Confirmed: New "World of Hyatt" Elite Program

Hyatt Gold Passport did indeed have a "little" leak today, and the majority of the rumors about the coming "World of Hyatt" are true. I just got off a call with Jeff Zidell, among other Hyatt Gold Passport big wigs, and while you have to rely on my quick notes as there weren't yet written materials available, here is what is now confirmed.

The new "World of Hyatt" launches on 3/1/17 and the concept comes from a celebration of people, places, and experiences and Hyatt wanting to live their purpose of caring for people so those people can be at their best. They have a short video below about World of Hyatt which offers minimal details, but is available if you are so inclined.

Four World of Hyatt Tiers

They have changed to active verb descriptors of the now four tiers of Member, Discoverist, Explorist, and Globalist instead of the industry standard of precious metals to reflect the adventure of travel. This sounds very Millennial-ish to me....

Qualify for Elite Status Based on Nights, Points, or Events

As was rumored, you will qualify for your Hyatt elite status level not based on stays (number of check-ins and outs), but based on the number of nights, points (based on spending), or events and meetings you host with Hyatt. You will be awarded with the highest tier you meet by one of those criteria. Each dollar spent represents 5 base points.

• Discoverist: 10 nights or 25,000 base points/$5000
• Explorist: 30 nights or 50,000 base points/$10,000
• Globalist: 60 nights or 100,000 base points/$20,000

New Hyatt Tier Benefits:

As they are turning a previous three tiered system into four tiers there are some benefit shifts. There are also some new benefits added, as well as some old benefits being tweaked or eliminated.

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Discoverist

• Preferred room within room type booked
• 2pm late check-out guaranteed except at resorts or casinos
• 10% points bonus on base points earned
• No resort fees on award stays
• Complimentary premium internet

Explorist

• Best room available excluding club and suites
• 2PM late check-out guaranteed except at resorts or casinos
• Room Guaranteed if booked at least 72 hours in advance
• Four club lounge access awards annually which can be used on paid or award stays booked through the call center up to 7 nights in length each.
• 20% points bonus on base points earned
• No resort fees on award stays
• Complimentary premium internet

Globalist

• Upgrade to best available room at check-in up to standard suites, space available
• 4pm late check-out guaranteed except at resorts or casinos
• Room Guaranteed if booked at least 48 hours in advance
• Unlimited club lounge access on paid or award stays for the room the member is booked in
• If the property is a full service property with no lounge then breakfast is complimentary for up to two adults and two children in the room of the Globalist Guest. There will no longer be a 2,500 point bonus for closed regency clubs.
• No resort fees on any stay, paid or award stays
• Complimentary parking on free night awards - not points + cash stays
• Priority access to available rooms if checking in early
• Two United Club passes awarded on March 1st each year
• Four Diamond Confirmed Suite upgrades awarded when you hit status that can be used on award or paid stays! These confirmed upgrades are valid for one year from when you earn them...so in some cases you may want to delay earning them if you need to time that with a vacation where you want a suite.
• More benefits at 70, 80, 90, and 100 nights annually - choice between 10k bonus points or an additional confirmed suite upgrade award
• 30% bonus on points earned

Additional Hyatt World Perks

All Hyatt members will receive a free Category 1-4 night certificate after trying 5 different Hyatt brands beginning March 1, 2017. There are currently roughly 11 brands including Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Park Hyatt, Andaz, Unbound, etc. You earn a second Category 1-4 night certificate after trying a cumulative total of 10 brands. If they ever have 15 brands, you may trigger another one at that point. The free night certificates are valid for one year from the date you earn them and you currently have "unlimited" amount of time to earn them.

You also receive a free Category 1-4 night certificate after unlocking the Explorist level each year with 30 nights and then a free Category 1-7 night certificate after unlocking Globalist level each year with 60 nights. These certificates are each valid for 120 days from earning and you can earn both each year.

All Globalist members on March 1, 2017 will receive a Category 1-7 night certificate.

The Guest of Honor program will continue for Globalist members when they redeem points for their family or friends. Once you are a Globalist you only need 55 nights to re-qualify the following year instead of the regular 60. Cash + points stays will continue to count as eligible nights for earning status.

Transition to New Hyatt World Program:

The new program does kick in on 3/1/2017, but as expected Hyatt is being generous in how that happens since people were earning nights/stays in 2016 under the current guidelines. There will be three ways to map your Hyatt Gold Passport status to Hyatt World status for 2017 including:

1. Looking at the tier status expiration and those who have Hyatt Diamond through Feb 2018 or beyond will get Globalist Status on 3/1/17. Those who have Hyatt Diamond through February 2017 will get Explorist status. Platinum will map to Discoverist.
2. Looking at 2016 point and night activity and awarding the associated new Hyatt World status if that will take you to a higher category than you otherwise would have under option #1.
3. Look at Jan and Feb 2017 activity and mapping roughly as per #1. I believe this means you could have 25 eligible stays under the current program to trigger Hyatt Diamond in January and February 2017 and then map that to Globalist on March 1, 2017 and then have it be valid potentially through early 2019??? Someone double check my math there because I bet this option will garner some interest.

Our call today was time limited, so I still have a few outstanding questions that I will work to get answered ASAP. They expect the program's landing page to be up later today or possibly tomorrow, and that should provide most of the info we need. If you have additional questions please let me know in the comments section and I will try to get you some answers as well.

As expected based on the rumors, this is largely good news for those who will qualify for Globalist status and largely bad news for those who had to push to earn Hyatt Diamond with 25 stays...which I know is a fair number of us. The ability to use confirmed suites on award stays is huge as is the elimination of hotel resort fees on all stays for Globalist members. I would love to experience the Globalist status for a while because those are excellent perks.

What are your thoughts now that these changes are confirmed? Are you a winner or a loser with the World of Hyatt program?