The Valuable Benefits of Hyatt Elite Status [Discoverist, Explorist, Globalist]

Elite benefits and excellent customer service are 2 things that many travelers look for in elite status with a hotel brand. When you’re traveling, you want the peace of mind to know that a hotel brand has your back if things go wrong. You also want to be rewarded for your hotel spend and stays in the form of perks that you can use throughout the year.

It’s well known among the miles and points community how valuable Hyatt elite status is. In terms of perks, it’s hard to beat what Hyatt offers its members.

Starting at Discoverist and all the way up to Globalist, Hyatt elite members can earn tons of benefits that may make it worth it for you to invest in the World of Hyatt program.

In this article, we’ll outline all of the Hyatt elite tiers and the benefits you’ll receive. It’s important to note that while the benefits are top-notch, Hyatt does have a limited footprint. Unlike larger hotel brands like Hilton and Marriott, you, unfortunately, won’t find Hyatt in many cities around the world.

Comparing Hyatt Elite Status Tiers

Hyatt Discoverist

Discoverist is the lowest elite tier in the World of Hyatt program that can be earned with stays, base points, or credit card spend. To earn Discoverist with stays or base points, you’ll need to stay 10 nights or earn 25,000 base points in a calendar year.

Another way to earn Discoverist status is through The World of Hyatt Credit Card that comes with 5 elite nights every year. Members also earn 2 elite nights for every $5,000 spent on the card in a calendar year.

Late Checkout

Even for the lowest elite tier, Hyatt gives members a late checkout option. Instead of your typical 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. checkout time, you can request a 2 p.m. checkout time, subject to availability. It’s important to note that late checkout is not available at Hyatt Residence Club resorts.

Preferred Room Upgrade

Who doesn’t love an upgrade? Well, Discoverist members have access to a preferred room subject to availability at check-in with a few caveats. So, what are preferred rooms? Think high floors and more appealing views. Upgrades will never include access to Club floors, suites, or other specialty-type rooms.

Hot Tip: As far as the caveats, the preferred room must be within the same room type/category booked by the member. Preferred room upgrades are not available at all Hyatts. Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, and Hyatt Residence Club hotels and resorts are excluded from the preferred room upgrades benefit.

Bonus Points

Earning bonus points is something that everyone can get used to. For Discoverist members, you’ll receive 10% bonus points on eligible rates and incidental charges during your stay.

Waived Resort Fees

For those of you with Free Night Awards, listen up. When you book a Free Night Award at a resort, you won’t have to pay those annoying resort fees. This can save you some serious cash, particularly when you’re staying at resorts with high fees. This is applicable on any reservation where you use all points or a free night certificate.

Bottle of Water

Although not the most glamorous benefit, bottled water can be expensive at hotels. For Discoverist members, you’ll receive a bottle of water each day of your stay outside of Hyatt Residence Club resorts.

Premium Internet

Internet quality is solid across the Hyatt portfolio. With your Discoverist membership, daily premium internet in-room access is included, except at Hyatt Residence Club resorts.

Elite Reservation Line

Some Hyatt members may utilize this benefit more than others, but if you need an elite reservation line, Discoverist members have access to an exclusive one.

MGM Rewards Pearl Status

Frequent Las Vegas visitors will want to keep this perk in mind. When you earn Discoverist, you can status match Discoverist status to MGM Rewards Pearl status, MGM Resort’s elite status that offers buffet line passes and complimentary self-parking.

Bottom Line: Late checkout and preferred room upgrades are 2 of the main perks you earn as a Discoverist. 

Hyatt Explorist

The middle elite tier in the World of Hyatt loyalty program is called Explorist. This status is earned after staying 30 nights or earning 25,000 base points. You can also spend your way to Explorist status using the World of Hyatt credit card.

As mentioned in the Discoverist section, you’ll earn 2 nights with every $5,000 that you spend on the card. You can “buy” Explorist status by spending $65,000 in a year on the card.

Keep in mind that Explorist includes all of the benefits of Discoverist.

Best Available Room Upgrade

While Discoverist members have access to preferred rooms at check-in, Explorists are offered the best available room at check-in, excluding suites and rooms with Club lounge access. This benefit applies to all hotels except Hyatt House, Hyatt Place, and Hyatt Residence Club hotels and resorts.

Category 1-4 Free Night

Earning free nights is one of the best perks of the World of Hyatt program. For Explorists members, you’ll earn a category 1-4 hotel free night after staying 30 nights or earning 50,000 base points.

The main restriction with this to be aware of is that the free night expires 180 days from the date it’s received. This is in contrast to the free night that comes with the World of Hyatt card, which is valid for 365 days.

Club Lounge Access

Access to Club lounges is a benefit that many travelers can get behind. When you stay 20 nights or earn 35,000 base points, you’ll receive 2 Club lounge access certificates. You’ll earn 2 more lounge access certificates when you stay 30 nights or earn 50,000 base points.

Hot Tip: What you may not realize is that 1 Club lounge access certificate is valid for a stay of up to 7 nights. The lounge is where you can have continental breakfast and in some cases, afternoon or evening hors d’oeuvres.

To utilize this benefit, the hotel must have a Club lounge. For those staying at Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Miraval, Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Ziva, or Hyatt Residence Club hotels and resorts, the Club lounge certificates are not valid.

Certificates are also not valid on Free Night Award stays but are valid when you pay an eligible rate or redeem points for a room.

Bonus Points

Explorist members receive 10% additional bonus points during their stay and 20% bonus points on eligible paid rates and incidental charges incurred.

Guaranteed Room

Guaranteed room availability is a benefit you’ll pick up when you earn Explorist status. When you book a paid room, you’ll be guaranteed a room when booking at least 72 hours prior to arrival.

The main restriction with this benefit is that guaranteed rooms are not valid during times of extraordinary room demand and the perk is subject to blackout periods. Separately, this benefit does not apply to Hyatt Residence Club resorts, any Hyatt hotel with a casino, or any Hyatt resort.

MGM Rewards Gold Status

Status matching to MGM Rewards Gold status is a benefit for Explorists who enjoy going to Las Vegas. With your MGM Rewards Gold status, you’ll receive complimentary valet parking in Las Vegas and VIP line access to nightclubs and pool day clubs.

Bottom Line: For a middle elite tier, perks such as best available room upgrades, a free award night, and Club lounge access make Explorist a valuable hotel status. 

Hyatt Globalist

Globalist is the top tier in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. Members earn this status after staying 60 nights or earning 50,000 base points.

For those of you who are looking to earn Globalist status through credit card spend, there’s an avenue for you. If you spend $140,000 in a year on the card, assuming no hotel stays, you’ll earn Globalist status. This factors in the 5 elite nights you’ll earn from being a World of Hyatt credit cardmember.

Globalists will receive the following unique benefits in addition to those from the lower Explorist and Discoverist tiers:

Best Available Room Upgrade

Room upgrades are also a benefit for Globalists — standard suites and rooms with Club lounge access are included.

Premium, Specialty, Premier, Presidential, Diplomatic, and any other suites besides Standard Suites are not available for the best available room upgrade, and neither are upgrades at Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, or Hyatt Residence Club hotels. That said, hotels often go out of their way to treat Globalists well so you may experience some very nice rooms while staying as a Globalist.

Club Lounge Access/Complimentary Breakfast

Lounge access and complimentary breakfast are huge perks of Globalist status. Globalists receive Club lounge access, where available, or daily complimentary breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children if a Club lounge isn’t available.

Exclusions of this benefit are at Miraval, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, and Hyatt Residence Club hotels and resorts, Laurel Inn, or Hotel del Sol. This is a great benefit at properties like the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar to save a ton of money since you wouldn’t haven’t to buy expensive breakfast every day on property.

It’s worth noting that many Club lounges include drinks throughout the day, and several include 3 meals a day, which can add up for significant savings over the course of a trip.

Suite Upgrade Awards

One of the top perks a Globalist earns is suite upgrade awards. The first 2 suite upgrade awards are earned after staying 50 nights or earning 80,000 base points and 2 additional suite upgrade awards are earned after staying 60 nights or earning 100,000 base points.

Hot Tip: Members can use these upgrades to confirm a suite at the time of booking for every night of your stay up to 7 nights. All stays, except Free Night Awards, are eligible for suite upgrade awards. Hyatt Residence Club hotels and premium suites at Hyatt Ziva and Zilara hotels are excluded.

Category 1-7 Free Night

In addition to the Free Award Night you’ll earn on your way to Globalist, you’ll earn a Category 1-7 Free Night Award when you stay 60 nights or earn 100,000 base points.

This free night can unlock a ton of value, especially at properties that are notoriously expensive. After you receive the free night, the certificate is valid for 180 days after the date it’s issued.

Bonus Points

You’ll earn 30% bonus points on eligible rates and incidental charges as a Globalist. These additional points can help pad your Hyatt account balance to book your next hotel.

Milestone Bonus

What’s nice about Hyatt is the program’s milestone bonus structure. Members that stay 40 nights or earn 65,000 base points receive their choice of 1 of 3 elite benefits: 5,000 bonus points, a $100 Hyatt gift card, or save 10,000 points on a FIND experience.

Late Checkout

An additional 2 hours on your checkout time is what Hyatt awards to Globalist members. Instead of a 2 p.m. checkout time, Globalists can checkout at 4 p.m. Late checkout is guaranteed and is not offered at Hyatt Residence Club resorts.

Free Parking

When booking an award night, Globalists receive free parking if the parking charges can be billed to the room — this can be particularly valuable at properties like Hyatt House Austin where a Globalist could save $42 per night just by having this perk. Free parking is not available at Hyatt Residence Club resorts.

Early Check-In

For Globalists who arrive early on the day of check-in, you’ll receive priority access to available rooms. There is no guaranteed protocol for receiving a room early, but Globalists get first dibs.

Guest of Honor

Guest of Honor is one of the more unique hotel perks for elite members. The way this works in practice is that the Globalist redeems Hyatt points for a friend or family member and then transfers their elite status privileges to that friend or family member. The friend or family member can also transfer their points to the Globalist, who can then redeem the transferred points for a stay, and then transfer their Globalist benefits to that individual.

Guaranteed Room

Instead of the 72-hour availability requirement for Explorists, Globalists are guaranteed a room when making a reservation at least 48 hours prior to arrival.

Keep mind that Hyatt does not guarantee this benefit during periods of high demand and it’s subject to blackout periods set out by the hotel. Hyatt Residence Club resorts, Hyatt hotels with a casino, and Hyatt resorts are excluded.

My Hyatt Concierge

For elite members that value personalized service, a My Hyatt Concierge agent may be right for you. This agent will be able to help with reservations and make each stay more tailored toward your needs.

Reviews of My Hyatt Concierge agents are a mixed bag — some are very proactive in helping with reservations, while others will only make basic adjustments with little to no personalized service.

MGM Rewards Gold Status

MGM Rewards Gold, a perk of Explorist, is also a perk you’ll receive as a Globalist member.

Additional Milestone Bonuses

The true road warriors out there will find additional benefits beyond the 60 nights required for Globalist. Members who stay 70, 80, 90, and 100 nights will receive a choice of either 10,000 bonus points or a suite upgrade award after reaching each of these milestones.

Bottom Line: Best available room upgrades including suites, Club lounge access, suite upgrade awards, and 2 free award nights can be argued as the best perks of the top elite status in any hotel program. 

Reciprocal Benefits With World of Hyatt and American Airlines

In March of 2019, the American Airlines AAdvantage and World of Hyatt elite programs announced a partnership allowing elite members in each program to receive increased points/miles per dollar earnings and fast track to elite status in the other program. With that said, below are the details on the benefits that are offered:

Elite World of Hyatt members will receive the following benefits:

• 1 additional World of Hyatt point per $1 spent on qualifying American Airlines flights
• Explorist and Globalist members will have the opportunity to participate in American Airlines elite status challenges

AAdvantage members will receive the following benefits:

• Earn 1 additional AAdvantage mile per $1 spent on qualifying Hyatt stays and experiences
• ConciergeKey (invitation-only) members receive Hyatt’s top tier Globalist status
• Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, and Platinum AAdvantage members will have an opportunity to participate in Hyatt status match challenges

Final Thoughts

The benefits of elite status in the World of Hyatt are what excite many travelers. As you can see, there’s something for everyone in terms of benefits, especially for those of you who can reach Globalist.

For any of the Hyatt elite tiers, it’s important to recognize Hyatt’s global footprint. Compared to Hilton and Marriott, Hyatt simply doesn’t have the number of hotels you’ll find with other hotel chains.

Compared to other loyalty programs, Hyatt customer service is second to none and the Hyatt elite benefits are ones that have value and ones you’ll want to use. These are strong reasons why travelers should consider earning Hyatt elite status.

The information regarding The World of Hyatt Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.