Bummer: Hyatt Globalists can't use social media or chat to book Guest of Honor awards anymore
Quick summary
One unique perk of the World of Hyatt program is the Guest of Honor perk provided to top-tier Globalist elites. Hyatt says this perk allows Globalist elites to "share your in-hotel benefits with your Guest of Honor when gifting an eligible award."
As a World of Hyatt Globalist, you can book Guest of Honor awards for others when you want them to enjoy Globalist benefits. After all, World of Hyatt Globalists typically get perks including club access or daily breakfast, 4 p.m. late checkout and free parking on award stays.
Best of all, you don't need to be traveling with someone for them to get Globalist perks when you book them a Guest of Honor award stay. But, as I recently learned, some of the easiest ways to book Guest of Honor awards are no longer available.
Booking a Guest of Honor award
I earned Hyatt Globalist status for the first time in 2021 and I'm still getting used to the status's perks, but I didn't notice any instructions on Hyatt's website regarding booking a Guest of Honor award. And experience has shown that you can't book a Hyatt award for someone besides yourself online.
I'd seen multiple articles online note that Globalists can book Guest of Honor awards by messaging @HyattConcierge on Twitter. So, when a friend asked me to book a special Hyatt stay for him as a Guest of Honor award, I direct messaged the Hyatt Concierge to redeem World of Hyatt points for his stay.
However, I got the following response:
Judging by the response, Hyatt removed the ability to book Guest of Honor awards via social media and chat on Oct. 12, 2021.
I'm currently outside the U.S., so I wanted to avoid calling. But I turned on Wi-Fi calling and used Google Fi to call Hyatt. After all, award availability was dwindling, so I was afraid the room type my friend wanted would be gone if I wanted until I returned to the U.S. to book.
After listening to the automated options, I pushed "1" to make a new reservation. Luckily, an agent took my call almost immediately. This agent asked for my Hyatt number, last name and email before taking down all the information for my friend and the award I wanted to book. In total, the call took just 16 minutes.
Note that I did need to know the email address and ZIP code on my friend's Hyatt account, so make sure you have that information on hand. And, even though Guest of Honor stays must be award stays, you'll still need to put down a credit card to reserve the award. The agent said I could use a card in my name or my friend's name — so if you don't want to put down your card for your friend's stay, make sure to have their credit card number and expiration date on hand.
Related: Here's how to quickly stock up on Hyatt points for your next vacation
Bottom line
It's a bummer that Hyatt isn't allowing Globalists to make Guest of Honor reservations via social media or chat anymore. The Hyatt Concierge team noted this change is an "increased privacy protection measure." But if privacy is the concern, I'd rather Hyatt allow me to make Guest of Honor reservations online through my account.
Luckily, my call to Hyatt was relatively quick and simple. So, although this change is negative, the experience won't keep me from booking more Guest of Honor awards when the need arises.