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Recently news broke that Hyatt and American Airlines plan to change their partnership with each other. Was the partnership “deepened” like we suggested when we wrote this post, or was it “devalued” like our readers thought in the comments? (Or is it somehow both?)
Coffee Break: Hyatt’s partnership with AA: Deepened or Devalued?
(00:15) – Read our post “Hyatt & American Airlines deepen partnership, add more reciprocal earning opportunities” here.
(02:23) – What is the current Hyatt / AA relationship like? (Until 12/31/24)
(03:13) – New AA benefits for Hyatt elites…
(08:07) – Comparing Old vs New
(13:01) – Stephen’s thoughts
(13:55) – Nick’s thoughts
(16:31) – Greg’t thoughts
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Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn Heads
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For me, the changes are clearly positive. I can essentially status match 70 night Globalist (which I usually reach) to AA Gold. And since I don’t fly AA that often I can use Status for a Day to grab Platinum or Platinum Pro for a single flight for a reasonable price in Hyatt points. To me this is more valuable than the bit of extra points I could get with the reciprocal earning.
Another interesting thought – with this development and the recent Marriott & Air Canada partnership it’s now possible to earn elite status in three airlines from hotel stays booked directly with that hotel chain, letting you double dip the benefits to an extent (AA from Hyatt, United & Air Canada from Marriott). Sky Team is the odd man out. Air France sort of has a partnership with Accor but it’s not enough to earn status all on its own.
Good analysis on this. I think the rub as noted is that there are many folks paying for either their Hyatt stays, American Airlines flights, or both. Particularly with short stay business travelers this one is going to sting.
Conversely those with lots of hotel nights but not a lot of flights, say on longer term business assignments living out of a hotel, could parlay that into a nice level of AA elite status from all their Hyatt nights. This also works out well for the Stephen Pepper’s of the world that are living out of hotels.
It is laughable to me how one way the value is in this relationship is. As someone with a chunk of AA flights and some status with them I’m sorely disappointed as there are virtually no benefits I can use with Hyatt coming out of this arrangement.
You mentioned that you’d been told by Hyatt that the AA status benefits would all be giftable.
Have you (or anyone else) seen anything about that in writing?
FWIW If I could gift Platinum status to a family member, I’d be incented to get that 100 night earning level with Hyatt.
OTOH, as a globalist / EP, a non-giftable option would have no value.
It seems to me that there’s a lot of complexity around the “status for a day” items.
Consider some of the perks that come with AA Platinum status:
If I book a flight when I have one day of Platinum status, I guess I could select MCE seats right away. But can I select or change the seats the next day when I’m no longer Platinum?
If I have one day of Platinum on the date I book the flight, will I be added to the list and be eligible 48 hours out, or will I no longer be Platinum at that point? If I get the one day status for the day 48 hours before the flight and get added to the list, will I still be on the list on the day of the flight to be eligible for an upgrade at the gate? I would no longer be Platinum status. If I’m Platinum for the day of the actual flight, will I still get added to the list? What if a Gold got the available upgrades before I’m added.
And similar questions for the checked bag benefit.
Now, if you can get Platinum status for a day, book a lot of flights, and the status stays with the reservations you made, it could be very valuable! But what happens if I make a change to one of the reservations?
It seems to me that there could possibly be a lot of value in this benefit. Alternatively, if you only get the perks on the single day that you hold the status, it could be of very limited value (you might only get the free seat selection, but not upgrade eligibility or free bags).
Great questions. I assume using status for the day at booking would allow you to select MCE seats (at the time of booking) but your perks 2 and 3 wouldn’t apply. Conversely, status for the day of the flight would let you select MCE on the day of the flight (if seats are available) and be eligible for upgrades, but I would highly doubt you’d get an upgrade with how good AA is at selling premium seats and upgrades and real elites being upgraded >24 hours before the flight.
So as the guys mentioned in the podcast, the “real” benefit would be a ton of free checked bags (and maybe “preferred” seats, which don’t amount to much) if you’re traveling with a huge party on your reservation. But given the cost of Platinum for a day (12k Hyatt points, which I value at $200+), seems like you can just pay out of pocket for some checked bags.
But if anyone knows more about how the status for a day works, I’d love to hear more.
Around minute 18 discussing booking for family members .…” I don’t want to get into the business of telling them to sign up for a credit card in order to get free bags and all that stuff “ …. said Greg.
Greg the Frequent Miler. That Greg. 😉
Gents – first love your blog, listen to every podcast (not always while mowing the lawn) and appreciate how much you guys have taught me over the years.
This is the first time I have disagreed with your analysis. My rub is that I think you are looking at this from too much of the redemption side and not from the earning side. This is an absolute blow to business travelers and their ability to earn. As someone with status in both programs I believe it’s important that both Hyatt and AA realize this will absolutely have me considering other options including meeting events I host. Would have loved to hear your analysis and break down on what levels of usage anyone who has been loyal to both AA and Hyatt should be considering a new 2025 strategy. Anyway, appreciate all you do. Thank you.