May 31, 2018 and you’ll continue to enjoy the thoughtful rewards and special privileges of your Explorist status through February 2019. Plus, new for 2018, all your qualifying nights – including nights on free night awards – count.
Your World of Hyatt benefits are designed to make you feel cared for with preferred rooms, premium Internet, 20% Bonus Points on qualifying spend and more. Wherever you go next, please continue to enjoy these exclusive perks.
And the fine print:
You must be a recipient of this email to participate in this promotion. Upon receipt of this email you will be automatically registered for this promotion and receive an Explorist membership from March 1, 2018 through May 31, 2018 as set forth in these terms.
To maintain Explorist membership after May 31, 2018, you must complete 10 qualifying nights at any Hyatt hotel and resort or participating MGM property during the Promotion Period. All eligible nights under this promotion must be on stays with checkout dates between March 1, 2018 and May 31, 2018 (“Promotion Period”). Explorist 20% point bonus will be awarded for all eligible revenue during the Promotion Period when member chooses points for their stay. If member completes the qualifying night requirement during the Promotion Period, they will receive Explorist membership valid through February 2019. The promotion will provide the member with the benefits of Explorist membership, provided that the member will not receive Explorist Club Lounge Access Awards or a Category 1-4 Free Night Award (as defined in the World of Hyatt program terms) or be eligible to tier match with M life Rewards, the loyalty program of MGM Resorts International, during the Promotion Period.
World of Hyatt will automatically track Eligible Nights when you provide your World of Hyatt membership number at check-in. For the purpose of this promotion, an “Eligible Night” is defined as any night where a member is paying an Eligible Rate or redeems a free night award for at least one night of their stay. Only the room occupied by the member will count toward this promotion.
Hyatt reserves the right to alter or withdraw this promotion with a suitable substitute promotion of equal value (if legally required) at any time due to actual circumstances. This promotion is subject to the terms and conditions of the World of Hyatt program available at worldofhyatt.com/terms.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
[…] wrote a post about the misfortune of Hyatt extending his wife’s Explorist status (See: Hyatt extends wife’s elite status by 3 months but I’m not thrilled). Good news: both she and Greg just matched to Explorist, complete with 4 club upgrades – […]
As a globalist for years, I received an email today from Hyatt says that starting from 3/1 my status will be Explorist. It’s upset that I wasn’t even targeted the 3-more month extension promotion of globalist. Bye bye Hyatt.
I am on the same boat. However, my lounge access certificates say they expire in April but my status is until Feb 28th. Does this mean I can still upgrade to a club lounge room without being an Explorist?
Yes, I believe so
My wife and I did not get the “extension” message- and I hope we don’t. Explorist status is worthless without the club upgrades (and I had planned to match back too if possible) so once again they are putting so many restrictions and complicated subsequent “promos” on the program that it drives people away.
@Greg – I’m curious what makes you say there’s a good chance that reverse tier matching won’t be available this year. Would love to know your insight on that.
probably the idiom: all good things must come to an end.
I wrote that because this is such an obvious loophole. There’s no way that Hyatt wants people to keep status for free just by matching back and forth so they”ll undoubtedly fix this sooner or later.
Smiled through this whole read. How we all (including myself) grit our teeth over these First World problems.
So if you stay the 10 nights, you won’t get the lounge passes during the promotion period (thru May 31), but you WILL on June 1, and presumably they expire Feb 28, 2019. Is that your understanding?
Yes, that’s what I’d expect to happen
I just got a promo for WOH extending my Globalist status thru 5/31, and thru 2/19 if I stayed 20 nights 3/1 thru 5/31, including award nights. Not reall inclined tro do it. I have a sour taste in my mouth about the whole WOH screw job!
Gosh, I wish I could look your gift horse in the mouth. No extension offer for me, and I am not looking forward at all to falling off the Globalist wagon come 1 March. I’m wondering if the fact that I already have 17 nights booked in the March-May window made their computers recognize that they didn’t need to incentivize me. Or maybe accounting totaled up all the 4pm checkouts and PHV b’fasts and decided that I was precisely the sort of “elite” that WoH was designed to prevent. Sigh.
With the disaster of WOH they should’ve extended all members for another year and gave a pass if they really want to start earning our loyalty back.
Extensions and promos, smell of desperation fixes. Corporate knows WoH is causing falling numbers, but lack the courage to change the program again.
When I went to Vegas mlife Gold was useful only for booking shows. Didn’t make any difference for other things. Shorter lines? Nah. The cashiers just did whatever and made the mlife line another line.
It helped for lines to the buffets in Aria and Bellagio. Oh and the free parking was good.
I did get the same email extending Globalist status. But it is 20 nights to extend status. The part I can’t figure out is whether the 20 nights will also mean I get the 4 Tier Suite upgrades. It is ambiguous in the terms. And that could swing it in terms of whether it is worth doing. Hopefully someone else in the same position can help figure it out for all of us!
If the fine print is similar to my wife’s offer then I think you can expect to get the 4 suite upgrades only after successfully completing the 20 night challenge
No you wouldn’t. While Explorist gets 4 club access awards for status, the Tier Suite Upgrades are not benefits of Globalist status. Tier suite upgrades are only given after 60 nights.
That’s right, I forgot! Thanks for the correction James
It sucks. I hope something change at WOH for the good SOON
I have platinum status with Mlife. Can I request Hyatt status online thru the link above or do I call mlife?
I believe you actually have to contact Hyatt to match in that direction. If you’re a Twitter user, try sending a DM to @HyattConcierge. Otherwise just call Hyatt and ask for the match