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With the recent launch of the new World of Hyatt Credit Card, it’s finally become possible to manufacture top-tier Hyatt Globalist status through spend. By stacking a couple of current promotions, it gets even “easier”. I put that in quotations on purpose — this post is definitely more theoretical than practical. Still, with some spend and a month in Tulsa, you could get yourself Hyatt Globalist status.
Spend your way to status
In my review of the new World of Hyatt Credit Card, I noted that one of the most interesting things about the new card is the strong assist it provides in reaching status. While the Discoverist status awarded to cardholders is largely meaningless, the card awards 5 elite nights toward status each year. In order to earn Globalist status, you would need to earn an additional 55 nights for the first year (and 50 nights to re-qualify).
What’s more is that the card also earns 2 elite qualifying night credits every time you spend $5,000 on the card, with no limit to the number of elite qualifying nights you can earn this way.
That will come in handy when stacked with 2 other current promotions….
Stacking 10% back and 2500 points for 5 nights
Yesterday, Stephen posted a quick deal highlighting the return of a popular Hyatt promotion: a 10% rebate on award stays between August 1st and September 30th (See: Hyatt Offering Cardmembers 10% Points Rebate On Award Stays This Summer). See that post for full details, but essentially cardholders will get 10% of redeemed points back.
In that post, Stephen touched on a really interesting way to stack promotions. There is currently a second promotion running for stays at Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt locations: stay 5 nights, get 2,500 points (See: Hyatt Promo: 2,500 Points Every 5 Nights At Hyatt Regency & Grand Hyatt). That’s interesting because that promo works on award stays and the dates overlap somewhat — that promo runs through August 31st — meaning that it is possible to stack the 10% back promo with the 2,500 points back promo.
Stephen also touched on the fact that there just so happen to be 30 Hyatt Regency properties worldwide that are in Category 1 and therefore cost only 5,000 points per night (to find them, click here and change region to “all” and “Hotel Category” to “1 – 5,000 points per night”). When staying at one of those properties, the stacking promotions mean that every 5th night is effectively “free”. That’s because 5 award nights would ordinarily cost you 25,000 points. However, with the promos, this is how it would look:
25,000 points (5 nights x 5K per night)
-2,500 points (10% rebate for credit card holders)
-2,500 points (Hyatt Regency promo for 5 night stays)
20,000 points = “net” cost for 5 nights
I have the world “net” in quotations because while true, it won’t be quite that simple. The terms of the 10% bonus points rebate for credit card holders state that the points will post 6-8 weeks after check out. I don’t see a timeframe in the terms on the 5-night Hyatt Regency promo. You’ll need to be able to front the 25,000 points for 5 nights — but if you can, your net cost will be 20K for 5 nights once those promo bonuses post.
If you were to book an extended stay, 10 nights would cost you a net 40K points. If you were to stay at the (Category 1) Hyatt Regency Tulsa, Oklahoma from August 1st to August 30th, 2018, it would cost you a net 120,000 points.
From zero to Globalist in a month
Let’s say you recently signed up for the World of Hyatt Credit Card. The new cardmember bonus on that card is good for 60,000 points after a total of $6,000 in spend in the first 3 months. Let’s further say that you were able to get that entire $6,000 spend done and your statement cuts ahead of August 1st. In that case, you would immediately have more than half the points needed for the month of August (66,000 total points assuming all of your credit card spend were at 1x). You would need an additional 54,000 points to reach the full 120K points required to spend the month in Tulsa.
Let’s further say that you had the ability to spend an additional $54,000 in the near future — a tall order for sure, but this is a theoretical exercise. Let’s further say that you could do it by early August and that you could call or secure message Chase to get your statement closing date changed to cut early enough for the points to post in time for you to book the rest of August in Tulsa (which admittedly might be tough once Tulsa sees the Frequent Miler effect on bookings). Between your initial $6K spend, your new $54K spend, and the 60K points from the signup bonus, you would have 120,000 points (representing your “net” cost of staying in Tulsa for the month). Of course, you would actually need another 30K points to start since 30 nights at 5K per night will initially cost you 150K — remember that the bonus points from the two promotions may not post before the end of August. Hopefully, you have some Chase Ultimate Rewards that you don’t mind moving over to Hyatt. Even if you don’t, I bet you have a friend who would be willing to transfer you 30K Hyatt points as an investment in your bid for Globalist status in the hopes that you’re the sharing type.
Again, your numbers would look like this:
150,000 Hyatt points (30 nights x 5K per night)
– 15,000 Hyatt points (10% cardholder rebate)
– 15,000 Hyatt points (2500 points for every 5 nights x 6)
120,000 Hyatt points (net cost for 30 nights at a Cat 1 Hyatt Regency
And to get that 120K points:
60,000 Hyatt points (new World of Hyatt CC bonus after spending $6K/3mo)
6,000 Hyatt points (from spending $6K to earn the bonus)
+ 54,000 Hyatt points (spending an additional $54,000 at 1x)
120,000 Hyatt points
So that’s a total of $60,000 spend in order to earn the 120,000 points to cover the net cost of 30 nights in Tulsa (or any Cat 1 Hyatt Regency). Your 30 nights in Tulsa gets you halfway to Globalist status, which requires 60 qualifying nights (and award nights count).
However, your $60,000 spend also helps you make huge progress towards Globalist status. That’s because you earn credit for 2 elite nights for every $5,000 you spend on that card. This means that your $60,000 in spend will earn you an additional 24 elite nights.
$60,000 ÷ $5,000 = 12
12 x 2 elite nights = 24 elite nights
Put together with your 30 nights in Tulsa, that’s 54 elite nights – six short of Globalist status. Good news on that — as mentioned near the beginning of this post, the new World of Hyatt Credit Card automatically gives credit for 5 elite nights, bringing you to 59 nights. After $15,000 in spend on the credit card, you’ll earn a free Cat 1-4 night — which you can use for the night of August 30th (either in Tulsa or at any other Cat 1-4 Hyatt, I’ll let you decide)…bringing you to 60 nights of elite credit in 30 days, otherwise known as enough elite nights for Hyatt Globalist status, earned in 30 days.
And you would even have a couple of free nights to show for your efforts: Hyatt awards a Cat 1-4 free night after you achieve 30 elite nights and a Category 1-7 free night after earning 60 nights, meaning that you would have two free night certificates after completing your month in Tulsa. Or whichever Cat 1 Hyatt Regency / Regencies you choose.
But it’s not very realistic
As mentioned from the outset, that’s a highly theoretical approach. You would need to have the points and the flexibility to spend a month in Tulsa / Category 1 Hyatt Regencies. Further, you’d have to do a lot of spend in a short amount of time, and with the way Chase has been shutting down accounts in recent months (See: Why Chase shutdowns have increased and how to avoid them), I wouldn’t advise you to open a new credit card and spend $54,000 on it in the first month.
That said, if you already have Ultimate Rewards to invest in this and you don’t mind having those points tied up in World of Hyatt (and you probably don’t since you’ll be earning Globalist status and therefore you’ll likely be booking some more award stays once you have status), it’s certainly not unrealistic to meet the spend required by the end of the year (keep in mind that the bonus elite qualifying nights from spend might take a few weeks to post, so I’d want to be done with the spend by early November at the latest).
Unfortunately, you would have needed to have planned ahead on this because the Hyatt Regency promo required registration by July 15th. Since the landing page still works, I tried to register, but to no avail.
Of course, that’s why I always say that you should register for promotions as soon as they are announced, whether you intend to take advantage of them or not. You never know when they might come in handy unexpectedly. Do as I say, not as I do.
10% back stacks with Andaz promo, too
While I wouldn’t suggest trying to manufacture status by staying at Andaz properties, the 10% rebate for credit card holders also overlaps with the current promotion for double elite qualifying credit on Andaz stays (no registration required, runs through August 31st).
The cheapest Andaz hotel in terms of award pricing in the Andaz Ottawa Byward Market. At 12,000 points per night before the rebate, your net cost would be 10,800 points per night. That’s kind of interesting. Since you’d be picking up 2 elite nights per night spent at an Andaz, the net cost to earn 2 elite nights isn’t bad at all. Again, I wouldn’t look to spend 30 nights this way, but it’s always fun to stack 2 promotions on a stay you were already planning.
Bottom line
Practically, this idea would be crazy if not impossible to execute. Of course, the concept of stacking these promotions means it would be much easier for someone with other planned activity (whether nights already earned or to be earned from future planned stays) to earn Hyatt Globalist status. The Hyatt Regency Tulsa is far from the only Hyatt Regency in the US — it’s just the first one where I found August 1-30th available for award stays (Austin and Wichita, you disappointed me). If your travel plans bring you to one of the cities with a low-category Hyatt Regency and you both have the new World of Hyatt Credit Card and had the foresight to register for the 2,500-point promotion, you can fast-track yourself to Hyatt Globalist status with a lower net cost, and that sentence certainly has a nice ring to it.
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It is not that outlandish. A slight variation of it is something that might be useful for me. I currently have 15 nights this year though I am no longer in a travelling job anymore.Luckily I had registered for the promotion and there is a Hyatt Regency Category 1 in my city.I also an existing Globalist so only need 55 nights to re-qualify. I had been debating for quite some time if I should get the new credit card and put a lot of spend to reach globalist status but that would have meant spending $90K which is a bit too much since only 5 months are left. Now i am wondering if i book 21 award nights for a total cost of 84K points and earn the remaining 14 nights through CC spend of $35K it might be worth it. I should be able to earn 60K + 35K = 95K points.from CC spend and bonus resulting in 11K net points and 2 Cat 4 certs and 1 Cat 7 cert.
I have 2 questions though:
1. Since I already have the old card when is the best time to cancel and apply for the new card? I think I read somewhere that you have to wait 30 days after canceling the card to apply for the new one. If I cancel after completing the stays then time window for CC spend significantly reduces.
2. Are purchases till Dec 31 counted for this years spend or only till statement close date in December?
That’s an interesting way to get globalist status.
Can you not check in and then checkout 30 days later?
30 days in Tulsa does seem an over kill…
I have the older Hyatt card…is this only applicable to the new Hyatt credit card?
Is it beneficial to wait for an upgrade offer or to just upgrade and get the benefits of this new card?
Oh come on live a little the month of August in Tulsa sounds like sentence and not a Globalist adventure. Look at the bottom of the cat 1 list, the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu can be had for 5000 point or US$117/+tax VAt so somewhere around US $3,600 for the month. It might be rain every other day but it’s a nice view and for a little more it’s a better view and club access. If we’re being theoretical might as well make it interesting. Yes I know it doesn’t relate to the promo or it does but I’d pay $117 over 5000 points for a night. And I’d think anyone spending a week in Paris or Tokyo would prefer Napal to Oklahoma any day
So if I can go back in time, I don’t think I would use that superpower to register for a Hyatt promo, I would more likely kill Hitler or repair the mess that I have made of my life.
Spending a month in Tulsa not likely part of any good use of my life, whether I am a time traveler or just the existing lame version of myself. That comes at quite a cost of getting there, getting home, and the points that I don’t actually have to fulfill this promotion. Apparently I am going to get four suite upgrades in Paris out of all this. And bond with some good friend who is going to give or lend me his points.
I am however thinking of spending a month in some lame category one Marriott in 2020 or 2021 if that provides me with the tenth year of platinum for Marriott lifetime platinum. Not sure if anyone has noticed , but platinum now sells for a lot less than gold, and both are declining in value. So who knows what the benefits of platinum will be. So for now, or rather for last week so one can register in time, get thee to Tulsa, borrow from your friends, get a new Hyatt Card, spend a fortune on it, get them to change statement closing date, etc. And go to Paris as a reward, all stages of this at ones expense in time and money . Seems like m-turbation to me,
Even if this idea wasn’t unrealistic, it would still be unwise. If you happen to need to stay for a month in Tusla, great. Your globalist status is a very nice bonus. But I can’t imagine anyone would want to manufacture the globalist status with this method if you didn’t already need to stay somewhere. You would be using up 120k points to do it, and surely there are better things you can do with so many points.
At first glance, I agree. 120k points are worth a couple thousand dollars by one common measure. But if you had no other way to get Globalist and were soon going to Paris or NYC or Tokyo or similar for several week-long stays, those 4 guaranteed suite upgrades would be pretty nice.
I’m not going to argue that this is a good idea necessarily — it was meant more as a fun theoretical approach to it (obviously there are 29 other Cat 1 Hyatt Regencies, you might just stay 5 or 10 nights because you already have 40 or 50 nights, etc). But to speak to the use of the 120K points, there is a matter of perspective on that. While some will look at what could be bought with 120K points, others will look at the cost to have acquired the 120K points. Depending on the manufactured spending avenues that are available to you, that cost might not seem unreasonable. YMMV.
Nothing says Global like Tulsa, Oklahoma.
If this is someone’s best idea for getting globalist I question whether globalist is really for them
Are you sure the Hyatt regency 2500 pts promo works with award nights? I have a Cat 1 HR about 7 miles from here. But it’s also $61 on certain days and I can do the 4th night free with Citi prestige.
Yep. It’s right there in the terms in the linked post about that promotion.
To those who suggest the very idea of a month long stay is ridiculous, I’ve had situations where I’ve gone from contentedly at home to checking in to a hotel for a 7 week stay in a matter of days. You never know when you’re gonna get an unrefusable job offer you didn’t expect.
First time I got status with Marriott was on the back of a 7 week stay at the Residence Inn in Milford, CT.
Interesting idea. I am likely getting the Hyatt card soon and shooting for Globalist in some way like this. For me, mostly spend I anticipate.
I am pretty new to Hyatt, but my understanding is that obtaining status this calendar year would mean it’s good until 2/28/20.
I am thinking it might be better to try for something like this starting Jan 1 and get a considerably longer period of status. The same way we shoot for a WN CP in January.
Though I assume it is not known what Hyatt promos will be going then. Thoughts?
That certainly makes sense from a standpoint of maximizing your time with status. This 10% cardholder rebate on award stays has run several years in a row for the same time period — August and September. I don’t recall ever seeing that promotion run at another time of year.
Hyatt has been very underwhelming in general with promos since launching World of Hyatt, so you can’t count on a great promo in January. Even still, some combination of Cat 1 nights and spend can result in relatively easy Globalist status, and you’re right that earning it early in the year makes the most sense, similar to earning a CP. Any promotion that happens to be running is icing on the cake, really.
Of course, if you earn status now, it takes 5 fewer nights to requalify next year. If you’re only looking to earn status once, then doing it early in the calendar year is the best bet, but those inclined to do this sort of thing likely intend to requalify, so I’m not sure it makes a huge difference. I guess if you did it in January/Feb 2019, you would have status through Feb 2021 and you could skip requalifying in 2020 if you knew you could qualify in Jan/Feb 2021 for the next two years. Whether or not that works for you depends on your ability to manufacture the status in a short period of time and/or your need (or lack thereof) for status early in the year (maybe you stretch out your spend to qualify in 2021 until March or April becuase you’re not traveling until June anyway).