Check your World of Hyatt account – extended loyalty perks have now posted
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the travel demand is still significantly suppressed.
With fewer people traveling, airlines and hotels have been busy making customer-friendly adjustments to their loyalty programs. At the outset of the pandemic, most travel companies extended elite status and associated benefits to 2021.
Roughly nine months later, and we're back for round two. In September, Delta became the first major U.S. carrier to announce a second round of extensions to loyalty benefits.
On Oct. 6, World of Hyatt became the first major global hotel chain to do the same. And now, the extensions are posting to members' accounts.
World of Hyatt extending point expiration
World of Hyatt points are typically forfeited if an account is inactive for 24 months. Previously, the chain announced that point expiration was suspended through Dec. 31, 2020.
Now, the chain is tacking on six more months to use your points. As such, point expiration has been extended through June 30, 2021.
This is great news for those with inactive accounts who'd like to use (and not lose) their points. As travel hopefully resumes, the six-month extension should give members enough time to use the points. If not, I'd imagine that Hyatt might further extend the point expiration.
Related: How to keep your points and miles from expiring
World of Hyatt extending awards
This is a big one.
World of Hyatt elites and cobranded credit cardholders earn various club lounge access awards, suite night awards and free night certificates each year. These awards are some of the best in the business, so it's no surprise that many readers have been wondering if Hyatt would extend them again.
And indeed, all awards with 2021 expirations will be extended.
Any unused club lounge access or suite night awards with Feb. 28, 2021 expiration dates will be extended to Dec. 31, 2021. In addition, all unused free night awards that were earned in 2020 with 2021 expiration dates will be extended to Dec. 31, 2021. The certificate extension includes all free night awards, including those earned from promotional programs like the Brand Explorer challenge.
Plus, as previously announced, all unused awards with expiration dates between March 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020 have already been extended to Dec. 31, 2021.
These extensions are in the process of being generated by Hyatt — members do not need to do anything on their end.
All free night certificates have already been extended to Dec. 31, 2021.
Unused club lounge and suite upgrade awards that expire in February 2021 will be replaced with a new award in the coming days and weeks. All other qualifying unused awards will be updated by the 20th day of the month in which the award would have originally expired.
This move should bring peace of mind to most World of Hyatt Explorists and Globalists.
World of Hyatt status extensions
Earlier this year, World of Hyatt extended status for elite members without needing to spend a single night in a hotel. If you held status with Hyatt on March 31, 2020, your tier was automatically extended through Feb 28, 2022.
While the previously announced extensions are great for current elites, the chain made any adjustments to earning status in 2021 for the 2022 program year.
Note that all stays during the chain's Bonus Journeys promotion will count towards elite status in 2021 as well.
World of Hyatt award chart changes
Well before the pandemic, World of Hyatt was planning to introduce peak and off-peak pricing on March 22, 2020. Needless to say, the planned implementation date — at the height of the pandemic — wasn't great.
In March, the chain announced that it would delay the tiered award pricing structure to the beginning of 2021. With January right around the corner, World of Hyatt has decided to give members another six months of the standard award chart. As such, peak and off-peak pricing has now been delayed to July 2021.
Of course, this date could continue getting pushed, depending on the status of the virus early next year.
In addition, most hotel chains make annual updates to award chart categories. Demand for some hotels change year-over-year, so the parent chain adjusts award categories to account for that. With only a few exceptions, World of Hyatt is suspending its 2021 hotel category award chart changes that typically occur each March.
Only 16 hotels will change category this cycle — 12 are going down and four are going up. You can find the full list of category changes here, but some highlights are below.
- Stonebridge Inn, A Destination Hotel from category 5 to 4
- Parker New York from category 6 to 5
- Grand Hyatt Vail from category 7 to 6
- Hyatt Regency John Wayne Airport from category 2 to 3
- Hyatt House Nashville / Downtown - SoBro from category 4 to 5
- Mar Monte Hotel part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt from category 4 to 5
- Park Hyatt Aviara from category 5 to 6
Related: Hyatt dropping award price of 12 hotels, further delaying peak pricing
World of Hyatt limited-time promotions
These loyalty extensions come as the chain is working hard to incentivize stays with multiple limited-time promotions.
As part of the Bonus Journeys promo, World of Hyatt members can earn up to quadruple points starting with their first stay from Oct. 1, 2020, to Jan. 4, 2021. Plus, elite-qualifying nights earned during this period will count both in 2020 and in 2021.
In addition, the chain recently launched a Work from Hyatt package, a 15% to 25% discount on award nights and bonus points on dining at a local Hyatt hotel.
Bottom line
Hyatt was the first major hotel chain to extend loyalty benefits twice.
Point expiration and awards certificates have now been extended well in 2021. This move should hopefully give members enough time to use their benefits.
Plus, the chain is suspended most award chart changes. Off-peak and peak pricing is delayed to July 2021, and just 16 hotels are changing category this cycle.
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